Secret of the Stallion (18 page)

“Well, what one is supposed to do is to be a hero,” Tessa explained. “But few accomplish it. Those who do are heroes. Ergo, you’re a hero. Congratulations.”

“Good morning, girls,” Max said. “Did you sleep well?”

“Not enough,” Stevie said, pulling out a chair at the breakfast table and collapsing into it.

“But enough to compete successfully today, I’m sure,” said Max.

“Always enough to compete successfully,” Stevie said.

The girls ordered their breakfast and drank juice until the food came. While they were waiting, Veronica appeared, refreshed and well rested. She joined the group at the table and gave her breakfast order to the waitress.

Tessa picked up the thread of the conversation they’d been having with Lisa earlier.

“Look, you may not feel like a hero because you just did what you were supposed to do, but while you were merely doing that, you were accomplishing a great deal. In a few brave acts you, first, discovered the fire; second, helped put it out; third, saved dozens of horses’ lives—most particularly Sterling’s life; and fourth, figured out what and
who
was behind the blaze. You
are
a hero, and I have little doubt that it will be recognized and acknowledged by many. I suspect you’ll get a reward!”

“A reward? What are you talking about?” Veronica asked, paling at the word.

“Why, Lisa—for saving the horses last night,” Stevie said.

“I beg your pardon?” Veronica asked.

“You mean you don’t know?” Carole asked.

“Know what? What’s this about a reward?”

Carole thought it was typical of Veronica that she’d find the idea of a reward more interesting than the idea that Lisa was a hero; that was Veronica and she wasn’t about to change. What Carole had almost forgotten, however, was that Veronica hadn’t been there at the fire. She’d been back at the hotel, following the wild-goose chase The Saddle Club had sent her on with the piece of pyrite. It was turning out better that any of them ever could have imagined!

Patiently Carole and her friends told Veronica everything that had happened the night before, being careful not to ask Veronica where she’d been.

It was fun to watch Veronica’s face. It almost contorted. That gave Lisa particular pleasure because she was sure she knew what was going through Veronica’s mind. Veronica was thinking how proud Enrico must be of Lisa-the-hero!

“Okay, girls, finish up,” Max said when the story and breakfast had been finished. “We’ve got to get over to the castle and make sure the horses are ready for the final day of competition.”

“Surely there won’t be any riding today,” Veronica said, astonished.

“Surely there
will
be,” Max told her. “All the horses were saved from the fire, largely because of work done by your teammates. The tack and equipment are all in good shape. There’s no reason not to ride.”

Veronica pursed her lips. “I don’t agree with that at all,” she said. “I think the horses will be nervy and unpredictable. It can’t possibly be safe to ride them today.”

“The judges have announced that competition will go on as planned today for anyone who feels their horses are up to it,” Max said. “The vet has already checked our horses and they are fine. The best possible thing for them is to get back to work. I think the same is true of the riders.”

Veronica looked at him levelly. “I’m sure you think you’re doing what’s best for you, but I’m not sure it’s best for me,” she said. “I won’t ride today.”

With that, she rose and walked out of the dining room.

Max rolled his eyes. Then he looked over at The Saddle Club. “Does anyone know a qualified Pony Clubber who could join our team at the last minute?” he asked.

Four hands went up.

A
N HOUR LATER
, the four girls settled in on the benches in the competitors’ section at the show arena. There were eight challenging jumps set up in the ring, among them a tricky double and a very difficult triple jump combination.

At opposite corners, there was a large digital clock. Most of the time when The Saddle Club participated in jumping events, it was hunter jumping, where form and style were by far the most important and time mattered little. In stadium jumping, the only things that mattered were getting over without knocking anything down and speed. There were no penalties if the horse ticked the jump, only if the jump got knocked down. There were no extra points for grace and form. This was a race. It was an exciting event.

“That’s what’s great about a three-day event,” Carole remarked, flipping through the program. “It tests so many different aspects of a horse’s skills.”

“The rider’s, too,” Stevie reminded her.

“Here comes the first competitor,” said Lisa.

They watched carefully. It seemed as if only a few of the horses had clean rounds, meaning they rode the course without getting any penalty points. The girls were surprised by the course’s difficulty.

They had an even bigger surprise when the PA system announced that the next rider was Nigel Hawthorne on Pound Sterling.

“He’s riding today?” Stevie asked.

“I would have thought he’d be out of this, considering what Lord Yaxley did last night!” Tessa said.

“He’s not doing this for Yaxley,” Carole said. “He’s doing this for himself and for Sterling. This is Sterling’s best event.”

Nigel and Sterling entered the ring. Almost everybody in the audience seemed to know who they were and what had happened. As the stallion trotted over to the judge’s booth, The Saddle Club stood up to clap for their friend Nigel. The rest of the audience took that as a signal. Before they were even ready to compete, the audience gave them a standing ovation. Nigel tipped his hat.

The buzzer sounded. It was time for Nigel and Sterling to get to work. He turned his horse to go to the starting point of the course.

On the way, Nigel circled a few of the jumps at a trot, giving Sterling a little peek at them before he had to jump them. This also gave Nigel another chance to remind himself of the course and to be sure of his strategy.

Then, when they both were ready, the trot became a canter, Nigel crossed the line that started the clock timer, and they were off. Carole watched the horse’s magnificent, muscular body propelling itself toward the first jump. The horse rose, passed over the obstacle, and landed as if the obstacle had never been there.

“What a jumper he is,” she said. “For some horses, it’s just in their blood.” Her friends knew Carole was thinking about her own beloved Starlight, also a fine jumper.

The second jump was a double combination. Four jumpers in front of Nigel had knocked it down. Sterling soared over both parts of it.

The third jump was easier still for Sterling, and then came the triple combination—a killer for more than half the horses that had competed so far. It was as if Sterling never even saw it. He simply flew over all three fences. There was a gasp from the audience. A few people clapped. The others held their breath.

They needn’t have worried. The rest of the course was as easy for Sterling as the first part. A total of 68.3 seconds after they began the course, they crossed the finish line.

“A new leader!” the PA system announced.

“Nigel’s in first place!” Carole translated excitedly.

The girls clapped wildly. Nigel and Sterling got another standing ovation.

“Now
there’s
a rider with fire in his heart,” Tessa remarked.

The Saddle Club knew just what she meant, too.

A
FTER THE JUMPING
, the girls headed to the paddock designated for grooming for the day. Since there were no stables and no stalls, the competitors were coping with a makeshift setup. The horses didn’t seem to notice the difference.

The lads offered to help, but all four members of the team wanted to do their own grooming and tacking up. Stevie, Lisa, and Carole were glad to know that Tessa agreed with them about that, too.

Max walked over to where they were working and nodded ever so slightly, indicating that he thought their grooming job was satisfactory. Then he started a pep talk for the team.

“You all know that I don’t believe that winning is the
important part of competing. In fact, I think the only useful part of competition is that a worthy competitor makes you do your best. That’s always been true of me and it’s been true of every rider I’ve ever trained.” He paused to point out some mud on Miss Havisham’s fetlocks. Carole tended to it. Max continued. “However, I want to remind you that yesterday was not Horse Wise’s finest hour when it comes to mounted games.”

“You can say that again!” Stevie said.

“I hope I never have to say it again,” Max said pointedly. Then he couldn’t help himself. He started laughing, remembering the terrible mess they’d made of the games the day before.

“Don’t worry, Max. We won’t do that to you again,” Stevie promised. “Look—here’s why.” She reached to pull something out of her backpack.

“What’s that?” Lisa asked.

“It’s a horseshoe,” Tessa told her when Stevie held it up victoriously.

“It’s not just
a
horseshoe,” Stevie told her friends.

“It’s the good-luck horseshoe!” Carole declared.

“You
stole
it from Pine Hollow?” Max asked, astonished.

“Borrowed, just borrowed,” Stevie said hastily. “And besides, as long as you’re here and it’s here, it’s still sort of with Pine Hollow, right?”

“Stevie, you know I
never
argue with you,” Max said, trying to stifle a smile.

“Especially when I’m right,” said Stevie.

Carole shook her head. There was nobody else in the world like Stevie, and maybe that was a good thing. Could the world stand two Stevies?

Tessa was mystified by all this. Lisa explained it to her. “Normally, this horseshoe is nailed to the door of our stable. Every rider has to touch it at the beginning of every ride. It keeps us all safe.”

“No rider who has touched it has ever been seriously hurt,” Carole told her. “It makes us ride carefully and well.”

“But does it make us win?” Tessa asked.

“We’ll see about that, won’t we?” Stevie answered with a grin.

The girls finished their grooming, tacked up, mounted, and then warmed up their horses. Before they knew it, they were at the entrance to the ring. In turn, each of them touched the good-luck horseshoe, and then Stevie handed it to Max to hold while they went into the arena.

“Smile!” said the lady standing by the gate. They did.

Carole smiled not because the woman told her to, but because she was so proud and happy to be among the wonderful horses she and her friends had helped to save.

Stevie was smiling for more reasons than she could count before they got to their starting positions. She loved the fact that she’d convinced everyone she’d brought the good-luck horseshoe from Pine Hollow. The original was right where it belonged, nailed to the door of Pine Hollow on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The one Max
was holding, which they had all just touched for good luck, was a twin that she’d found this morning among the burned rubble of the tent stable at Cummington Castle. She was also totally pleased that her prank on Veronica had been so successful that Veronica had refused to ride and they had Tessa as a teammate.

Lisa was happy in ways she had never known before. She was happy because of everything she’d been able to do the night before, and she was happy because a certain Italian boy seemed to think she was just about perfect. She couldn’t stop smiling.

Tessa was smiling because she was happy to be with her friends.

When all the teams had lined up for the first race, the judge explained the rules. She had to do it carefully because this was an unusual kind of race. It involved water pistols and colored water.

The Horse Wise group looked at one another. This was exactly the kind of race they liked the best. It was just slightly crazy and right up their alley. More than that, it was almost identical to a horseback race Stevie had personally invented. She was right at home, and so were her teammates.

The handkerchief landed on the ground and Horse Wise was off. Lisa led. She dashed down to the far end of the arena, picked up the water pistol, and aimed, and a solid stream of green water found its mark right in the center of the target.