Star Rider (13 page)

“C
OME ON, LET
’
S
go this way,” Stevie said, looking back over her shoulder at the two riders behind her. The three of them had decided to have a mounted Saddle Club meeting. That way they could talk about the colonel’s wonderful birthday, and all of the excitement of the week that had just passed, during the privacy of their own ride.

It was early Sunday morning. The sun had been up just over an hour and the morning was cool. The movie company had packed up and left Pine Hollow the previous evening, departing almost as quickly as they’d come. Pine Hollow wasn’t a movie set anymore, it was back to being a wonderful place to ride horses. Being a movie set had been exciting. Being a place to ride horses was better. The girls had found themselves relieved to see that the trucks and vans were all gone.

The horses sensed the excitement of their riders and trotted briskly through the field behind Pine Hollow. They were headed for a big rock by the creek that had given the town of Willow Creek its name. It was a favorite spot for The Saddle Club.

Lisa loved riding Pepper, and she thought he deserved the pleasure of a nice early-morning ride to reward him for all of his hard work in a starring role in a movie. She leaned forward and patted him appreciatively on the neck.

“There she goes, trying to make friends with another star,” Carole teased.

“I’m just thanking him for taking care of Skye,” she said. Carole understood.

In a few minutes they were in the shade of the forest and following the trail to the creek. The horses seemed to know the way by themselves.

They drew to a halt at the edge of the water. The girls dismounted and secured the horses to a tree branch with lead ropes they’d each brought along.

“Can you believe it’s all over?” Stevie asked. She sat down on the rock and leaned back against the trunk of a tree.

“What a week!” Lisa agreed. “Did it really happen?”

“Want me to pinch you?” Stevie offered.

“No thanks,” Lisa told her.

“It was a wonderful week,” Carole agreed. “So many exciting things were going on. The movie, Skye, the party … I kind of hate to have it end.”

“Not me,” Lisa said. “It was fun, but I, for one, am ready for normal again. I mean, Skye is a nice guy and he lives this wonderful life, where he has a limousine wherever he wants one and somebody will ship a whole magic show for him at the drop of a silk top hat, but I wouldn’t change lives with him for anything.”

“Because of all the screaming girls that follow him all the time?” Stevie asked.

“No, because he doesn’t like horseback riding,” she said. “And that means he can’t be in The Saddle Club.”

“Not even honorary?” Stevie suggested.

“No,” Carole said. “He’s nice and he can be our friend, but Lisa’s right. He doesn’t qualify. Being horse crazy is essential.”

“He is pretty good at the helping-others part, though, isn’t he?” Lisa asked. “That magic show was fabulous.”

“Definitely,” Stevie agreed. “Skye was helpful with all the planning of the party. He can pitch in on Saddle Club projects anytime he wants.”

The girls were quiet for a minute, enjoying the gentle sound of the babbling water, the wind playing with the
branches of the trees, and the horses munching lazily on stray strands of grass that grew by the brook.

Lisa felt totally content. It wasn’t the exciting and wonderful feeling of Skye’s magic show, or the surreal one she’d experienced while she was involved with the movie. It was just a feeling of happiness and peace. It was a very nice, very normal feeling. She was happy to be with her friends and their horses.

“Okay,” Stevie said abruptly, “so now the movie’s over, the party’s finished, and we’re even done with the cleaning up. What are we going to do for excitement?”

Carole and Lisa laughed. It was just like Stevie to be thinking about the next project at a quiet moment. Stevie didn’t enjoy quiet moments as much as Lisa and Carole did.

“We could just sit here and talk about horses,” Lisa suggested.

“Or we could practice some of the riding skills we didn’t get to practice this week because the riding classes were canceled,” Carole suggested.

“I’ve got an idea!” Stevie announced. “Why don’t we work on our next project?”

“And what’s that going to be?” Carole asked, mildly curious.

“Why your father’s fiftieth birthday party, of course!” Stevie said.

Pepper had an answer for that. Almost as if he understood what was going on, he snorted loudly. It sounded just like a raspberry.

Carole and Lisa laughed. Stevie joined in.

Everything was very normal. Everything was very good.

Bonnie Bryant is the author of nearly a hundred books about horses, including the Saddle Club series, the Saddle Club Super Editions, and the Pony Tales series.

LOOK FOR BONNIE BRYANT’S NEXT EXCITING
SADDLE CLUB ADVENTURE:

SNOW RIDE
THE SADDLE CLUB #20

When Stevie is invited to Vermont to visit her friend Dinah for the annual sugaring-off event, she’s not sure that she wants to leave the rest of The Saddle Club behind. But then she finds out that Dinah’s riding class is having a contest to see which team can gather the most sap, and Stevie can’t resist the challenge. She’s also thrilled to learn that Dinah has arranged for the two of them to ride the Rocky Road trail, a difficult but beautiful trail that’s off-limits to certain riders. Dinah isn’t exactly experienced enough for the trail, but she convinces Stevie to help her, and they both promise not to tell a soul. When an accident happens on the Rocky Road trail, Stevie knows that they have made a mistake. But what should she do: keep the secret or tell the truth?