Rodeo Rider

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“T
ELL
ME
MORE
about Kate,” Carole Hanson said eagerly. She was sitting at the kitchen table with her father, Colonel Hanson, and his best Marine Corps buddy, Frank Devine. Frank was now retired from the Corps and lived with his wife, Phyllis, and their daughter, Kate, on a dude ranch. Carole and her two best friends—who were horse crazy just like Carole—had once visited Kate there. They could hardly wait until they could go again. But that wasn’t going to happen as long as school was going on and until they figured out how they’d pay the airfare from Washington,
D.C., near where they lived in Willow Creek, Virginia.

“Kate’s fine,” Frank told Carole. He handed her an envelope. “I almost forgot to give you this letter she wrote you and Stevie and Lisa.” Carole tucked the envelope in her pocket to read later with her two best friends. Frank continued talking about his daughter, and Carole didn’t want to miss a word. “She’s been working like crazy on her roping. Eli’s got her all excited about rodeo stunts like that. So far, though, all she can rope is a lot of dirt. The stray heifers on our land are safe from her lariat!”

Eighteen-year-old Eli Grimes was one of the wranglers at the Devines’ ranch, The Bar None. Carole had seen him rope and she could imagine how hard it was to learn to use a rope that well. But she also knew that Kate Devine, former junior champion in English riding, had all the determination necessary to learn anything when it came to horses.

Carole listened raptly as Frank told them more about The Bar None. The memories of her wonderful visit there came back to her in a flood. She felt almost homesick for it. Frank’s stories were nice, but it wasn’t the same as being on the ranch.

“So how are things going at the ranch, Frank?” Colonel Hanson asked.

“Sometimes dude ranching makes the twenty-mile marches in the Marine Corps seem like a Sunday picnic!” Frank joked. But Carole had the feeling that he wasn’t really kidding around. She exchanged a
quick glance with her father, who apparently felt the same edge to Frank’s remark.

“Tough, huh?” the colonel asked sympathetically.

“Nah, it’s an easy life. Getting up before dawn, taking care of livestock, managing a staff, fixing everything that breaks—and believe me, everything breaks—all that’s easy. The tough part …” Frank paused, reconsidering what he was about to say. “Actually, there isn’t a tough part. Phyllis and Kate and I are having a whale of a time.”

Carole knew he was trying to be reassuring. Somehow, though, she didn’t feel reassured. Something was wrong, but Frank wasn’t going to tell them what it was.

Although Frank had retired from piloting in the Marine Corps, he now earned extra money flying a private plane for a wealthy rancher who had business interests in Washington. Carole had seen him twice since she’d last seen Kate.

“Why don’t you bring Kate with you next time?” she suggested. “Would Mr. Lowell let you?”

“Sure he would, but I couldn’t do it. There’s a little thing you’ve probably heard of—school?” Frank grinned. “But that gives me an idea. Why don’t you come back with me when I leave tomorrow? There’s going to be a rodeo in Two Mile Creek next weekend. It’s pretty exciting stuff!”

For a second, just a second, Carole thought her father might let her go. After all, the only thing she’d miss at home would be school.…

“Don’t tease her, Frank,” Colonel Hanson said. “If I let Carole do whatever she wanted, she’d spend all of her time with horses—all over the world, if she could. It may be possible for her to come out to visit next summer, but, until then, she’s got something much more important to do.…”

“Yeah, I know: school,” Carole said, completing her father’s boring thought. She didn’t like it, but she knew a fact when she saw one.

“Well, I’ll make you a promise, Carole,” Frank said. “The next time you and your friends decide to come, I’ll arrange to fly you girls round trip in Mr. Lowell’s plane.”

“That would be fabulous!” Carole said. She could hardly believe what she’d just heard. “I guess it pays to have friends in high places—like twenty-five thousand feet high!”

“Oh, Frank, you don’t have to do that,” Colonel Hanson said.

“Oh, yes he does!” Carole said without thinking. Both her father and Frank gave her surprised looks, and then burst out laughing.

“It’s no problem,” Frank told Carole and her father. “Besides, I need the flying hours. We could probably coordinate two of Lowell’s trips to Washington with one round trip of yours to Two Mile Creek.”

“Wait’ll Stevie and Lisa hear about this,” Carole announced excitedly. She stood up. It was almost time to leave for her riding class. She gave her father a hug and
then gave one to Frank Devine, too, since he would be leaving the next morning.

“What a hug!” Frank said.

“Some of it’s for Kate,” Carole explained.

“I’ll see to it that she gets it,” Frank promised.

A
T
FIRST
, C
AROLE
barely noticed the cold as she waited for the bus to take her to Pine Hollow, the stable where she and Stevie Lake and Lisa Atwood rode horses. It was one of Carole’s favorite places. The girls not only rode there, but they also had all the opportunities they wanted to take care of horses. As a way of keeping expenses down and making riding an activity more people could do, Pine Hollow required its riders to help with the daily chores. Carole could learn everything about horses, from grooming them, cleaning their stables, even training the stable’s youngest tenant, a foal named Samson, to cleaning tack and studying horse care and stable management. Carole wasn’t certain what she wanted to be when she grew up, but she knew it would definitely have something to do with horses. Her career possibilities included trainer, owner, breeder, vet, rider, even champion. Maybe all of them, Carole mused.

Then a gust of wind came and seemed to cut right through her warm jacket, sending a chill down her spine. It was winter, all right, although usually the Virginia winters were relatively mild. The gray afternoon sky seemed unusually menacing. Carole tugged her
scarf up over her chin and tried to ignore the weather. She warmed herself with thoughts of The Bar None and The Saddle Club.

The Saddle Club was a group she had founded with Stevie and Lisa. It had only two rules: All the members had to be horse crazy, and they had to be willing to help one another out of trouble—horse trouble, homework trouble, even boy trouble. So far, the three founders were the main members of The Saddle Club. An official out-of-town member was Kate Devine, who lived a few thousand miles away. On their next trip to The Bar None, the girls planned to invite another girl, Christine Lonetree, to join the club. She was a Native American girl they’d met near the ranch. Christine’s dog, Tomahawk, had been killed saving Stevie from a rattlesnake.

The bus arrived and Carole shook off her thoughts. This was no time to think of The Bar None. There was no way she’d be going there for at least six months. She had to concentrate on today.