The Great Pony Hassle by Nancy Springer Read Free Book Online Page B

Paisley’s, and twisted with crying. “What about you!” she flared at Staci. “You should talk, you’re the one who wants Noodles so bad you hate everybody!”
    â€œWell, what about me!” wailed a third voice. Toni suddenly couldn’t stand it any longer. “Doesn’t anybody think I want a pony too?”
    Bruce McPherson stood with his mouth open. His sister turned to him and said mildly, “I thought you had an odd situation here, with four girls and only one who wanted a pony.”
    â€œTold you you didn’t know what you were getting into,” Cathy teased her new husband.
    He goggled at her, and she smiled at him. “Never mind,” she said. “We’ve got one pony in the backyard already. What’s a few more?”
    With an effort Mr. McPherson closed his mouth. Then he started to smile. “Right!” he said to his wife. “Okay, line up, take a number, one at a time,” he told the girls. Making a show of it, he got his notepad and Parker Brothers pen out of his shirt pocket. He poised the pen. “Staci. Put in your order now if you want a pony.”
    He was grinning like a kid, he was having fun, he really wanted to buy her a pony of her own! Suddenly it was easier for Staci to smile, to say the words, though her voice wouldn’t quite behave. “I’d love one,” she told him. “Thanks.”
    â€œYou’re very welcome. Toni! One pony coming up, with trimmings?”
    â€œWow. Yes. Thank you.” The Fontecchio twins glanced at each other with shining eyes. All at once they knew they were going to like their new stepfather someday. In fact, they liked him already.
    â€œSure thing, Toni! Now, Paisley?”
    She stood looking lost, though not crying any longer. When her father caught her eye, she grinned wanly and nodded.
    â€œThat’s my girl. And last but not least, Stirling. Do you want a pony or not?”
    She stood silent.
    â€œStirling,” Staci urged.
    She was looking at the ground again. Her father cupped her chin in his hand and made her face him. “Truth,” he told her gently. “Do you want a pony?”
    â€œStirling,” Staci pleaded.
    And finally Stirling shouted, almost as loud as Paisley could shout, “Of course I do! But you always give everything to Paisley first! You like her better than me!”
    â€œAw, c’mon, hon, you know that’s not true!” Stirling’s father hugged her. “It’s just that Paisley and I have a lot in common, but I don’t always understand you. I can’t read your mind. You’ve got to tell me what you want. Okay?”
    â€œOkay,” mumbled Stirling into his shirt pocket.
    â€œWhew,” said Staci.
    â€œTurning human, Sis?” Toni teased.
    â€œOh, shut up,” said Staci.
    It took most of the day for things to really sort out. First Paisley and her father went off and had a talk, and then Mr. McPherson took Stirling somewhere for a chat. Cathy and Aunt Cal were making potato salad and getting acquainted, and the girls hung around the kitchen. None of them went near Noodles. And then it was lunchtime.
    Staci was the one who dared to ask, over lunch, what she couldn’t have said a week before: “Is Noodles going to belong to Stirling now?”
    â€œWe were talking about that,” said Mr. McPherson. “Paisley and Stirling and I. This pony business has caused a lot of hard feelings already. I don’t want it causing any more.” His glance took in all four girls.
    Paisley said, “It was dumb of me to ask for a pony just for myself. I should have known it would cause all kinds of hassle.”
    â€œBut, Paisley”—it was only the second time Staci had spoken to her since they found Noodles—“it’s not your fault. Your father only promised a pony to you.”
    â€œThat’s because of the way I asked. He was watching the Super Bowl, and