Best Friends by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online

brought in or they might get a whole lot more fresh air than they bargained for!”
    “Oh, goody, a roundup!” Stevie said with childish glee. Then she remembered her new boots. She didn’t want to get them soiled or wet with snow.
    “Go put your paddock boots on,” Lisa suggested.
    “It’ll look dumb,” Stevie said.
    “I don’t think Nickel, Barq, and Comanche are going to care if you look dumb or not,” Carole said sensibly.
    Stevie handed her reins to Carole and dashed into the locker area to put on her old boots. Veronica was already there, changing into her street clothes.
    “Aren’t you going to help?” Stevie asked, then realized that was a silly question. Veronica never helped.
    “I have to get home,” she said. “My mother’s taking me to the tack shop at the mall.” Her eyes were on Stevie’s boots.
    “Last pair,” Stevie said. “They’re completely sold out.” She felt wonderful delivering such bad news to Veronica.
    “There are other tack shops,” said Veronica.
    Stevie stifled her giggle. “Good luck,” she said without meaning it at all. She secured her paddock boots and hurried back to her friends, who were ready to ride.
    The horses in the field seemed to sense the oncoming storm. They’d gathered in a makeshift herd.
    “I swear they’re waiting for us,” Carole said, circling around behind the group.
    “If they know it’s going to snow, why don’t they have the sense to come in by themselves?” Lisa asked.
    “Because they know how much we like a roundup!” Stevie said. She rode to the far side of the group.
    “Hee-ya!” Carole said, startling the group and getting the horses moving. Lisa and Stevie were positioned so that one of them was on each side. They began trotting systematically toward the fence, where Max was holding the gate wide open.
    For a moment Nickel got an idea about heading into thewoods. Stevie convinced him of the error of his ways by chasing him down and getting him to rejoin his friends. It reminded her of the times she’d ridden out West at their friend Kate’s dude ranch. The horse she rode there, Stewball, was a natural herder. Belle seemed to have some of the instincts for it, too. It made Stevie smile, but best of all, it made Nickel behave.
    In a short time all the horses and ponies were contained in the schooling ring, and getting them inside didn’t take a lot more effort after that.
    The girls untacked their own horses, groomed and watered them, and gave each a tick of hay. Red brought each a blanket, which the girls secured.
    “I feel like I should be reading Belle a bedtime story now,” said Stevie.
    “Well, it’s dark enough outside,” Carole observed. Stevie glanced out the window. She hadn’t noticed before, but the sky had completely darkened, even though sunset was yet a while away, and snow was falling.
    Stevie went to the big double door of the stable, which led to the schooling ring and the rest of the world. Lisa and Carole joined her. The flakes began to fall as they watched. As with many storms, the snow began slowly, a few flakes here and then some more. Most storms took a little while towork up to full blast, but not this one. The few flakes part was over within a minute; then the storm became a blizzard.
    “The woods have disappeared!” Lisa said, amazed at the speed with which the storm had descended.
    “That’s nothing,” said Carole. “The tree in the field over there is barely visible.”
    Stevie looked. It was really snowing hard. No matter how tired she was of all the snow that had already fallen this winter, the new snow descending on them so suddenly was beautiful and magical.
    “It’s so pretty,” Lisa said.
    “It always is when it’s coming down,” said Stevie. “But when it’s been on the ground for a week and has gotten dirty, then it’s ugly.”
    Max came over to them, and they helped him close the big doors.
    “Your dad called, Carole. He said you should go to Stevie’s and he’ll