Gift Horse (10 page)

“Thank goodness,” Carole exclaimed to Lisa as soon as Colonel Hanson had disappeared after the younger girl. “This could be harder than we thought.”

Lisa nodded. “Come on, let’s go see how Stevie’s doing.”

They found her in Topside’s stall. “Hi, guys,” she greeted them.

“Hi. How’s it going?” Carole asked, peering over the stall door at the horse inside. “Max wants everybody to start loading up for the trip to Cross County.”

Stevie nodded. “It doesn’t really seem fair that Phil has the home field advantage, does it?” she grumbled. Then she grinned. “But even that’s not going to help him today,” she added confidently. “Now that No-Name’s back in, we’ll be unbeatable.”

The others couldn’t help agreeing. No-Name was obviously feeling frisky and ready to go, and Stevie’s mood had improved one hundred percent since the day before. They really would be hard to beat—if no one noticed the results of their cosmetic work, that is.

“I hope Max doesn’t find that straw in the trash bin,” Lisa said worriedly. They’d had some trouble getting No-Name to hold still for her dye job the afternoon before, and as a result a lot of sticky brown dye had ended up on the straw on the stall floor. Lisa had done her best to stuff the colored straw down among the trash in the big bin behind the stable, but if Max or Red happened to look down into the bin they’d be able to see it.

“Don’t worry,” said Stevie breezily. “Even if he does notice it, he’s much too busy to start worrying about some dyed straw right now.”

“You’re probably right,” Carole said. “Still, I think he
might find time to start worrying if he notices that the horse in No-Name’s stall isn’t No-Name. I just checked, and Topside’s already started chewing off his socks.” The girls had used white shoe polish to give the gelding uneven socks and an exclamation point on his face.

Stevie shrugged. “You guys worry too much,” she said. “Nobody will notice a thing. And even if they do, what can they do to me—threaten to take away my horse?”

Carole and Lisa smiled a little at Stevie’s black humor, then they all got back to work. Topside had been assigned a spot on Red’s van with several other horses, including Starlight. Garnet and Prancer were in a different van. Lisa, Carole, and Veronica quickly loaded their horses, then went to Topside’s stall to help Stevie.

“Okay, let’s go,” Stevie said, opening the stall door and leading No-Name out. “Lisa, you’re on distraction patrol. Make sure Max is too busy to notice No-Name.”

Lisa nodded and hurried away. She found Max and started asking him about stirrup leathers. Soon she, Max, and Mrs. Reg were heading for the tack room.

“Okay, Veronica,” Stevie said as they reached the stable door. “You’re in charge of Red.”

“Got it,” Veronica said. She strolled over to the van, where Red was helping Adam Levine finish loading his tack. “Oh, Red,” Veronica sang out in a loud, whiny voice. “Could you get Garnet’s tack for me?”

Stevie and Carole giggled at the look on Red’s face,
which said as plain as day that he’d known the old Veronica would return soon enough. He sighed and headed for the tack room.

“All clear,” Carole said. She and Stevie started toward the van with No-Name in tow.

“Uh-oh,” Stevie said a moment later. “Concerned father at five o’clock.”

Carole looked and saw her father hurrying toward them. “I’m on it,” she said. She veered off, intercepting Colonel Hanson when he was still too far away to get a good look at the horse Stevie was leading. “Hey, Dad, I’m glad you’re here,” she exclaimed. “You’ve got to help me. Amie lost her lucky hat, and she’s hysterical—she won’t ride without it. Will you help me find it?”

Stevie was close enough to hear, and she silently congratulated her friend on her quick thinking. Pine Hollow had dozens of hard hats, which were stored on hooks on the wall in the student dressing room. It would take ages to look through all of them. By the time Carole pretended to find the one she was looking for, No-Name would be safely loaded.

Luckily, everyone else at Pine Hollow was distracted enough getting ready themselves that none of them noticed the unfamiliar and rather blotchy bay mare that Stevie was loading on the van. When The Saddle Club and Veronica met up at the Hansons’ station wagon a few minutes before departure, they traded winks.

“Operation Beauty Parlor is successful so far,” Stevie whispered.

The others giggled, then climbed into the car.

B
EFORE LONG THE
Pine Hollow caravan arrived at Cross County and started unloading. Once again there was a whirlwind of activity, and Stevie saddled up No-Name without anyone’s noticing her identity. Stevie tightened the mare’s girth, then swung up into the saddle. It was time to ride her horse again—probably for the last time.

She distracted herself from that sad thought by reminding herself that it was also time for Horse Wise to have their revenge against Phil’s team. It was time to win!

The Pine Hollow riders lined up for inspection. Stevie crossed her fingers as Max went from horse to horse, making sure they were all ready to go. As he got closer, Stevie crossed her toes, too. There were some people who would be fooled by No-Name’s disguise, but Stevie knew very well that Max wasn’t one of them. She watched anxiously as he glanced over Starlight, who was next to No-Name.

Finally it was their turn. Max glanced at Stevie’s mount, and his forehead furrowed as he gave the horse a puzzled frown. Then recognition dawned. “What are you thinking of?” he hissed at Stevie.

“I had to do it, Max,” Stevie whispered back urgently. She had to make him understand. “This is my last chance to ride her. I just couldn’t stand it if I missed it. I really
couldn’t.” Stevie felt tears welling up behind her eyes, but she swallowed hard and held them back. No-Name reached out and nibbled at Max’s collar.

“Don’t you think people will find out?” he said quietly, stroking the mare’s soft nose and gently detaching her lips from his collar.

“Not if you don’t tell them,” Stevie countered. She held her breath as she waited for Max’s answer.

“Tell them what?” he said at last, and moved on down the row.

Stevie sighed with relief and glanced over at Carole. Carole gave her a questioning look, and Stevie gave her a smile and a thumbs-up sign. Her secret was safe with Max.

A few minutes later the rally began. Mr. Baker, the director of Cross County, explained how the competition would work. Eight different Pony Clubs were at the rally, and each club had two or three teams representing it, for a grand total of eighteen teams. Stevie, Carole, Lisa, and Veronica were one of the Pine Hollow teams; Adam Levine, Meg Durham, Simon Atherton, and Polly Giacomin were the other. Obviously, it would be difficult for that many teams to compete simultaneously. Therefore, there would be three elimination rounds. The top two teams in each round would make it to the final round to compete for ribbons.

“All right, everyone,” Mr. Baker called, holding up a hard hat. “Your attention please. I’d like each team to send
a representative up here to draw a piece of paper out of this hat. The number on the paper will determine which of the three rounds you’re in.”

“Go ahead, Stevie,” Lisa said. “Pick us a number.” Carole and Veronica nodded.

Stevie dismounted and handed No-Name’s reins to Carole. Then she joined the group of eager riders gathered around Mr. Baker. Stevie picked out a slip of folded paper from the hard hat, then carried it back to her team without opening it. “Okay, guys,” she said. “The moment of truth …” She opened the piece of paper. On it was a big number three.

“We’re in the third group,” Carole said. “That’s good. It means we’ll have an idea of what our competition is going to be in the final round.”

Stevie grinned. “My thoughts exactly.” She was glad that her friends seemed to be as eager to win as she was. If this was going to be her last day riding No-Name, she wanted it to be special.

The Saddle Club watched as the first group of teams—including Chelsea Webber’s team from Mendenhall Stables, and the other Pine Hollow team—went through the first round of play. They started with an egg-and-spoon race. Chelsea’s team was in last place until the final leg, when Chelsea and her horse, a tall, calm gray gelding, made up a lot of the lost ground and finished fourth. The Pine Hollow team came in last, thanks to Simon, who
couldn’t keep his egg on his spoon for more than three seconds.

In the races that followed, the first Pine Hollow team continued to do miserably. In the water race, Simon dropped the bucket three times. In the tabletop race, he lost his balance and slipped off the far side of Patch’s saddle. In the ribbon relay, he got the long red ribbon he was carrying so tangled in his horse’s mane that it took him several valuable seconds to work it loose so he could pass it to Polly.

The Saddle Club cheered loyally for their stablemates, but they couldn’t help laughing at some of Simon’s fumbles. At the same time, they couldn’t help noticing how well Chelsea was doing, although her team ended up finishing fourth. Stevie was relieved—that meant there was no chance she’d have to compete against Chelsea in the finals.

Phil’s team was in the second round, and finished first. Stevie cheered loudly for him the whole time. When her friends gave her questioning looks, she shrugged. “We can’t beat the pants off him if he doesn’t make it to the final round, right?” she said.

Her friends smiled. They had the funniest feeling that wasn’t the only reason Stevie was cheering for her boyfriend. But they knew better than to say so.

Finally it was their turn. As Stevie rode No-Name into the ring, she cast a nervous glance in the direction of Chelsea
Webber, who had returned her gelding to his stall and was sitting in the stands with her parents and sister. Stevie was more worried than she’d let on to her friends about the possibility that Chelsea would recognize No-Name, even with the disguise. But Chelsea didn’t seem to suspect a thing so far.

The teams lined up for the egg-and-spoon race. Carole passed the spoon to Lisa without missing a beat. Veronica was next. As Stevie waited her turn, she glanced over at Chelsea again. The other team from Mendenhall Stables was competing in this round, and Chelsea was cheering enthusiastically for her stablemates. She didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the Pine Hollow team at all, and Stevie was glad.

Then Veronica passed her the spoon, and Stevie forgot all about Chelsea, throwing herself into the fun of the game. No-Name was clearly having fun, too. After finishing first in the egg-and-spoon race, the Pine Hollow team went on to finish first or second in the other races as well, ending up in first place and advancing to the final round.

After a short break, the six top teams returned to the ring.

“Now the real competition starts,” Stevie remarked to her teammates, glancing over at Phil.

“Uh-oh,” Lisa and Carole said in one voice. But they were only kidding, and Stevie knew it. They all wanted to
win. Having No-Name back on the team made it even more important for all of them.

One of the Cross County stable hands had set up a row of chairs in the center of the ring. “Great, musical chairs. We’re awesome at that,” Veronica remarked confidently. This was one of the few games where the riders had to perform individually rather than as teams. The four individual scores were added together to form the team score.

Veronica was proven correct a few minutes later, when Stevie finished in second place and Lisa finished fourth. Carole and Veronica were sixth and seventh.

Unfortunately, Phil came in first.

“We’ve got to do better in the next game,” Stevie said grimly. No-Name tossed her head and stamped her foot.

The next race was an obstacle course relay race. This one took a few minutes to set up—it seemed that Mr. Baker had come up with the strangest things possible to use as obstacles, and he’d cooked up an incredibly intricate course among them. The winner was the team that made it through with the fewest mistakes or refusals. In the case of a tie the team with the faster time won.

Pine Hollow was the first team, and Stevie was riding the first leg. “Come on, girl, we can do it,” she whispered to No-Name as they prepared to start. “Let’s really show everyone that you and I are a team.” No-Name’s ears perked forward eagerly.

At the signal from Mr. Baker, Stevie urged her horse
forward. The first obstacle was a bucket of water. The horse had to pass between the bucket and the fence without knocking the bucket over.

“No drinks for you this time, okay?” Stevie told No-Name with a chuckle. She guided the mare between the fence and the bucket at a trot. No-Name glanced down at the bucket as she passed it, but obeyed Stevie and continued forward toward the next obstacle, a series of barrels. Under Stevie’s careful guidance, the mare weaved her way among them without a misstep.

Next was a series of cavalletti, the long poles used in training horses to jump. That was an easy one. Stevie kept the mare at a trot, and No-Name adjusted her stride perfectly to avoid touching any of the cavalletti.

“Okay, we’re almost halfway home,” Stevie told her horse. “You’re doing great.”

The mare’s ears flicked back for a second, listening, then she returned her full attention to the fence they were approaching. It was a low one, and No-Name cleared it easily. She responded instantly upon landing, when Stevie guided her sharply to the right and then brought her to a quick stop in front of a bale of hay.

Stevie dismounted. “Follow me,” she urged the horse, leading her to the bale. No-Name followed and stepped up onto the bale without hesitation. A second later they were on the other side and Stevie was back in the saddle.

The next obstacle was the hardest for most riders. It was
a long, thick rope, which Mr. Baker had laid down in a snaky double-S-shaped pattern. The riders had to guide their horses along one side of the rope, as close as they could. But points were subtracted from their score if the horse stepped on or over the rope.

No-Name’s hooves were so close to the rope that Lisa, Carole, and Veronica held their breath as they watched. It seemed impossible that the mare wouldn’t miss a step somewhere along the way. But she didn’t. Stevie and No-Name were working as a team, in perfect harmony.