Stable Groom (12 page)

C
AROLE YAWNED AND
turned over. This time, since the sleepover was at her house, she had the bed, and Lisa and Stevie were sharing the floor. She knew that she should enjoy her last chance to sleep in: Camp started tomorrow, and the riders had to be at Pine Hollow by eight every morning. Unfortunately, even though it was six
A.M
., she was wide awake.

“Carole, are you awake?” Lisa whispered.

“Yes.”

“Oh, good. I’ve been dying to talk about the Bath, but I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“Why didn’t you talk to
me
? I’ve been staring at the ceiling for half an hour,” Stevie said indignantly. She
and Lisa climbed onto Carole’s bed to get more comfortable.

The Bath had been a smashing success. Everyone who had volunteered had come through with great food and clever presents.

“You know, even Simon Atherton’s Jell-O got eaten,” Lisa said, giggling.

“Yeah, it was a real hit with the younger kids,” said Carole.

“Didn’t you love the look on Deborah’s face when she suddenly figured out the theme of all of Max’s presents?” Stevie asked.

Both Max and Deborah had been confused when they saw the first few gifts. “Dusting powder?” Max had asked. And then, “A mini–tape recorder?” Still, obviously not wanting to seem ungrateful, Max had thanked the gift givers. “I have to admit, though, I don’t really understand what this stuff is used for.”

“But, Max, it’s obvious. The powder is for fingerprint dusting. The tape recorder is miniature so that you can record things without anyone knowing,” Deborah explained.

“How do you know?” Max asked.

“Because all the gifts are”—she stopped for a split second, a slow smile spreading over her face—“they’re
all things that have to do with investigative reporting,” she finished, beaming.

“Oh, I see,” Max said, “It’s my turn to learn about your career, huh?”

The Saddle Club had burst into applause. After that, the newlyweds had practically pounced on the remaining presents, tearing open a set of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, a pair of walkie-talkies, a fake nose and mustache disguise kit, and a guidebook to code cracking. The final gift was from The Saddle Club. It was a framed copy of the “Drug Ring at Local Track” article that had brought Deborah in search of a horse person to help her with the horsey details—namely, Maximillian Regnery III. Deborah had choked up for a minute. When she could speak again, she said, “And to think it all started with a simple newspaper article.”

After the gifts, the celebratory eating and talking had continued most of the afternoon. Reluctantly Max had said, “We all may be stuffed, but there are some horses that need to be fed.” And, in good Pine Hollow style, they had all gone to help with the feeding.

“I’m not sure which was better,” Carole said, sitting up in bed, “the look on Deborah’s face when she realized that the Bath presents were in her honor or the look on Veronica’s when she saw Red and Denise
holding hands last week. She stared at them so long, I thought her eyes would pop out of her head.”

When Veronica had put two and two together and realized that her beloved Denise was dating Red, a very strange thing had happened. Whether because of that alone or because of that plus Max’s threat about camp, Veronica’s attitude toward Red had changed overnight. Now instead of yelling at him to take care of Garnet, she asked him to in a normal tone of voice. The Saddle Club had even overheard a “please” on at least two occasions. Of course they had made sure that Veronica knew all about Red’s course of study at the university.

“So do you think this means that because someone with as many qualifications as Denise sees something to admire in Red, then perhaps he is good enough to groom Veronica’s horse?” Lisa asked with mock seriousness.

“I don’t know. Maybe if he gets a Ph.D. in equine studies, he’ll be fit to touch one or two hairs on the horse,” Stevie replied.

“I guess that’s more likely than his ever becoming a Certified Riding Counselor with the Equestrian Center,” Carole said.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Stevie reached for her bag
and fumbled in it. She withdrew a letter, unfolded it, smoothed it out on her knees, and began to read: “Dear Stephanie Lake,” the letter went. “Thank you very much for your interest in our Riding Counselor Certification program. I regret to inform you that the Equestrian Center is a state organization, not a national one. We can therefore certify only those instructors living and working in Indiana. We are truly sorry that we cannot be of more help.

“Nevertheless, having read your letter several times, I would like to assure you that any instructor who has inspired the kind of devotion that Redford O’Malley obviously has must be a very good one. I doubt that a mere certificate would have an impact on that. However, we have included a copy of our handbook for Mr. O’Malley. He can study this book should he ever have an interest in working at a camp or riding program in Indiana.” Stevie refolded the letter with a flourish.

“You don’t think he’d ever want to leave, do you?” Carole asked. They had all had such a good time with him while Max was in London that she felt even more appreciative of Red’s skills. And he and Denise made a great teaching team.

Lisa shook her head. “He’s not going to go anywhere fast. He’s got Denise, his studies, a good job,
and a boss who respects and trusts him. That should keep him right here in Virginia for a long time.”

“Besides, if anything ever happens to Max, Red can take over,” Stevie pointed out. “After all, he’s practically married to Deborah!”

B
ONNIE
B
RYANT
is the author of many books for young readers, including novelizations of movie hits such as
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
^®
and
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid
, written under her married name, B. B. Hiller.

Ms. Bryant began writing The Saddle Club in 1986. Although she had done some riding before that, she intensified her studies then and found herself learning right along with her characters Stevie, Carole, and Lisa. She claims that they are all much better riders than she is.

Ms. Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She lives in Greenwich Village with her two sons.