Best Friends (14 page)

“Did you see the news broadcast about us?” Stevie asked her friends.

“Dad taped it,” said Lisa.

“Mine too,” Carole told her.

“Actually, it was Chad who taped it at our house,” Stevie said. “But that’s because Dad couldn’t figure out how to set
the VCR. But he definitely clipped the news article. He sent it to everyone he knows, except Grandma.”

“Why not her?” Lisa asked.

“Because you’re wearing the sweater she gave me for Christmas,” Stevie explained.

Lisa laughed. So did Carole.

“All that news stuff was fun,” said Carole, recalling how the broadcaster had referred to them as “three spunky girls” and the newspaper called them “heroines of Pine Hollow.” “But the best part was when Veronica got home.”

“Ah, yes.” Lisa sighed in contentment. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so angry.”

“Well, of course. She didn’t get to compete, and we did!” Carole said, recalling their little horse show.

“I loved how she implied that we’d caused the snowstorm,” said Stevie. “I mean, only Veronica could think that way.”

“I gave her back her money,” said Carole. “That should make her happy. I decided I’d rather keep the bridle.”

“And I’m keeping my boots,” said Stevie. “Actually, she told me she didn’t want them anymore.”

“I didn’t take back the application, although, believe me, she tried to talk me into it,” Lisa said. “So I’ve still got seventy-five dollars. What shall we do with it?”

“We?” Stevie asked. The money was definitely Lisa’s and nobody else’s.

“We,” Lisa repeated. “We all earned it, we should all have fun with it, and I wouldn’t have any fun at all unless the two of you were with me, anyway.”

“That’s the thing about friends,” Carole said. “We look out for one another.”

“Yes, we do,” Lisa agreed.

Stevie smiled and nodded. They weren’t ready to decide yet, but they knew they’d enjoy the money when they did decide, and they knew that the fact it had come from Veronica would make the choice all the more delicious.

They sat in their saddles in silence for a while, just looking down at the stable, now mired in the mud caused by melting snow.

“Looks different from up here,” said Stevie. “Especially at this time of year.”

“But it’s really just the same,” Carole observed. “That’s what I like about it. It’s always Pine Hollow. Our Pine Hollow. Whether we’re stuck in it, riding around it, looking at it, it’s just the same.”

“Just like we are,” said Lisa. “Best friends—the same as always.”

“Best friends,” echoed Stevie.

“Forever,” Carole confirmed.

B
ONNIE
B
RYANT
is the author of more than a hundred books about horses, including The Saddle Club series, The Saddle Club Super Editions, the Pony Tails series, and Pine Hollow, which follows the Saddle Club girls into their teens. She has also written novels and movie novelizations under her married name, B. B. Hiller.

Ms. Bryant began writing The Saddle Club in 1986. Although she had done some riding before that, she intensified her studies then and found herself learning right along with her characters Stevie, Carole, and Lisa. She claims that they are all much better riders than she is.

Ms. Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She still lives there, in Greenwich Village, with her two sons.

THE SADDLE CLUB
SUPER EDITIONS

#1 A SUMMER WITHOUT HORSES

#2 THE SECRET OF THE STALLION

#3 WESTERN STAR

#4 DREAM HORSE

#5 BEFORE THEY RODE HORSES

#6 NIGHTMARE

#7 CHRISTMAS TREASURE

THE SADDLE CLUB
SPECIAL EDITIONS

STEVIE: THE INSIDE STORY

LISA: THE INSIDE STORY

CAROLE: THE INSIDE STORY