Pack Trip (2 page)

“Remember Eli?”

Of course Carole did. Kate was just teasing her. Eli had been the main ranch hand at the Bar None. Now he was a college student, studying rodeo riding and working for the Bar None when they needed an extra hand.

“Well, Eli’s come up with an idea,” Kate continued. “He’d like to take some young riders on a mountain pack trip. Naturally he wants only the best riders. Naturally he asked if I could go, and Christine, too. Naturally when
we said we could, he wanted to know if we knew any other good riders. We weren’t sure—”

“You mean it?” Carole interrupted.

“Of course I do,” Kate said. “It’s going to be a five-day trip. We’ll bring some of the horses from the Bar None to use, and Jeannie is coming along, too.”

Jeannie was Eli’s girlfriend and another person The Saddle Club really liked. They took more than a little credit for the fact that Eli had ever noticed Jeannie was alive. It would be great to spend time with her, too.

“I’ll be there. I’ll be there. When is it?” Carole asked.

“Week after next. My dad already talked to yours, and they’ve got it all arranged. But here’s the big question. Do you think Stevie and Lisa want to come, too?”

“That’s the easiest question in the world to answer,” Carole said. “Of course they
want
to come. The question is
can
they? I mean, is it really expensive?”

“Not too bad, but your dad said something to me about using the money some banker gave you.”

There were so many nice thoughts filling Carole’s head that for a minute she couldn’t remember what her father had been talking about. Then it came to her.

“Veronica’s horse!” she said.

“Huh?” Kate asked.

“It was a reward. The Saddle Club saved Veronica diAngelo’s horse from horsenappers, and her father gave us a reward.”

“Why would you take money from him?” Kate asked. It was a good question. Veronica diAngelo was the snobbiest girl at Pine Hollow, and The Saddle Club never wanted to have anything to do with her. That didn’t mean they would let her horse be stolen, though. They cared about her horse even if they didn’t care much about her.

“Oh, we didn’t really want the money,” Carole explained. “We just took it because we knew it would make Veronica angry. But now I’m glad we took it, because it means we can all go on the trip with you and Eli.”

“I hope so,” Kate said.

“Definitely,” Carole assured her. “I think,” she added.

“Call me,” Kate said.

“As soon as I can,” Carole promised.

S
TEVIE TURNED ANOTHER
page of
Robinson Crusoe
, satisfied that she was making progress in her book-report book. The trouble was that she didn’t have the foggiest idea what had happened on the page she’d just turned.

She was going to flip back a page, but her cat, Madonna, eased herself in front of Stevie and settled down on the open book, closing the subject for the moment. Stevie began patting her since it was clear that was what the cat had in mind.

“Stevie, phone for you,” her older brother, Chad, announced. “It’s Carole. Don’t take all night. I’m waiting for a call from Belinda.”

“Sure,” Stevie said agreeably, though she didn’t mean it at all. She didn’t like Belinda. She
did
like Carole.

“What’s up?” she asked brightly, tucking the phone comfortably between her shoulder and her ear so she could continue to pat Madonna as she talked.

“Kate Devine called,” Carole began. All thoughts of the poor stranded Mr. Crusoe fled from Stevie’s mind. She began patting Madonna so vigorously that the cat slunk away, regarding Stevie curiously as she went. Any time Kate Devine called, it was at the very least interesting and more likely exciting.

Stevie listened intently while Carole explained about the trip. It sounded almost too good to be true, especially when Carole described how Kate’s father, a retired Marine Corps pilot with access to an airplane, would fly the three of them out west for free. That way all they would have to pay for was the cost of the pack trip itself.

“That’s all? Hey, great, but how are we going to manage that?” Stevie asked.

“Mr. diAngelo’s reward money,” Carole said.

“Ahhhhh! Perfect!” Stevie said. “It’s just what we had in mind, isn’t it? First, we irk her by getting the money from her father, then we drive her crazy by doing something absolutely wonderful with it. Carole, you’re a genius!”

It took them another twenty minutes to talk about
how great the trip was going to be. Chad came into Stevie’s room three times to glare at her for tying up the phone. She didn’t pay much attention to him until he reminded her that her own boyfriend, Phil, might be trying to call. Stevie glared back.

“I’ve got to go,” she told Carole. “Chad is trying some awful tactics to get me off the phone, and I don’t want him to think they’re working, but the fact is I’ve got to tell my parents about this. They’re going to be thrilled. I’ll call you back as soon as I can, okay?”

“Deal,” Carole said. “In the meantime I’ll call Lisa.”

L
ISA WAS RELIEVED
when the telephone rang. She was bored with her parents’ tedious discussion. They were in the process of planning an anniversary trip for themselves, and at the moment they were trying to decide where Lisa would stay while they were gone. Her brother was studying in Europe, so he wouldn’t be available to look after her. As far as Lisa was concerned, it was an easy question. She’d stay with Stevie or Carole, or both. For her parents, however, that kind of question was never easy. Her mother was at the point where she was worrying about how many suitcases Lisa would need and whether they should tell the police the house would be empty during their vacation. Lisa much preferred answering
the telephone rather than continuing the conversation. She decided that if the caller turned out to be a magazine salesperson, she’d order a five-year subscription to
Golf Digest
just to pay her parents back for being so boring.

It wasn’t a magazine salesperson. It was Carole. And within a few seconds, Lisa realized, it was also the answer to her prayers—several of them.

“You’re kidding! A pack trip! Week after next? Wait until I tell my parents!”

“Will they give you a hard time?” Carole asked.

“Not at all. They’ll be thrilled,” Lisa said. She explained about her parents’ trip. “Of course, they’ll load me down with phone numbers and fax numbers where they can be reached while they’re away.”

“Fax numbers?” Carole asked.

“In case they have to sign any consent forms,” Lisa explained. “These people never leave anything to chance!”

Carole laughed. “That’s okay,” she said. “As long as they say yes.”

“I’ll call you back,” Lisa promised.

“J
UST EXACTLY WHAT
does ‘no’ mean?” Stevie asked her parents patiently.

“It’s an adverb,” her father answered just as patiently.
“It means the opposite of ‘yes.’ It means you’ve got a book report to do, and you have to keep up-to-date on your journal, and going on a wild-goose chase—”

“It’s a pack trip,” Stevie corrected him.

“Same thing,” he said. “In any event, there are things that haven’t been getting done which must get done, and you know that schoolwork always comes before horses …”

Stevie had her work cut out for her. She could tell there was major resistance from her parents. Convincing them to let her go was going to take time and diplomacy.

“… so the answer is no.”

“Why don’t I get us all something to drink while we continue this discussion?” Stevie suggested. “Sodas?”

Stevie was not above bribery at any level. Besides, she told herself, it was a way of proving how responsible she was.

“Continue? I thought it was over,” her father said.

“Don’t interrupt her now, dear,” Mrs. Lake said. “She hasn’t gotten to the really creative part yet, and that’s always fun.”

Stevie’s parents knew her well, but she also knew them. She was convinced she could make them change their minds. It would just take time.

“W
E’RE ALL COMING
, Kate, and I can’t believe it!” Carole
practically screeched into the telephone. “It’s going to be The Saddle Club’s biggest adventure yet. We can’t wait!”

“Did Lisa and Stevie have any problems convincing their parents?” Kate asked.

“Lisa didn’t, but Stevie took a long time,” Carole said. “See, she has a book report she has to do, and she’s supposed to be keeping a journal. She had to promise her parents that she’d finish reading the book and do the first draft of the book report before she got home.”

“What’s the book?”

“
Robinson Crusoe
,” Carole said. “It’s about this guy who gets stranded on an island.”

“I can help her with that, because I’ve already read it,” Kate said. “Isn’t that what Saddle Clubbers are supposed to do—help one another?”

“Precisely,” Carole said. “And since she’s now on page four of the book, we’ll have lots of opportunities to help. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“We’ll be reading by firelight,” Kate said.

“Just like Abraham Lincoln,” Carole remarked. It made Stevie’s homework sound more exciting than Carole suspected it would be.

“But the important thing is that you’re all coming!”

“Yes. So, what do we have to bring?”

It seemed to Carole that there were a million things to
consider. First of all, since it would be cold at night, Kate suggested that they borrow some Marine Corps subzero sleeping bags.

“It won’t be subzero, will it?” Carole asked.

“Probably not, but it can get pretty cold in the mountains,” Kate said. “On that score better safe than sorry.”

Carole made a note to ask her father for the sleeping bags.

They discussed everything from shirts and sweatshirts to combs and brushes. They were about to decide which person should bring the toothpaste that they could all use (“Not Stevie. She brought bubble–gum–flavored toothpaste to riding camp!”) when Carole’s father reminded her that somebody—specifically he—was going to have to pay for the phone call.

“Dad, we haven’t even gotten to the blankets, buckets, grooming gear, and tack for the horses!” Carole complained.

“Let the horses pack for themselves,” he suggested drily. “After all, aren’t they packhorses?”

“Very funny,” Carole said sarcastically. She managed to hold her giggle until her father had left the room. She certainly didn’t want him to know she actually thought his joke was funny.

“I’ve got to go, but guess what my dad just said.…”

When Carole and Kate finally hung up a few minutes later, it was almost bedtime. Carole went downstairs to where her father was watching the news and gave him a big hug.

“Excited, honey?” he asked.

She just nodded. She was too excited even to try to describe how excited she was.

“I’m sure you’ll all have a great time.”

She gave him another hug. “See you in the morning.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “Then we can talk about what to pack for the horses if you really don’t think they’re up to it themselves.”

She laughed and headed back upstairs.

Before she went to sleep, she took out her Western and rodeo posters and looked them over carefully. She told herself she was just trying to decide which she would put where on the ceiling of her room, but she knew differently. She knew she was looking at them to remind herself how much she loved Western riding and how much she was going to enjoy the pack trip. Finally, realizing that she didn’t need much reminding on those subjects, she slid the posters back under her bed and turned out the light.

She pulled the blankets up high to protect herself from the subzero temperatures in her imagination.

“F
ASTEN YOUR SEAT
belts, girls,” Frank Devine said from the pilot’s seat.

“Aye, aye, sir,” Carole joked, though the reminder was totally unnecessary since The Saddle Club knew perfectly well that Frank was about to land the plane. They could even see the airport below them.

“In fifteen minutes we’ll be starting our pack trip!” Lisa said excitedly.

“We have a two-hour drive before our pack trip begins,” Stevie reminded her.