Trail Ride by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page B

give them a break,” Kate coaxed. “Yesterday was their first day here. They deserved a treat.”
    Paula shrugged as if it was a matter of pure indifference to her. “Whatever, but some of us have real work to do.”
    “Anything we could help with?” Lisa offered.
    “Doubt it,” Paula replied brusquely. Wiping her hands on her jeans, she strode out the door.
    The girls took their places at the table next to Kate.
    “I don’t get it. What did we do to make her dislike us so much?” Carole asked, buttering a thick slab of toast.
    Kate shook her head. “I don’t know. I only told her good things about you.”
    “Like what?”
    “Well … like how Stevie could make any horse dance on the head of a pin.”
    Carole nodded. “But what did you tell her about Lisa and me?”
    Kate considered a moment while she nibbled unenthusiastically on a piece of crisp bacon. “I told her that you can jump a horse through the eye of a needle without brushing the edges, and that Lisa is a riding prodigy who learns so fast she would probably be able to do Paula’s job almost as well as she could by the end of the visit.”
    Lisa groaned. “No wonder she doesn’t like us. She must think we have heads bigger than this entire state.”
    “You think I overdid it then?” Kate said sheepishly.
    Carole patted her on the back. “Yeah, but thanks for the compliments.”
    “I think we should show her we’re not really so bad,” Lisa said thoughtfully. “I hate to leave her with such a negative opinion of us.”
    “What can we do?” Carole asked. “What does Paula admire in people, Kate?”
    Kate smiled. “Hard work.”
    After a hasty breakfast the day passed in a whirl of activity. Buoyed by a determination to prove themselvesworthy to the touchy wrangler, the girls tackled chore after chore: moving a small herd of cattle from one paddock to another, cleaning tack, getting horses ready for the guests, feeding the animals, shoveling manure. They did anything and everything that was asked of them. They even helped prepare and serve the dinner for the staff and guests that evening.
    Lisa wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and collapsed in a chair. “That’s it. Every last pot is scrubbed and every last dish is dried.”
    “You girls certainly deserve time off for good behavior,” Kate’s mother told them. “I want you to have some fun tomorrow.” With that, she shooed them out of the kitchen.
    “You know, it actually was a fun day,” Carole said as she booted up the computer to e-mail Stevie.
    Lisa frowned. “The only bad part is, as hard as we worked, I didn’t see Paula all day. Which means she didn’t see us, either.”
    “Guess you’ll have to be satisfied with a job well done,” Kate told her.
    “I can live with that.”
    “Oh no, I don’t believe it,” Carole groaned, staring at the computer screen. “You guys had better have a look at this.”
    They gathered around her to read Stevie’s latest e-mail.
    What a double-dealing two-faced cat that Dava has turned out to be! It was all an act! She totally suckered me in! She never loved horses, except for a stuffed one a friend gave her. She said she couldn’t resist teasing me. I can’t stand her—I’d like to wipe that self-satisfied little smirk off her face. What a cow! I would rather spend an entire afternoon with Veronica diAngelo than one more minute with Dava! Yes, she’s actually that bad. But I can’t get away from her. This afternoon I have to go to Robin’s bridal shower, and Dava’s going to be there, too.
    You guys, on the other hand, seem to be having the time of your lives. That picnic sounded like pure heaven, and right now I’d give my right arm to take Stewball for a ride. Actually I’d give Dava’s right arm to go for a ride on any horse. In fact, I’d give both of Dava’s arms, plus her legs, her scrawny stick-thin body, and her head. Especially her head! I’ve never been more miserable.
    But don’t worry about me. Keep