Snow Ride (5 page)

“It’s down this road,” Dinah said, leading the way off the main street and along a muddy dirt road near where they’d turned off for the Sugar Hut the day before.

The stable was around a bend in the road, next to a stand of sugar maples, all duly tapped by other teams in the class competition who had gotten there first. It was a long low building with room to house about twenty horses. There was also a separate barn, used to store equipment and grain. Like Pine Hollow, it was surrounded by paddocks, including a working ring for classes that had been set up with a few jumps at one end of it. Everything was painted barn red and was spotlessly clean.

“I like it,” Stevie said automatically.

“You like any place where there are horses,” Dinah reminded her.

“True,” Stevie said. “And Sugarbush is included.”

“Good,” Dinah said. “Now that that’s settled, let’s go get a horse for—uh-oh.”

“What’s the matter?” Stevie asked.

“There’s nobody here,” Dinah said. “Usually before class the parking area is filled with cars and the place is loaded with other kids taking the class. I have the funny feeling something’s up.”

Something
was
up. The girls walked into the stable to find it filled with horses and empty of riders. Dinah wanted to find somebody to ask what was going on, but she wasn’t in so much of a hurry that she couldn’t stop and introduce Stevie to Goldie.

Goldie lifted his head up over the door of his stall in greeting.

He was beautiful. He was a golden palomino gelding, and though Stevie had always had a soft spot for palominos, it wasn’t his looks that made him so beautiful, it was his gentle manner and the spark of curiosity in his eyes.

“Oh,” Stevie said, patting the horse and rubbing his cheek just the way Topside, the horse she usually rode, liked to be patted. Goldie snuggled Stevie’s shoulder.

“Now I understand what this is all about,” Stevie said. “We’ve just got to win the competition.”

“What are you doing here?” a voice came out of one of the stalls.

Stevie and Dinah turned to look. It was Jodi Hale, Betsy’s sister and Sugarbush’s stable hand.

“I came for class,” Dinah said.

“Canceled,” Jodi said. “Don’t you remember?”

Dinah flushed red with embarrassment. “No, why?”

“Because of the sugaring off,” Jodi said. “Notices were posted everywhere for the last couple of weeks. How could you miss them?”

Dinah blushed. “I guess I just did. I’m sorry.”

Stevie could tell that Dinah felt very uncomfortable. It was particularly embarrassing for her to have made a silly mistake in front of both Jodi, whom she admired a lot, and Stevie, her guest. Stevie wanted to make it easier for her. After all, anybody could make a mistake like that.

“I’m Stevie Lake,” she said, introducing herself to Jodi. “I’ve heard an awful lot about you from Dinah.”

“And I heard a lot about you from Betsy last night. You’re the girl who figured out how to drive a sleigh before you’d even had one lesson, aren’t you? It sounded like you really saved Betsy from making that goof, huh?”

That wasn’t the subject Stevie wanted to have Jodi turn to. She was trying to make Dinah feel
better
, not more embarrassed. Stevie decided to try again.

“How come the classes are canceled?” she asked.

“It’s because so many of the horses are used for sugaring, and most people are busy with that. Also, Mr.
Daviet has to spend the whole day at the Sugar Hut, so he can’t teach.”

“But Goldie’s here,” Dinah said. “Can we at least go for a trail ride?”

“You know the rules, Dinah, I’d have to go with you. You’ve got to have an experienced rider along on a trail ride.”

“So you can take us. That would be fun. Besides, with you along we could go on the Rocky Road Trail—Mr. Daviet never takes the class on that one. It’s supposed to be great. I can ride Goldie. Let’s put Stevie on Evergreen—or do you want to ride Evergreen?—whatever you want is fine.”

“Whoa there.” Jodi held up her hand in a halting motion. “Who said I was going to go along? I’ve got Mark Carey coming over here in a half an hour for a stable lesson in tacking up.”

There was a new sparkle in Dinah’s eye. “Uh-huh. I just bet that’s why he’s coming over here.…”

Now it was Jodi’s turn to look embarrassed. It was obvious that Mark was either Jodi’s boyfriend, or somebody she wanted to be her boyfriend. Stevie’s mind raced.

“Tacking-up lesson? Boy, I sure could use some pointers on that. If we can’t ride, why don’t Dinah and I just join in on that lesson? I forget,” she continued
rapidly. “Which is it you put on first, the saddle or the bridle?”

Jodi gave Stevie a withering look. She knew she’d hit pay dirt. The last thing in the world that Jodi Hale wanted was to have two girls join in on her “lesson” with Mark Carey.

“And how do you keep the horse from biting your fingers when you put on the bridle?” Stevie pleaded.

“I just had a thought,” Jodi said. “Although you need an experienced rider on the trail, it doesn’t have to be
me.
From what Betsy said yesterday, Stevie here is a pretty experienced rider. You’ve done a lot of trail riding, haven’t you?”

“Pretty much,” Stevie said. “And not long ago I was on a five-day pack ride in the Rockies. Does that count? Of course, it was a dull trip, unless you want to consider the forest fire we had to get away from.” She scratched her chin thoughtfully. “I guess I’d have to say I am pretty experienced.”

“Well, then, why don’t you two go out alone?” Jodi suggested.

“On the Rocky Road Trail?” Betsy pleaded.

“Anything!”
Jodi said, obviously more than a little frustrated with Stevie and Dinah. That was exactly what Stevie had had in mind.

“I’ll take Goldie, and Stevie can ride Evergreen?” Dinah asked.

“Yes,” Jodi said.

“Then let’s tack up,” Stevie said. She didn’t want to give Jodi time to change her mind.

“Good idea,” Jodi said, showing no signs of changing her mind. She really wanted Stevie and Dinah out of there before Mark arrived. “Saddle first,” she added wryly, letting Stevie know that she knew that Stevie knew perfectly well how to tack up a horse.

Stevie winked at her. Then she saluted, just the way Carole had taught her. “Aye, aye, ma’am,” she said.

“I’ll show you the tack room,” Dinah said. They were off.

J
UST AS THE
girls were about to ride out of the paddock and into the forest, Jodi emerged from the stable with a worried look on her face. She seemed to be having second thoughts.

“Hey, please be careful,” she said. “I mean, I know you’re a pretty good rider, Dinah, and Betsy tells me Stevie’s really experienced, but don’t do anything silly, okay?”

“Okay,” Dinah agreed. “You don’t have to worry about us. We won’t get hurt.”

“It’s not just that,” Jodi told them. “It’s also that Mr. Daviet would kill me if he knew I’d let you go out alone. The trail has been closed for the winter, and Mr. Daviet doesn’t want anybody on it until he has a chance to
check it out later in the week. It can be slippery in this kind of weather. Be careful and keep your mouths shut.”

“We won’t tell—ever,” Dinah said.

“I promise,” Stevie added.

“Thanks,” Jodi told them. Then there was the sound of a car pulling into the stable driveway. Jodi disappeared as quickly as she’d appeared.

“I guess her ‘student’ is here,” Stevie said, smiling.

“So we’d better get out of here,” Dinah agreed. They began walking on a well-worn trail into the woods. “We’re no longer welcome, right?”

Stevie nodded and they began their ride. Stevie loved riding in the snowy forest. There wasn’t usually much snow in Virginia, even in the coldest winters. In Vermont you could count on a lot, especially in this mountainous area. Snow made the world feel different, smell different, sound different. This wasn’t new snow. It wasn’t even very fozen snow. It was a time of year when it was freezing at night, but in the daytime it was above freezing, and warm enough for snow to melt.

“Perfect sugaring weather,” Dinah had told her. “Just perfect.”

The snow was heavy and grainy. Every step of the horses’ hooves brought up dark black mud from under the snow. In some places, where the snow was particularly deep and wet, the horses had to labor to make each step, picking their feet up out of the moist blanket of snow.

There was a loud thumping sound. Evergreen jerked in surprise but didn’t try to run.

“What was that?” Stevie asked.

“Just a clump of melting snow falling from a branch,” Dinah told her. “You’ll hear a lot of that at this time of year. The horses won’t even notice it next time.”

As if on cue, another clump of snow fell off a nearby branch. Evergreen didn’t flinch.

“There’s a turn up ahead,” Dinah said, looking back at Stevie. “The path goes three different ways. The trail we usually take is to the right. That stays in the valley and is pretty but kind of boring. Since Jodi said we could go on the Rocky Road Trail, we’ll go to the left. Is that okay with you?”

Stevie was surprised Dinah even thought she had to ask. “Of course it is,” Stevie said. “I love steep trails. I love to ride on mountains. I love to ride in the woods. And I promise never to tell anybody—except maybe all my best friends at home.”

“I’m sure our secret will be safe with them,” Dinah said, taking the uphill trail to the left.

The trail
was
steep, reminding Stevie of the lesson she’d received the day before about Ver-
mont.
The woods were thick and didn’t provide a view yet, but Stevie had the feeling that once they had ridden into an open field they’d be looking out across the mountainous countryside.
The challenge was to get that far through the snow, which seemed to deepen with each step.

The girls chatted contentedly as they rode, Dinah in the lead, Stevie close behind. Since Dinah hadn’t been in Willow Creek for almost two years, she was eager for news of her friends, and Stevie was always glad to talk. Dinah also wanted to hear about Max and everything that went on at Pine Hollow. There was plenty of catching up to do.

Evergreen and Goldie both seemed familiar with the area and walked up the rocky trail willingly, finding firm footing with each step. The most important thing Stevie had learned about riding on steep trails was the need to lean forward, almost parallel to the horse’s neck, while it was climbing upward. The other thing was that once she’d told the horse where she wanted to go, she had to let the horse do the work and find his own way. He would be the best judge of a safe route. So she relaxed and let Evergreen do the walking. It worked nicely.

Ahead of Stevie another clump of snow fell off the trees, this time landing on Goldie. He didn’t like it. He started bolting away. Dinah did just the right thing. She held the reins securely and put pressure on his belly with her legs. The movements said, “I’m in charge.” Goldie reverted to a walk immediately, swishing his tail to rid himself of drips of melted snow the same way he did for flies in the summer.

Stevie found herself oddly relieved. It was as if, deep down, she hadn’t really been confident that Dinah was a good enough rider for this trail. Now that she’d seen her in action, she was pretty sure she was good enough. Stevie relaxed.

They continued their conversation. Stevie was telling Dinah about Carole’s horse.

“His name is Starlight,” Stevie began. “He’s a bay gelding with a white star on his face. He’s pretty young and hasn’t finished his training, so Carole works with him all the time. She’s there almost every day. Of course, she loves it. She’ll make him into a championship horse.”

“And she’s going to be a championship rider, too, I just know it.”

“So do I,” Stevie agreed. “One of these days we’ll be watching her at Madison Square Garden, or in the Olympics.”

“Probably both,” Dinah said.

For a while the path continued just as it had been. Then Stevie sensed that it was changing. Most of the trees were evergreens, and there were fewer of them.

“Now we get a chance to show our stuff,” Dinah said. “There’s a big open area ahead. We can trot in it. We can even canter.”

“On the frozen ground?” Stevie asked. Stevie loved to canter, loved the feel of the horse’s fast gait, rocking
across an open area. However, it was dangerous to ask the horse to canter when it was so cold that the ground was frozen. For one thing, it could damage the horse’s hooves. For another, the horse couldn’t get traction on frozen ground and was more likely to slip.

“Oh, right,” Dinah said. “Okay, then, let’s just try a trot.”

They come through the woods and into the open area Dinah had promised. As Stevie had suspected, they also had a spectacular view. She halted Evergreen just to look.

“It’s something, isn’t it?” Dinah asked.

Stevie just nodded. It seemed that they were miles from anything that appeared to be civilization, completely surrounded by snow-covered mountains, which were themselves dotted sparsely by evergreens. The sky above was blue and clear, spanning the vast mountainous wilderness. For the first time Stevie felt alone, felt the presence of the wild, felt vulnerable.