Stable Farewell (10 page)

“You know,” Carole said when she had finished and turned off the clippers, “we should hire ourselves out at shows. She looks like she’s ready for a national championship.”

“Talk about ‘before’ and ‘after’!” Lisa exclaimed with pride. Garnet’s appearance had improved so much that she looked like a different horse—which, after all, was the point. What was more, she seemed to relish all the attention
She stood still and looked happy and alert, with her ears pricked up.

“Before we congratulate ourselves too much, we still have to do something about her stall,” Stevie reminded them. In a jiffy Lisa was raking Garnet’s bedding to cover up the mare’s pacing habit. Meanwhile Stevie and Carole smoothed out the chewed wood with sandpaper. It wouldn’t look perfect, but it would at least camouflage her faults.

“My, aren’t we industrious today.” Max paused to survey the girls’ handiwork. “You really gave Garnet the royal treatment, didn’t you?”

When The Saddle Club nodded, Max asked, “Any special reason for all the hard work? I mean, Garnet’s pretty much sold to the Kingsleys.”

“Just trying to be helpful,” Stevie said firmly.

Max looked doubtful but didn’t press the point. “Speaking of the Kingsleys, where is Veronica? Have you seen her? She was supposed to meet me and the Kingsleys’ vet ten minutes ago. And neither of them are here.”

Stevie mocked surprise. “Really? That’s funny. Because I heard that the vet couldn’t come. Something about an emergency in Kentucky.”

Max raised his eyebrows. “Oh? Funny how I’m always the last one to know.”

“I think Veronica said that the vet was going to have to reschedule for next week or something. Yes, that was definitely it,” Stevie said.

Though he seemed surprised, Max thanked Stevie for letting him know, shook his head wearily, and headed off down the aisle.

“At least that’s what Veronica thinks,” Stevie murmured when he was safely out of earshot.

“And you’re
sure
Veronica believed it?” Lisa asked.

“Positive,” Carole said. “Why wouldn’t she? I know from working with Judy Barker that vets have emergencies all the time. Horses get colic, turn up lame—the works. And if they’re valuable, the owners get frantic very fast. Besides, Lisa, you were completely convincing.”

“Really?” Lisa asked.

Carole nodded. “I knew you could act, but I didn’t know you could fake a Kentucky accent. Pretending to be the vet’s secretary and calling both Veronica and Henrietta—that was great!”

“Hey, don’t forget
I
was the one who called the Kingsleys’ vet back and told him not to come. That was pretty good acting too, wasn’t it?” Stevie asked.

“To be honest, your Mrs. Reg imitation could use a little work. Remind me to give you a few pointers sometime
when—” Lisa didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence because Stevie had smothered her in hay.

Carole, however, stopped the skirmish before it could really get going. They had worked too hard on Garnet to mess her up now. Carefully they returned the horse to her stall and covered her with a clean, white stable sheet. She looked magnificent—much, much better than she had the week before.

“I think all the exercise she got in the demonstration rides is doing her good, too. She isn’t hyper anymore,” Lisa said.

“After meeting Henrietta Kingsley, Jimmy Jones, Rosie Lee, and the jack-of-all-trades woman, I’m surprised she has any life left in her,” Carole said, laughing. It was truly shocking, the kind of people who had turned up thinking they needed a “fifteen-point-one-hand purebred Arabian.”

Carole reached over the stall door and gave the mare a good pat. “Just do your stuff, Garnet,” she told her. “You have to make this work, too.” Garnet stepped forward and gave Carole a friendly nuzzle. She was the picture of good care, attentive but relaxed.

“That’s right,” Stevie warned sternly. “We didn’t do all this work for nothing, you know.” In response, Garnet
whiffled softly through her nose. “Humph, I’ll believe it when I see it,” Stevie said.

“So now all we have to do is wait, huh?” Lisa asked.

Carole glanced at her watch. “Yes, and if all goes according to schedule, we shouldn’t have to wait long.”

B
EFORE LONG
, T
HE
Saddle Club heard the sound of a car pulling into the Pine Hollow driveway. A peek through the window revealed that it was the car they’d been waiting for. Keeping their fingers crossed, the girls went to the stable door to greet Katie Miller and her parents.

“I’m so glad you called me!” Katie exclaimed. “I can’t wait to see the new horse for sale. None of the other horses we’ve looked at have seemed even half as nice as the first one I saw here.” As she spoke, Katie gave her parents a slightly sulky look. Mr. and Mrs. Miller crossed their arms over their chests and glared back.

Noticing Katie’s look, Lisa felt her hopes rise. So Katie
really had liked Garnet as much as she seemed to! That was the main thing. Now if only the rest of the plan worked as well …

“I can’t believe the lies some people will tell you when they’re trying to sell you a horse,” Katie said. She was chatting happily as The Saddle Club led her and her parents down the aisle. “One person advertised an ‘attractive, quiet gelding.’ ”

“Let me guess,” Carole said. “He was anything but.”

“Unless you call being Roman-nosed and swaybacked ‘attractive’ and taking off with me three times ‘quiet,’ ” Katie joked. “And then there was an ‘experienced hunter’ who had never jumped outside a ring before and wouldn’t walk through water.”

“Isn’t there a law against false advertising?” Lisa asked.

“If there is, then I’ve met a bunch of criminals,” said Katie. “I guess the only good part about looking at all these horses is that I’ve gotten pretty good at riding all kinds of them. Speaking of which, who’s the new horse for sale at Pine Hollow?”

The Saddle Club looked a little shamefaced, but Stevie brazened it out. “This way,” she said, leading the group straight past Garnet’s stall. As they went by, Garnet poked her nose over the door with interest. “Hey, girl,” Stevie said, giving her a cursory pat.

Katie’s eyes grew huge. She sucked in her breath. “Isn’t this Garnet?” she asked.

Stevie nodded. “Sure is. The horse we wanted you to see is right over—”

“Oh, look at her, Mom! Dad! Remember her? Remember Garnet? See how pretty she is!” Katie had stopped outside the stall to admire the chestnut mare.

Carole and Lisa exchanged hopeful glances: Garnet was playing her role perfectly. She pricked her ears up at the Millers, turning her fine Arabian head toward them.

Mr. Miller peered at Garnet with curiosity. Mrs. Miller pushed her glasses up on her nose to get a better look. “You don’t mean that this is the horse you tried here before?” Mrs. Miller said finally.

“Of course it is, Mom. I’d know that nice face anywhere,” Katie gushed. She reached out to scratch Garnet behind the ears.

“But she looks so different,” Mr. Miller protested.

“She’s just groomed better, that’s all,” Katie responded. “I knew she’d look this good with some care.”

“She seems calmer, too, dear,” Mrs. Miller murmured.

Stevie let them admire Garnet for a few more minutes before dragging the three of them to look at the other horse “for sale.” She knew she had to play it carefully and let Garnet’s transformation sink in slowly. “Here he is,”
she said, with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. “Here’s Patch.”

The Millers looked a bit surprised at the old, stocky pinto. Around Pine Hollow, Patch was known for being a great lesson horse for beginners. He was slow and arthritic, so he never scared even the youngest kids. Of course, he was totally wrong for Katie—something that Stevie, Lisa, and Carole were banking on. If she happened to take a liking to him—well, that was one “if” they didn’t dare imagine.

“He looks … sweet,” Katie said, a doubtful note in her voice. Patch was at least a hand shorter than Garnet, whom Katie had fit perfectly.

“Great, we’ll have him saddled up in no time,” Stevie said as the three of them went to work.

“Are you sure you want to try him, dear?” Mrs. Miller asked quietly. “I mean, he looks nice, but didn’t you want something more … spirited?”

Before Katie could respond, Stevie jumped in. “We know how important getting a safe horse is for you, and I can tell you, Patch is as safe as they come.”

“He ought to be, at nineteen,” Lisa added cheerfully.

Katie smiled wanly. It was obvious that she was very disappointed but didn’t want to be rude. “Sure I’ll try him. It can’t hurt,” she said. As she took the reins and led Patch
out toward the ring, Mr. and Mrs. Miller dropped back to confer about something. The Saddle Club pretended not to notice.

Patch behaved the same as he always did: He walked and trotted at a snail’s pace and had to be coaxed into a canter. He wasn’t exactly disobedient, it just took him about halfway around the ring to summon up the energy to do what his rider asked him. Before long, Katie was huffing and puffing from having to use her legs constantly.

“So far, so good,” Lisa murmured cautiously to Carole and Stevie as Katie rode by, clucking and exaggerating her aids to try to get Patch to wake up.

Carole nodded. “For a minute I was afraid that Patch might betray us and act peppy today!” she whispered. “But I shouldn’t have worried.” Just at that moment Patch, feeling Katie sit back in the saddle a fraction, broke instantly to a walk.

“I know. Imagine Max’s face if we had to tell him we’d sold a horse for him—his best lesson horse!” said Lisa.

The three of them fell silent as Katie rode over. “Thanks for letting me try him, but—”

“Oh, but wait! You haven’t jumped him,” Stevie said. “He’s just as safe and steady over fences as he is on the flat—really!”

“I’m sure he is. It’s not that, it’s—”

“Great. Trot the cross rail a couple of times,” Stevie ordered.

Katie opened her mouth to say something but seemed to think better of it. Her good manners prevented her from arguing with Stevie. She headed Patch to the little jump, picking up a trot.

“You’re turning into a regular drill sergeant,” Carole remarked.

“I just had to make her jump him once,” Stevie confessed, nodding her head in the direction of Katie’s parents. “That way they’ll see that ‘safe’ doesn’t have to mean ‘slow.’ ”

“Are you sure it wasn’t for entertainment purposes?” Lisa questioned skeptically.

“Are you kidding?” Stevie asked, feigning shock.

Meanwhile Patch lumbered over the cross rail, not even breaking to a canter on the landing. After two more jumps, Katie turned him toward The Saddle Club again. This time she had a determined look on her face. “Listen, I’ve tried him enough, and he’s just not right for me,” she said. As if she were afraid that Stevie might try to make her ride Patch more, she dismounted right away. Then, just as determinedly, she waved her parents over. “Mom, Dad, this horse is safe all right, but he’s a beginner’s horse. And I’m no expert, but I’m no beginner either.”

“We know he’s not right for you, Katie. Your mother and I have been talking, and we think—”

Inside her coat pocket, Stevie crossed her fingers.

Before her father could say what he thought, Katie interrupted. “Just please let me finish and then you can say what you want. Since we’re here already, I want to try Garnet one more time. I mean, please may I try Garnet one more time?”

“That’s exactly what I was going to suggest,” Mr. Miller said, looking relieved. Without waiting for The Saddle Club, the three Millers walked off in the direction of Garnet’s stall.

After a quick consultation, The Saddle Club split up. Carole went to put Patch away, Stevie went to supervise Garnet’s tacking up, and Lisa stayed behind in the ring to set up some jumps. That way, she figured, Katie wouldn’t be able to resist going around the course at least once.

The rest of the afternoon went like clockwork. From the minute Katie got on Garnet, she had a huge smile on her face. She walked, she trotted, she cantered. She practiced halting and leg-yielding, rode twenty-meter circles, and hand-galloped. Then she started to jump. Garnet flew over the fences easily, and at Katie’s request The Saddle Club raised them a few inches for a second go-round. Not until Katie had ridden over the course three times did she realize
that she’d been riding for more than an hour and that Garnet might be getting tired. “I’m having too much fun,” she admitted. She loosened the reins to let Garnet cool down and gave the mare a hearty pat on the neck.

Mr. and Mrs. Miller had huge smiles on their faces, too, as they watched their daughter put Garnet through her paces.

“I’ve seen that look before,” Stevie said. “It’s the proud parent look. And once you get the proud parent look, you’re home free. Katie’ll be able to ask for whatever she wants.”

“What’s that, one of the ten cardinal rules of horse selling?” Lisa asked.

Stevie shook her head. “No, one of the ten cardinal rules of living in the Lake household. It’s kind of the same principle as ‘Bring home an A/Get to stay up late watching TV.’ ”

“Boy, I wish I’d known about that one,” Lisa said wistfully. Stevie and Carole laughed. If the rule had applied in the Atwood household, Lisa would have been able to watch TV until midnight every night of her life.