Driving Team by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page B

Then she looked up, happier. “My mom said she might come back early this afternoon and take me to the mall!”
    “That would be wonderful, Cynthia,” said Carole as she got to her feet. “I hope she does, and I hope you have a great time.”
    “Thanks,” said Cynthia with a wan smile. “Bye,” she called as she scurried off into the dark corners of the stacks.
    Carole and Lisa walked slowly over to their table. “Can you believe we’ve been here all morning and haven’t taken one note?” asked Lisa. “We could have gotten so much more done if we’d just thought to move Cynthia to a different location.”
    “I know,” agreed Carole. “But everything started happening so fast. It seemed like every time I looked up, Mrs. Davidson was on her way to that little nook!”
    “Carole, we’ve got to do something about this,” said Lisa as she zipped up her jacket. “We can’t just let Cynthia’s mother keep on leaving her here like this. Even if she does come pick her up early this afternoon, it’s still practically child abandonment!”
    “I know.” Carole tied her scarf snugly around her neck. “Let’s give it some thought on the way to your house. Maybe we’ll have some brilliant flash of inspiration.”
    “We need Stevie,” Lisa said. “When it comes to brilliant flashes of inspiration, she’s the one to have on your team!”

“M ORNING , GIRL ,” S TEVIE said softly. “How about a good scratch behind your ears?”
    Belle stepped forward in her stall. Though she had already been fed, it was barely eight o’clock on Sunday morning, and she had the same sleepy look in her eyes that Stevie did.
    “I bet you’re surprised to see me here so early,” Stevie whispered as she rubbed Belle’s soft ears. “I’m surprised to be here myself, but I’ve got to work on our project today, and who knows when my wonderful partner will show up. She’s probably having breakfast with her French friends, and you know how the French are about breakfast!” Stevie imitated Veronica’s haughty voice as Belle flicked her ears in surprise.
    “I gotta go now.” She gave the horse a final pat. “I’ll see you in a little while.”
    She turned down the hall and began to walk toward the back storage room, where she’d stashed the driving tack she’d untangled the day before. As she turned the corner, she noticed a light on in Danny’s stall and a wheelbarrow of dirty straw sitting by the door. She walked over and peeked inside, then gasped. In the middle of the stall, dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans, stood Veronica diAngelo!
    “Veronica!” Stevie’s voice came out in a surprised croak. “What are you doing here?”
    Veronica turned and gave her an icy stare. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’ve just cleaned Danny’s stall, and now I’m grooming him.”
    “B-But it’s so early in the morning,” Stevie stuttered. “I didn’t think you’d get here before noon.”
    “Looks like you thought wrong, didn’t you?” Veronica smirked over her shoulder.
    For a moment Stevie was so astonished, she couldn’t think of anything to say. Then she decided that since Veronica had actually shown up, they’d better get some work done. “Well, I’m glad to see you. I finished cleaning the rest of the tack yesterday afternoon, so I guess we should start working the horses together. Why don’t we take Danny and Belleout to the back paddock and longe them together in the driving harness?”
    Veronica frowned for a moment, then shrugged. “Oh, all right,” she finally muttered. “You set it up. I’ll bring the horses.”
    “Okay.” Stevie smiled. Even though Veronica was not in the sunniest of moods, at least she seemed to be willing to cooperate a little. Stevie headed to the storage room and fished the proper pieces of tack out of the box. Then she grabbed an extra-long longe line and headed to the back paddock. She had just checked to make sure she had two sets of each piece of tack when