Stable Witch (6 page)

With a smile, Stevie sent the two of them on their way, promising to give them one last check before the meeting started. To Carole and Lisa she added, “I’d better give myself a once-over, too, so I’ll see you two in the indoor.”

Now that she thought about it, Lisa did remember Stevie’s mentioning that she was going to come early. It was very un-Stevian to be anywhere early for anything, but maybe she was turning over a new leaf.
After all, she had put in extra practice without complaining at all and had been spending more time on her homework, too. Lisa voiced her thoughts to Carole as they finished tacking up.

“That’s true,” Carole said, “but I just hope turning over her ‘new leaf’ doesn’t mean trying even harder to beat Veronica at all costs.”

That was all the time they had to discuss Stevie’s behavior for, out of the corner of her eye, Lisa saw two men and a woman dressed in horsey clothes approaching. They were talking about the rules for the upcoming schooling show. There was no question who they were: clearly, the judges had arrived. No one would dare be caught late or unprepared, especially not The Saddle Club.

To begin the mounted meeting, Max announced over the P.A. system that the judges wished to have all the riders walk their horses into the ring so that they could examine everyone’s turnout. There would be no nit-picking inspections; they just wanted to meet next weekend’s competitors and familiarize themselves with the different horse/rider pairs. One by one, Max’s students led their mounts out until twenty gleaming horses and ponies were standing quietly, awaiting inspection.

Carole could see by the sparkle in his eye that Max was proud of their appearance. She felt proud, too—of Pine Hollow, of Starlight, and of herself. For her, the schooling show would be a perfect chance to show what she and Starlight did best. She felt confident she would reach the goal she had written down. She told as much to the judges when they began making their rounds.

“It’s nice to hear someone say that enjoyment is one of their goals. There’s no point in riding if it’s not, is there?” one of the men asked.

“No, sir,” Carole replied smartly. The three judges nodded approvingly, leaving her with a happy glow.

If anything, Lisa was even more excited than Carole at meeting the judges. When they spoke to her, they were nice and encouraging—not fierce at all. They listened attentively as she explained how young and green Prancer was, and then offered a couple of tips for helping both Prancer and Lisa to relax. By the end of the inspection, Lisa felt totally at ease. She had sort of been dreading this preliminary meeting, but now she was convinced it had been one of Max’s great ideas.

As she led Prancer away, she overheard the three of them telling Max how impressed they were with the level of knowledge at Pine Hollow, as well as the excellent
condition of the horses. Lisa immediately whispered the news to Carole, who whispered to May, who told Betsy Cavanaugh. Pretty soon, everyone knew and was talking excitedly. It wasn’t often that they got to show off Pine Hollow all together, and it was a treat to hear that horse show judges found it as wonderful as they did.

When the riders had finished meeting with the judges, they went to await further instructions at the far end of the ring. Or, at least, most of them did. Veronica remained in the middle, holding Garnet and talking animatedly with the female judge. The Saddle Club cringed when they heard her laughing at something the judge had said.

“And she accused
me
of apple-polishing!” Stevie muttered under her breath, scowling. “Look at her—she’s trying to get on that judge’s good side. Not that it’s a surprise, considering that it’s Veronica, but I would think she’d at least be a little less obvious about it!”

Lisa and Carole shook their heads. It was definitely a revolting sight to watch Veronica falling all over the female judge. A buzz of disgruntled complaints went through the Pony Clubbers.

As if reading their minds, Max came forward and began speaking earnestly to the group. “Some of you
seem surprised that Mrs. Gorham and Veronica know each other. Well—”

“You mean they know each other from before?” May piped up.

Max nodded. “Mrs. Gorham happens to belong to Mrs. diAngelo’s bridge club. But there’s no point in making a fuss about it. Any one of you could have known any one of the judges. Judges are human: they have friends and families and social lives. The important thing to remember is that they know their stuff, and they’ll judge fairly. Got it?”

The group nodded. They knew that Max wouldn’t allow any behavior that was unsportsmanlike and that his little speech was a warning to them.

Finally the judges gave the command to mount up. Everyone stopped talking, except for Veronica, who continued to make small talk with Mrs. Gorham.

“And how’s your son?” she asked, putting her foot into the stirrup.

“He’s quite well, thank you,” the judge answered, watching Veronica grab the pommel of the saddle and begin to hoist herself up. She started to swing her right leg over Garnet’s rump. Then something happened. All of a sudden, Veronica shrieked and fell to the ground.

As a unit, The Saddle Club turned to see what the
matter was. Garnet had bolted at the loud noise, Mrs. Gorham was staring, speechless, and Veronica was on the ground and had started to cry hysterically. There was a rip all the way up one side of her breeches.

As she was prone to do in an emergency, Mrs. Reg appeared out of nowhere, first-aid kit in hand. While she comforted Veronica, Max sprang into action. Telling the other riders to sit tight, he caught Garnet in a flash. Then he joined his mother at Veronica’s side. By now the weeping girl had sat up. She was holding her hands to her chin, which was a bloody mess.

“What happened, Veronica?” Mrs. Reg asked.

Veronica wailed, “I c-cut my chin when I fell. I think I b-banged it on the stirrup iron.”

“Her stirrup leather—it just broke in two,” the judge added in a shocked voice.

Max raised his eyebrows. Carole noticed the surprised look on his face. A stirrup leather snapping was almost unheard of. In order for one to break, the leather had to be very old or neglected. It wasn’t something that was easy to miss when you cleaned your tack. If you ever cleaned your tack, Carole thought ruefully. It was a major embarrassment to Max and to Pine Hollow that someone—Veronica—could have been that careless about routine safety.

The other two judges seemed to think so, too. Carole
grimaced when she heard the clear disapproval in their voices. “Imagine not noticing a worn-out stirrup leather,” one was saying.

“It is odd, especially in a group of horses that are so well turned out, to find that someone has been neglecting her tack completely,” the other replied.

Carole glanced worriedly at Max to see if he had overheard the conversation, as well. His pained expression confirmed that he had. Even though it was Veronica who had made the mistake, Carole felt bad because Max looked so upset.

Stevie barely noticed Max. Instead she was focused on Veronica. Under her breath, she murmured to Lisa and Carole, “Veronica would never notice what shape her tack is in—she hardly ever even puts on her own saddle. Today, when I was finished with May and Jasmine, she asked me to help tighten
her
girth!”

Carole and Lisa smiled wanly. Somehow neither of them felt like making fun of Veronica right then. “At least she’s stopped crying,” Lisa pointed out, trying to be optimistic.

Veronica had indeed curbed her tears for the time being. In fact, she was glaring angrily at the judges as Mrs. Reg cleaned and bandaged her chin. Obviously, she had overheard their conversation, too, and she didn’t like it one bit. Anyone who knew Veronica
could guess why she looked so peeved: she had finally—and legitimately—gotten her chance to be the center of everyone’s attention. Instead of people pitying her, however, they were criticizing her for her carelessness—and most importantly, so were the judges.

After finishing her bandaging job, Mrs. Reg pronounced her medical evaluation. The cut was bleeding quite hard, as often happened with cuts under the chin. Mrs. Reg thought it would be fine, but she didn’t want to take any risks. She wanted Veronica to go to the hospital in case she needed a couple of stitches. At the word “stitches,” Veronica burst into tears again.

Max had been holding Garnet nearby. Now he brought the Arabian over to her owner. In a gentle voice, he reminded Veronica that the stable policy was that no matter why somebody fell off a horse, they had to get back on if they were physically able. “You don’t have to ride very far, but I do want you to get on and take Garnet a few steps.”

“I’ll t-try,” Veronica blubbered, “b-but how am I s-supposed to get on without a s-stirrup leather?”

“Oh, please!” muttered Stevie. “Anybody should be able to get on without a stirrup. What if you were out in the woods and something broke? What would
you do then—hang around waiting for your groom to show up and hoist you on?”

In spite of themselves, Carole and Lisa started giggling. The image of Veronica’s hopping around in the woods screaming for Red O’Malley to give her a leg up was too funny not to laugh.

Other riders seemed to have had enough of the Stevie/Veronica rivalry, though. When Lisa noticed the dirty looks a few people were giving The Saddle Club—and especially Stevie—she pasted a sympathetic look on her face and motioned for her two friends to do the same. Knowing Veronica, she doubted the fall was as serious as Veronica’s screech implied, but this was obviously no time to point that out.

Max told Veronica he would give her a leg up. First he wanted to remove the broken leather so it wouldn’t be in the way. He lifted the skirt of the saddle and pulled it out. Then he peered at the leather carefully.

Carole edged Starlight closer to the scene and looked over Max’s shoulder. Like most of Veronica’s tack, the leather didn’t even look used, let alone worn. In fact, it was in perfect, supple shape—hardly a candidate for ripping the way everyone had seen it rip.

Max shook his head as he held up the torn ends of
the leather. Now everyone could see the terrible truth. The leather hadn’t just ripped. It had been deliberately severed.

Carole let out an audible gasp. Someone had tried to sabotage Veronica!

“Of all the dirty tricks to pull!” Max exclaimed, looking stunned at first, and then angry. When he uttered his next words his voice was hard and icy. “I would like to know who, in my stable, could have done a thing like this.”

At that instant, all the members of Horse Wise looked right at one person: Stevie Lake.

I
T TOOK ABOUT
twenty seconds for Veronica to get over the initial shock of Max’s finding. After that she shrieked and screamed so loudly that half the horses in the ring shied at the sound.

“Dear, try to calm—” Mrs. Reg began.

“I can’t! I can’t calm down! This is completely unfair! It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me! Who could have done this to me? Why me? Why
me?!
” Veronica cried.

After letting her sob for a few minutes, Mrs. Reg took Veronica firmly by the arm. “I know you’re upset, dear, but right now, you need to go to a doctor—no
ifs, ands, or buts. I’m going to go get the car and take you over to the emergency room.”

That said, Max fired off a set of instructions. He seemed to have decided that making Veronica ride when she was so hysterical would do more harm than good. May and Jasmine were to help Veronica to the driveway. Red O’Malley was to call Mrs. diAngelo and have her meet them at the hospital. Simon Atherton and Polly Giacomin were to put Garnet away.

Simon, who had had a crush on Veronica for some time, raced over to the horse. “We’ll do our best to complete the task you ask of us in the face of this dire and shocking emergency, Max,” he vowed solemnly.

The other students, who had gathered at the end of the ring, began to come forward a few at a time to tell Veronica how sorry they were. A couple of them shot dirty looks at Stevie. No one had actually come right out and said that Stevie had done it, but a lot of people were clearly thinking it. Everybody knew how badly Stevie wanted to beat Veronica, and everybody knew Stevie was famous for her practical jokes—especially when they were
im
practical.

Carole and Lisa looked around awkwardly. They didn’t want to talk to anyone—not even each other. When they stole a glance at Stevie, they saw her sitting
defiantly aboard Belle, purposefully ignoring the group gathered around Veronica.

Finally, Veronica headed out to the driveway with May and Jasmine. The riders left behind fell into a couple of small groups, talking earnestly in low tones. Only The Saddle Club remained silent. Lisa fidgeted with her reins. Carole rubbed at an imaginary spot on her saddle. Stevie just stared stonily at the ground.

“What’s all this?” Max demanded. He had been conferring with the judges outside the ring. “Why is everyone standing around?” All at once, he began barking commands at everyone again. “What are you all waiting for? Come on, we’ve got a Pony Club lesson to finish—unless, of course, any of you are thinking of dropping out of the show. Start warming up—and I mean now.”