Rocking Horse by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page A

have come loose while you were galloping, and the twist would have given your horse a gall.”
    “So?” Veronica said. “I’ll fix it before I ride—you can’t penalize me for something I’ve fixed!” She grabbed the checklist out of the first inspector’s hands and read what was written there. “You can’t penalize me for
dirt
!” she continued, her voice rising to decibel levels it had never reached in her thirteen years of throwing tantrums. “I wasn’t dirty five minutes ago! My groom cleaned this tack three times last week! This isn’t my fault! How dare you give me penalties! Don’t you know who I am?”
    “They do now,” Lisa whispered to her friends. “And I’m sure they’ll never forget.”
    “She’s going for the All-Time Horse Inspection Penalty Record,” Stevie whispered. “I bet she couldn’t get any more points if she threw up on the inspectors.”
    Carole laughed despite herself. She put her hand over her mouth and tried to turn the laugh into a cough, but Veronica heard.
    “You!” she said, pointing a dirty, ungloved finger up at Carole. “You and your two friends! You musthave planned this. That’s who did it,” she said to the inspectors. “The Saddle Club—they’re behind everything. It’s their fault, not mine!”
    One of the inspectors put out a hand to restrain Veronica. Carole rode Starlight a little way away, and Lisa and Stevie followed her. “I’m sorry she thinks that,” Carole said. “I might want to do something like that to Veronica, but I would never do that to Danny. Think how uncomfortable he must be.”
    “And even I’ve never come up with such an effective plan for revenge,” Stevie said. She looked over at Veronica and the two inspectors, who were now fully engaged in an argument. The head of the rally was running toward them, and Stevie thought she saw Max detach himself from the gathering crowd. “This is Super Revenge,” Stevie said. “I hate to admit it, but this would have been beyond me. Danny has finally met his match. He’s been beaten by Veronica herself.”

C AROLE RODE WITH her seat just out of the saddle, her weight sinking evenly into her heels. She kept her hands steady against Starlight’s neck. He was galloping smoothly, confidently, with his head high and his eyes alert, watching for the next jump but not fearing it. Carole felt her heart leap. They were halfway through the cross-country course and Starlight had yet to put a foot wrong. Better still, his attitude was telling her that he was enjoying this ride as much as she was. They were on the same wavelength; they understood the same things. To Carole, there was no greater joy. All the blue ribbons in the world couldn’t beat feeling one with your horse.
    The course curved. Carole turned Starlight by shifting her weight slightly in the saddle. She gathered her reins and steadied him for the approaching jump. It was a coop, the kind of jump Stevie was so afraid of. Carole bit her lip as Starlight sailed over it. She hoped Stevie would do okay. Then she thought of Stevie as she last saw her, standing near a hysterical, filthy Veronica. She bit her lip harder. It wasn’t very nice to laugh at Veronica’s predicament—but it was hard not to.
    They galloped around a corner and Starlight tossed his head. The next jump came up much more quickly than Carole remembered and she didn’t really have enough time to prepare her horse. She grabbed Starlight’s mane with both hands and urged him forward with her legs. He jumped the fence awkwardly, but he made it over, which was all the judges cared about. “Sorry, buddy,” Carole said, reaching down to pat his neck before resuming her galloping position. She had to keep her mind on the course.
    A T THE STARTING BOX , Stevie waited her turn. She’d passed the inspection easily, checked her girth, and mounted. Now she walked Belle in circles to keep the horse calm. Stevie felt remarkably calm. In fact, she couldn’t remember