Horse Fever

Horse Fever by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: Horse Fever by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online
Authors: Bonnie Bryant
quietly. “Maybe we should save our energy for the next appointment.”
    Pat looked distractedly at Carole. Then all at once she burst out laughing. “You know what? You’re right. I was having too much fun yelling.”
    As they headed back to the car, another car pulled up behind them. A man in breeches and boots got out. “Here to see the horse?” Pat asked.
    “Uh, yeah,” the man said uncertainly. He held up a tattered copy of
Horseman’s Weekly
. “The one advertised.”
    “Too late,” Pat said. “Sold yesterday.”
    “Sold yesterday!” the man exclaimed angrily. “Of all the rude—”
    “Don’t worry,” Carole said, getting into the spirit of things. “Turns out it was lame anyway.”
    Shaking his head in disgust, the man thanked them, got into his car, and drove away.
    Back in Pat’s car, Carole was overcome with giggles. “Inever would have had the guts to chew that woman out. You were great!”
    “It comes from years of practice,” Pat said.
    “My friend Stevie’s good at that,” Carole said. In a way, Pat reminded her of a grown-up Stevie, even though Stevie was a tomboy and Pat seemed so glamorous.
    “Stevie Lake?” said Pat. “I know her. We live right down the road from the Lakes. I see you guys together a lot at Pine Hollow—with one other girl.”
    “Yeah, that’s Lisa. We’re The Saddle Club,” Carole said.
    “The Saddle Club?” Pat repeated.
    Carole explained about the club. Pretty soon she found herself telling Pat about some of their adventures.
    “Gosh, sounds like you guys are
tight
!” said Pat.
    “We sure are,” Carole agreed. But then her face fell. No doubt Stevie and Lisa were at Pine Hollow right then, joking and laughing, taking Belle and Prancer out, getting a jump start on their demonstrations for Max. With a twinge Carole thought of Starlight, waiting in his stall, expecting her to come. If she had said something to Stevie and Lisa, they would have taken him out. But Carole hadn’t said anything. In fact, she had deliberately “forgotten” to call them last night. She had spent the evening worrying over the
Horseman’s Weekly
story contest.Once Lisa had mentioned it, Carole did want to enter. The topic was a turning point in the life of a horse and rider. The thing was, it was hard to write about a turning point when she herself was riding the same horse she’d been riding for months and months and months. A horse she knew as well as any of her friends, as well as her father—maybe better.
If only I were looking for a horse
, Carole thought idly.
Then I’d have the perfect topic
.
    “All right, here we are: the ‘seasoned hunter,’ ” said Pat, turning onto a well-maintained driveway. “Let’s keep our fingers crossed.”
    “Only one hand!” Carole reminded her. “Two is bad luck.”
    “Oops!” said Pat, uncrossing the fingers of one hand as they strode toward a small barn.
    The barn had two stalls that opened onto a large paddock. It wasn’t posh, but it was neat and practical. Carole and Pat looked at one another hopefully.
    “Hello! Over here!” A girl in jeans who had a brown ponytail waved from the barn, beckoning them closer. She was grooming a large chestnut pony that stood on a pair of cross-ties. “Hello! You’re here to see my pony, right?”
    “Pony?” Pat asked uncertainly. “You mean the seasoned hunter?”
    “Yeah—here he is. He’s hunted three seasons and won loads of children’s hunter trophies!” the girl said enthusiastically. “By the way, I’m Missy.”
    Pat and Carole shook hands with Missy. “So you’re the one looking, right?” Missy said to Carole. Before Carole could answer, the girl had fetched a saddle and settled it on the back of the chestnut.
    Carole looked at Pat. “What do we do?” she mouthed.
    “Umm … I think there’s some mistake,” Pat said gently.
    “A mistake?” the girl asked. “But you haven’t even
tried
him yet. At least give Buster a chance!”
    “No—No, he looks

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