The Painted Horse (11 page)

Carole and Lisa hauled the chair over to the bleachers while Stevie went to get a pillow.

T
HE
WHITE-AND-BLUE
WCTV van pulled up outside the ring. Veronica looked at her watch. “They’re late,” she said. “They should have been here three minutes ago.”

Stevie, Lisa, and Carole looked at each other. Veronica was already acting like a temperamental star—which was just a little more temperamental than her usual.

“Don’t they know what my time is worth?” Veronica fumed.

Lisa and Carole glanced at Stevie. This was a natural moment for Stevie to make a crack, but she didn’t say anything.

Melody climbed out of the truck. She was wearing a
blue jacket with a light blue blouse, jeans, and the same sensible brown boots she’d been wearing all week. She was followed by the cameraman.

Veronica went over to Melody. “There’s a talent scout here.”

“Really?” Melody said, looking surprised. “How come?”

“FMG saw my tapes from ‘Genius Kids’ and they’re interested in me for a movie,” said Veronica.

“Wow,” said Melody.

“I could introduce you to him,” said Veronica. “He’s totally influential. That’s him sitting next to the bleachers.” Mr. Rock had his feet up on the rail of the ring and his face tilted up as if he were trying to get a suntan.

“I guess,” Melody said doubtfully.

“They only handle top people,” said Veronica. “I could put in a good word for you.”

Wow
, Lisa thought,
Veronica’s acting snooty to Melody. That really takes nerve.

“I have an agent,” Melody said. “I really like her. I don’t need a new one.”

Veronica led Melody over to Mr. Rock and said, “Joe, this is Melody Manners. She’s one of the big stars at WCTV.”

“What’s that?” Mr. Rock said. “Some peanut-sized TV station?” He gave Melody the once-over. “But
you’re cute, doll. Send me your résumé and I’ll think about it.”

“Thanks for asking,” Melody said. Lisa could tell that she was trying to be polite.

“So let’s get the show on the road,” said Mr. Rock. “I got places to go. Stuff to do.”

“Good idea,” said Veronica. She walked over to the barn, where Max was talking to a couple of riders. “It’s time to start now.”

The Saddle Club looked at each other with wonder. No one ever told Max what to do.

“Okay,” Max said mildly.

Lisa, Carole, and Stevie gaped.

“Here’s my music,” said Veronica as she handed Max a CD.

“Your music?” Max said.

“I want you to play it as I ride into the ring,” said Veronica. “It’ll set the mood.”

“What about the other riders?” said Max.

“They follow me,” said Veronica. “By the way, I want only advanced riders in the ring with me.”

Max gestured to the riders waiting outside the ring and started to speak.

“No. I want Lisa, Carole, and Stevie,” Veronica interrupted.

The Saddle Club looked at each other, dumbfounded.

“Veronica wants us to cover her mistakes,” Lisa said bitterly. “And she knows we will.”

“Anything for Pine Hollow,” Carole said grimly.

“Hey, we aim to please,” Stevie said cheerfully.

The three girls walked to the barn and quickly groomed and tacked up their horses. When they were mounted on Belle, Starlight, and Prancer, they lined up behind Veronica at the stable door.

Over the public-address system came a gushy love song about a beautiful girl. Lisa and Carole looked at each other and tried not to laugh. Veronica was going all the way.

Veronica rode Danny into the ring. She touched her hat to salute the people in the bleachers. She flashed Joe Rock a big smile. Lisa, Carole, and Stevie rode into the ring after her.

Max turned off the music and picked up the microphone of the public-address system. “As I guess you all know, there has been a lot of rain,” Max said. “The earth in the ring looks dry, but it isn’t. Underneath the dry surface is mud. Therefore, there will be no cantering or trotting in the Spring Tune-Up. Everything will be done at a walk.”

There was a groan from the people in the bleachers, who had been looking forward to fancy riding.

“You’ll be surprised,” Max said. “Walking can be just
as exciting as cantering and trotting. A proper walk takes balance, poise, and good communication between horse and rider. A good walk is a beautiful thing to behold.”

“You’ll see that in a minute when I give my riding demonstration of advanced riding techniques,” Veronica said. “But first I want to introduce Melody Manners of WCTV.” She smiled graciously. “Melody?”

Melody smiled and said, “You’ll see all this on the six o’clock news.”

“Melody is here to cover me as part of a feature called ‘Genius Kids,’ ” said Veronica. She smirked. “But I suppose you know that already. What you may not know is that I am up for a role in a major motion picture. Joe Rock from Famous Management Group is here to observe me. Take a bow, Joe.”

Mr. Rock just frowned and gave a curt nod. He looked bored more than anything else.

“He doesn’t like being pushed around by Veronica,” Lisa whispered to Carole. Carole nodded emphatically. But then she noticed that Max was glaring at them, and she realized they shouldn’t be talking in the ring.

“First, I am going to demonstrate a ramener,” said Veronica. She started Danny walking. “Note that Danny’s head is high, but not too high,” she said. “Ramener is a French word that means to narrow the angle between the head and the neck. Notice the triangle
of empty space between Danny’s jaw and chest. See how small it is.”

Danny looked elegant and proud. His ramener was great. But this, Lisa knew, was more because of Danny’s inborn style than because of Veronica’s riding.

“Now Lisa, Carole, and Stevie will imitate my ramener,” Veronica said.

Lisa, Stevie, and Carole urged Prancer, Belle, and Starlight into a walk. Prancer’s ramener was good but not perfect, but Lisa hadn’t been riding as long as the other two. Belle’s ramener was good. Starlight’s was perfect. His nose was down. His ears were straight up. His mouth was relaxed. He and Carole moved in perfect harmony. The people in the bleachers could see that horse and rider were doing a brilliant job. There was a round of applause.

Veronica frowned. “Very good,” she said. “Now I am going to demonstrate posture.” She walked Danny the length of the ring. “Note that there’s a straight line from the middle of my shoulder through my hip to my heel.”

When she had completed a circle, she looked back at Lisa, Stevie, and Carole and said, “Your turn.”

Lisa knew Veronica was trying to make it seem as if this were a riding class and Veronica were the teacher. The thought made Lisa furious, but she knew there was nothing she could do except ride her very best.

Lisa knew something about posture. Good posture followed rules, the way Veronica’s had, but it also had to be natural and relaxed. It couldn’t be stiff.

Relax
, Lisa told herself. She imagined Stevie telling a horrible knock-knock joke and the tension went out of her. Prancer could feel it and relaxed, too. There were appreciative murmurs from the crowd.

Carole rode behind her with the effortless grace of a gifted rider. “I want to be just like her,” said a little girl in the crowd.

Stevie was last. There was a line from her shoulder to her hip to her heel. But most of all, there was pleasure in the way she sat and pleasure in the way Belle walked beneath her. Lisa could tell that the two of them were happy to be together again.

“I am now going to do a suppling exercise,” said Veronica. “This is called a shoulder-in.” This exercise was important for making a horse’s body supple. Veronica rode Danny in a circle with his head turned to the inside of the circle. Danny was unusually lithe. He bent his neck and his body easily.

The crowd applauded. Veronica threw Stevie, Lisa, and Carole a challenging look.

Lisa knew that she and Prancer needed more work on the shoulder-in. “We’ll do the best we can,” she said to the mare. “Don’t sweat it.”

Prancer did the best shoulder-in she’d ever done.
Stevie turned Belle into the shoulder-in with a smile. This was something the two of them had been working on.

“Way to go,” came a voice from the crowd.

When Carole turned Starlight into a shoulder-in, it was obvious that they had practiced so much that it had become second nature to them. Starlight’s movements were fluid and easy. He had the grace of a gymnast. A sigh went up from the crowd.

“Walking isn’t dull, is it?” said Max over the public-address system. “In a way, I’m glad it rained. We’re learning a valuable lesson here.”

There were lots of young riders in the crowd. Lisa knew Max wanted them to understand that fast riding and jumping weren’t the only kind of excitement.

“Now I’m going to move on to something really difficult,” Veronica said. “A pirouette, which is a dressage move. Danny will turn in a complete circle, but one hind leg will stay in place.”

The young riders in the crowd were on the edges of their seats. With a smile, Carole thought,
This is the best Spring Tune-Up ever.

Veronica moved Danny through a piroutte, his front hooves prancing, his back hooves taking tiny steps in place. The crowd applauded.

Then Veronica looked at Joe Rock and said, “That’s how it should be done.”

Lisa threw a nervous look first at Carole and then at Stevie. She wasn’t as experienced at dressage as they were, and pirouettes were rough.

“Do your best,” she whispered to Prancer. “I know you’ll be great.”

Prancer’s first few steps were tentative. But then the mare’s front hooves began to fly while her back hooves took tiny steps in place. The crowd applauded.

Stevie grinned. A pirouette was just her style. She whispered something to Belle, and then suddenly, like a runner bursting off the block, Belle erupted into a flurry of high-kneed prances.

That’s great
, Lisa thought.
But can Belle stop when she’s completed the circle?

With one last prance, Belle stopped in the exact spot where she’d started. It was Stevie and Belle’s best pirouette ever.

Carole positioned Starlight in the center of the ring. She gave him the signal to start. His hooves were light. His head was up. Carole rode him with easy grace. Starlight stopped at the exact point where he’d started and stood stock-still. It was the best pirouette Lisa had ever seen.

There was a sigh of pleasure from the crowd, and then shouts of, “You were great!” “Do it again!”

Over the public-address system, Max said, “You’d
never know this was the first event of the spring. Everyone is looking sharp.”

Lisa noticed that Joe Rock had gotten out of his chair. He was staring at Carole with bright eyes. The expression on his face said,
Now that’s a real rider.

Veronica saw him, too. Her eyes flashed. “That was no big deal,” she said. “Now I’ll do something really difficult. A pirouette at the canter. This is something people will be talking about for years to come.”

“Keep it to a walk,” Max said over the public-address system.

But it was too late. Veronica had Danny cantering through the pirouette, his hooves pounding into the soft earth. His first step pierced the top layer of dry earth and sank into the muck below. Danny wobbled. His head went down. He struggled to right himself, his eyes full of fear. He whinnied and reared, and Veronica lost the reins. When the horse came down, he looked in near-panic at the fence.

Carole knew she had to act. Danny could hurt himself and Veronica if he ran wild. “Easy,” she said to Starlight, because she knew that fear could pass from horse to horse.

Starlight snorted to show he wasn’t afraid. Carole rode him close to Danny and grabbed the loose reins. “Easy, boy,” she said to him. More important, Starlight
nickered gently to the other horse. Danny drew in a shuddering breath.

Lisa noticed that Veronica had lost her seat and was about to fall. She rode over and said, “Let me help you get back in the saddle.”

Veronica glared at Lisa furiously, but she let Lisa push her upright.

Carole handed Veronica her reins.

Stevie rode over and said, “And now for a victory prance around the ring.”

Lisa could tell that Stevie was trying to rescue Veronica from her embarrassment.

Veronica threw Stevie a sour look, but she rode Danny to the edge of the ring. He started prancing. Stevie, Lisa, and Carole followed. As the horses pranced, the crowd stood and applauded.

Veronica headed for the gate of the ring.
Probably
, Lisa thought,
she’ll be glad to get out of the limelight.

“Wait a second,” Max said. “I have something to say.”

Veronica looked miserable, but she turned Danny back into the ring. Lisa, Carole, and Stevie lined up their horses next to Danny.

“What we’ve just seen here is a fine example of teamwork,” said Max. “Veronica was in trouble, but Lisa, Carole, and Stevie helped her. When people work together, they can accomplish a lot more than they can
alone. That’s what Pine Hollow is all about—riders working together.”

Melody appeared next to Max. “May I say something?” she asked.