Quarter Horse (12 page)

“I wonder if she has brown eyes or green eyes?” Stevie worried out loud as she tapped her foot nervously in the dust.

Carole frowned. “Who?”

“Phil’s new girlfriend,” Stevie said morosely, cupping her chin in her hand.

“Maybe she’s got one of each,” suggested Lisa. “There’s a girl in my class like that. It’s really cool.”

“Or maybe she’s got one of all three,” Carole laughed. “One blue, one green, and one brown, right in the middle of her forehead! That would certainly get Phil’s attention.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” Stevie said while her friends collapsed in giggles beside her. “You two don’t seem to be taking this nearly as seriously as I am.”

“I’m sorry, Stevie.” Lisa wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. “It’s just that this wonderful, beautiful, incredibly smart girl is all you’ve thought about ever since we’ve been back. Haven’t you talked to Phil about her on the phone?”

“No. We’ve just played phone tag with each other. I leave him a message, and then he leaves me one back.”
Stevie checked her watch. “He’s supposed to be here in five minutes to go with us to TD’s.”

“Good,” said Carole. “In five minutes we’ll probably find out that this mysterious redhead is just a product of your overactive imagination, and we can talk about something else for a change.”

“Like what?” asked Stevie.

“Like how much Deborah liked the outline we did for her,” said Lisa. “You know, she seemed really surprised. I don’t think she thought we would come up with something that good.”

“Well, we had a lot of help with it,” Carole said. “We had the photos Polly Shaver gave us, and Gabriel helped, too. He told us a bunch of historical stuff that was really neat.” Carole held up one of the snapshots. “Look, Lisa. Here’s that picture Polly took of you milking Veronica!”

The girls looked at the picture. Veronica the cow stood gazing at the camera while Lisa grinned from the milking stool.

“I’m going to hang that up over Veronica diAngelo’s cubby,” Lisa laughed as she studied the picture more closely. “I think she needs to know that somewhere out West, walking the Oregon Trail, is a perfectly nice cow that shares her name.”

“I wonder what her name is?” Stevie said glumly.

Carole frowned and waved the picture. “Stevie, it’s Veronica! Don’t you remember?”

“No, not the cow. Phil’s new girlfriend. I used to think
it was probably Meghan or Chelsea, but now I’m leaning toward Kelli. Or maybe Jennifer.”

“
Arrrggghhhh!
” groaned Carole. “I give up!”

“Look!” Stevie cried. “Here he comes!”

The girls watched as the Marstens’ station wagon slowly rolled up the Pine Hollow driveway. Lisa and Carole exchanged smiles.

“I think now would be the perfect time to pin this picture over Veronica’s cubby,” Carole suggested with a wink.

“I think you’re absolutely right.” Lisa nodded vigorously. “This scene might be too awful for our tender eyes to see.” Quietly they tiptoed back inside the stable.

“Phil!” Stevie cried, running toward him as soon as he was out of the car.

“Hi, Stevie!” he called, hurrying to meet her.

They met halfway between the stable and the driveway and gave each other a big hug.

“It’s so good to see you!” said Phil, grinning down at her. His trip had left him with a much deeper tan and a peeling nose, but otherwise he looked the same. His eyes still twinkled and his smile was still warm.

“Oh, me too,” Stevie replied with a grin. “Did you have a good vacation?”

“It was terrific,” he said. “How about yours?”

“Oh, it was so much fun! We got out there and we were assigned roles to play and we had to wear period costumes, which meant I had to drive a team of horses all
day in a dress! Lisa was in charge of this cow named Veronica, and Carole stayed in the saddle from sunup till dusk.” The words seemed to tumble out of Stevie’s mouth.

“Then there was this bratty little kid named Eileen, and her teddy bear was the only thing we couldn’t pull out of the river when her wagon got swamped. Then she cried over it so hard that she started a cattle stampede, and we had to jump on these cowponies bareback and—”

Phil’s green eyes grew wide. He laughed. “Stevie! Slow down! You’re making your vacation sound like a Wild West movie!”

“Well, it was, in a way.” Stevie stopped and took a breath. “We met some really neat people on the trip, too. There was Jeremy Barksdale, the wagon master; Mr. Cate from Alabama; Polly Shaver from Cincinnati; Gabri—” Stevie stopped abruptly. In the excitement of seeing Phil, she’d forgotten all about Gabriel. But suddenly his blue eyes and his dimples popped into her head, right along with the beautiful redhead with whom she’d pictured Phil rafting down the river.
Now is the time
, she thought, summoning her courage as they strolled hand in hand to the stable.
I’m going to find out about Phil’s new love
.

“But that’s enough about my trip,” she said, squeezing his hand and gazing up at him adoringly. “Tell me about yours.”

“Well, we met up with our outfitters at Rattlesnake
Junction. We had a flotilla of four rafts, each carrying twelve people. Every raft had a guide in it, because some of the white water was pretty rough. Our raft capsized twice, and my mom lost her favorite pair of sunglasses.” Phil shuddered. “And man, when you got washed overboard you really felt it. That water was cold!”

“Who went with you?” Stevie asked innocently.

“Our guide was Hank Parker. He’s been rafting for years, and he knew all the best places along the river to stop. He had this really neat fishing rod that folded up small enough to carry in your shirt pocket.”

“Really?” Stevie pretended to be impressed with the fishing rod. “Who else went along?”

“Huh?” Phil looked at her and frowned. “Well, let’s see. There were some newlyweds from Atlanta and some retired people from Arizona, and there was the Lin family. They’d flown all the way over from Taiwan just to go rafting.”

“That’s great, but was there anybody really interesting on your raft?” Stevie persisted.

“Sure. We rode with Mr. Feeney, who recited poetry every time we paddled through rapids; and a guy named Chip, who I played Hacky Sack with, and …” Phil thought a minute, then broke into a wide grin. “And there was Red.”

“Red?” Stevie repeated weakly.

“Yes. Red.” Phil’s eyes took on a dreamy look. “Man, she is great.”

“Great?” Stevie’s stomach grew queasy. She had been right all along!

“Yeah. She is so cool. And so smart. We played ball for hours. She even likes soccer and she can swim like a fish.” Phil gave a little laugh. “And she loves barbecued potato chips!”

“Potato chips?” Stevie frowned, her face now growing red with anger.

“Yeah, she’s great. Every night after supper we would fool around for hours. Then, when we were both exhausted, she’d jump into my arms and give me a big kiss!”

Stevie suddenly dropped Phil’s hand. She turned to him, her eyes blazing. “You’ve got a lot of nerve, Phil Marsten! First you come over here pretending to have missed me, then you start telling me about this wonderful redhead who leaps into your arms and kisses you every night!”

Stevie turned on her heel and walked toward the paddock, where Belle was happily browsing through the grass. Horses, she thought, were dependable. Guys were not.

She heard footsteps following her. “Wait, Stevie,” she heard Phil call. “It’s not what you think!”

He hurried up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey,” he said with a laugh. “Red’s nobody to be upset about. Red’s a dog!”

Stevie whirled around to face him. “Phil Marsten, that’s an even jerkier thing to say! Now you’re going to tell me that even though this girl is wonderful and funny
and smart, you really couldn’t like her because she’s not very pretty! I think you’re the shallowest person I’ve ever met!”

“No, wait, Stevie,” Phil protested. He dropped to the ground, held his hands up like paws, and pretended to pant. “Red really
is
a dog!” he cried. “Like
arf
,
arf!
Like fetch! Like roll over and play dead!”

Stevie looked down at Phil. Though she was still mad at him, it was hard not to laugh at his goofy dog imitation. “Really?” she said, raising one eyebrow.

He leaped to his feet. “Yes. She’s Mr. Feeney’s Irish setter. I can show you pictures of her. You can ask my mom and dad.”

“Really?” Stevie repeated.

He nodded.

“Oh, Phil,” she said. She threw her arms around his neck.

“You know, I’m surprised you’d think I would go rafting and fall for somebody else.” Phil sounded hurt.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she hugged him. “The whole time I was gone it just seemed so real. And the more I thought about it, the more real it became.” She looked at him. “And you
were
involved with a redhead, in a way.”

“I know.” Phil sighed. “It’ll be tough waking up every morning without those big brown eyes looking into mine, begging me to throw a stick!”

“Oh, I think you’ll get over it,” Stevie laughed, hugging him harder. They stayed like that for a long time.
A little farther away, Lisa and Carole tiptoed to the front of the stable.

“How’s it going?” Lisa asked, not daring to look at Stevie and Phil.

Carole peeked around the stable door. “It’s okay,” she reported after a long moment. “They’re hugging. They’re kissing. If the redhead ever existed, they seem to have gotten over her.” She turned to Lisa and grinned. “I think it’s safe to come out now!”

“Good!” Lisa sighed with relief. “Now we can go to TD’s. Now Stevie will stop talking about the redhead. Now life as we know it will return to normal.”

“Terrific.” Carole laughed. “It really is wonderful to be home!”

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.