Stable Hearts (2 page)

“What could be peppier than a bunch of bright
decorations?” Stevie said. “Plus, Mrs. Reg will do a great job. Phil will be really impressed!”

“I hope he’ll pay more attention to you than to the decorations,” Lisa said.

“Atmosphere is really important,” Stevie said seriously.

“Hi, girls!” Max said, walking out the door and catching sight of them.

“Hi, Max!” they chorused. Just then, they heard Mrs. Reg laugh inside the office. Carole was relieved that Mrs. Reg was laughing—but surely the idea of decorating the hay barn hadn’t pepped her up so quickly. Carole looked toward the door in puzzlement.

Max intercepted Carole’s glance. “My mother’s entertaining a new rider,” he said. “Come in and meet him.” He held the door open and the girls trooped inside.

A slender old man rakishly dressed in a cowboy hat and bolo tie was leaning against the corner of Mrs. Reg’s desk. He had thin gray hair, a neat gray mustache, and bright blue eyes. When he saw the girls he straightened and politely tipped his hat to them. Max introduced the three members of The Saddle Club. “This is Mr. Stowe,” he said to the girls. “He’s our newest … rider.”

Carole thought she heard a pause between
newest
and
rider
. Max looked faintly amused, too, and Carole thought she knew what these things meant. Old Mr. Stowe must not be much of a rider. He was certainly trying to look like one, though, with the cowboy hat and boots he was wearing. She felt sorry for him—he must not know that those things were meant for Western, not English, riding.

Mr. Stowe leaned back on Mrs. Reg’s desk. “I was telling your boss here about the first dance I ever went on,” he told them. “I swung my partner so hard I tripped her, and we both fell down!”

Mrs. Reg laughed. Max chuckled. Carole didn’t understand what was funny. She’d die if some boy tripped her in the middle of a dance.

“I don’t think we’ll be doing any square dancing at our Valentine’s Day dance,” Lisa said politely.

“I hope not,” Stevie said, less politely. “Phil and I—”

“Oh, well, times have changed,” Mr. Stowe said. “Don’t you agree, Mrs. Regnery?”

“Oh, please,” Mrs. Reg said, “call me Elizabeth.”

“Call me Howard,” Mr. Stowe returned.

Max gave a small cough and started to leave. “Wait, Max!” called Lisa. She hurriedly asked him about Cross County. Max thought inviting the other Pony Club was a splendid idea.

“One other thing,” Carole said, remembering something she had noticed earlier. “Dime is up here in the stall next to Starlight, where Mr. Anderson’s horse used to be. Did somebody make a mistake, or has Dime’s stall been changed?” Dime was one of the Pine Hollow lesson ponies. All the horses had permanently assigned stalls.

“Mr. Anderson built a stable on his property, so he took his horse home today,” Max explained. “I moved Dime into that stall because it has a window low enough for him to look out of. I thought he’d like that.”

“I bet he will,” Carole said. “He’s such a sociable little pony. I’m glad I asked, though, because I almost moved him back to his old stall when I saw him. I thought one of the little kids had made a mistake.”

“Nope,” Max said. “In fact, I’m moving Romeo into Dime’s old stall. It’s bigger than the one Dime has now, and Romeo’s tall enough to look out the higher window.” Romeo was Polly Giacomin’s horse.

“Okay, Max. Thanks!” The girls said good-bye to Mrs. Reg and Mr. Stowe and returned to their horses.

“Geez!” said Lisa, as she picked the mud out of Prancer’s hoof. “What was that Mr. Stowe about? Did you see the way he was bugging Mrs. Reg?”

“I can’t believe she told him to call her Elizabeth,” Stevie said. “I’ve never heard anyone call her anything but Mrs. Reg, except for Max and Deborah, and they call her Mom.” Deborah was Max’s wife.

“That Mr. Stowe can’t be much of a rider,” Carole said. She asked them if they, too, had noticed the odd tone in Max’s voice.

“Yes, I did, but I don’t think we should make assumptions just because he’s so old,” Lisa said. “Remember Dr. Dinmore?” The Saddle Club had once treated one of the best endurance riders in the country like a rank beginner because she was old.

“Don’t remind me,” Carole said. “I’m still embarrassed about that. But I’m not
entirely
saying he must be a beginner because he’s old. Something in Max’s voice wasn’t quite right.”

“Probably Max thinks he’s a nuisance,” Stevie declared. “I mean, all of us know better than to
stand around wasting Mrs. Reg’s time. That would just give her more reason to put us to work.”

Lisa and Carole laughed. Work was a Pine Hollow tradition. All the riders helped keep the stable clean and the horses cared for, and Mrs. Reg was widely known for her dislike of seeing any rider idle. Whenever she came across anyone who wasn’t already working or riding, she put that person to work in short order.

“I adore Mrs. Reg,” Carole said, “but I agree. I sure wouldn’t want to be showing her how much free time I had.”

“Who has free time?” Stevie asked. “What we’ve got now is riding time.”

Lisa gave Prancer a pat. “And not a minute too soon!”

T
HE GIRLS PICKED
up their grooming buckets and went to get their tack. On the way out of the tack room, they heard Mrs. Reg laugh again.

“I can’t believe it!” Lisa muttered. “He’s still in there bugging her.”

Carole looked out the main door. “Max is teaching an adult lesson in the outdoor arena. Shouldn’t Mr. Stowe be riding in it?” she whispered.

“Whatever he should be doing, he shouldn’t be bothering Mrs. Reg,” Stevie whispered back. “How can she concentrate on the dance decorations? He’s probably telling her more stories about how clumsy he used to be.”

Stevie clomped over to the office with her saddle over her arm and Belle’s bridle hanging from her shoulder. She knocked on the open door. “Mr. Stowe!” she said. “We were just wondering if you wanted to …” Stevie paused. She couldn’t think of a way to finish the sentence. What she was really wondering was how they could get Mr. Stowe to quit bothering Mrs. Reg. Stevie realized she should have consulted her friends before she opened her mouth. “Uh—” Stevie stammered.

“Yes?” Mrs. Reg asked. “What is it, Stevie?”

“We were wondering if Mr. Stowe wanted to go on a trail ride with us,” Carole said smoothly. Lisa and Stevie looked at Carole wide-eyed. Carole narrowed her eyes at them. It wasn’t her fault! Stevie had started it, and Carole had just finished her sentence in the only way that seemed both polite and possible.

“Please,” Lisa added faintly.

Mr. Stowe looked tickled. “Well, certainly, ladies, thank you. I’d love to ride out with you—that is, Elizabeth, if you will join us.” He swept off his hat and smiled at Mrs. Reg.

“But she has work to do!” Lisa blurted out. She thought Stevie was going a little overboard imagining
Mrs. Reg’s zeal for the dance decorations, but she knew how busy Mrs. Reg always was, and she didn’t think it could be pleasant for her to have Mr. Stowe hanging around. It reminded her of the way Simon Atherton had trailed after them in his geek days.

Mr. Stowe and Mrs. Reg looked at each other. Both seemed a little uncomfortable.

“I certainly hope I haven’t been disturbing you,” Mr. Stowe said.

“Oh, no, not at all,” Mrs. Reg said quickly.

“It is a lovely day for a trail ride,” Mr. Stowe said. “If you’d care to …”

Mrs. Reg actually blushed a little. Carole was embarrassed for her. How dreadful of Mr. Stowe to make her feel so uneasy! “Ordinarily I would love to,” Mrs. Reg said. “Any other day … but today, unfortunately, I do have to get this feed order finished. The feed store rep is coming at four o’clock—”

“And I’ve been distracting you.” Mr. Stowe looked stricken.

“No, I’ve enjoyed it,” Mrs. Reg protested, with what seemed to Lisa excessive but admirable politeness. “And it is a lovely day. Why don’t you go out with the girls and enjoy yourself?”

Stevie had hoped that Mr. Stowe would just take the hint and leave Mrs. Reg alone. Unfortunately, both Mrs. Reg and Mr. Stowe seemed to take the trail ride offer seriously. Really! As if they would want to ride with Mr. Stowe! Still, Stevie knew the invitation was mostly her own fault. And at least if Mr. Stowe was with them, he wouldn’t be annoying Mrs. Reg. It would be a noble sacrifice.

“Well, thank you, girls. It’s a nice offer to make to an old man. I’m sure I’ll have fun.” Mr. Stowe smiled. “I haven’t been out on the trails here yet, but Elizabeth assures me that they’re lovely.”

“They are,” Carole said. “Uh—Mrs. Reg, what horse should he ride?”

Mrs. Reg thought for a moment. “You rode Nero on Wednesday, didn’t you, Howard? I think Delilah would be a good mount for you on the trail. She’s a lovely palomino.”

Carole nodded. The names of both horses confirmed Carole’s suspicions about Mr. Stowe’s limited riding ability. Nero was a very old, gentle lesson horse who was about to be retired, but he was sometimes a little nervous out in the woods. Delilah was both gentle and ladylike, no matter
where she was. She would take good care of a beginning rider.

“We’ll be careful with him, Mrs. Reg,” Carole said, giving up her plans for galloping Starlight through the stubbled fields. “We won’t jump or anything like that.”

“Good,” Mrs. Reg said briskly.

Mr. Stowe looked confused. “Just what would you be jumping?” he asked.

Carole was astounded. “The jumps,” she said. “The jumps out on the trails.” Surely Mr. Stowe couldn’t be that ignorant!

“Oh, you mean the
horses
will be jumping,” Mr. Stowe said. “I thought maybe you girls had some sort of preride ritual. I was hoping you wouldn’t make me a part of it. My vertical leap, I’m sorry to say, has diminished considerably with age.”

Mrs. Reg laughed again and none of the girls knew what to think. Stevie couldn’t tell if Mr. Stowe was joking or serious. If he was joking, it was a pretty stupid joke, but if he was serious, they were in for an awful ride. Anyone who knew anything about English riding knew that the horses were taught to jump obstacles.

Lisa took a deep breath. “We’d better go,” she said. “Our horses are waiting on the cross-ties.”
Lisa knew Prancer would get impatient if she had to wait much longer.

“Have fun, all of you,” Mrs. Reg said. “Have fun, Howard.”

Stevie thought that she had never once in her life met a person named Howard. She tried to imagine Mr. Stowe as a baby named Howard, but couldn’t. “We’ll show you where Delilah is,” she offered.

“We’ll help you groom her and tack up,” Carole continued. She doubted Mr. Stowe would know how to do any of this.

“Oh, I can manage that,” Mr. Stowe said cheerfully. “Point me to my horse and point me to my gear, and I’ll do the rest. You girls tend to your own horses. Christy, is it?”

“
Carole
,” Carole corrected him.

“Carole, sorry,” Mr. Stowe said. “And I’m riding Jemima.”

“
Delilah
,” Carole said. She felt a faint twinge of irritation. She sometimes struggled with people’s names, but really, Jemima! She loved Delilah second only to Starlight, her own horse. She decided that she would have to keep a close eye on Mr. Stowe. Despite what he said, he might not know what he was doing. Carole didn’t want Delilah
to suffer from Mr. Stowe’s ignorance. What if he twisted the girth, or didn’t clean out Delilah’s hooves? “I’ll just go along with you,” Carole offered.

Lisa and Stevie knew what Carole intended. They would all have to keep close watch on this man. Lisa took Carole’s saddle from her and Stevie took her bridle, and they tacked up Starlight as well as their own horses. When they met at the mounting block outside the stable, however, Carole looked more cheerful.

“See,” Mr. Stowe said, “I told you I knew how to do it. You didn’t need to watch me after all.”

“Yes, but I didn’t know that,” Carole replied.

Mr. Stowe grinned. “I know, and I don’t blame you. Disreputable-looking character like me, you want to make sure I treat your horses right.”

“You don’t look disreputable!” Lisa protested. Mr. Stowe had exchanged his cowboy hat for the protective helmet Max insisted all riders wear. He still looked more Western than English with his cowboy boots, jeans, and bolo tie, but he didn’t look disreputable—and besides, Stevie often rode in cowboy boots.

Mr. Stowe checked Delilah’s girth, lowered his stirrups, and swung into the saddle with practiced
grace. Carole breathed a sigh of relief, just as she had when she saw him curry Delilah in counter-clockwise circles and expertly untangle the straps of her bridle. He wasn’t a total beginner, at least. She mounted Starlight. Stevie and Lisa mounted Belle and Prancer.

“Oh, I look disreputable enough next to you pretty girls,” Mr. Stowe said. “Still, it’s nice of you to have pity on an old man. I consider it a treat to be riding out with you.”

Lisa thought it was no wonder Mrs. Reg had been laughing so much, if this was how Mr. Stowe usually talked.

“We weren’t taking pity on you,” Stevie told him. Carole coughed to keep from laughing. No, they weren’t taking pity on Mr. Stowe. They were taking pity on Mrs. Reg.

Still, it was hard to dislike the old man. He actually seemed rather charming, in a pesky sort of way.