Hobbyhorse (13 page)

“I
CAN
’
T BELIEVE
it’s raining,” Carole said. She stared out the window of TD’s. The sky was overcast, and sheets of rain fell steadily from the dark gray clouds. It was a miserable day.

“At least we’re inside, where it’s warm,” Lisa said.

“At least we’re eating hot fudge sundaes,” Stevie added. “It was nice of your mom to bring us here, Lisa, and it was even nicer of her to treat us. That’s twice this week.”

“We earned it,” Lisa said, in a voice of satisfaction. “My mom even said so. She said she was grateful that I’d taken up my vacation time with Amelia. Until she said that, I wasn’t even sure she realized I was doing it.” Lisa checked
her watch. “Amelia should be almost back to New Jersey by now.”

“Phew,” Stevie said. “I mean, the week turned out okay, but I’m still glad it’s over.”

“You can say that again,” Lisa agreed.

“Three times over,” said Carole.

“Phew,” Stevie said. “I mean, the week—”

“I was just kidding,” Carole interrupted quickly. Stevie grinned, and Carole flipped a tiny blob of hot fudge off her spoon toward Stevie.

“No throwing food,” their usual waitress barked as she passed their table. Carole hid her spoon under the table. Stevie made a face, and the waitress laughed and walked away.

“I wonder what she thinks is so funny,” Stevie said grumpily. Carole and Lisa laughed.

“She’s probably relieved to see you eating something normal for once,” Carole joked.

Stevie looked disgusted. “I can’t believe you made me order a regular hot fudge sundae. My reputation will be ruined!”

Lisa shrugged airily. “My mother specifically said that she’d buy us all hot fudge sundaes. Besides, Stevie, eating normal food once in a while won’t kill you. Have pity on Carole and me.”

“Okay,” Stevie said. “Since you had your cousin all week, and Carole had to nurse Starlight, I guess I can eat a plain sundae. It seems like an equivalent sacrifice.”

Carole rolled her eyes. “Lisa, aren’t we lucky to have such a good friend?”

Lisa set her spoon down. “Yes,” she said seriously. “I’m lucky to have both of you. I don’t know what I would have done without you this week. Amelia would have driven me right up a tree.”

“I’m lucky, too,” Carole said softly. “You’re right. Thank you.”

“Me too,” Stevie added. “I don’t get next week’s allowance until Wednesday, and I’m flat broke, so if it weren’t for you, Lisa, I wouldn’t be eating any kind of ice cream at all.” She said it in her most sincere voice, and Lisa threw a wadded-up napkin at her. Stevie ducked. The napkin hit the waitress, who calmly picked it up, put it back on the table, smiled at them all, and walked away.

“This goofy mood of hers is giving me the creeps,” Stevie said. Carole snorted.

“Did you notice how much better Amelia got once she realized she was going to have to do as she was told?” Lisa asked. “I mean, she didn’t turn into an angel or anything, but she was a lot better. I could at least stand to be around her.”

“Well, sure,” Carole said. “Raising kids is probably a lot
like training horses. You can’t let horses get away with doing whatever they want, either.”

“Trust Carole to compare Amelia to a horse,” Stevie said to Lisa.

“I’m serious,” Carole said with a grin. “Think about it. She never really got punished, she just wasn’t allowed to get away with things, and she came around just like a horse. I’d say we got her green-broke this week. And even if she did start out monstrously, she didn’t do anyone any permanent harm.”

Stevie snorted. “Except the hobbyhorse.”

Carole’s face fell. “Oh. That’s right.”

“Actually,” Lisa said, “my parents took the hobbyhorse to be restored. They said the work will take a while, but in the end the hobbyhorse should look almost as good as new.”

“Almost,” Stevie said glumly.

“Yeah,” Lisa admitted. “You’ll still be able to tell that it was broken. But really, it was the most amazing thing, I’ve been dying to tell you guys. You know how my parents didn’t say a single word about the hobbyhorse all week?”

Carole and Stevie nodded.

“Well,” Lisa said, “last night at dinner my mom asked my aunt and uncle if they remembered seeing the horse, and they said of course. Then my mom looked straight at Amelia and said, ‘It seems there was a little accident this week.’ ”

“You’re kidding!” Stevie said. “You told us your parents thought it was your fault.”

“That’s what I thought!” Lisa said. “Best of all, Amelia told her parents that it was mostly her fault. She said it was an accident, and she didn’t mean to break it, but she pretty much admitted that it was her fault. I said it was a little bit my fault, too—because it was.”

“Amazing,” Stevie declared. “I never thought she’d actually say she did something wrong.”

“So right away my uncle said he would pay for the hobbyhorse’s restoration,” Lisa continued. “And Amelia said she had twenty bucks saved from her Christmas money, and she’d give that. My dad accepted it, too. I mean, I know restoring the horse is going to cost a lot more than twenty dollars, but at least Amelia’s trying.”

Carole’s face took on a maternal glow. “One of my very first students,” she said happily.

“The best part is realizing that my parents believed my side of the story all along,” Lisa said. “I always thought they were siding with Amelia, but this morning Mom said they just didn’t want to start a major fight with her. Mom said she was proud of all I did for Amelia this week. She said it was a big responsibility.” Lisa smiled. She couldn’t really express how happy she was that her parents had known about Amelia and the hobbyhorse, but she had a feeling her friends understood.

“I couldn’t believe how much responsibility it took to be an assistant instructor,” Carole said, after a pause. “I mean, we work around the stables all the time, right? But taking care of those kids was totally different.” She leaned forward. “Have you ever seen anyone put a saddle on a horse backwards?” she asked. “Little Wendy Casto did it twice. The first time she went ahead and mounted, even though I’d told her not to.”

“She sat in the saddle backwards?” Lisa asked. “Wouldn’t that be uncomfortable?”

“Oh no,” Carole said, with a grin. “She got into the saddle correctly—only she didn’t understand why she was facing the horse’s tail!”

Stevie and Lisa laughed uproariously. “Taking care of Starlight was a pretty big responsibility this week, too,” Lisa added. “Don’t think Stevie and I didn’t realize how many hours you spent soaking and bandaging Starlight’s hoof. And I know Judy said your care was part of the reason he healed so quickly.”

Carole blushed. “Taking care of Starlight never feels like work, no matter how much time I spend doing it. I love him so much.”

Stevie smiled. “Well, I didn’t have as hard of a week as either of you, but I’m still pretty tired.” She yawned.
It’s a good thing it rained today
, she thought. She would hardly have had the energy to ride Belle anyway.

“And tomorrow we’ve got to go back to school,” Lisa said. She slumped against the tabletop. She could barely move. She wondered when she’d ever have the urge to ride again.

Carole looked out the window at the cold, steady rain. What sounded best to her right now was an afternoon spent curled beneath her afghan with her cat, Snowball, and a stack of the latest horse magazines. “You know,” she said slowly, “it’s supposed to stop raining tonight. If we’re lucky, we can go on a trail ride tomorrow after school.”

Stevie and Lisa sat up straight. “Oh, good!” they said in a single breath.

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 still lives there, in Greenwich Village, with her two sons.