English Horse (3 page)

“Big deal,” Stevie muttered. “The way Max was going on about that old woman, you’d think she was the queen of England.”

Carole didn’t think that was fair. Max treated all of his students and boarders with the same amount of respect—as long as they proved themselves worthy of it by taking good care of their horses.

But Veronica looked genuinely amazed at Stevie’s comment. “Oh, come on!” she exclaimed. “Don’t you know who the Penningtons are? They’re only the most important people to move to boring old Willow Creek in years! The whole country club has been buzzing about it for weeks.”

“Important?” Carole repeated in confusion.

“I think she means
socially
important,” Lisa explained.

Veronica frowned. “Of course I do,” she snapped. “And they are. Mrs. Pennington just bought the old Hyde mansion, and they’re moving down here to Virginia from the Main Line.” She smirked. “That’s a very prestigious area just outside of Philadelphia, for you society outcasts.”

“Big deal,” Stevie said again. “If the Penningtons are so snooty, why are they bothering with little old Pine Hollow?”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t expect you three to know anything about society,” she said, waving the
piece of broken balloon airily to emphasize her point. “But I thought even you Saddle Chumps might know a little something about horse shows. When she was younger, Mrs. Pennington used to win tons of ribbons at the Devon Horse Show, and she knows Dorothy DeSoto quite well. After all, Devon is only one of the most important shows in the country.”

“We know about the Devon Horse Show,” Carole replied testily. She understood now why the Penningtons had come to Max about boarding their horses. Dorothy DeSoto was one of Max’s former students who had gone on to have a very successful career as a competitive rider. She must have recommended Pine Hollow to Mrs. Pennington.

“Anyway,” Veronica went on, “the Penningtons won’t be keeping their horses here permanently. My mother said they’re having the old stable on their property rebuilt. Did I mention they bought the Hyde mansion? It’s probably the biggest estate in the whole county. So they just need someplace temporary while the workmen are finishing.”

Just then the girls heard footsteps hurrying toward them. A second later Max appeared around the corner. His brow was furrowed, and he still looked angry. “They’re still cleaning up,” he reported. “Mrs. Pennington’s jacket will probably have to be dry-cleaned, though she refuses to take any money for it.” Suddenly he noticed Veronica standing there, smirking at The Saddle
Club. “Veronica,” he said sharply, “I thought you were busy with your horse.”

“Of course, Max,” Veronica said sweetly. “I just came out for a second to dispose of this.” She held up the piece of blue balloon, which she was still holding. “I wouldn’t want Danny to choke on it.”

Stevie clenched her hands in fury. That was just like Veronica—wiggling her way out of trouble while making The Saddle Club look even worse than it already did. Veronica had picked up that balloon piece in the middle of the aisle, not in Danny’s stall. But there didn’t seem to be much point in explaining that to Max.

“Fine.” Max held out his hand, and Veronica gave him the balloon piece.

“Bye,” she sang out, skipping back down the aisle toward Danny’s stall and quickly disappearing inside once again.

Max returned his attention to The Saddle Club. He crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed in the three of you than I am right now,” he began. “I know you like to fool around”—he glared directly at Stevie at this point—“but I thought you had more sense than to endanger my horses or my business. Obviously, I misjudged you.”

Carole hung her head, feeling deeply ashamed. She really had thought ahead enough to realize that they would have to pick up the balloons so that the horses wouldn’t eat them. But she hadn’t even considered the
idea that their prank could have any other bad results—aside from making Veronica madder than ever, that is.

Lisa was feeling sheepish, too. She knew that her friends considered her the most sensible member of The Saddle Club. Why hadn’t she lived up to it this time? Sure, she had made a few feeble protests about this prank. But she could have tried a lot harder to talk Stevie out of it.

Stevie felt bad about disappointing Max, too. He had yelled at her plenty of times in the past about her schemes, but this was different. Still, how could she have known that Max would be leading a stable tour right then? The last time she had seen him, he’d been alone in his office. Besides, nobody had really been hurt. If Mrs. Pennington and her grandson were such snobs that they couldn’t stand a little water, maybe Pine Hollow was better off without them. After all, the last thing they all needed was a couple more country club types walking around keeping Veronica company.

“You know, I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve been too lenient with you girls in the past,” Max went on with a deep frown. “Maybe it would be best for you to take some time off until you learn the difference between a stable and an amusement park.”

Carole gasped in horror.

“But Max!” Stevie blurted out. She looked just as horrified as Carole felt. “You can’t ban us from Pine Hollow. You can’t!”

Max put his hands on his hips. “Oh, can’t I?” he replied sourly. “Why not? Last I checked, my name is the one on the deed.”

“Because we’ll
die
!” Stevie spread her hands out in front of her pleadingly. “Please, Max. Punish us however you want, just not that!”

Lisa held her breath, waiting to hear what Max would say. The worst part of this whole situation was that she really couldn’t blame him for wanting to revoke their riding privileges. They had acted like irresponsible little children, and that sort of behavior wasn’t appropriate in a stable.

“Just give us one more chance, Max,” Carole begged. Her brown eyes were wide and anxious. “We’ll make it up to you. We’ll muck out every stall six times a day all summer. We’ll mix the grain every single week for a year. Just don’t kick us out!”

Max still looked stern. “I don’t know,” he said. “I think maybe a couple of weeks away would—”

Suddenly Lisa remembered something. “Oh no!” she gasped, interrupting Max. “You can’t ban us now. Tessa’s coming tonight!”

“Tessa?” Miraculously, Max didn’t look angry at being cut off in the middle of his sentence. Instead, a thoughtful expression crossed his face. “That’s right. I’d forgotten she was arriving this week.”

Stevie nodded. “We’re picking her up right after dinner,”
she explained. “Just think how disappointed she’ll be if she can’t ride here at Pine Hollow—especially after all the wonderful things she’s heard about it!”

Max shrugged. “She could still ride here,” he muttered. “In fact, she could exercise your horses while you three are sitting home thinking about what you’ve done.” But this time, his words lacked conviction.

Sensing an advantage, Lisa spoke up tentatively. “We really are sorry, Max,” she said. “And it would just kill us if we thought what we did was going to ruin Tessa’s visit.”

“Humph.” Max still looked skeptical. But then he shrugged resignedly. “Well, I suppose you didn’t mean to drive me out of business. And it
would
be a shame if Tessa had to suffer for what you three did. She’s a good rider, and I know she and Topside will get along splendidly.” Topside was one of Max’s best horses, a well-trained Thoroughbred who had once belonged to Dorothy DeSoto. The Saddle Club had already arranged for Tessa to ride him while she was visiting.

Carole crossed her fingers. She glanced down and noticed that Stevie and Lisa had already done the same. “Does that mean we’re not banned?”

“All right, you’re not banned,” Max said. He held up a hand before the girls could speak. “Not for now, anyway. But you’re on probation. One more stunt like this one and that’s it. No riding for at least a month.”

“That sounds fair,” Carole said quickly. She took a
deep breath, hardly believing their narrow escape. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be banned from Pine Hollow even for a day, let alone a whole month.

“I can only hope Tessa will be a good influence and keep you out of trouble,” Max muttered. “Sweet girl. Lovely manners.” Without another word, he turned and stomped off in the direction of the bathroom.

“Whew!” Stevie exclaimed as soon as he was out of earshot. “That was a close one.”

Lisa saw that Stevie’s face was pale. “I’ll say,” she agreed. “Can you imagine getting banned right before the point-to-point? I mean, I know it’s not actually at Pine Hollow, but …”

Stevie’s face got even whiter. “I didn’t even think of that,” she admitted. “I was too busy worrying about how to explain to Tessa why we couldn’t go riding while she’s here.”

Danny’s stall door banged open again. “Did I hear right?” Veronica demanded, looking annoyed as she came toward them again. “Is that obnoxious royal pain actually coming here for a visit?”

“If you’re referring to Tessa,” Lisa replied coolly, “then the answer is yes. And I’m sure she’s just dying to see you, too.”

“Like I care what she thinks,” Veronica snapped huffily. “She may hide behind that British accent and her stupid title, but underneath it all she’s just as immature
and—and—
stupid
as the three of you.” She whirled around and stormed back to Danny’s stall.

“Uh-oh,” Carole whispered. “It looks like you were right, Lisa. Veronica is holding a major grudge against Tessa. I guess she’s mad that Tessa didn’t recognize her superior breeding and introduce her to the queen.”

Stevie rubbed her hands together. “Uh-huh,” she agreed. “This could be trouble. We’ll have to figure out the best way to handle it so that—”

“Stop right there, Stevie,” Lisa interrupted. “In case you’ve already forgotten, we can’t ‘handle’ anything right now. At least not the way you’re thinking.”

Carole nodded emphatically. “Lisa’s right,” she said. “Max is really mad this time. And the worst part is, Veronica knows it. If we do anything to her …” She let her voice trail off meaningfully.

Stevie nodded. She realized that her friends were right. There was no way she could risk losing her riding privileges, especially now. She would just have to wait until Max cooled off to get her revenge for “best dressed boy.”

“Okay,” she said. “I guess all we can do is try to keep Tessa and Veronica out of each other’s way.”

Carole and Lisa nodded, both looking relieved. “Right,” they said in a single voice.

L
ATER THAT EVENING
, the three friends hurried into the waiting room at the airport.

“Is her plane here yet?” Stevie asked breathlessly.

Lisa glanced up at the arrivals board, quickly scanning the listings. “There,” she said. “Flight One-oh-one from London—due in at 7:45.” She checked her watch. “We have ten minutes before the plane lands, and then she has to go through customs.”

Carole collapsed onto one of the hard plastic chairs nearby. “I hope your dad doesn’t mind waiting in the car for that long.”

“He brought the newspaper, remember? Anyway, I think he really needs the peace and quiet,” Lisa said. “Mom was so busy chattering at him about the point-to-point this morning that he didn’t have a chance to read it over breakfast like he usually does.”

Carole and Stevie laughed. Mr. Atwood had offered to wait in the car in the airport’s pickup zone while The Saddle Club went inside to meet Tessa. He had claimed it was so that he wouldn’t have to find a parking space. But all three girls suspected that he just wanted some time to himself. For the past few weeks, Mrs. Atwood had been so busy with the point-to-point that the Atwoods’ normally quiet, sedate household had been a whirlwind of activity.

Stevie and Lisa sat down beside Carole to wait. People were rushing forward to greet the weary-looking travelers as they emerged from the customs gate.

“I think my mom was kind of disappointed about not being here to welcome Tessa to America in person,” Lisa commented, tucking her legs under her chair as a portly
couple rushed past, chattering excitedly in a language Lisa didn’t recognize. “She’s pretty excited about having a real English lady staying with us. Although I think she’s worried that Tessa won’t think our house is fancy enough compared to what she’s used to.”

Stevie grinned. “She doesn’t have to worry about that,” she said. “Tessa probably won’t even notice the difference.” Despite being a distant cousin to the queen, Tessa was one of the most down-to-earth, least pretentious people the girls had ever met.

“I hope she has fun while she’s here,” Carole mused. She shuddered. “I still can’t believe we almost ruined things by getting ourselves banned from Pine Hollow.”

Normally Stevie would have teased Carole for assuming that the only way Tessa could possibly have fun during her visit was at the stable. But this time she just nodded ruefully. “I’m really sorry about that,” she said. “If I’d known how that prank was going to turn out …”

“We know,” Carole broke in. “We already forgave you after your first six thousand apologies. Besides, we should have known better, too.”

Lisa nodded. “Actually, I was sort of thinking about that on the drive here,” she said. “We all know that Tessa likes a good prank as much as anyone. But do you think we should maybe, um, well, avoid mentioning this particular one to her when she gets here?”

Stevie looked surprised. “What do you mean?”

Lisa wasn’t sure how to explain what she was thinking
without sounding like her mother. “Well, it’s just that it was kind of juvenile if you think about it—no offense, Stevie. But like Max was saying, Tessa has nice manners and everything, and she
is
a lady, even if it’s easy to forget that sometimes, and we haven’t seen her for a while …”

“I get it.” Carole bit her lip. “She might not be too impressed if she heard we ended up soaking some poor, innocent bystanders and possibly ruining Max’s boarding plans. It is a little immature.” Her face reddened. “Besides, I’m not exactly dying to tell anyone I’m on probation with Max. I didn’t even work up the courage to tell Dad about that yet.”

Stevie was silent for a moment. Then she nodded. “You’re right,” she said briskly. “Knowing we’re on probation would be a real downer for Tessa. Besides, we can’t let her know that Veronica beat us this time. It makes the whole Saddle Club look bad. Tessa might not even want to be a member anymore if she found out. She might turn around and take the next plane back to England!”