English Rider (14 page)

“Actually, I was the one who shut the door, not Veronica,” Tessa admitted. “And I may have given her the idea about liking Phil because I kept hinting for her to leave us alone. But it was only because I didn’t want her to hear
me talking about her. I never imagined she’d turn it into that sort of gossip.”

Stevie nodded sympathetically. “That’s Veronica for you,” she said. “She found a surefire way to get me mad at Tessa. Then there was Lisa.”

“Right,” Lisa said. It was all becoming clearer by the second. “When she found out Tessa and I were going to the mall with Mom, she made sure to turn up and drag Tessa away.” She smiled ruefully. “I guess even Veronica realizes that shopping with my mom isn’t the highlight of my day.”

“Then she must have come up with the idea to switch the order of the program,” Tessa said, catching on. “She told me it was Max’s idea, but she told you it was mine, so you’d think I was the one causing you and your mum all sorts of work.”

Carole thought all of that was very interesting. But she was still thinking about Topside. “But what about that metal bucket?” she said. “And the dirty stall we cleaned up for you?”

“I never knew a thing about either,” Tessa told her. “I never used anything but Topside’s regular plastic bucket. And I
always
attached it to the hook.”

“Veronica again,” Stevie said with grim satisfaction. “She’s the only person I know who would endanger a horse like that and not even think about it, except as a means to her own ends.”

Lisa shook her head. “Actually, I’m a little shocked,” she admitted. “That’s nasty, even for her.”

Tessa was looking thoughtful. “Which day did you find the stall dirty?” she asked.

“Um … It was Wednesday, I think,” Lisa said, thinking back. “When you and Veronica were out on that long trail ride.”

Tessa nodded. “Just as I thought,” she said. “That was the day Veronica suddenly remembered she had to call home. We were halfway across the first pasture, but she insisted she would just be a few minutes.” She laughed ruefully. “I must have ridden Topside around that pasture fifty times while I was waiting for her to get back. But I never thought twice about it.”

“Veronica can be pretty sneaky,” Stevie agreed. “She must have run back and carted some old manure into the stall from the muck heap.” She glanced at Carole. “Which explains why you thought it looked funny. I’ll bet she was the one who knocked down all that tack in the tack room after Tessa and Phil left. She probably snuck in while we were checking our horses and quietly made a mess. And I’m sure she planted that icky sandwich by her new boots, too, just hoping I’d do something about it and she could tattle to Max.”

“So Veronica was trying to mess up our friendship with Tessa all along.” Carole finally understood.

“And it almost worked.” Lisa scooted around the picnic
cloth until she was sitting next to Tessa. Then she smiled tentatively. “Can you forgive us?” she asked.

Tessa nodded immediately. “Absolutely,” she assured all of them. “And can you all forgive me for being so thickheaded? I still can’t believe it reached this point before I noticed. I guess I was too caught up in my own plans to pay enough attention to you.”

“It happens,” Stevie said sympathetically. “Believe me, I know. Anyway, it’s partly our fault, too. We should have trusted you more.”

“And even if we had doubts, we should have talked to you about them,” Carole put in. She scooted around until she was sitting on Tessa’s other side, and gave her a hug. “But don’t worry. No matter who should have done what, the important thing is that we’re all still friends.”

“We are, aren’t we?” Tessa asked, still looking a little worried.

This time all three original members of The Saddle Club grabbed her in a big group hug. “Absolutely,” they said in one voice.

Soon they were all hungrily chewing their sandwiches, washing them down with the drinks Tessa had brought. “This is great,” Carole said, her mouth full of potato chips.

Stevie was eating just as enthusiastically as the others. But she was thinking about something at the same time. “So, Tessa,” she said, a bit too casually. “About this plan of yours …”

Tessa held up one hand warningly. “Sorry, Stevie,” she said with a grin. “I already told you. I really can’t give you any details about that. I have to protect your—your—” She searched for the words.

“Plausible deniability?” Lisa offered helpfully, reaching for another slice of cheese.

Tessa nodded. “That’s it,” she said. “If you don’t know anything, you can’t be blamed.”

Carole and Lisa nodded agreeably, but Stevie still wasn’t satisfied. “But Tessa …,” she began in a whine.

“Stevie, really!” Tessa cut her off. “Please let it drop. I assure you, all will become clear tomorrow. Even after all this, don’t you trust me?”

Stevie sighed with frustration. “That’s not the problem,” she said. “I’ll trust you till the cows come home. I’m just afraid I’ll die of curiosity way before then!”

D
ESPITE HER DIRE
prediction, Stevie managed to survive the sleepover. And soon after the morning of the point-to-point dawned, she was too busy to spare a thought for Tessa’s scheme.

Max put The Saddle Club to work as soon as the four girls clambered down from the loft, yawning and rubbing their eyes. There were horses to be fed and groomed, stalls to be cleaned, horse trailers to be readied, tack to check, traveling bandages to put on … the list went on and on. Luckily Tessa had remembered to have Mrs. Atwood pack the clothes Lisa and she would be wearing to the event, along with everything Stevie and Carole had brought to Lisa’s. They washed up and changed in the
stable’s bathroom moments before it was time to load the horses that would be competing in the event into Pine Hollow’s trailers.

Soon a caravan of horse trailers was trundling through Willow Creek on the way to the country club on the other side of town. Carole and Stevie were crowded into the cab of the one being driven by Red O’Malley. Starlight and Belle were in the back, along with a couple of horses belonging to Max’s adult riders.

“This is exciting, isn’t it?” Carole said happily.

Stevie nodded. “Maybe even more exciting than we think,” she said. “I wonder what Tessa is—”

Carole elbowed her before she could say anything about Tessa’s plan. She glanced at Red worriedly. But the stable hand didn’t seem to have heard a word. He had just steered his vehicle over a slight rise in the road, and the grounds of the Willow Creek Country Club were spread out before them. “Wow,” he commented with a low whistle. “Those country club folks really went all out for this.”

The girls saw what he meant. It really was amazing. The broad, sweeping fields that flanked the golf course had been transformed into a sort of fairgrounds, with large, colorful tents dotting the landscape. The girls could also see where several courses had been marked off for the races, with broad timber fences all along them. Temporary grandstand seating had been set up near the finish line of each course.

“Amazing,” Carole said breathlessly. Her heart started to beat a little faster with excitement. She couldn’t wait for the point-to-point to start!

The girls helped unload the horses and make them comfortable in the large tents serving as temporary stables. Then, with Max’s permission, they hurried off to check out the scene.

Visitors were already pouring in through the front gates. People of all ages crowded into the refreshment and craft booths, wandered over to look at the course, found seats in the stands, or set up tailgate picnics in the parking lot. Lively music played over the public-address system, mostly patriotic marches in honor of July Fourth, which was the following day. Volunteers scurried around, answering questions, picking up trash, and generally being helpful. Lisa spotted her mother behind the counter at one of the craft booths, helping an elderly woman choose a T-shirt for her small granddaughter.

“It looks like the fund-raiser is going to be a big success,” Carole remarked as the girls strolled past the ticket table, where half a dozen volunteers struggled to tear tickets and make change fast enough to keep up with the demand.

“Cool,” Stevie said with a smile. “That means they’ll probably want to do this every year!”

“I hope so.” Lisa glanced at a nearby refreshment tent. “Hey, is it just me or did we forget to eat breakfast? I’m starving!”

“Me too,” Stevie said. “Come on, let’s go rustle up some grub. We’ve got to keep our energy up for the race later on.”

Tessa glanced at her watch. “Count me out,” she said reluctantly. “I’ll grab something later. I’m supposed to be at the main stage in exactly three minutes.”

“You are?” Carole looked surprised. “What for?”

Tessa just winked in reply. “See you in a little while.” With that, she disappeared into the crowds.

Her friends had just settled down at an empty picnic table when the sprightly strains of “Liberty Bell March” were cut off abruptly. After a moment of static, the PA system crackled to life again.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” said a very familiar voice. “It’s my pleasure to welcome you to the first annual Willow Creek Point-to-Point.”

Carole, Stevie, and Lisa exchanged glances. “Tessa!” they cried in one voice. They grabbed their food and hurried out of the refreshment tent. Sure enough, once they were outside they could see their friend standing on the temporary stage near the finish line of the main racecourse. She was standing between Mrs. diAngelo and an older woman, whom Lisa recognized as the president of the country club.

“I do hope you’re all enjoying the hospitality,” Tessa went on. “I want to thank some of our generous sponsors …”

“I thought Veronica was supposed to make the opening
remarks today,” Lisa commented as Tessa went on to list the names of the local businesses that had donated food and other supplies. “She’s been bragging about it for weeks.”

Stevie grinned. “I guess this is what Tessa was talking about,” she said admiringly. “Pretty good plan. Veronica must be fuming.”

Just then Carole spotted a familiar figure standing to one side of the stage. It was Veronica, and she didn’t look happy. In fact, she was scowling darkly at Tessa, her arms folded over her chest. “Definitely,” Carole agreed, pointing. “But why do you think Tessa was so worried about us finding out? There’s no way Veronica could pin this on us—not if her own mother agreed to let Tessa speak.”

Lisa shrugged. “Maybe she just didn’t want to take any chances.”

The girls listened as Tessa completed her opening remarks. When she stepped away from the microphone, they applauded enthusiastically. They applauded just as enthusiastically when they saw Max climbing onto the stage. He took the microphone and gave a brief talk explaining the history and purpose of point-to-point racing and outlining the rules and entry requirements for each of the day’s events, including the junior hurdle, which was open only to riders under the age of sixteen, and the scurry race.

“There are no cash prizes for the winners of today’s
races,” Max said in conclusion. “Just ribbons and the fun of competing. So let’s go out there and have fun!”

A cheer went up from the crowd, and the point-to-point began in earnest.

A few minutes later Tessa found her friends in the crowd lined up along the course for the first race, which was due to start soon. “Hi!” she said breathlessly. “How was I?”

“Fantastic,” Carole declared, giving her a quick hug. “We were so surprised!”

“Thanks,” Tessa said. “Oh, and there’s more good news. You don’t have to feel sorry for me anymore about not riding in the junior hurdle. I may just have a chance for a ribbon today after all.”

“Really? How?” Lisa asked.

“Mrs. Pennington invited me to ride with her in the scurry race,” Tessa replied happily. She shot them an anxious look. “You don’t mind, do you? It will mean I can’t ride with you in the pony cart …”

“Don’t worry about it,” Carole assured her. “You can’t pass up this chance. This way you’ll probably be able to put Veronica in her place again—Mrs. Pennington is sure to take the blue ribbon, so Veronica and Miles will just have to settle for second best.”

“If they’re lucky,” Lisa joked. “Knowing Veronica, she’ll probably make Miles drive slowly so that her hair won’t get messed up.”

Stevie laughed. “It serves her right that she didn’t get to make that speech,” she said. She grinned at Tessa admiringly. “What a terrific prank. How did you do it?”

“It was a piece of cake,” Tessa said. “Mrs. diAngelo absolutely insisted I speak.”

“Well, Veronica must be furious,” Carole said. “She told half the county she was going to be the opening speaker today.”

“I suppose she is a bit miffed at me right now.” Tessa shrugged and winked. “But that’s nothing to how angry she’ll be a bit later.”

Stevie’s eyes widened. “You mean there’s more?”

Tessa just grinned and winked again. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s watch the race.” And that was all she would say.

F
OR
T
HE
S
ADDLE
C
LUB
, the next few hours seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Before they knew it, they were saddling up their horses for the junior hurdle race.