Summer Rider by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page A

thing.”
    “Sure,” Lisa said. “I wasn’t very hungry, that’s all.”
    Carole stared in disbelief. “Not hungry!” she exclaimed. “After that workout we got in jump class today? You’re kidding.”
    The others, most of whom were on their second or third helpings, also looked surprised. Lisa gulped. She had to think of a convincing response, or her secret would be out. “Um, well …” She forced herself to laugh. “Okay, you caught me,” she said. “I had a little free time after my class this afternoon, and I went back to the cabin and pigged out on some cookies my mom packed for me.” She laughed again, and this time it felt almost natural. “They were a little stale after two and a half weeks, but they still tasted awfully good. I ended up eating the whole bag.”
    Her friends laughed, too. “Busted!” Todd exclaimed with a grin.
    Lisa felt guilty. Obviously, her friends didn’t doubt her story at all. And why should they? Members of The Saddle Club didn’t lie to each other. Still, she told herself, it wasn’t as if this lie were hurting anybody.
    “Then if you’re finished, come on,” Stevie said. “We’ve got to catch Barry before he skips out early again.”
    “You two go ahead,” Lisa said, laying her fork and knife across the food on her plate and standing up. “You can fill me in on what he says later. I’ve got to … um …” She had been about to tell the truth: She wanted to get to the stable and get to work. She couldn’t afford to talk to Barry for even a few minutes if she wanted to finish all her tasks for the evening.
    Carole and Stevie waited expectantly. “What?” Stevie asked. “What do you have to do that’s more important than saving Moose Hill?”
    Lisa felt her face redden. Stevie had made it sound as though Lisa’s schedule couldn’t possibly be very important, and that annoyed her. What did happy-go-lucky, carefree, straight-C+ Stevie know about the kind of pressures Lisa was under?
    Her anger made it easy to make her next lie sound convincing. “Actually, I’m pretty exhausted after that tough jump class and everything else today,” she said. “I know it sounds silly, but I’ve been looking forward to a nice, cool, relaxing dip in the pond all through dinner.”
    “It doesn’t sound silly at all,” Carole said quickly, giving Stevie a dirty look. She was surprised that Lisa didn’t want to come with them to talk to Barry. But Lisa had been working awfully hard since arriving at camp, and the last thing Carole wanted was to keep her from relaxing. “Go ahead. We’ll fill you in later.”
    Stevie and Carole hurried over to Barry’s table. Barry and Betty appeared to be deep in conversation, but they both looked up when the girls approached.
    “Hi,” Betty said. “What’s up, girls?”
    Stevie bit her lip. She was dying to blurt out all sorts of questions, but Barry had said that he hadn’t told all the staff yet about the camp’s sale. What if Betty was among those who didn’t know? “Um, so, Barry,” she said, trying her best to sound casual, “Carole and I were just thinkingabout what you were saying this morning, about … um …”
    Barry came to her rescue. “Don’t worry, Stevie,” he said. “You can speak freely. Betty knows all about it. She was the first one I told—she’s been here as long as I have.”
    Betty nodded. “Ten years,” she said quietly. “Some of the others on the staff have been here almost as long.” She shrugged dejectedly. “I don’t know what we’re all going to do when this place closes.”
    “Maybe we should open our own camp someplace where the real estate isn’t quite so valuable,” Barry said jokingly.
    Stevie pulled up a chair. “Don’t start shopping for that land yet,” she said in a businesslike voice. “Nothing’s final until the papers are signed.” She had picked up that phrase from her parents, who were both lawyers. “First of all, we’ve got to know more about the