Show Jumper (16 page)

Together the two girls rode out to the judges’ stand. As the red ribbon was pinned on Samson’s bridle, Lisa felt a bit sheepish. Although she had cheered up a bit after Carole’s talk, in her heart of hearts she knew that she had cost Samson the blue. She didn’t even care that it was Margie who had won the blue ribbon—if it hadn’t been for Lisa’s mistake, Margie’s horse wouldn’t have stood a chance against Samson.

One of the judges leaned over to congratulate Lisa. “That took a lot of courage, getting back on course and finishing in style,” he said. “That’s the hallmark of a true winner.” Lisa politely acknowledged his compliment, but it somehow didn’t really register.

As the riders circled the ring to the applause of the crowd, Lisa started thinking over what Carole had said in the van. She wondered about Carole’s last comment. What had Lisa done for Samson besides making him miss that fence?

As she felt Samson prance beneath her, the meaning of Carole’s remark suddenly became clear. If Lisa hadn’t discovered Samson’s ability, and if she hadn’t put in hours and hours of training with him, taking the time to exercise him and school him over countless jumps, he would probably still be grazing in Pine Hollow’s meadow. Sure, his talent would eventually have been discovered, but the Macrae had given him his first opportunity. And he had handled it like a pro, just as they’d all thought he would.

Lisa realized that maybe she
had
given Samson an important start on a brilliant career. From now on, Red or someone of his caliber could continue Samson’s lessons on the big show circuit. Lisa had no doubt that this was the first of many ribbons for the black horse.

A
S HORSES AND
riders continued to circle the ring, Lisa finally felt proud of herself. Riding in the Macrae, she realized, was one of the bravest and most difficult things she’d ever done.

Lisa noticed her mother sitting in the VIP box and clapping madly. “Good job, honey!” Mrs. Atwood called out, wiping her eyes. Lisa smiled fondly back and waved. Although her mother sometimes got caught up in the wrong things about riding, she had been really generous to buy Lisa that outfit. Even though the pink jacket had caused Lisa such embarrassment, it had still been a sweet thing to do.

Lisa noticed Jock Sawyer standing ringside with Kathy Colefield. She felt a thrill of recognition when she saw the two famous riders standing side by side. They were waving madly at someone, and out of curiosity, Lisa looked around to see who it was. Then with a shock she realized they were waving at her.

“Me?” she asked in disbelief, pointing at herself. Jock and Kathy laughed and nodded. “Congratulations!” they both called out. “That was a great performance!”

Lisa blushed, but she took it in stride. “Thanks!” she
called back. She leaned down to give Samson a pat. “I had a great horse!”

“Yeah, but I’d say he also had a great rider!” Jock called out.

A
FEW MINUTES
later the girls began untacking the horses and rubbing them down. Naturally, Veronica had vanished after her humiliation, leaving Danny to The Saddle Club. The day had been so exhilarating, however, that the girls didn’t mind—and it wasn’t as if it was the first time they’d looked after Veronica’s horse!

“Listen,” said Stevie after they had recapped the day’s events several times, “I know you guys are pretty proud of yourselves. And you should be. But you do realize that a bigger challenge awaits?”

For a second Lisa’s mind raced. Wasn’t the competition over?

But Stevie was grinning mischievously. “The Grand Prix event is coming up soon,” she said. “And I know exactly where I want to be to watch it—the VIP section!”

“Oh, no,” said Carole, also grinning. “We don’t have tickets for that.”

“Exactly,” Stevie said. “Who said anything about tickets? Let’s sneak!”

Approximately ten minutes later, the girls sidled toward the box. “This is crazy!” wailed Lisa.

“Shhh,” Stevie whispered. Then she stood up and nonchalantly eased into the box. She sat down in an empty seat and put her feet up on the seat in front of her as if she belonged there. “Nice horse,” she said casually, gesturing toward the horse and rider in the ring.

Timidly Lisa and Carole followed Stevie’s example, although with much less finesse and a lot more nervous giggling. “Look, there’s your mother,” said Carole, pointing toward Mrs. Atwood. Lisa hunched down in her seat and attempted to avoid being seen.

They had just settled down to watch the show when they heard a strident voice. “Those girls don’t belong here!”

Turning, the girls saw Margie and Veronica sitting in the opposite corner of the box. Worse yet, Margie was standing up and pointing directly at them, glaring accusingly.

All around the girls, spectators shifted in their seats and turned to look at them. “Um, I’m starting to feel a bit conspicuous, aren’t you?” mumbled Stevie.

“You said it,” Carole breathed, trying not to look in Margie and Veronica’s direction.

Margie and Veronica continued to protest The Saddle Club’s presence in the box until finally a security person started to make his way over to the three girls.

Stevie was just getting ready to claim that she was the mayor’s daughter—even though the mayor was sitting
right there—when a voice interrupted Margie and Veronica with decisive firmness.

“Excuse me,” it said. A few rows ahead, Jock Sawyer and Kathy Colefield stood up, turned around, and faced The Saddle Club and Margie and Veronica.

“Those girls,” Jock said, pointing at Carole, Lisa, and Stevie, “are with us. We invited them to join us here. Kindly make room for them and allow them to enjoy the show, please.”

“And please,” added Kathy, giving Margie and Veronica a fierce glance, “kindly allow the rest of us to enjoy the show, too.”

Margie and Veronica stopped their complaints immediately. Carole, Lisa, and Stevie gave each other high fives and settled back to watch the Grand Prix. At that moment, life was sweet.

“T
HE BEST PART
about horse shows,” said Stevie, “is going home.”

She was sitting in the backseat of the van. The Pine Hollow group had been on the road for two hours. Traffic moved smoothly, and so far, there had been no flat tires.

“Oh, no,” said Carole. “Horse shows are so much fun. Once you get over the fear,” she added as an afterthought.

“But the ride home is great,” insisted Stevie, reaching for another Oreo cookie. She had already eaten half a pack. The group had made a stop at a minimart and had loaded up on junk food for the ride home.

For the eighth time, the girls discussed the show. They talked about the horses they had seen, the riders
they had met, and Samson and Starlight. Stevie and Carole showed Lisa the autographs they’d collected. Stevie had gotten some from people she didn’t even know—and she couldn’t read them. “I think this signature was from the guy running the concession stand,” she said, pointing. “I didn’t want to take a chance—he could’ve been a famous rider in disguise.”

Most of all, they gloated over the look on Veronica’s face when she had found out she’d been eliminated.

“What an ugly surprise that was,” chuckled Stevie.

“If she hadn’t been so busy preening for the judges, she might have done all right,” Lisa said soberly.

“Nah,” said Stevie. “I’m sure she would have found another way to mess it up. That,” she finished, “was the crowning moment of the show for me. That made being tack manager completely worth it.”

“You did a terrific job,” came Max’s voice from the driver’s seat. “You can be my tack manager anytime.”

“Not next time,” warned Stevie, slumping back into the seat. “Next time I’ll be on Belle.”

“Hey, Max,” said Carole. “Why was Jock Sawyer so interested in Samson? He sure asked a lot of questions about him.”

Lisa finally got up the courage to ask the question on her mind, even though she was dreading the answer. “Is he interested in Samson for the USET?”

“Easy,” said Max with a chuckle. “Jock was hinting that he would like to see Samson have a great career—courtesy
of him—but I pretty much pretended not to understand him. Samson’s young yet. He can use a lot more training before he goes to the big leagues full-time. I don’t plan to sell him for a while, so he’s not going anywhere soon.”

Lisa heaved a huge sigh of relief. She had become attached to Samson in their days of training for the Macrae, and she was glad he was going to be a part of Pine Hollow for a while. Max heard her sigh and glanced at her in the rearview mirror.

“Speaking of not going anywhere for a while,” he said seriously, “I hope you stick to riding and training for big shows like the Macrae, Lisa. You did really well this weekend. I’m proud of your courage, and I’m proud that you climbed back on Samson after your fall and finished the course in such fine style.”

Effusive praise from Max was rare. Lisa turned bright red and stammered her thanks.

Stevie, to save Lisa from her embarrassment, jumped into the conversation. “Say, Max, we heard a lot about you from Kathy Colefield,” she teased. She was pleased to see the back of his neck turn red. “Guess we haven’t heard a lot about the days before you became an old married man. Mrs. Reg told us you were a real heartbreaker!”

Max’s neck turned even redder. But all he said was, “What about Mom before she met my father, Max the Second?”

“Huh?” the three girls said simultaneously in confusion.

“But Jock and I were just friends!” protested Mrs. Reg, but she, too, blushed and looked guilty.

“Honestly,” said Stevie, pretending to be appalled, “I thought you guys were
horse
-crazy!”

Bonnie Bryant is the author of more than a hundred books about horses, including The Saddle Club series, Saddle Club Super Editions, and the Pony Tails series. She has also written novels and movie novelizations under her married name, B. B. Hiller.

Ms. Bryant began writing The Saddle Club in 1986. Although she had done some riding before that, she intensified her studies then and found herself learning right along with her characters Stevie, Carole, and Lisa. She claims that they are all much better riders than she is.

Ms. Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She still lives there, in Greenwich Village, with her two sons.