Horse Tale (7 page)

“Would you like to go for a walk with me after dinner?”

Lisa had almost missed John’s question because she was so busy analyzing her own feelings about him. She gave an awkward gulp, then stammered out, “Oh, uh, ya—I mean yes. I mean, that would be nice.”

He smiled up at her, not seeming to notice her discomfort. “Good,” he said. “I’ll see you then. Just meet me here by the corral, okay?” With that he turned and walked away, whistling a little tune.

Lisa watched him go, then smiled. She was a little embarrassed about her own goofy response, but that feeling was overwhelmed by a feeling of excitement. Back at home she’d been dating a boy named Bob Harris, and she liked him a lot. But John was definitely one of the most interesting boys she’d ever met, and she was looking forward to spending some time alone with him—really alone.

She clucked to Chocolate and trotted over to join her friends.

“O
KAY, TIME FOR
a Saddle Club meeting,” Carole announced as the girls dismounted beside a small sandy stream.

They had been riding along for a little over an hour, not talking much, each of them lost in her own thoughts.
Stevie, of course, had been thinking about Stewball. The first thing she had to decide was which stall she would keep him in at Pine Hollow. After thinking over the empty stalls that were available, she decided to ask Max if she could put him in the one across from Starlight’s. That was easy.

Then she had started thinking about his training. That wasn’t going to be quite as easy. Stewball was such a smart horse that Stevie was sure he would be a fast learner—the only question was whether she would be a worthy teacher for him. Luckily, she knew she could count on Carole to help. After all, Carole had been working hard on Starlight’s training ever since she’d gotten him. She was sure to have plenty of advice for Stevie.

Carole was thinking about much the same thing. She had already begun to outline in her mind the steps Stevie would need to take to transform Stewball from the perfect Western horse to a good Eastern one. It would be a lot of hard work, but Carole decided that with the help of The Saddle Club, Stevie would be able to do it.

Meanwhile Lisa’s mind had been on a different subject entirely—John Brightstar. Even though she was having fun on the trail ride with her friends, a part of her couldn’t wait for that evening after dinner. Did meeting John at the corral for a walk count as a date? After some consideration she decided that it probably did. She had just decided to share her news and her thoughts with her friends when Kate pointed out the stream and suggested they stop to give the horses a chance to rest and have a drink.

When Carole announced the Saddle Club meeting, Lisa decided this would be the perfect opportunity to talk about John. But before she could open her mouth, Stevie started chattering away.

“Did you see what Stewball did back there when that jackrabbit crossed our path?” she said. “He just lifted up his head, pricked his ears a little, and snorted. It was almost like he was telling the rabbit to get out of his way.” She turned to Carole. “Did you see?”

“Yes,” Carole answered. “When Berry saw the rabbit—”

But Stevie didn’t let her finish. “He’s not easily startled, is he?” she mused, gazing thoughtfully at Stewball. “That’ll be a good quality in the show ring. He can really concentrate when he wants to, and that’s important.”

“It is important,” Kate agreed. “I remember once when I—”

She never had a chance to finish her sentence, either. Stevie was off and running on another tangent. “I was thinking while we were riding, I’m going to ask Max if Stewball can have the stall across from Starlight’s.…”

Lisa sighed. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to be able to get so much as a word in edgewise, let alone switch the topic from horses to boys, and she couldn’t help being just a little bit annoyed for a second. On the other hand, there was nothing in the world as exciting as getting your own horse, and Lisa couldn’t blame Stevie for being excited. Lisa decided just to relax and join in talking about Stewball for
as long as Stevie felt like it—which promised to be a good long time. Her own news could wait awhile.

She glanced at Carole, who rolled her eyes and smiled. It looked as though Carole was having the same thought.

Stevie was oblivious of her friends’ silent exchange. All she could think about was Stewball. She could still hardly believe that her parents had agreed to buy him. This had to be the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her in her entire life.

She started asking Carole questions about Starlight’s training. Carole did her best to answer, though most of the time Stevie was asking another question before Carole was halfway through the answer.

“Well, anyway, my main concern right now is whether to start at the beginning with his training, and how long to wait before starting on anything serious like jumping or dressage,” Stevie said, interrupting Carole for about the twentieth time.

“I’m not sure, but like I started to say a minute ago, I think you might have to do at least some preliminary work with him before trying to teach him anything too advanced. What do you think, Kate?” Carole asked, turning to the more experienced girl.

Stevie glanced at Kate. She realized for the first time that Kate had hardly said a word throughout the whole discussion. “Yeah, what would you do, Kate?”

“Well, I probably wouldn’t try to make an experienced Western horse into a show horse at all,” Kate answered
quietly. “But if I did, I guess I would start his training almost from scratch. After all, he’ll need to get used to an English saddle, and to two-handed reining. That could take a little time, no matter how smart he is. You’re going to be taking him away from everything he’s used to and expecting him to learn a whole new way of doing things.”

If she hadn’t known better, Stevie would have thought that Kate didn’t approve of her plan. She suddenly began to wonder how Kate felt about parting with Stewball. Even though Kate usually rode Spot, the Appaloosa she was riding today, Stevie figured she would probably miss Stewball a lot. Who wouldn’t? He was quite a personality. Maybe Kate was just feeling a little bit sad. Stevie couldn’t blame her for that. But she was sure that once Kate realized what a perfect match Stevie and Stewball really were, she’d know it was the right thing for them to be together all the time. Stevie vowed to prove that to Kate before Stevie and Stewball left the ranch together.

“T
HERE YOU ARE
. I was wondering if you’d gotten lost on the way from the house,” John greeted Lisa that evening. He jumped down from his perch on the corral fence and came forward to meet her.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said. She didn’t tell him the reason: She still hadn’t found the right opportunity to tell her friends about her plans with him, and she hadn’t wanted to spring the news on them at the last minute. That meant she had had to get away without their knowledge. To facilitate her escape, she had volunteered to help wash the dinner dishes. By the time the chore was finished, the other girls were deeply involved in a game of Monopoly, and Lisa had no problem sneaking out of the house undetected.

“That’s okay,” John assured her with a smile. “You’re worth waiting for.” Lisa and John began to stroll around the
corral toward the pasture beyond. They leaned on the fence and watched the herd for a while in silence. The sun was setting, and the sky on the horizon was streaked with a dozen different shades of pink, blue, and violet. The peaceful horses were silhouetted against this breathtaking background, and Lisa thought she could watch the scene forever.

In fact, Lisa was so taken in by the beauty of the Western landscape before her that she almost forgot that John was at her side. However, when he put his arm around her, she had trouble concentrating on the scenery.

After a few minutes one of the horses broke away from the herd and started frisking around the edges. “Oh, look, it’s Chocolate! Doesn’t she look pretty?” Lisa exclaimed.

“Not as pretty as you,” John countered.

Lisa wasn’t sure quite what to say to that, so she just smiled. As she looked up at John, it seemed the most natural thing in the world that he should lean over and kiss her. It was a warm, lingering kiss, and it was nicer than Lisa had imagined a simple kiss could be.

“That was nice,” Lisa whispered when it ended.

John smiled his agreement. He leaned toward her for another kiss, but before their lips met, a sharp whinny startled them apart. They looked up to see Stewball standing at the fence, staring at them quizzically.

“Oops,” John said. “I think I know what he wants.” He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a couple of sugar lumps. Stewball whinnied again and stretched his
neck out to take them from John’s palm. “I swear this crazy horse can smell sugar a mile away,” John added.

Lisa laughed. “It figures,” she said. “Since Stevie isn’t here to interrupt us in person, Stewball decided to do it for her.”

John chuckled, too, obviously remembering the times Stevie had barged in on their conversations in the past. He reached out to pat Stewball and his face grew serious. “We’re really going to miss this fella around here.”

“You know, I hadn’t really thought of that,” Lisa said. “I was just excited that Stevie is finally getting her own dream horse. But I guess you’ll miss having Stewball around for roundups and that kind of thing, won’t you?”

“Well, that wasn’t really what I was thinking,” John replied. “I just meant that we’ll miss his zany sense of horse humor. There are plenty of other horses to take his place here as far as the work is concerned. In that respect The Bar None will only miss Stewball a little—but I’m afraid old Stewball will miss The Bar None a lot.”

“What do you mean?” Lisa asked. “I’m sure he’ll like Pine Hollow just as well once he gets used to it.”

John shook his head. “I’m not so sure. I think this land and this way of life are in Stewball’s blood. He belongs here in the West, at The Bar None. Stevie shouldn’t be taking him to Virginia.”

Lisa took a step backward. “Well, I think you’re wrong,” she said defensively. She couldn’t believe this was the same boy who had just kissed her so tenderly. He obviously wasn’t
thinking about Stevie’s feelings at all. “All that matters is that Stewball will have an owner who’s crazy about him and will take good care of him. That’s what’s important.”

“I was afraid you’d feel that way,” John said. “But I figured it was worth mentioning to you. I was hoping to convince you to try to talk her out of it.”

“You were what?” Lisa couldn’t believe her ears. “Was that why you asked me to meet you here? To talk about
Stevie?
” She stared at him for a moment before whirling on her heel and storming away.

Tears came to her eyes, making it difficult for her to see where she was going. When she was sure John wasn’t following her, she ducked into the barn to collect herself. The familiar smells and sounds inside were comforting, and she wiped her eyes and looked around. She felt as though she had to sort out what had just happened before facing anyone—especially her friends, who would notice right away that something was wrong.

She walked through the barn, stopping briefly to give Moon Glow and Felix a pat. Then she found an empty box stall nearby. She entered, closing the half door behind her, and sat down in the fresh clean straw, her arms around her knees. Leaning against the scratchy wood wall and taking several deep breaths, she began to think about what had just happened.

Lisa was pretty sure John had had two motives for inviting her out for a walk. One was to talk to her about Stevie and Stewball and ask her to intervene. He had more or less
admitted that. His other motive had probably been just what she’d thought it was all along, namely, to be alone with her. If it hadn’t, he wouldn’t have said all those nice things, put his arm around her, or kissed her. She sighed, remembering that kiss. It had been so wonderful—she only wished she could just go back and tell her friends about that part and forget about the rest!

Still, she reminded herself, John had asked her to meet him only
after
he learned about Stevie’s plans. That made her think that his concern about Stewball was the more important motive behind their “date,” which made her feel terribly hurt and angry.

But how could he have had Stewball on his mind during that kiss? It didn’t seem possible that he had been thinking about anything but her at that moment. Even if he
had
started out with another motive, did that have to make their kiss any less special? Was she being silly to think of it that way?

She sighed again and rested her head on her arms. She had a feeling this one might take some time to figure out.