Authors: Bonnie Bryant
Wagon Trail (12 page)
“I know,” said Lisa. “These clothes don’t feel strange
anymore, and even Veronica seems like an old pal.” She turned and smiled at the slow-moving cow lumbering after her.
“And Nikkia’s trot honestly feels smooth.” Carole laughed. “I guess Starlight will feel like silk when I ride him again.”
Just then Karen Nicely rode up on her buckskin mare. “How are our heroines doing today?”
“We feel great, Karen,” said Carole. “How are you?”
“Actually, Shelly said I could ask a favor of you. I was wondering if you would be willing to trade a bucket of Veronica’s milk for a quarter wheel of some cheddar cheese I’ve got.”
“It’s fine with me,” Lisa said. She glanced back at the cow. “And I’m sure it’s fine with Veronica.”
“Great. I’ll check back with you when we stop for lunch.”
Just as Karen Nicely trotted off, Mr. Cate walked up.
“Hey, Stevie, have you heard about the new restaurant on the moon?” He grinned up at her.
“No, I haven’t, Mr. Cate.” Stevie raised one eyebrow.
“They say the food’s great, but there’s no atmosphere!” Mr. Cate threw back his head and gave a deep belly laugh.
“That’s a good one, Mr. Cate,” she said, chuckling.
“I knew you’d like it!” Still laughing, Mr. Cate walked over toward his wagon.
The train rolled on. The girls noticed that little Eileen was staring dejectedly out the back of her family’s wagon several lengths ahead of them. “Her parents must have wised up,” said Carole, “and put her in pioneer time-out.”
“Good thing,” Lisa replied. “Now at least they can have some fun and not worry about what kind of trouble she might be causing.”
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going to need to wash this dress pretty soon.” Stevie sniffed her bodice and grimaced. “It’s getting pretty ripe.”
“Me too,” said Lisa. “Let’s wash together at the next creek we stop at. Polly Shaver brought one of those old-timey washboards with her and said we could use it anytime.”
Stevie laughed. “I bet once we do our laundry with a washboard, doing it in a washing machine at home won’t seem nearly so bad.”
After they had traveled a few hours, Carole spotted a huge rock that jutted up from the prairie all by itself.
“Look!” She pointed to the single tall crag that broke the flat line of the horizon.
“I bet that’s Miller’s Rock!” cried Stevie. “I bet that’s where we’re going to stop for lunch today.”
Just as she spoke, Jeremy took off his hat and waved
it at the rock. Slowly the wagons turned and began to roll toward it. They made good time on the dry ground, and by midday they were pulling to a halt just underneath the great boulder.
“Lunch in half an hour,” Shelly called as the trekkers parked their wagons.
“Let’s go,” said Stevie, leaping to the ground. She and Lisa grabbed two buckets and got fresh water, while Carole brought hay for Vernonica and the horses. After Stevie had used one bucket to water the livestock, Lisa used the other to cool Yankee and Doodle down in the hot sun. As they worked, other members of the wagon train tended to their own livestock and helped each other make sure their wagons were ready for the rest of the trip. Just as the girls finished their chores, Shelly rang the triangle for lunch.
“Look at where we’re eating today!” Lisa said as they followed everyone to the chuck wagon.
The girls peered over at Miller’s Rock Memorial Park, where several pioneers already sat eating their lunch. A hot dog stand and souvenir shop stood at one end of a busy parking lot, surrounded by crowds of tourists. One frantic mother was trying to calm her two crying children, while another man had his entire family posing in front of the Miller’s Rock historic marker as he tried to focus his camera.
“Gosh,” said Carole as she waited in the chow line for baked beans and corn bread. “Looks like we’re back in the middle of the twentieth century.”
“It looks so strange, and we’ve only been gone for four days,” said Lisa.
The girls walked to the picnic area and found an empty table next to a family of five who all wore bright orange “Cummings Exterminating—We Won’t Bug You” T-shirts. The family stared at the girls as they sat down in their pioneer costumes to eat their simple meal of corn bread and beans.
“Who are they?” they heard one little girl ask her father.
“Oh, I think they’re Pennsylvania Dutch,” the father whispered.
The Saddle Club looked at each other and giggled.
“We could explain,” Lisa suggested.
Stevie glanced over her shoulder at the man, who was splashing ketchup all over a giant order of french fries. “Forget it,” she said, shaking her head. “He’d never understand.”
They were just beginning to eat when a shadow fell across their table. They looked up. Gabriel stood there, his plate of lunch in his hand.
“Hi,” he said, giving one of his lopsided smiles. “Could I sit with you guys?”
“Oh, are you sure the assistant trail boss ought to be seen eating with a bunch of womenfolk?” Stevie cracked.
“Sure, Gabriel, sit down,” Carole said, nudging Stevie in the ribs. She knew as well as Stevie that Gabriel was an obnoxious jerk, but he was part of their wagon train family, so that made him
their
obnoxious jerk. And after all, they had been through a lot together.
“Have you girls had a good morning?” he asked politely, taking off his cowboy hat.
“Yes,” replied Lisa. “It actually feels like we’ve done this all our lives.”
“Well, I just wanted to make kind of an apology.” He brushed his dark hair back. “I think I might have judged you guys too quickly. All three of you really did a terrific job at the stampede last night.” He looked at Carole with his fierce blue eyes. “If you hadn’t waked everybody up, there might have been a real disaster.”
He smiled at Lisa. “And you did more than your share of turning the herd away.” He swallowed. “You guys are all darn good horsewomen.”
“Thanks,” Stevie said loudly, enjoying the blush that suddenly turned his cheeks red.
“Yeah,” Carole and Lisa said together. “Thanks.”
Gabriel smiled and ate a piece of corn bread. “You know, you’re such good riders, it’s too bad you won’t be
able to compete in any of the open events at the rodeo we’re going to tomorrow night.” He looked at Stevie and grinned. “I’m going to be in the pole racing and the calf roping. But that stuff is really guy stuff. They’ll probably have a cow chip tossing contest for girls.”
“A cow chip tossing contest?” Stevie felt her face flush with anger.
“Yeah,” Gabriel laughed. “You know, where you take a little cow chip and see how far you can toss it. You’d be great at that, Stevie. I bet you’ve got quite an arm.”
Stevie was speechless. Gabriel ate his last bite of lunch and stood up. “Well, I enjoyed eating with you ladies.” He tipped his hat. “See you around.”
They watched as he strode back to the wagons. Stevie was the first one to break the silence.
“Do you believe him?” she sputtered.
Carole giggled. “I bet he stays up nights studying his be-the-biggest-jerk-you-can-be manual.”
“I don’t think he studies it,” fumed Stevie. “I think he wrote it!”
Suddenly Lisa stood up. “Come on, girls. Let’s go back to the wagon train. It looks like Jeremy is making some kind of announcement.”
They left the picnic area and hurried over to the chuck wagon, where Jeremy was talking to a group of pioneers.
“We’re going to take a little break today, since we’ve
made it to Miller’s Rock. Our next campsite isn’t far away, so we’ll be staying here until midafternoon. You can spend the next couple of hours resting or relaxing, or you can climb Miller’s Rock if you want. It’s a moderate to strenuous climb that takes about two hours, round trip. Just make sure you’re back here by three, ready to roll.”
The girls looked at the rock. They could already hear Gabriel’s voice behind them, advising Karen Nicely on the best way to climb in pioneer clothes.
“What do you think?” Stevie asked, squinting at the tall, craggy rock glowing red in the sun.
“We could try it,” said Carole. “It would be neat to be able to say we’d done it.”
“We could also relax.” Lisa frowned at the sharp granite face of the rock. “I mean, we kind of killed ourselves yesterday and last night.”
“You’re right,” said Stevie. “I vote we take our chances on the ground. I mean, something even more exciting could happen down here.”
“That’s fine with me,” said Carole. “For once, why don’t we just sit under a shady tree and wait for the next exciting thing to come along?”
T
HE GIRLS FOUND
a shady tree close to their wagon with a good view of Miller’s Rock. While they sprawled on the ground watching several pioneers attempting the climb, their animals rested nearby. Veronica dozed in the bright sunshine, and the horses browsed in the thick prairie grass. From a distance, Mr. Cate’s version of “The Tennessee Waltz” floated on the air, and a group of pioneer children ran past them in a fast game of capture the flag. Little Eileen was nowhere to be seen.
“You know, this is really nice.” Stevie sighed and relaxed against the tree. “Even though I didn’t know any of these people four days ago, I feel completely at home.”
“I do, too,” said Carole, plucking a blade of grass. “I feel that together we could handle most anything.”
“It’s Miller’s Rock.” Lisa smiled mysteriously.
“Huh?” Stevie and Carole said together.
“It’s Miller’s Rock. Remember what Jeremy said? He guaranteed that by the time we reached Miller’s Rock we’d be totally different people. Well, here we are. Totally changed at Miller’s Rock. And it only took four days.”
“Plus a tipped-over wagon and a stampede and a know-it-all assistant trail boss and a little brat who couldn’t get over her missing teddy bear,” Stevie reminded them.
“And also the departure of Deborah,” said Carole.
“That’s true. But you know, I think everybody else has changed, too,” said Lisa. “I mean, everybody seems more helpful and more interested in seeing that other people are okay.”
“You’re right,” Carole agreed. “I don’t even think Gabriel is as bad as he was. He can be nice when he wants to be.”
Lisa smiled. “He wasn’t nearly as obnoxious at lunch today. And he
does
have gorgeous eyes!”
“Oh, don’t be too sure,” said Stevie. “Aren’t you forgetting the fact that he was taunting us about the rodeo?” She imitated his words. “ ‘I’m riding in the races. You girls will have to do the cow chip toss.’ ”
She snorted. “If that’s not obnoxious, I don’t know what is.”
Carole frowned. “Stevie, give him credit. Did you see the jump he took last night? Over the corral fence with no saddle or bridle? He rides awfully well.”
“Oh, he just got lucky,” Stevie muttered. For some reason the idea of Gabriel’s being a good rider made her mad all over again. She couldn’t believe that Lisa and Carole didn’t think he was obnoxious anymore. If Gabriel wasn’t obnoxious, that would mean that Phil’s new girlfriend wasn’t obnoxious, either. And if she wasn’t obnoxious, what was she? Did she even exist? Stevie scratched her head in dismay. There was so much about Phil’s trip she didn’t know, and she didn’t like the idea of not knowing.
“I’ve got an idea,” said Lisa. “Since we’ve made it to Miller’s Rock and become true pioneers, let’s drink a toast.” She uncapped her leather canteen. “To The Saddle Club. We can accomplish anything when we work together!”
“To The Saddle Club,” Stevie added, “which still has more to accomplish. We have to beat the assistant trail boss at his own game. We’ll show him a thing or two at the rodeo!”
Carole laughed. “Stevie! You’re on the wrong vacation. You should be reenacting the gold rush to California.”
“Yeah, Stevie,” giggled Lisa. “Or maybe the Pony Express. You could have been the first one there with the most mail.”
Stevie grinned. “Well, maybe I am slightly competitive. But isn’t winning something you want to win what teamwork is all about?”
“I suppose,” laughed Lisa. She held her canteen in the air and repeated, “To The Saddle Club!”
Stevie and Carole clunked their leather canteens against Lisa’s. “To tomorrow,” added Stevie. “When The Saddle Club will teach the assistant trail boss a thing or two!”
The girls took a sip from their canteens. Just then Shelly’s triangle broke the still air. Their minivacation had ended.
“The trail leads westward again,” said Carole.
“Right,” Stevie said with a grin. “Westward to the sunset, westward to the rodeo, and westward to all points beyond!”
What happens to The Saddle Club next?
Read Bonnie Bryant’s exciting new series and find out.
High school. Driver’s licenses. Boyfriends. Jobs.
A lot of new things are happening, but one thing remains the same: Stevie Lake, Lisa Atwood, and Carole Hanson are still best friends. However, even among best friends some things do change, and problems can strain any friendship … but these three can handle it. Can’t they?
Read an excerpt from Pine Hollow #1:
The Long Ride.
“D
O YOU THINK
we’ll get there in time?” Stevie Lake asked, looking around for some reassuring sign that the airport was near.
“Since that plane almost landed on us, I think it’s safe to say that we’re close,” Carole Hanson said.
“Turn right here,” said Callie Forester from the backseat.
“And then left up ahead,” Carole advised, picking out directions from the signs that flashed past near the airport entrance. “I think Lisa’s plane is leaving from that terminal there.”
“Which one?”
“The one we just passed,” Callie said.
“Oh,” said Stevie. She gripped the steering wheel tightly and looked for a way to turn around without causing a major traffic tie-up.
“This would be easier if we were on horseback,” said Carole.
“Everything’s easier on horseback,” Stevie agreed.
“Or if we had a police escort,” said Callie.
“Have you done that?” Stevie asked, trying to maneuver the car across three lanes of traffic.
“I have,” said Callie. “It’s kind of fun, but dangerous.
It makes you think you’re almost as important as other people tell you you are.”
Stevie rolled her window down and waved wildly at the confused drivers around her. Clearly her waving confused them more, but it worked. All traffic stopped. She crossed the necessary three lanes and pulled onto the service road.
It took another ten minutes to get back to the right and then ten more to find a parking place. Five minutes into the terminal. And then all that was left was to find Lisa.
“Where do you think she is?” Carole asked.
“I know,” said Stevie. “Follow me.”
“That’s what we’ve been doing all morning,” Callie said dryly. “And look how far it’s gotten us.”
But she followed anyway.
A
LEX
L
AKE
REACHED
across the table in the airport cafeteria and took Lisa Atwood’s hand.
“It’s going to be a long summer,” he said.
Lisa nodded. Saying good-bye was one of her least favorite activities. She didn’t want Alex to know how hard it was, though. That would just make it tougher on him. The two of them had known each other for four years—as long as Lisa had been best friends with Alex’s twin sister, Stevie. But they’d only started dating six months earlier. Lisa could hardly believe that. It seemed as if she’d been in love with him forever.
“But it is just for the summer,” she said. The words sounded dumb even as they came out of her mouth. The summer
was
long. She wouldn’t come back to Virginia until right before school started.
“I wish your dad didn’t live so far away, and I wish the summer weren’t so long.”
“It’ll go fast,” said Lisa.
“For you, maybe. You’ll be in California, surfing or something. I’ll just be here, mowing lawns.”
“I’ve never surfed in my life—”
“Until now,” said Alex. It was almost a challenge, and Lisa didn’t like it.
“I don’t want to fight with you,” said Lisa.
“I don’t want to fight with you, either,” he said, relenting. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I want things to be different. Not very different. Just a little different.”
“Me too,” said Lisa. She squeezed his hand. It was a way to keep from saying anything else, because she was afraid that if she tried to speak she might cry, and she hated it when she cried. It made her face red and puffy, but most of all, it told other people how she was feeling. She’d found it useful to keep her feelings to herself these days. Like Alex, she wanted things to be different, but she wanted them to be very different, not just a little. She sighed. That was slightly better than crying.
“I
TOLD
YOU
SO
,” said Stevie to Callie and Carole.
Stevie had threaded her way through the airport terminal,
straight to the cafeteria near the security checkpoint. And there, sitting next to the door, were her twin brother and her best friend.
“Surprise!” the three girls cried, crowding around the table.
“We just couldn’t let you be the only one to say good-bye to Lisa,” Carole said, sliding into the booth next to Alex.
“We had to be here, too. You understand that, don’t you?” Stevie asked Lisa as she sat down next to her.
“And since I was in the car, they brought me along,” said Callie, pulling up a chair from a nearby table.
“You guys!” said Lisa, her face lighting up with joy. “I’m so glad you’re here. I was afraid I wasn’t going to see you for months and months!”
She
was
glad they were there. It wouldn’t have felt right if she’d had to leave without seeing them one more time. “I thought you had other things to do.”
“We just told you that so we could surprise you. We did surprise you, didn’t we?”
“You surprised me,” Lisa said, beaming.
“Me too,” Alex said dryly. “I’m surprised, too. I really thought I could go for an afternoon, just
one
afternoon of my life, without seeing my twin sister.”
Stevie grinned. “Well, there’s always tomorrow,” she said. “And that’s something to look forward to, right?”
“Right,” he said, grinning back.
Since she was closest to the outside, Callie went and got sodas for herself, Stevie, and Carole. When she rejoined
the group, they were talking about everything in the world except the fact that Lisa was going to be gone for the summer and how much they were all going to miss one another.
She passed the drinks around and sat quietly at the end of the table. There wasn’t much for her to say. She didn’t really feel as if she belonged there. She wasn’t anybody’s best friend. It wasn’t as if they minded her being there, but she’d come along because Stevie had offered to drive her to a tack shop after they left the airport. She was simply along for the ride.
“… And don’t forget to say hello to Skye.”
“Skye? Skye who?” asked Alex.
“Don’t pay any attention to him,” Lisa said. “He’s just jealous.”
“You mean because Skye is a movie star?”
“And say hi to your father and the new baby. It must be exciting that you’ll meet your sister.”
“Well, of course, you’ve already met her, but now she’s crawling, right? It’s a whole different thing.”
An announcement over the PA system brought their chatter to a sudden halt.
“It’s my flight,” Lisa said slowly. “They’re starting to board and I’ve got to get through security and then to Gate … whatever.”
“Fourteen,” Alex said. “It comes after Gate Twelve. There are no thirteens in airports.”
“Let’s go.”
“Here, I’ll carry that.”
“And I’ll get this one.…”
As Callie watched, Lisa hugged Carole and Stevie. Then she kissed Alex. Then she hugged her friends again. Then she turned to Alex.
“I think it’s time for us to go,” Carole said tactfully.
“Write or call every day,” Stevie said.
“It’s a promise,” said Lisa. “Thanks for coming to the airport. You, too, Callie.”
Callie smiled and gave Lisa a quick hug before all the girls backed off from Lisa and Alex.
Lisa waved. Her friends waved and turned to leave her alone with Alex. They were all going to miss her, but the girls had one another. Alex only had his lawns to mow. He needed the last minutes with Lisa.
“See you at home!” Stevie called over her shoulder, but she didn’t think Alex heard. His attention was completely focused on one person.
Carole wiped a tear from her eye once they’d rounded a corner. “I’m going to miss her.”
“Me too,” said Stevie.
Carole turned to Callie. “It must be hard for you to understand,” she said.
“Not really,” said Callie. “I can tell you three are really close.”
“We are,” Carole said. “Best friends for a long time. We’re practically inseparable.” Even to her the words sounded exclusive and uninviting. If Callie noticed, she didn’t say anything.
The three girls walked out of the terminal and found
their way to Stevie’s car. As she turned on the engine, Stevie was aware of an uncomfortable empty feeling. She really didn’t like the idea of Lisa’s being gone for the summer, and her own unhappiness was not going to be helped by a brother who was going to spend the entire time moping about his missing girlfriend. There had to be something that would make her feel better.
“Say, Carole, do you want to come along with us to the tack shop?” she asked.
“No, I can’t,” Carole said. “I promised I’d bring in the horses from the paddock before dark, so you can just drop me off at Pine Hollow. Anyway, aren’t you due at work in an hour?”
Stevie glanced at her watch. Carole was right. Everything was taking longer than it was supposed to this afternoon.
“Don’t worry,” Callie said quickly. “We can go to the tack shop another time.”
“You don’t mind?” Stevie asked.
“No. I don’t. Really,” said Callie. “I don’t want you to be late for work—either of you. If my parents decide to get a pizza for dinner again, I’m going to want it to arrive on time!”
Stevie laughed, but not because she thought anything was very funny. She wasn’t about to forget the last time she’d delivered a pizza to Callie’s family. In fact, she wished it hadn’t happened, but it had. Now she had to find a way to face up to it.
As she pulled out of the airport parking lot, a plane
roared overhead, rising into the brooding sky.
Maybe that’s Lisa’s plane
, she thought. The noise of its flight seemed to mark the beginning of a long summer.
The first splats of rain hit the windshield as Stevie paid their way out of the parking lot. By the time they were on the highway, it was raining hard. The sky had darkened to a steely gray. Streaks of lightning brightened it, only to be followed by thunder that made the girls jump.
The storm had come out of nowhere. Stevie flicked on the windshield wipers and hoped it would go right back to nowhere.
The sky turned almost black as the storm strengthened. Curtains of rain ripped across the windshield, pounding on the hood and roof of the car. The wipers flicked uselessly at the torrent.
“I hope Fez is okay,” said Callie. “He hates thunder, you know.”
“I’m not surprised,” said Carole, trying to control her voice. It seemed to her that there were a lot of things Fez hated. He was as temperamental as any horse she had ever ridden.
Fez was one of the horses in the paddock. Carole didn’t want to upset Callie by telling her that. If she told Callie he’d been turned out, Callie would wonder why he hadn’t just been exercised. If she told Callie she’d exercised him, Callie might wonder if he was being overworked. Carole shook her head. What was it about this girl that made Carole so certain that whatever she said,
it would be wrong? Why couldn’t she say the one thing she really needed to say?
Still, Carole worked at Pine Hollow, and that meant taking care of the horses that were boarding there—and that meant keeping the owners happy.
“I’m sure Fez will be fine. Ben and Max will look after him,” Carole said.
“I guess you’re right,” said Callie. “I know he can be difficult. Of course, you’ve ridden him, so you know that, too. I mean, that’s obvious. But it’s spirit, you see. Spirit is the key to an endurance specialist. He’s got it, and I think he’s got the makings of a champion. We’ll work together this summer, and come fall … well, you’ll see.”
Spirit—yes, it was important in a horse. Carole knew that. She just wished she understood why it was that Fez’s spirit was so irritating to her. She’d always thought of herself as someone who’d never met a horse she didn’t like. Maybe it was the horse’s owner.…
“Uh-oh,” said Stevie, putting her foot gently on the brake. “I think I got it going a little too fast there.”
“You’ve got to watch out for that,” Callie said. “My father says the police practically lie in wait for teenage drivers. They love to give us tickets. Well, they certainly had fun with me.”
“You got a ticket?” Stevie asked.
“No, I just got a warning, but it was almost worse than a ticket. I was going four miles over the speed limit in our hometown. The policeman stopped me, and when he
saw who I was, he just gave me a warning. Dad was furious—at me and at the officer, though he didn’t say anything to the officer. He was angry at him because he thought someone would find out and say I’d gotten special treatment! I was only going four miles over the speed limit. Really. Even the officer said that. Well, it would have been easier if I’d gotten a ticket. Instead, I got grounded. Dad won’t let me drive for three months. Of course, that’s nothing compared to what happened to Scott last year.”
“What happened to Scott?” Carole asked, suddenly curious about the driving challenges of the Forester children.
“Well, it’s kind of a long story,” said Callie. “But—”
“Wow! Look at that!” Stevie interrupted. There was an amazing streak of lightning over the road ahead. The dark afternoon brightened for a minute. Thunder followed instantly.
“Maybe we should pull off the road or something?” Carole suggested.
“I don’t think so,” said Stevie. She squinted through the windshield. “It’s not going to last long. It never does when it rains this hard. We get off at the next exit anyway.”
She slowed down some more and turned the wipers up a notch. She followed the car in front of her, keeping a constant eye on the two red spots of the car’s taillights. She’d be okay as long as she could see them. The rain
pelted the car so loudly that it was hard to talk. Stevie drove on cautiously.
Then, as suddenly as it had started, the rain stopped. Stevie spotted the sign for their exit, signaled, and pulled off to the right and up the ramp. She took a left onto the overpass and followed the road toward Willow Creek.
The sky was as dark as it had been, and there were clues that there had been some rain there, but nothing nearly as hard as the rain they’d left on the interstate. Stevie sighed with relief and switched the windshield wipers to a slower rate.
“I think I’ll drop you off at Pine Hollow first,” she said, turning onto the road that bordered the stable’s property.
Pine Hollow’s white fences followed the contour of the road, breaking the open, grassy hillside into a sequence of paddocks and fields. A few horses stood in the fields, swishing their tails. One bucked playfully and ran up a hill, shaking his head to free his mane in the wind. Stevie smiled. Horses always seemed to her the most welcoming sight in the world.
