Trail Ride (2 page)

“I get it. It might help her with shying and overreacting.”

Carole cut in. “And since you would know ahead of time what was coming, it wouldn’t be dangerous for you.”

“Prancer would start getting used to the unexpected and come to rely on her amazingly unflappable rider,” Stevie finished with a flourish.

“That would really boost her confidence in me!” Lisa said enthusiastically.

“And yours in her,” Carole added wisely.

A knock on the bedroom door interrupted them.

“Carole?”

“Yeah, Dad, come on in,” she called cheerfully.

Colonel Hanson opened the door.

“Hi, Colonel Hanson,” Stevie said brightly. Carole’s dad was one of her favorite adults. “Heard any good jokes lately?”

“Not one,” the colonel said, shaking his head gloomily. “But I’ve got a couple of really bad ones,” he added, breaking into a conspiratorial grin.

Stevie clapped her hands together in approval. “Excellent!” The two of them shared a love for the kind of jokes that would make most people groan at the punch line.

“Stop by the kitchen on your way home and I’ll share them with you.”

“You got it,” Stevie agreed happily.

“Meanwhile, my darling daughter,” he informed Carole. “The phone is for you.”

They all looked at each other. Who could it be? They were all there.

“Who is it, Dad?”

“Long distance from the Wild West,” he informed her.

Carole jumped to her feet. “Kate?”

“Affirmative. Why don’t you three take it in the den. You can use the speakerphone.”

The girls almost knocked the colonel down in their rush to get downstairs.

“Thanks, Dad!” Carole called over her shoulder.

Her dad chuckled good-naturedly. “No problem, hon.”

“Hah! Another member of The Saddle Club,” Stevie crowed triumphantly as she raced down the hall in pursuit of Carole.

“All right,” Lisa laughed. “I guess we do have more than three members.”

Kate Devine was one of the out-of-town members of The Saddle Club. She lived out West with her mom and dad on a dude ranch called the Bar None. She was a kindred spirit and the girls visited her as often as they could, learning how to ride Western and relishing the wide-open spaces.

Carole punched a button on the speakerphone. “Kate? Are you there?”

“Hi, Carole,” Kate said, her voice coming through loud and clear. “How are things?”

“Terrific,” Carole told her. “Your timing is great. Guess who’s standing right beside me?”

“Lisa and Stevie?”

“Hi, Kate,” the two of them chorused.

“Are you calling from the Bar None?” Carole asked.

“Where else?”

“Are you coming out here to visit by any chance?” Lisa asked hopefully.

“No-o-o.”

“Rats!” Stevie said, scowling. “We could use some new blood around here.”

“Summer boredom setting in, Stevie?” Kate chuckled.

“Well, maybe a little.”

“Good,” Kate told her. “Then you won’t mind taking a little break from the city life. Christine had to go out of town to visit her grandparents, and I could really use some company.”

A trill of excitement ran through the girls.

Stevie held up five fingers and waved them under Lisa’s nose. “That’s five,” she said triumphantly. Christine Lonetree was also a member of The Saddle Club. She lived close to Kate and was every bit as horse-crazy as the others. She was also a Native American Indian and had taught the other girls a lot about her culture and heritage.

“Okay, already. I get the point,” Lisa laughed.

Carole waved at them to be quiet. “Kate, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Yep. My dad has to fly a corporate client to Washington next week, and since the plane will be empty on the return trip, he got permission to pick you all up and bring you back here with him. Then he can return you when he goes to pick the guy up again.”

For a moment the room reverberated with the sound of excited squeals of joy.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Kate said when the noise had died down enough for her to make herself heard.

“Will we!” Stevie crowed. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

“Of course, we’ll have to check with our parents first,” Carole reminded them.

“Your dad already said it was okay,” Kate informed her joyfully.

“I’m sure my parents won’t mind. They’ll also be glad to get rid of me for a while,” Stevie said.

“Hey! My dad doesn’t want to get rid of me,” Carole said indignantly.

Stevie rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

Carole grinned. “Just giving you a hard time.”

“So what else is new?” Kate laughed. “How about you, Lisa? Do you think you can make it?”

“I don’t see why not,” she said slowly. “My dad’s out of town again. I’m sure Mom won’t mind having the house all to herself.”

“Terrific! Call me back when you know for sure. I can’t wait to see you.”

“Same here,” the three of them said in unison.

“Talk to you soon.”

“Bye.” Carole hung up.

“We’re going out West!” Stevie hollered, dancing around the room with joy. “Yahoo!”

“Make that
yee haw!
” Carole countered, dancing with her.

“Wait a minute!” Lisa yelled over the two of them. “Some of us haven’t checked with our folks yet.”

Stevie stopped dancing. “Ah, the voice of reason rears its ugly head.”

“Who are you calling ugly?”

“You, if you don’t stop raining on the parade,” Stevie told her. “We’re a shoo-in.”

Lisa sniffed. “I just don’t think we should count our chickens before they hatch, that’s all.”

“She’s right,” Carole concurred. “Why don’t you both call your parents right now so we can celebrate properly.”

“Good idea, Carole,” Stevie said. “I’ll go first.” She turned to the phone, but Lisa was already holding it.

“Hi, Mom,” Lisa said, sticking her tongue out at Stevie.

Outmaneuvered
, Stevie thought, pacing impatiently while Lisa explained things to her mom.

Since Lisa wasn’t using the speaker option, Stevie and Carole could only hear one side of the conversation.

“We were all invited,” Lisa was saying into the phone. “No, Stevie hasn’t asked yet, but she doesn’t think it will be a problem, and Colonel Hanson has
already said that Carole can go.” She listened for a moment. “Yeah, Mom, the Bar None. I know we haven’t returned their hospitality from the last time, but it’s okay. They don’t care about stuff like that.”

Carole and Stevie exchanged glances. Lisa’s mother was a stickler for good manners. Sometimes they thought Mrs. Atwood was a little too worried about social appearances. In fact, they suspected the reason she had let Lisa start riding in the first place was that Mrs. diAngelo, the leading socialite in town, had had her daughter enrolled in riding classes at Pine Hollow.

“No, Mom, I don’t need any new clothes,” Lisa said, rolling her eyes at her friends. “I can wear whatever.” She paused, then sighed heavily. “Okay, okay, we can go shopping tomorrow if you want.” She listened again. “I know you’ll be alone, but I thought you liked that once in a while.”

Stevie crossed her fingers. It sounded like Lisa was winning the case. She sure hoped so, because it wouldn’t be the same going to the Bar None without the entire Saddle Club.

“Okay, Mom, I’ll be home in a little while. Bye.” Lisa hung up. She looked troubled.

“Well?” Stevie demanded.

“I can go,” Lisa told them quietly.

“Yay!” Carole and Stevie danced around the room again, but when Lisa didn’t join in, they stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Carole asked. “Aren’t you happy?”

“Of course I am,” Lisa assured her. “Only …”

“What?” Stevie asked.

“I don’t know. Mom sounded kind of … weird.”

Carole perched on the edge of her dad’s desk. “Weird how?”

Lisa shrugged. “She sounded kind of lonely.”

“You said your dad’s out of town again, right?”

Lisa nodded. “He’s been gone a lot lately. Even more than usual.”

“Don’t worry, Lisa. As soon as he comes home, your mom will be fine,” Carole reassured her.

“And you’ll be out West!” added Stevie. She grabbed the phone and started dialing.

Lisa brightened visibly. “You guys are right.” She pulled a sour face. “Of course I have to get a whole new wardrobe.”

“You know, some girls would enjoy that,” Carole reminded her.

“I know, but lately all my mom wants to do is shop, shop, shop.”

“Quiet, everybody!” Stevie whispered sharply.

Lisa and Carole gave her affronted looks.

“My mom’s at the office, so shush.” She turned her attention to the phone and said brightly, “Hi, Mrs. Renfrew, it’s Stevie. How are you? I’m great, thanks for asking. How are your boys?”

Lisa and Carole began to snicker.

Stevie, who was doing her best to maintain a polite conversation with her mother’s secretary, waved them away. “Is Mom there?” she asked sweetly. “Thanks.” She shot a baleful look at Lisa and Carole.

When Mrs. Lake got on the phone, Stevie gleefully filled her in on the exciting events and waited expectantly. There was a long pause. “What?” she shrieked. “You’re kidding!
No-o-o-o-o
!” Stevie threw herself into Colonel Hanson’s swivel chair. “I totally blacked it out.”

Carole and Lisa exchanged concerned looks.

“Aww, come on, Mom, nobody would miss me,” Stevie coaxed. “It’s not like I’m one of the brides-maids!” She swiveled furiously in the chair. “Besides, according to statistics, she’ll probably be getting married again, anyway. I can go next time.”

Mrs. Lake’s response could be heard all the way across the room. Lisa and Carole cringed.

“Sorry, Mom,” Stevie said contritely. “I’m sure it’s a match made in heaven.” She mimed sticking her finger
down her throat at her two friends. “No, Mother, I did not just make a face.”

Carole and Lisa put their hands over their mouths in an attempt to smother their laughter.

“But I won’t have anyone to talk to,” Stevie wailed. “Who?” she demanded, jumping to her feet. “Cousin Dava? Mom, have you lost it? She hates everything, even horses!”

Stevie spent the next few minutes arguing hotly with her mother, but it was obviously no use. Finally she hung up and sat glowering at the phone.

“Problem?” Carole said after a minute.

“I can’t go!” Stevie told them, near tears. “My cousin is getting married and Mom says the whole family has to be there to support her.” She thumped her head onto the desk. “I hate my cousins!” she said passionately.

“Stevie, you know that’s not true,” Lisa said in a shocked tone.

Stevie looked up. “Okay, I just hate my cousin Dava.”

“That’s more like it,” Carole said.

Bad as she felt, Stevie couldn’t help venting a little. “You know, if I had another week, I could figure out how to get out of this.”

Lisa put a consoling arm around her shoulders. “I don’t doubt that for a minute.”

Stevie pulled herself together. “On the bright side, Mom said I could use her new Quicky-Mail thingy to send messages to you guys any time I wanted.”

“Oh, I’ve heard about those things,” Lisa cooed. “It’s one of those wireless miniature computers that you can use to send and receive e-mail. All you have to do is hold it in front of the mouthpiece.”

“Very cool,” Carole concurred.

“I can’t believe this is happening to me,” Stevie said glumly. “You guys have to promise to write me every single day and give me all the details!”

“We promise,” Lisa assured her.

“I bet it won’t be nearly as much fun as we think it will be,” Carole told her stoutly.

“Oh be quiet, Sally Sunshine,” Stevie snapped. She sat back and surveyed her two best friends. They were obviously excited to be going and almost as upset as she was that she couldn’t be there as well. “Well,” she said, “at least it’ll be happy trails for some of The Saddle Club.”

C
AROLE AND
L
ISA
stood by the gate to the runway, clutching their suitcases expectantly.

“Have you ever seen Stevie looking so down?” Lisa murmured.

“Not often,” Carole admitted.

“She couldn’t even come and see us off.”

“I know. When she drove away this morning, she looked like she was going to her own execution.”

“Can’t blame her. No trip to the Bar None, no Saddle Club meetings, no riding.”

The two girls shuddered at the very thought.

“Do they even have horses where she’s going?” Lisa asked.

“In Massachusetts? Of course they do!” Carole said. “At least I think they do.”

“No electricity, though,” Colonel Hanson said quietly.

“Dad! Stop that.”

“Come on, you two, cheer up. Stevie is going to be fine. She always manages to land on her feet.”

“Maybe she’ll even find a way to ride,” Lisa said hopefully.

“She did take along her riding stuff,” Carole whispered.

“How’d she manage to get that past her mom?”

“She stuffed it in with the spare tire last night while she was supposed to be doing the dishes,” Carole told her, grinning.

Lisa chuckled. “That’s our Stevie.”

“There’s your ride, girls,” Colonel Hanson said, pointing to a sleek white-and-blue jet descending toward the runway. It touched down with barely a bump and taxied over to the gate where they were waiting.