Show Judge (13 page)

Stevie eyed Carole. “I have to admit, it would have been interesting to see who you would have picked.”

“I guess we’ll never know,” Carole said, slipping into her sleeping bag. “At least now the pressure is off.” She sighed, putting her head down on her soft pillow.

“Maybe for you,” Stevie replied, thumping her own pillow with obvious annoyance. “For me it’s only getting worse by the hour!”

“The anniversary thing?” Lisa asked as she settled herself in for sleep.

Stevie moaned. “How can my brothers and I possibly show our parents how much we love them when we can’t even work together long enough to come up with a present?”

Carole rolled onto her side and propped her chin in her hand. “Don’t worry, Stevie. Present or not, your parents know you love them. You show them every day.”

“Sure,” Lisa said from the snugly warmth of her own sleeping bag. “Like they say, some of the best presents don’t come with wrapping paper.”

For the first time in many days, all the members of The Saddle Club fell asleep with smiles on their faces.

C
AROLE RAN THE
soft cloth gently down Starlight’s nose, taking special care to make sure the lopsided white star on his forehead was clean. Suddenly the horse began to rub his face on her chest. “Hey,” she laughed, bracing herself. “Did I tickle you?” Starlight continued using her as a scratching post for a few more seconds before backing off. Carole looked down at the front of her shirt, which now had little horsehairs stuck all over it. “Thanks a lot,” she said. “Now I have to change before the meeting.” Starlight regarded her so solemnly she couldn’t resist throwing her arms around his neck. “I don’t care what Chad Lake says,” she whispered, breathing in his warm, horsey scent. “I love the way you smell.”

“Can I interrupt, or do the two of you want to be alone?” Stevie said, standing in the aisle outside the stall.

“Do you have an appointment?” Carole asked, glancing with fake haughtiness over her shoulder.

Stevie leaned on the stall door. “No, but I do know the girl who shovels the manure around here. Will that get me a hearing?”

Carole addressed the horse. “What do you think, Starlight, should we grant her an audience?”

“Enjoy your days in power while you can, Madame Judge; they may be coming to a quick end,” Stevie warned her. “I just saw Max going into his office.”

“Oh gosh,” Carole cried, letting go of Starlight and slipping out of the stall. “I’ve got to change my shirt.” She hurried toward the locker room. “Hey, where’s Lisa?”

“Oh, I think she’s in the locker room guarding your judging file,” Stevie said casually, tagging along.

Carole threw her a dirty look. “That is
so
funny I forgot to laugh. Have you ever considered going professional?”

Stevie looked hurt. “What makes you think I’m not?”

“Your jokes,” Carole replied emphatically.

As it turned out, Lisa
was
in the locker room, along
with half a dozen other people getting ready for class. Everyone seemed to be speculating about what Max planned to tell them. Carole put on a clean shirt and kept quiet. She already knew what she was going to say when she got to the meeting. She hadn’t told Stevie or Lisa yet because she knew they would try to talk her out of it, and she couldn’t let them do that.

Lisa came over to her. “All set?”

Carole grabbed her judging folder. “Lead on.”

As the three of them made their way to Max’s office, Carole had a sudden inspiration. “Remember when I asked you guys to go on a trail ride with me, and you said you couldn’t?”

Stevie and Lisa nodded.

“Well, if Max is going to cancel the rally, why don’t we go on one today?”

“That’s a great idea,” said Lisa.

“We might as well, since we’re already here,” Stevie conceded happily.

The three of them trooped in to Max’s office. Since they were among the last to arrive, they had to stand at the back.

Max started the meeting. “First off I should tell you that I got a call from May’s parents this morning. It turns out she broke her wrist.” Everyone grew solemn at this bit of news. “It was a greenstick fracture,” he
continued, “which means she’ll be out of her cast in a few weeks.”

Carole, who had grown particularly fond of the little girl, was saddened to hear the news. She knew from the time she had spent with Judy Barker, the Pine Hollow vet, that a greenstick fracture was like a crack in a bone instead of an outright break. Judy had shown her what one looked like by stripping a small living branch off a tree and bending it practically in two. Because it was so fresh, the little twig had split instead of snapping apart.

Max looked serious. “I hope you all took some time last night to think over what I said.”

Several heads around the room bobbed, acknowledging that they had done so.

“Well, so have I. I no longer think that we should postpone our rally.”

There were murmurs of surprise and delight throughout the room.

Max held up his hands for silence. “All things considered, I feel it might be in everyone’s best interest to cancel the rally altogether.”

Max was peppered with protests from practically every corner.

Stevie stepped forward. “Maybe he’s right,” she said
loudly. Everyone focused on her. “Look. We have to admit we kind of blew it. Our attitude toward each other has become more about winning than about learning and teaching. Especially mine,” she confessed. “I’m not saying we all haven’t gotten a lot of good things out of this, it’s just that good sportsmanship wasn’t one of them.” The younger kids looked glum and the older ones guilty. “I think maybe we should salvage what we can from the experience and move on.”

Jessica looked like she was going to cry. “But we worked so hard.”

“We weren’t all bad,” Leslie protested.

Natalie nodded, her little face already getting blotchy from unshed tears. “Couldn’t we just try harder?” she asked in a quavering voice.

Carole decided it was time for her to say something. “Excuse me.”

“Yes, Carole? Do you have something to add?” Max asked.

Carole cleared her throat. “Yes, I guess I do.” She looked at the small sea of sad faces. This was going to be hard, but she knew she had to say it. “I have a confession to make. The problems with the rally weren’t being made by only you guys. I was making them, too.
I tried my best to be fair and impartial, and I failed.” She found she didn’t want to look anyone in the face.

“How is that?” Max prodded gently.

Carole took a deep breath. “I know for a fact that I was unjustly hard on some people and unreasonably easy on others. The problem is that it doesn’t seem fair of me to try to choose a winner when all around me I keep seeing people trying their best. Because that’s what I think is really important: trying your best.” She met Max’s eyes. “If that makes me a bad judge, then I understand if you want to replace me.”

“Replace you?” Max smiled. “It’s that very attitude that makes you such a fine choice.”

Carole could hardly believe it. She had expected to be completely humiliated by confessing her failure, and now she was being congratulated instead.

Max rubbed his hands together. “I think we’re finally making some progress here. I’m gratified to see this improvement in your attitudes. In fact, I am so pleased that I’ve decided we will finish up our rally today after all.”

With that announcement the room descended into chattering chaos. Some kids were delighted, others reluctant.

When the room had calmed down a bit, Max resumed speaking. “Many of you had already completed
your final event before we were interrupted by May’s accident yesterday. Nonetheless, I want all the contestants to saddle up your ponies and put on your show outfits. We will meet in the ring for the end of the jumping event as soon as you can get ready.”

Class was excused and everyone scattered in different directions, frantic to get ready.

“I guess that kind of puts a damper on our trail ride,” Lisa said wistfully.

“Not necessarily,” Carole said. “The jumping event won’t take long. We can go right after.”

“I’m afraid we’re going to be too busy right after,” Stevie told her.

“Doing what?” Carole asked.

“Attending your funeral,” Stevie crowed, grinning. “ ’Cause all the losers are going to kill you!”

Lisa sidled closer to Carole. “By the way, nice try back there at getting off the hook, but …” She swatted her on the back. “Tag, you’re still it!”

Lisa and Stevie sprinted away, laughing.

O
NCE AGAIN
C
AROLE
found herself standing in the center of the ring, judging the young riders as they tried their hand over the small jumps. Today, however, she was finding the experience much more to her liking. She was still anxious about having to choose the
winner, but knowing that Max had complete confidence in her gave her confidence in herself.

Before the event began, the larger jumps were turned against the outer railing in order to avoid any possibility of another accident like May’s.

There was also another difference: the attitude of the people watching. A loud cheer and a hearty round of applause greeted each and every rider as they entered and exited the arena, regardless of how they had performed. Consolation and suggestions were offered to those who had a rough time of it, and heartfelt congratulations were handed out to the more successful.

After the final rider had completed the event, Carole was left alone in Max’s office to figure out the winner of the rally. When she eventually emerged, she found all the riders mounted on their ponies and waiting for her in the ring. Max ordered them all into a tidy line, like a ribbon presentation in a real show.

Taking a deep breath, Carole entered the ring, raised her chin, and strode forward with all the authority she could muster. Max gave her a little bow, which she acknowledged with a regal nod of her head. Then she addressed the riders. “First of all, I would like to congratulate each and every one of you for all the hard work you have put in for the past two weeks. You have
all made great progress and have every right to be proud of yourselves.”

The young riders beamed with pleasure at her praise.

“However,” she continued, “you have made it impossible for me to do the job I was assigned.”

The line of riders in front of her looked confused and disappointed.

Carole opened her folder. “My problem is this: I’ve been asked to give out one prize to an overall winner, but many of you are deserving of individual prizes. Reuben, for instance, kept his pony’s stall immaculate at all times. Jasmine’s records were flawless … as was her penmanship,” she added, winking at the girl. “Corey is so good at braiding she could practically rent her services out, and I’ve never seen a more consistently or better groomed pony than Jessica’s. You all deserve your own first prize.” Carole lowered her list and looked at the row of competitors. “According to the rules, I’m supposed to select one of you as our champion, but after thinking it over, I’ve come to the conclusion that
you
are the ones who should be making that decision.” From the corner of her eye, Carole could see Max watching her curiously.

“What did you have in mind, Madame Judge?” he asked.

“Could I have all the senior Pony Partners come out
here?” she called, waving at them where they were leaning on the fence, listening. When they were gathered around her, she explained. “As much as I’ve been observing you all over the last two weeks, it occurred to me that you have all been watching each other equally as closely.” She saw rueful smiles. “So I think each of you knows who he or she thinks really deserves this prize. That’s why I am giving everyone a vote. I’m going to come over to each of you now and let you tell me who you think is the most deserving.”

Carole approached the first rider. “What do you say, Liam? Who should get the ribbon?”

“May Grover,” he said without hesitation.

“But she didn’t finish the competition,” Carole said carefully.

“She didn’t have anyone to teach her the course,” he replied solemnly.

“She didn’t have anyone to teach her at all!” declared Corey, who was next to him.

Her statement was greeted by a chorus of agreement from almost all the other riders.

“I bet if she hadn’t broken her wrist, she would have gotten back on Mac and finished,” someone else called.

It didn’t take long for Carole to make her way down the line, but by the time she was halfway through, the
winner was already clear. She returned to her place at the center of the group. “It is with the greatest pleasure that I tell you that the winner, by a nearly unanimous decision, is May Grover on Macaroni.”

Everyone cheered, unsettling some of the ponies.

“I bow to the wisdom of our judge,” Max said, “and to the decision of the majority. May has shown a lot of heart and determination,” he conceded. “It’s traditional for the winner to take a victory gallop around the ring. Since May isn’t here to do it herself, maybe her friends would like to take it for her?” he suggested to the mounted riders.

Everyone let out another whoop.