Starlight Christmas

“So this is the errand Carole mentioned her dad had to run,” Stevie said. “I smell a rat, don’t you?”

“Sure, but it’s a Christmas rat,” Lisa reminded her. “They are white and they tell white lies.”

“We’re shopping for Carole. How about you?” Stevie asked when Colonel Hanson came up to them.

“Me too,” he said. “I have something in mind for her big present, but I want some little things to put in her stocking and under the tree.”

“Her big present is so big it doesn’t fit under the tree?” Lisa asked, impressed.

“Nope,” the colonel said. “And that reminds me that I’ve been meaning to call you girls. I can use your help. Why don’t we step over to Pizza Man across the way there and have a little talk?”

“I’m never too full of junk food to say no to pizza,” Stevie said, leading the way.

In a few minutes, Colonel Hanson and the girls were settled into a booth, a pepperoni, sausage, and mushroom pizza cooking especially for them.

“So, how can we help?” Stevie asked, getting down to business.…

For Emmons and Andy

T
HE SCHOOL HALLS
echoed with cheerful wishes for a merry Christmas and happy holidays. Lockers banged shut, not to be opened again for two and a half weeks, when school resumed after the new year. Three students skipped down the hallway, holding hands and singing loudly, “Hark the herald angels sho-out! Now’s the day that we get out!”

Carole Hanson was oblivious to all the cheer. She felt distant from the activity around her. Christmases had been hard for her and her father since her mother’s death almost two years earlier. Most of the time, Carole could accept that her mother was gone. But it was difficult to do that at Christmas. More than anything, Carole wanted this Christmas to be better. Merry was too much to ask for.

She thought about her father. She had been working on his main present for over a month. She was knitting him a pair of argyle socks. Colonel Hanson was crazy about certain things, and that included argyle socks. Carole knew he’d love the set she was making for him. If she could make him happy, then her Christmas would be a good one.

“See you next year, Carole!” one of her classmates said, and giggled at the weak joke. Carole smiled thinly. She closed her own locker and turned to leave school for vacation.

The vacation loomed ahead of her as a long, empty period. The only good thing about it was that she would have more time to spend with the horses at Pine Hollow Stables, where she rode. Horses were everything to Carole. When she grew up, she planned to work with them. She wasn’t sure if she would raise them, train them, heal them, or ride them. Maybe she’d do all of those things.

Carole tucked a few loose strands of her curly black hair into her wool hat. She was just reaching for the door when a familiar voice stopped her.

“Wait up, Carole!” Lisa Atwood called, hurrying down the hallway.

“Can you believe it?” she asked when she had caught up with her friend. “Two weeks without school. Nothing but Christmas and horses!” She smiled excitedly, and Carole couldn’t help smiling as well. Lisa put her arm
across Carole’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. Carole was glad Lisa was there.

Lisa Atwood was one of Carole’s two best friends, but she was very different from Carole. She was a year older, although she didn’t seem it. She was an excellent student, and she usually got straight A’s. Like Carole, Lisa loved horses and riding, but her lessons had to be squeezed in between ballet and piano and whatever else Mrs. Atwood thought was an appropriate kind of lesson for a proper young lady. Lisa didn’t mind doing the other things as long as it meant that she could ride. She’d do anything to ride!

Their other best friend was Stevie—short for Stephanie—Lake. Stevie was as horse crazy as her two best friends, and she also rode at Pine Hollow, but that was where their similarities ended. Stevie was as mischievous around horses as Carole was dedicated, as easygoing a student as Lisa was serious. Her strongest point was fun. Whenever something wasn’t going the way the girls wanted it to, Stevie could always think up some kind of wild scheme that would make it right. Her schemes usually worked, too, though sometimes not the way the girls expected!

It didn’t matter to any of the three of them that they were different from one another. They were friends because of what they had in common: They were horse crazy. In fact, they were so horse crazy that they’d started
The Saddle Club. It only had two rules: Members had to be horse crazy, and they had to be willing to help one another, no matter what. Sometimes that meant sharing riding tips. Sometimes it meant working together on things like science projects. But it always meant fun.

“Did Stevie call you last night?” Lisa asked.

Carole shook her head.

“We’ve got a ride to the mall this afternoon. We’re going Christmas shopping. Want to come?”

“I can’t,” Carole said regretfully. “My main gift is Dad’s socks, and I’ve still got one whole foot to go. He’s got some errand he has to run today, so I’ll have time at home to work on it.”

“Oh.” Lisa looked disappointed. “Well, we’re meeting at TD’s. Do you have time for a Saddle Club meeting?”

“I
always
have time for a Saddle Club meeting,” Carole said. She would have liked to have been with her friends at the mall, but the trip to TD’s was the next best thing. Tastee Delight was a local ice cream place and the girls’ favorite—and most fattening—hangout. It was within walking distance of Stevie’s and Lisa’s houses, and of Pine Hollow. It was also near the bus stop Carole used to get home. The girls called it TD’s for short and often had their Saddle Club meetings there.

Together, Lisa and Carole walked to the shopping center where TD’s was located. A few stray snowflakes drifted down out of the sky. Lisa saw them as a sign that
Christmas was coming. Carole didn’t seem to see them at all.

Stevie was already ensconced in a booth at TD’s when the girls joined her. “Christmas vacation,” she said as they sat down. She sounded as if she were savoring the words. “No school, lots of free time, lots of
riding
time, no school, and then …” She paused for effect. “New Year’s Eve.”

“What’s so special about that?” Lisa asked, teasing her friend. She and Carole both knew that Stevie was beyond teasing when it came to this New Year’s Eve.

“Did you forget?” Stevie asked. “It’s the big dance. I’m going with Phil. I can’t wait.”

“I was joking,” Lisa informed her drily. “So what’s the highlight of your vacation going to be, Carole?”

Carole pursed her lips. If Christmas wasn’t going to be all that great for her, it was hard to think what was going to be. Then she remembered. “Easy,” she said. “Christmas Eve—the Starlight Ride.”

“Oh, right!” Stevie agreed. “I almost forgot. So my vacation will have
two
highlights—not counting no school, which would make it three.”

“This will be my first time, you know,” Lisa reminded her friends.

“You’re going to love the starlight ride,” Carole promised. “It’s just wonderful. I think it’s one of my favorite Pine Hollow traditions.”

“Tell me about it,” Lisa said.

Carole was about to begin when their waitress arrived. As soon as the waitress spotted Stevie, she grimaced. Stevie was famous for ordering outrageous sundaes. She’d even been accused of ordering them that way so nobody would be tempted to take little tastes from her dish. Stevie always flatly denied it, and continued to order new and generally unappetizing combinations of flavors. The waitress never liked to take orders when Stevie was around. This time, as usual, Carole and Lisa each ordered normal sundaes. The waitress turned to Stevie, expectantly braced for the worst.

“I’ll just have a diet cola,” Stevie said.

The waitress looked astonished. “That’s it? No bubble-gum ice-cream float? No marshmallow sauce on top?”

Stevie made a face. “Ugh,” she said. “No way. Just a soda, please.”