Horse Thief (6 page)

Max turned back to the group. “I don’t know what’s going on here, and none of you seems willing to tell me,” he began, fixing each student with a stern eye. “But no matter what a rider’s personal feelings are, he or she should never display the type of behavior I saw in the tack room. Part of being a rider is how you carry yourself. It’s really important—”

Just then Red stuck his head in the office. “Max, riders from Ballard Hills and more riders from Cross County,” he announced.

“Okay, we’ll be right there,” Max answered, and Denise hurried out. Max looked at the group of riders again and said, “You’re spared the lecture, so for the time being, just stay out of trouble and behave yourselves. Now, I’m sure everyone has some preparation to do before the rally, and if not, then try to help other riders. Get started!” With that, Max hurried after Denise. Celeste, Howard, and Kurt followed quickly. Veronica disappeared before anyone could give her a job to do.

Carole and Lisa went up to Mo, who still looked mad. “Let’s get that tack clean now,” Carole said.

“Thanks,” answered Mo in a subdued tone. At the mention of her tack, she began to look less angry and more discouraged. Carole and Lisa couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. It was obvious that Celeste often picked on Mo, and they wondered how Mo could stand it. Even though they had to put up with Veronica’s pettiness sometimes, it was nothing compared to the obvious bad feeling between Mo and Celeste and Howard.

“Mo, why don’t you tell someone about how mean Celeste is to you?” Lisa asked gently.

“What good would it do?” Mo muttered, almost to herself. Then she shrugged. “Thanks for helping me
with the tack,” she said, walking out of the office. Carole and Lisa looked at each other. It was obvious that Mo didn’t want to talk about it, and they didn’t know her well enough to pry. They followed her into the tack room.

Veronica was picking up a cloth when they got there. “I can’t believe that I was forced to endure that little lecture,” she complained to no one in particular. “It had absolutely nothing to do with me, and I have so much to do for Danny before the rally starts.”

Stevie and Phil exchanged glances. Red or Denise almost always tacked up Danny for Veronica. They knew that in all likelihood Veronica was bringing the polishing cloth for someone else to do the work. All she had to do, usually, was climb on the horse. “Maybe you weren’t caught yelling this time, but otherwise, I’d say you deserve the title of Queen of Screech,” said Phil.

“I’ve had enough of your little remarks, Phil Marsten,” Veronica hissed. “You’d better watch your back. And that includes you, little girlfriend!” she added, turning to Stevie. She stomped out, whipping the polishing cloth behind her for effect.

Stevie made a cross with her fingers as if to ward off evil. “Listen, you’ve had some fun with Veronica, but let’s just stay out of her way,” she suggested to Phil. “It’s
the day of our anniversary celebration, remember? And we’ve got a rally ahead of us.

“Besides,” she said as she linked arms with Phil, “I don’t know what Veronica meant by ‘little.’ I’m taller than she is.”

“T
HERE
,” L
ISA SAID
, tightening Prancer’s girth. “You’re ready to go.” Prancer was tacked up and in perfect show form. Her mane and tail were beautifully braided—thanks to Stevie—and Lisa had carefully touched up Prancer’s tack after helping Mo with hers.

Prancer turned her head and reached her nose out to Lisa. “Hey,” Lisa said, jerking back. Prancer had just nibbled her hair for the fourth or fifth time since she had entered the stall. The horse had also butted Lisa with her head several times.

Lisa shook her head in confusion. Nibbling hair and bumping people playfully was something that Belle, Stevie’s horse, was prone to do, but Prancer was usually
gentle and more dignified. What had gotten into the mare lately?

Stevie stuck her head over the stall door. “Almost ready?” she asked.

“Yes,” answered Lisa. “But I can’t get over it. Prancer’s still not acting like herself.”

“Maybe she’s been taken over by body-snatching aliens. The kind of aliens that prefer horses to people. Come to think about it, we should get to know those aliens!” joked Stevie.

Lisa didn’t laugh. Normally she found Stevie’s dumb jokes at least mildly funny, but Prancer’s unexplained behavior was worrying her. It wasn’t that she was sick or even naughty, just un-Prancer-like.

A
FEW MINUTES
later Carole, Lisa, Stevie, Phil, and A. J. met outside and began walking toward the show ring. The rally was due to begin in less than fifteen minutes. Lisa was leading Prancer, since she was one of the first riders scheduled to compete.

Just as they reached the show ring, Max appeared. He looked upset and almost rushed by the girls without seeing them.

“Hey, Max, is something wrong?” Carole called out in concern.

Max halted and looked around. He raked his fingers
through his hair. “The money’s gone—all of it. It was in my office ten minutes ago—well, you saw it—and now it’s gone! I thought the feed refund and the CARL jar would be safer in the house, so I went back to get it and it was gone!”

“How much money is missing?” asked Phil.

“Over five hundred dollars,” Max said glumly.

The Saddle Club could hardly believe their ears. Five hundred dollars! How could that be? They’d all just seen it, and now … Who would take five hundred dollars?

Max began looking around. Riders from the different Pony Clubs were beginning to gather with their horses outside the show ring. Parents and other spectators occupied the bleachers just outside the show ring. “I guess I should make an announcement,” he said reluctantly. “Maybe someone knows something about the missing money.”

Max went to the table at the side of the show ring, where he sat with the judges. He raised his hand and the crowd quieted down. Usually Max opened shows at Pine Hollow with a welcoming greeting for all the visiting Pony Clubs. Today his first remarks had quite a different tone.

“I have a very disturbing announcement to make,” began Max. He didn’t look worried and upset anymore. Carole, Lisa, and Stevie knew that in a crisis Max usually managed to maintain a rational and calm appearance.
“Someone has just taken a large sum of money out of my office.”

The crowd began to murmur. Max held up his hand for silence. “It was my fault for being so careless as to leave it there, but I’ve always encouraged an open atmosphere at this stable and I didn’t think it would be a problem. Now the money is gone, and if anyone knows anything about the disappearance, please come and talk to me. If you know where the money is, you can just leave it in my office when I’m not there—no questions asked.”

The riders from visiting Pony Clubs shuffled uneasily, and several people darted glances at each other. Then Veronica diAngelo stepped forward. “I know something,” she said, looking pleased with herself.

“Uh-oh,” whispered Stevie. Veronica had an expression on her face that meant trouble. But even Stevie didn’t anticipate what Veronica said next.

“I know who took the money,” announced Veronica. “Phil Marsten is the thief. I saw him sneaking out of your office ten minutes ago!”

V
ERONICA
’
S ACCUSATION SET
off a shock wave of reaction. Stevie could hardly believe her ears. Had Veronica lost her mind? Maybe she was still mad at Phil because of all his teasing, but this was too much!

Members of the Cross County Pony Club, who were all good friends with Phil, began protesting his innocence. “That’s a lie, Veronica!” A.J. called out. Phil’s parents looked outraged at Veronica’s words. Members of other Pony Clubs who didn’t know Phil began craning their necks for a glimpse of the supposed thief.

Stevie opened her mouth to tell Veronica off, but Max forestalled her. “No, Stevie. Let Phil speak,” he ordered.

An uneasy silence fell over the group. Phil looked around uncomfortably and then glanced at Veronica, his
green eyes cold. “That’s ridiculous!” he said. “I didn’t take the money. I haven’t had any money for weeks—I’m always broke,” he added, trying to make a joke of it. The joke fell flat, and no one laughed.

Stevie turned and faced Veronica. “You can’t just make crazy accusations like that in front of all these people!” She was so mad her voice shook. “Who do you think you are?”

Veronica didn’t look the least bit ashamed. In fact, Stevie had never seen her look so sure of herself. “I’m only reporting what I saw with my own eyes,” she answered smugly. “I have proof that Phil Marsten is the thief. I saw him skulking around Max’s office. He looked so guilty, I knew he was up to something.”

“There’s only one explanation for this,” Stevie said sarcastically. “Either you need a pair of glasses, or you’re completely off your rocker. You didn’t see
anything
, did you? You’re just making it up.” Then she looked at Phil, expecting him to deny Veronica’s statement. To her dismay, Phil had turned red. “Phil, tell her the truth,” she pleaded.

Phil turned even redder and wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I did go into Max’s office about ten minutes ago,” he admitted.

“Why?” Stevie asked, bewildered.

“Just because,” mumbled Phil. “But,” he added defiantly, “I didn’t take the money.”

No one knew how to react at first. Phil was acting very strangely, completely unlike his usual frank, open self. He didn’t seem to want to volunteer any more information.

“If Phil says he didn’t do it, that’s good enough for me,” A.J. said at last, looking around. “I believe him.”

Max looked at Phil thoughtfully. He knew Phil almost as well as he knew Stevie, and he had always liked and trusted him. “I’ll take your word for it, Phil,” he said. “Let’s try to figure this out later. We should go on with the rally as planned. We’ll start a little later, though—in fifteen minutes. I’m going to search the office one more time.” He hurried off.

Phil smiled at Stevie, but his smile looked uncertain compared to his usual grin. He walked off with A.J. for a last-minute Cross County pep talk.

“Gosh,” a voice said. “He looks too nice to be a thief.”

The Saddle Club turned to see Mo, standing with Indy. “He
is
too nice to be a thief,” said Stevie. “He didn’t do it!”

“Are you sure?” Mo asked gently. “I mean, I know he’s your boyfriend, but that dark-haired girl saw him sneaking around the office. And no one else saw anything. If he didn’t take the money, what was he doing?”

“I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation for what Phil was doing,” said Stevie, getting heated again. She was starting to not like Mo quite so much anymore.

Then she stopped and thought for a second. From an
outsider’s point of view, Phil did look sort of guilty. But Stevie knew it was absolutely out of the question that Phil Marsten would take a dime, much less five hundred dollars. On the other hand, he had turned bright red when Veronica accused him of sneaking around Max’s office, and he hadn’t denied that part at all. Nor had he explained what he was doing there. But Stevie knew that that just meant he was up to something, not that he was a thief!

Carole and Lisa, thinking along the same lines, were also wondering why Phil hadn’t explained his presence in Max’s office. But they didn’t say so in front of Mo. They liked Phil a lot, and they’d never question his motives in front of a stranger. “Phil’s one of the most honest people we know,” Lisa told her.

“Yes, and one of the most trustworthy,” agreed Carole.

Stevie looked gratefully at her two friends. Then, as Mo walked off, she whispered, “Saddle Club emergency meeting—right now!”

Lisa hitched Prancer to a post and they all hurried off to a quiet spot under a tree. Stevie, wasting no time, started complaining about Veronica. “She’s just pulling one of her awful stunts, only this one is even more underhanded than most,” she said angrily. “She’s just getting even with Phil for his jokes about her.”

“Maybe so, but that doesn’t solve the crime,” Lisa said sensibly. Stevie shot her a dirty glance. Sometimes
she wished that Lisa weren’t quite so logical. “I mean,” Lisa added meekly, “the only way to clear Phil’s name after a public accusation like that is to find the real thief.”