Dream Horse (5 page)

The girls decided that a way to make Veronica self-conscious was to be sure everybody was staring at her. As they rode around the ring during their break, they whispered the plan to other riders. The class was more than
willing to do something that might make Veronica blunder.

“Being stared at always makes people nervous,” Lisa said.

It didn’t make Veronica nervous. In fact, she seemed to blossom under all the attention, and it made her ride better.

“I think we just flunked ‘retribution,’ ” Lisa whispered to Carole.

“But there
must
be a way,” said Carole.

“And we’ll find it, but it might take more Stevian thinking than we’ve put into this so far,” said Lisa.

“We’ll talk later,” Carole whispered.

“For sure,” Lisa agreed.

After class, they talked while they groomed their horses and mucked out Belle’s stall. They talked about jumping; they talked about grooming. They discussed proper attire for horse shows, and they talked about how hard it was going to be for Carole to pretend to be ignorant about horses. They even talked about the fact that Phil was going gliding with his uncle Michael. They didn’t talk about how they could get even with Veronica. It was unspoken between them: Stevie was the best at getting even; it wasn’t the same without her, and they would just have to wait until they were with her.

“I miss her!” Lisa said, finally acknowledging what they both knew was true.

“Me too,” said Carole as she put the pitchfork back where it belonged. “I wonder what we can do for her.”

“I’ve got an idea,” said Lisa. “Why don’t we stop by TD’s on our way to her house?”

TD’s was an ice cream shop near Pine Hollow and Stevie’s house. The girls often had impromptu Saddle Club meetings there, talking about the wonderful mysteries of horses while consuming their favorite sweets. One of the things about Stevie that seemed an eternal mystery to her friends was what constituted her “favorite” ice cream sundaes.
Ghastly
was one word her friends sometimes used to describe them.
Revolting
was another word they’d used from time to time.
Inventive
was what Stevie called them.

A few minutes later they ordered butter pecan ice cream with licorice bits and caramel sauce to go and pooled every cent they had on them to pay for it.

“Oh, and some chopped peanuts and marshmallow fluff,” Lisa added.

Carole winced. That was how she knew they’d gotten a really good combination. If it made her stomach twinge just to hear the ingredients, it was guaranteed to please Stevie.

The girls carried their bounty proudly.

“She’s going to
love
it,” Lisa said.

“It’s going to be her new all-time favorite,” Carole agreed.

They knocked on the door. Chad invited them in and told them Stevie was in bed. “Isn’t it wonderful that the doctor told her she has to
stay
there for a whole week?” he gloated.

The girls stopped by the kitchen to pick up a spoon for Stevie and then trotted upstairs. Stevie was sitting in her bed quietly. There was a television set in her room. It was off. There was a stereo next to her bed. No music was coming from it. A portable electronic game set lay silent next to her. She wasn’t on the phone. She wasn’t playing with her computer. She wasn’t yelling at her brothers or throwing things at them.

“You okay?” Carole asked.

“Of course,” said Stevie. “And I’m even better now that the two of you are here. What have you brought me?” She eyed the bag from TD’s meaningfully. Lisa handed it to her proudly.

“It’s our welcome-home present,” she said.

Stevie beamed. She reached in and pulled out the container. Carefully she removed the lid.

“Eeuuuuuu!” she said.

“What’s the matter?” Carole asked.

“What
is
this?” Stevie said, curling her lip in disgust.

“It’s going to be your newest favorite,” Lisa said. “It’s almost the same thing you ordered just two weeks ago—”

“—and loved,” Carole assured her. “Here’s a spoon.”

“Whatever for?” Stevie asked. “I can’t eat this. Butter pecan and licorice chips? Caramel, marshmallow … I can’t even think about it.” She set the container aside and put the lid back on it. “Maybe next time you could bring me hot fudge on vanilla ice cream,” she suggested.

Carole and Lisa couldn’t believe their ears. There was a disgusting sundae that Stevie didn’t like? “We’ll remember, I promise,” Carole said quickly, trying to quell the alarm in her voice. She and Lisa looked at one another. The doctor might think Stevie was better, but they knew her best. Her head was still scrambled. They were glad Stevie was going to have more rest. She needed it!

“So, have you had any more interesting dreams?” Lisa asked, changing the subject quickly as Carole spirited the offending sundae off Stevie’s bedside table. She parked it on the hall table until they could take it downstairs and give it a decent burial.

“Oh, yes, but it was strange,” said Stevie.

“They all are,” Carole said, wiggling her sore toe uncomfortably in her sneaker.

“Actually,” said Stevie, “this dream wasn’t so much about the horse as it was about the horse’s rider.”

“Who was the rider?” Lisa asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know the name of the rider or the horse. But in this case, it was about the rider and it involved a sign.”

“A sign, like a mysterious symbol or something?” Carole asked. This sounded exciting.

“No, not like that at all,” said Stevie. “A sign, like white with black lettering. It said Point and Laugh.”

“At what?” asked Lisa.

“Beats me,” said Stevie.

Carole furrowed her brow in thought. She sat down and took Stevie’s hand. “Listen, there’s something, actually a couple of things, that you should know about your dreams—”

Lisa didn’t like the sound of this. She thought Carole meant to tell Stevie that her dreams were coming true. First Phil had been thrown from Teddy, and then Starlight had stepped on Carole’s toe. Lisa didn’t think it was a good idea to tell Stevie about these coincidences. Stevie’s dreams were wild enough without any help from her friends.

“Right,” Lisa interrupted. “What Carole is about to say is what we’re both thinking. We’re having a lot of
fun hearing about your dreams. Every time you have an interesting one, be sure to tell us, okay?”

Carole looked as if she was about to say something, but she shut her mouth.

“Sure thing,” Stevie promised. Then she stretched and yawned. “In fact, I might have a dream arriving right now …”

“H
I
,
CAN
I come in?”

It was Phil Marsten.

“Of course you can,” said Stevie. “I just told Carole and Lisa I thought you were about to walk in here.”

The girls giggled. In fact, what Stevie had said was that a dream was arriving. They hadn’t realized she meant the personification of a dream, one Phil Marsten.

Phil came in and perched on the chair at the foot of Stevie’s bed.

“I’m so glad you’re back from the hospital,” he said. “I guess that means that you can ride on Saturday and we can have our jump-off, right? I hope so because I’m
counting on the fact that you’ve had an injury to impair your abilities. I’ll be a shoo-in to win, so I can take back those bribes I paid the judges.”

Stevie sat up in her bed and frowned in scorn.

“Phil Marsten, I could beat you in a jump-off even if I were in a coma!” she declared. “It would take more money than you have to bribe any judges into believing that you are actually better than I am, and—”

“Calm down,” Phil said. “I’m joking.”

“I know.” Stevie relented, smiling.

“I actually came by to tell you that maybe it’s a good thing we can’t do our competition this weekend because Uncle Michael says we have to leave early in the morning. We can’t actually go up in the glider until noon, but we’ve got a drive ahead of us, and we’ll have to prepare the glider when we get to Dunstable Field—that’s the airport we’ll use—and he says I’m going to need some preparation before our flight. His glider ID number is thirteen—he says that’s for good luck! Anyway, I think he wants to give me a lesson on the ground first.”

“Don’t do it,” Stevie said.

“Right, like I actually think you’re going to be able to ride on Saturday,” said Phil. “I talked to your mother last night after she talked to the doctor, and she said you’re not allowed out of bed until next Tuesday and then only if the doctor says it’s okay. No way I’m missing
out on soaring with Uncle Michael anyway. I promise I’ll tell you everything that happens. Uncle Michael says it’s the best experience there is.”

“No, I mean, don’t do it,” said Stevie. Her face was solemn and serious, something her friends didn’t often see. “Not because of the jump-off, but because something is going to happen.”

“You bet it is,” said Phil. “What’s going to happen is that we’re going to fly freely for a long time. Uncle Michael says people can stay up for hours—even eight or more at a time. Isn’t that something? And don’t worry about safety, because gliders are very safe. They’re actually safer than airplanes because they don’t have engines.”

“But an engine is the problem!” said Stevie, suddenly animated.

“No way,” said Phil. “We’ll fly the same way birds do, using currents and thermals to lift us. That’s why it’s called a glider or a sailplane.”

“But something’s wrong,” Stevie said, her voice filled with concern. “It’s an engine. I just know it.” Her eyes closed.

Phil took her hand. “Don’t worry, Stevie,” he said. “There’s no engine. I promise. We’ll be fine.”

“Maybe,” Stevie conceded, her eyes still closed.

Lisa, Carole, and Phil exchanged glances.

“I think she’s going to sleep for a while,” said Lisa. They stood up and whispered good-byes; then they crept out of Stevie’s room.

Carole picked up the spurned sundae to carry it to the kitchen. She knew better than to offer it to anybody else. She dumped it into the garbage while Lisa described its ingredients to Phil.

“And she didn’t want to eat it?” he asked. “But that’s right up her alley.”

“She wanted hot fudge on vanilla,” Lisa said. “Can you believe it?”

“I hope a week in bed will complete her transformation back to the old Stevie,” said Phil.

“Me too,” Carole agreed. “Until then, there’s only one word to describe her behavior.”

“Right,” Lisa agreed.

And then all three of them said it at the same time:
“Weird.”

“Maybe we should call her doctor,” Lisa said.

“Sure, we’ll just explain that we’re worried about Stevie because she didn’t want to eat the most repulsive sundae ever.”

“He’d send
us
to our beds for a week,” Carole said.

“And then I’d miss gliding,” said Phil.

“And we’d miss the chance to nail a crooked horse trader,” said Lisa.

“What’s this about?” Phil asked.

Carole explained about their mission with Deborah to Rock Ridge.

“Oh, I know where that is,” said Phil. “Dunstable Field is right near there. Maybe I can get Uncle Michael to fly over the guy’s field.”

“Great!” said Lisa. “Why don’t you take a picture of the place when you’re over it. It would be perfect to go with the story Deborah’s writing!”

“Great idea,” said Phil. “Uncle Michael always takes a camera with him. I’m sure we can do it. But in return for that, I want to hear everything that happens.”

“You and Stevie both,” said Carole. “At least her curiosity is still healthy!”

“Well, then there’s hope,” Phil said, laughing.

“Y
OU KNOW
,
THINKING
about butter pecan ice cream with licorice chips makes me hungry,” Carole said.

“I know what you mean,” said Lisa. “It’s because every other time Stevie’s ordered something that revolting, you and I have gotten something delicious. I don’t know about you, but buying that concoction for Stevie meant the end of my allowance, so we can’t go back to TD’s.”

“I’ve discussed this phenomenon with my dad,” Carole said. “It seems that the week is about three days longer than my allowance. He was surprisingly unsympathetic. He began to talk about things like ‘fiscal responsibility’ and ‘learning to do without.’ Most of the time he’s
the best dad in the world, but every once in a while he’s more Marine than dad—if you know what I mean.”