Bridle Path (12 page)

“Definitely did not,” Lisa added.

“Grrrrrrr,” was all Stevie could say.

“We would have done the work anyway,” Carole
said. “Remember all the work we did when Mrs. Reg went away? We always like to pitch in.”

“He didn’t have to trick us. He never has to trick us.”

“Grrrrrrr.”

Colonel Hanson abandoned his recliner and left the girls to their musings.

“We like doing things for Max,” Carole reasoned. “We always say yes when he asks.”

“We would have done just as good a job,” said Lisa.

“Grrrrrr.”

Then Stevie’s face brightened. “I’ve got it,” she said. “It was his April Fools’ joke on us.”

“Why would he do that? He’s never played a trick on us before,” said Lisa. “Has he?”

“No, but we’ve played lots on him. Maybe that was just turnabout. That’s fair, isn’t it?”

Carole wasn’t so certain. “Now, let me get this straight,” she said. “For years you’ve been playing April Fools’ jokes on Max and getting away with it. Then this year he decides on revenge, only instead of just playing a trick on you, we worked like crazy all week because he was playing a trick on all three of us?”

“Something like that,” Stevie said. “It has to be.”

“That’s not fair! We didn’t play any tricks on him at all!” Lisa said.

“Well, not quite,” said Stevie.

Lisa and Carole didn’t like the sound of that and asked her what it meant.

“It meant I couldn’t resist,” said Stevie.

“Doing what?” Lisa asked.

“Well, remember when you guys were in the tack room packing your bags and folding all our wedding clothes?”

“Where were you?” Carole asked.

“I was in the stable,” said Stevie. “I had to do some moving. I had to move all the horses. I moved every one of them over one stall to the left. The one on the far left end, I moved to the far right end.”

“You what?”

“I moved every one of them over one stall to the—”

“We heard you,” Lisa said. “But why did you do that?”

“I sort of couldn’t resist,” Stevie said. “You know how it is when the urge comes over me?”

They did know, and they weren’t always sure they liked it, but this time, they might make an exception.

“How’s Max going to know who did it?”

“Who else would do something like that?” Carole asked.

“Maybe,” said Stevie. “But I didn’t want to leave it to chance. So I did a little something with the hat wall.”

“Yes?”

“I moved the hats around so that they spell ‘April Fool!’ ”

“That’ll do it,” Lisa said. “Max will definitely figure it out.”

“And I’m glad I did.”

“I am, too,” said Lisa. “I didn’t mind doing all that work, really. In fact, some of it, like the clothes part, was really fun. But it was a little sneaky to trick us into doing the work.”

“You’re right,” said Carole. “He deserved it. Nice going, Stevie.”

Then she checked the clock. It was just three minutes until eight. The girls poured themselves sodas, retreated to their chosen soft seats, and Carole clicked on the television so they could watch their second wedding of the day.

“Third, if we count Dorothy and Nigel’s!” Stevie said. They all laughed.

Skye’s wedding was really nice, but the girls agreed that it could have used a few special touches.

“Like some horses,” Lisa said.

The phone rang then. Carole stood up and went into the kitchen to answer it. Lisa and Stevie stayed in the living room, picking up little pieces of popcorn and wiping off the tables so everything would be clean.

A few minutes later, Carole returned to the living room.

“It was your mother, Stevie,” she said.

Stevie stood up to get the phone.

“No, she’s off the phone now,” Carole explained. “She just called to say that your room was a mess and you will have to have it cleaned up right away or you won’t go riding on Tuesday. She sounded really angry.”

“Oh, no,” Stevie said, recalling the disaster area she sometimes called her room. She’d meant to clean it up. She really had. But The Saddle Club had been so busy with the wedding and the horse show the night before. Her mother would understand. She just
had
to. There was no way she could get it
all
done by Tuesday, but maybe if she got a good start on it—or if she got some help?

“You wouldn’t mind giving me a hand, would you?” Stevie asked.

“No way,” said Lisa.

“Uh-uh,” said Carole.

“Please?”

“Nope.”

“I’m going to miss class then for sure!”

“Too bad,” said Lisa. “You’re going to have to do it yourself this time, though.”

“Aw, come on. It won’t take us long.”

“Us?”

Stevie seemed truly despondent. Carole thought it had gone on long enough. After all, the phone call was simply somebody selling magazine subscriptions.

Carole grinned at Stevie. “April Fool!” she announced.

“Really?”

“Really,” Carole said.

“You had me going!” Stevie said. “I thought it really was my mother. How did you figure that trick out?”

“I’ve learned from a pro,” Carole said.

“Thanks,” Stevie said, accepting that as a compliment. For all the members, there was something just wonderful about being in The Saddle Club, and it had to do with being appreciated for what they were. They were friends.

B
ONNIE
B
RYANT
is the author of more than sixty books for young readers, including novelizations of movie hits such as
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
and
Honey, I Blew Up the Kids
, written under her married name, B. B. Hiller.

Ms. Bryant began writing The Saddle Club in 1986. Although she had done some riding before that, she intensified her studies then and found herself learning right along with her characters Stevie, Carole, and Lisa. She claims that they are all much better riders than she is.

Ms. Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She lives in Greenwich Village with her two sons.