Star Rider (3 page)

“Oh, thank you, Max!” Lisa said, feeling relieved. “You won’t be sorry!”

Max laughed. “I probably won’t be, but you all may be. You’re going to be working very hard just to have a chance to see your friend, Cloud.”

“Skye,” Lisa corrected him automatically. “You think that’s the only reason we’re willing to work?”

“Probably not the only one,” Max said. “But to tell you the truth, I didn’t believe the one about the roof on the feed shed.”

“Weak, huh?” Lisa asked.

“It was a nice try,” Max said. “Now, I’ll make a confession. I had already decided to say yes to Dithers. It will be interesting to learn about movie-making, and I
thought perhaps you three might be willing to work for free just to get another close-up look at this guy, Cloud.”

“Skye!” Lisa said, exasperated. “And, yes, we would. After all, Skye is our friend. He’s actually even a sort of pupil of ours.…”

“Ah, yes, and I recall tales of how much fun you three had riding around New York City in his stretch limo, don’t I?” Max asked. Before the girls had a chance to protest, Max changed the subject. “Two of these horses need shoes, the others are fine. Bring Barq and Coconut into the stable for the farrier, okay?”

“Okay,” Carole agreed, but before she said it, Max was gone, disappearing into his office to call Mr. Dithers.

“This is incredible,” Lisa said.

“Yes,” Stevie agreed. “And what’s incredible about it is that I think we just got outfoxed by Max.”

“Ah, but think how great it will be to have a new roof on the feed shed!” Carole teased.

The three of them laughed.

S
TEVIE
, C
AROLE, AND
Lisa waited impatiently for the first signs of arrival of the movie crew.

“I bet they come in a truck,” Stevie said.

“At least two,” Lisa said. “Remember that woman’s notebook?”

The woman she was referring to was the film’s production manager. Max had spent two days with her right after he’d agreed to let them come to Pine Hollow. Her job was to figure out exactly what the company needed to bring and what was already here. She seemed very pleased after two days of hunting through every nook and cranny of the stable as well as the surrounding countryside. However, she had taken copious notes, and the girls were sure that every note in her notebook meant an
item the company had to bring all the way from California.

When the movie crew finally showed up they had two trucks, not one, but they were rented from local movie companies and hadn’t been shipped from California. In addition to the trucks, there were location vans and lots of cars filled with technical people.

“The way I see it, there are lights people, sound people, camera people, and then there are other people who just seem to run around, carrying things,” Carole said.

“Those are the gofers,” Stevie told her.

Carole looked at her quizzically.

“Yeah, you know, like go for coffee, go for donuts …”

Carole smiled. “Yeah, there are a lot of them. But where are the actors?”

“Anyone in particular?” Lisa teased.

“Aren’t you girls supposed to be grooming the ponies now?” Max asked, approaching them from the rear.

They jumped in surprise. Of course, they were supposed to be grooming the ponies, but there was so much to see right where they were that they didn’t want to leave.

“Aw, Max!” Stevie complained.

“A promise is a promise,” Max said. “Otherwise …” He let his words hang like a threat. They would have tried to talk him out of making them work right then
except that somebody wearing a set of headphones came running over to him with an urgent question having to do with water for coffee. Max was whisked into action.

“If Max has to become a gofer, the least we can do is groom the ponies,” Carole conceded. “However, we don’t have to do it indoors, do we? Why don’t we groom them in the paddock next to the trucks so we can see everything while we work?”

It was a brilliant idea. It took only a minute to bring three ponies into the paddock and begin work.

The girls were fascinated with everything. All around them the large crew bustled away, hoisting things, moving things and measuring things. Nobody paid any attention to the three girls grooming the three ponies.

They became so engrossed with an argument between the headphone-wearer and somebody else that they didn’t notice the arrival of six Winnebago vans. Skye Ransom emerged from one of them. He spotted his friends, all hanging on every word the assistant director said to the other man.

“You shouldn’t eavesdrop on nasty conversations like that,” he said, approaching them from behind.

The three girls turned to see their friend, and all interest in the nearby argument dropped instantly.

“Skye!” Lisa exclaimed, so excited that she dropped her curry comb. It hit the pony’s foot and startled him so
that he bolted away, yanking at the knot that secured him to the fence. The knot slipped, and the rope dropped from the fence. The pony started prancing around the paddock. The girls would have loved nothing better than to ignore the problem and chat with Skye, but horses came first.

“Be right back,” Stevie said, excusing herself.

“Can I help?” Skye offered.

“No thanks,” Carole told him.

It took them only a minute to catch the pony and bring him back to the fence, but it was long enough for Veronica diAngelo to seize an opportunity. Veronica was a spoiled rich girl who always seemed to think that only she was allowed to have good things happen to her.

“It’s so wonderful you could join us here,” Veronica cooed to Skye when The Saddle Club girls were busy trying to tie the pony’s lead rope securely.

Skye looked a little confused. “Uh, thanks,” he said awkwardly.

“Skye, this is Veronica diAngelo,” Lisa said. Skye nodded politely. Then Lisa completed the introduction. “Veronica,” she said. “This is Mr. Ransom.”

Skye offered his hand. It was Veronica’s turn to look confused. She had been outfoxed and she knew it. She didn’t like it when she got outsnubbed. She shook Skye’s
hand and tried to smile. At the same time, The Saddle Club was trying
not
to smile.

“I have to go see to my purebred Arabian mare now,” Veronica said. “I’ll see you all later, maybe.” She spoke through clenched teeth. Stevie, Lisa, and Carole loved every second of it.

“Who was
that
?” Skye asked, watching Veronica walk off.

The girls couldn’t hold it anymore. They burst into giggles and, between waves of laughter, told Skye all about her.

“She thinks she owns everybody and everyone,” Lisa said. “Uh, including you.”

“I gathered that,” Skye said. “She’s in for a disappointment, though, because I am not a purebred Arabian mare type. I’m more the—here, let me show you. It’s right in my trailer.”

The girls looked at him quizzically, but saved their questions. First they had to finish grooming the ponies and take them back to their stalls. When that was done, they followed Skye to his trailer. He told them about the movie as they walked.

“It’s about a boy named Gavin. He loves animals, especially his dog, Maverick, and his horse. Incidentally, that’s a place where you are going to have to help me.
Can you choose a horse for me, Lisa? It’s going to have to be a horse that will put up with me as a rider.”

“You want me to choose your horse for the movie?” Lisa asked, surprised that he would trust her that much.

“I sure do,” Skye said. “After all, you know exactly how poor a rider I am and what I need in a horse. You know it better than any coach I could bring in from the outside. Which horse do you recommend?”

Lisa thought for a minute as she and her friends walked across Pine Hollow’s front lawn. She knew she could ask Carole and Stevie if they had any ideas, but Skye had wanted her opinion, not Stevie and Carole’s. “I’m going to have to think about it for a bit. When do you first have to ride?” she asked.

“Not until after lunch. The assistant director wanted me to have a test ride before then. Could we do it?”

“Sure,” Lisa said. “We can clear it with Max. I’m sure it will be okay.” She looked at her watch. “We’ll ride at eleven o’clock. That’s in about forty-five minutes.”

“Great,” Skye said. “Now, prepare to meet my other co-star.” With that, he turned the handle on his trailer and opened the door. He was greeted with an exuberant “Woof!”

The three girls followed Skye into the trailer. The source of the “woof” was a nondescript mutt with sandy-colored, curly hair and pointed ears that flopped over.
His tail wagged eagerly, and he stood up on his hind feet to give Skye a sloppy kiss. The whole scene melted the girls’ hearts.

“The problem with this movie,” Skye said with a grin, “is that every time Maverick is on the set, I’m upstaged. He’s so adorable, he’s going to steal the show.”

“You could do worse than be upstaged by a perfectly charming mutt like this,” Lisa said, patting Maverick as vigorously as she could. She had a dog of her own and loved all kinds of dogs, almost as much as she loved horses.

“But how am I going to explain it when he wins the Oscar and I have to accept it for him?”

The girls laughed, and then Stevie asked Skye to tell them what Maverick and the horse had to do with the story line.

“Oh, yes, I got distracted,” he said. They all sat down in his spacious trailer to hear the rest of the story. “So, anyway, Gavin loves his horse and his dog. He’s a real loner, and he’s happy with things that way, until his dog loses a leg in a beaver trap and Gavin has to learn to trust the people who can help Maverick.”

“Loses a leg! What are you going to do to Maverick?” Stevie blurted out. She was horrified.

“Oh, here, let me show you,” Skye said. Then he turned to Maverick. “Leg, boy,
leg
,” he said. He made a
fist as he spoke. It seemed to be as much a signal to Maverick as the words had been. Maverick obediently stood up, tucked his right rear leg up next to his body, and walked on three legs.

“Unless you’re looking right at it, you can hardly see his tucked-up leg. This dog is fantastic,” Skye said.

“How did he learn that?” Carole asked.

“He was trained. He can do a lot of other tricks, too, but this is the most important for this movie. His trainer is here, too, and normally he would stay with the trainer, but I’m just crazy about him, and I thought it was important for us to get to know one another, so I asked if Maverick could stay in my trailer.”

“You’re really lucky,” Lisa said to Skye. She sat on the floor next to Maverick and gave the deserving dog a big hug. Then she turned back to Skye. “Do you think Maverick would like to come along on our ride?”

Skye was about to answer that question, when Maverick answered for himself. He stood up—on all four legs—and barked loudly; wagging his tail. “We’ll have to get permission to take him along, but it will probably be all right. After all, he’s going to spend a lot of time with me
and
my horse while we’re filming. We need to know that the horse and the dog get along!”

“Let’s go, then,” Carole said. Whenever a horseback ride was involved, she was eager. “I’ll clear it with Max
and meet you guys in the barn. What horse shall I tell him Skye is riding?” she asked Lisa.

Lisa knew the answer by then. “Pepper, of course,” she said. Pepper was the horse she usually rode, and Lisa was very fond of the old, dappled gray. He was gentle and sensitive. He was also one of the older horses in the stable and had had lots of experience with inexperienced riders. She was certain Skye would like him.

“Good choice,” Carole said. “They’ll get along well.”

“And Pepper’s pretty, too. He’ll be very photogenic,” Stevie agreed.

“Then it’s decided,” Skye said. “Let’s get going. The director is going to have to okay whatever horse I ride, so we can show him Pepper on our way to the trail.”

Stevie and Carole went to tack up their horses. Lisa and Skye stayed together. Skye watched while Lisa put the tack on a chestnut gelding named Comanche, whom she would ride. She took Comanche to the paddock and secured him to the fence. Then she got Pepper’s tack from the tack room. Skye helped her tack up Pepper. Maverick watched every move from where he stood outside the stall.

“You don’t have to help,” Lisa said to Skye.

“I know,” Skye said. “But, see, people are always wanting to do things for me. I like to help.”

“Okay, then, check to make sure the padding doesn’t have any wrinkles in it on that side, please.”

Skye confirmed that it was smooth, and very soon Lisa brought Pepper out to the paddock as well.

She was careful to notice that the tack was secure and Pepper was ready for mounting. She didn’t notice that quite a few people from the movie company were standing nearby, adjusting lights and microphone booms. She’d become accustomed to the fact that whenever Skye was around, everybody was watching him.

She reminded Skye how to hold the reins while he was mounting the horse and held Pepper’s bit steadily until she was sure Skye was securely in the saddle. She patted the horse’s neck reassuringly.

“Now remember,” she told Skye. “You’re the boss. Pepper may be bigger than you are, but he’s looking to you for leadership. If you don’t take the lead, he will, and then you’ll be in big trouble.”