Quarter Horse (8 page)

The first contestant was Mary Corona, the girl who had competed in barrel racing. She settled her horse down inside the gate, then gave a quick nod. The chute opened and a big white billy goat came charging out. Carole urged Pogo into a lope to keep up with him while Mary Corona burst out of her gate on a beautiful pinto mare. Lisa and Ghost followed slightly behind Mary as she chased the goat down one side of the arena. Mary leaned low over the goat’s body, then grabbed his neck and slid off her horse. Though she pulled backward with all her strength, the goat managed to wiggle away from her. She chased him for a few steps, then lunged at his hind leg. He gave a small kick, then scurried away again as Mary Corona fell facedown in the dust. The buzzer sounded.

“Sorry, Mary, your time is up,” the rodeo announcer said. “But give her a nice hand, anyway, folks. That was a good try.”

Carole and Pogo herded the bleating goat over to the stock pen while Lisa reached down from Ghost and offered Mary a hand.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” the girl replied, dusting off her lacy
white cowboy shirt. “Just disappointed. This goat stuff is harder than it looks.”

“Well, good luck in the next event,” Lisa called as Mary walked back to the starting gate.

Carole returned, and they took their places again. The next three contestants had no luck at all. Carole and Lisa were beginning to wonder if anybody could successfully wrestle a goat when Gabriel’s name was announced.

“Here’s our young cowpoke from Montana again,” the announcer said as Gabriel rode Napoleon into the starting gate. Carole and Lisa watched for the nod of his black cowboy hat. Then the chutes opened and his goat was off and running. Almost before Carole and Lisa could blink, Gabriel was off Napoleon and had the goat on his back, three of his legs tied with a bow. The crowd cheered.

“What a ride!” the announcer cried. “Tip your hat to the audience, young man! You’re one heck of a goat-buster!”

Smiling, Gabriel took off his hat and waved to the audience. The girls watched as he remounted Napoleon and rode triumphantly around the ring.

“Watch out,” Lisa whispered to Carole as they got back into position. “I think Stevie’s next!”

“Our last contestant is Ms. Stevie Lake, from Virginia,” the announcer said. “If she can wrestle a goat as well as she can circle a barrel, then all us Western cowboys are in trouble!”

Stevie and Tumbleweed settled down into the starting gate. Carole and Lisa both had butterflies in their stomachs as they watched a wrangler push a big black-and-white goat into the chute. They waited for Stevie’s signal. The gates flew open.

The goat came out fast, but Tumbleweed was just as fast, running right alongside him. Stevie waited for an instant, choosing just the right moment, then leaned low over the goat and slid off Tumbleweed. She grabbed the goat by his neck and front leg, but she misjudged how fast he was running. Instead of pulling him down, Stevie rolled head over heels and pulled the goat upside down on top of her! Carole and Lisa could only watch helplessly while his four legs and Stevie’s two legs flailed in the air. The audience roared with laughter, but Stevie and the goat kept scrambling around in the dirt. She’d finally managed to climb to her feet and grab his stubby little tail when the buzzer sounded. Her time had run out. She let go of the goat and watched as he scampered away to the other side of the ring.

“Nice try, Stevie!” the announcer laughed. “You just gave a whole new meaning to the term
goat wrestling
. Give her a big hand, folks!”

The crowd applauded. “Stevie, are you okay?” Lisa asked worriedly. The goat had mashed Stevie’s hat flat, and Stevie wore a thin layer of brown dust from head to toe.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she said, rubbing her elbow. “But that sure didn’t feel like any normal goat. They must have fed him Mexican jumping beans or something.”

“Well, wave to the crowd so they’ll know you’re all right. Mr. Cate and Polly Shaver and Karen Nicely are all up there cheering for you,” Lisa said. “And don’t worry about it. The audience loves you, and you’ve still got three events to go!”

“You’re right.” Stevie grinned and pushed her hat back into shape. She waved to the crowd, and everyone cheered even more loudly.
Three events to go
, she thought as she walked back to the gates.
And I’ve got to win at least two of them!

T
HE NEXT EVENT
was calf roping. Since the grounds crew didn’t need to set anything up, Lisa and Carole and Sal stayed on their horses and waited for the action to begin. Carole was to haze the calves just as she had done with the goats, and Lisa was to keep an eye on the riders. Sal clowned and coordinated them from the far end of the ring.

As before, Mary Corona was the first contestant. She bounded out on her pinto mare and roped her calf successfully, but the calf had long, wiggly legs and she lost a lot of time trying to tie them up. The next few contestants did better. Then it was Gabriel’s turn. He carefully positioned Napoleon in the gate, then nodded. With the same lightning speed he’d used in the goat wrestling, he roped his calf and had its legs tied almost before Carole
and Lisa could blink. They had nothing to do but sit on their horses and watch while he took his hat off and waved again to the cheering crowd.

“Give that young man a hand,” the announcer cried as Gabriel and Napoleon made another triumphant circle around the ring. “He’s as fast a calf roper as he is a goat wrestler!”

Stevie was next. Carole and Lisa glanced worriedly at each other as she got ready to ride. When she settled down in the gate they turned their attention to the business at hand. With a quick nod, Stevie signaled to open the chute. She and Tumbleweed thundered out of the gate just behind a brown calf that galloped along like a little racehorse. The calf tried to veer off to the right, but Carole rode alongside him and kept him running straight. Stevie began swinging her lasso in a tight circle, and when Tumbleweed had drawn even with the calf’s shoulders, she let the noose go. It fell over his head, right on target. Immediately Tumbleweed stopped and began to back up, keeping the rope taut. Stevie leaped off the right side of the saddle and rushed down to the calf. She had no difficulty pulling him over, but his legs flailed as wildly as the goat’s, and it took her a long time to tie three of them together. When she finally stood up and held her arms out, her time had almost run out. She looked disappointedly at Lisa and Carole as she got back on Tumbleweed, and when they announced the winners of
the event, Gabriel had come in first, Stevie a distant third.

“Uh-oh,” Lisa said to Carole after the announcer had read the results. “It’s two events to one, in favor of Gabriel. I think Stevie might really be in trouble.”

“I know.” Carole frowned. “I hate to admit this, but Gabriel is really good. If Stevie doesn’t win the pole bending and the quarter-mile race, she’s going to be doing something awful.”

“Wonder what it will be?” asked Lisa.

“I don’t even want to think about it,” said Carole with a grimace.

They trotted down to the end of the ring, where Sal was pretending for the crowd that she and Sadie had both fallen asleep. After she ended her bit to a round of applause, she rode over to Carole and Lisa.

“Let’s give the horses a rest while they set up for the pole bending,” Sal suggested. She removed her oversized polka-dot nightcap and smiled. “Y’all have clowned hard and you’ve done a terrific job. Why don’t you go take a break as well? They won’t need us again until after the pole bending. Then we’ll do the fake roundup routine, and then it’ll be time for the race.”

Actually, a rest didn’t sound too bad to Carole and Lisa. They had ridden every turn with all the goat-wrestling and calf-roping contestants, plus they had clowned through the barrel race on foot. They dismounted
and led Pogo and Ghost over to a water trough, then gave them an armful of hay in a temporary corral. The two girls sat on the fence and ate an apple while the horses munched their hay.

“Look,” said Lisa, pointing toward the Rocking S stable. “Here comes Pete.”

Carole looked over her shoulder. Pete was crossing the racetrack and heading straight toward them.

“Howdy, girls,” he said, tipping his hat. “I saw you two over here and just wondered how everything was going. Are Ghost and Pogo behaving themselves?”

“Oh, yes, Pete, they’re terrific,” said Carole with a smile. It was true. Whatever the girls had asked them to do, the two quarter horses had done willingly.

Pete watched the grounds crew setting up the poles for the next event. “How’s Stevie doing?”

“Well, she won the barrel race,” Lisa reported proudly.

“And she came in third in the calf roping,” added Carole.

“Then there was the goat wrestling.” Lisa shook her head. “Don’t ask. You don’t even want to know about the goat wrestling.”

Pete chuckled. “Those little goats can be right ornery critters.” He pushed his hat back on his head. “How’s her bet with her boyfriend coming along?”

“Oh, he’s not her boyfriend,” Lisa explained quickly. “But so far he’s ahead two to one. They’ve got pole bending and the quarter-mile race to go.”

“Well, if she remembers what I told her about Tumble-weed, she’ll do fine,” said Pete.

Carole frowned. “What did you tell her?”

“That all she’s got to do is touch him with her spurs.” Pete chuckled again. “If she does that, he’ll outrun every horse in this rodeo.”

“I can’t imagine that Stevie would forget an important thing like that,” Carole said.

“Probably not.” He smiled. “Well, you tell her I came by and wished her good luck.” He tipped his hat again.

“Thanks, Pete. We will.” They watched him as he strolled back to the stable.

“I wonder if Stevie does remember about Tumbleweed and spurs.” Carole looked at Lisa. “She’s never mentioned it.”

“I’m sure she does,” Lisa replied. “Stevie’s so focused on this rodeo she probably remembers every word that came out of Pete’s mouth.”

“I guess you’re right,” agreed Carole. “Let’s ride over to the fence. I think the bull riding’s about to start.”

They remounted Pogo and Ghost and rode over behind the big refreshment trailer to look into the adult arena. The adult rodeo clowns were jumping around in the middle of the ring, loosening up to get ready for the bulls.

“Oh, good!” Carole stood up in her stirrups. “We can watch this until the pole bending begins. It really looks exciting!”

The first cowboy was easing himself down on the back
of a brown-and-white bull when Lisa felt someone tapping her leg. She looked down. Eileen was grinning up at her, munching on popcorn.

“You guys are doing a pretty good job of clowning,” she said sweetly. “Mr. Cate and Ms. Nicely think you’re really funny.”

Lisa blinked in surprise. A compliment? From little Eileen? “Thanks, Eileen,” she replied. “I’m glad you think so.”

“Yeah,” Eileen continued. “But the funniest part was when Stevie wrestled that goat and got all dirty. She looked so mad! That’s been the best thing about the rodeo so far!”

“Thanks, Eileen,” Carole answered sarcastically. “I know Stevie will be glad to hear how much you enjoyed that.”

Eileen rattled her popcorn bag. “I know something else that Stevie would enjoy.”

“What?” Lisa asked with a frown.

“She would really enjoy knowing my secret.” Eileen tossed a piece of popcorn in her mouth and looked up at the girls with an overly sweet smile. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to know, too?”

Lisa and Carole looked at each other and shook their heads. “No thanks, Eileen,” Lisa replied. “I don’t think we need to know anything you might want to tell us.”

“No, really. It’s a neat thing.” Eileen’s green eyes
flashed. She chewed her popcorn quickly. “I mean, it’s a really
important
thing! It could mean a lot to Stevie.”

“Well, if it’s that important, why don’t you go tell Stevie yourself?” Carole asked.

Eileen pulled on Lisa’s big Western stirrup. “Because she was mean to me this morning,” she whined, her lower lip stuck out. “She said she was going to rope me and tie me up and make Yankee and Doodle drag me behind the wagon.”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake, Eileen.” Lisa shook her head in disgust. “She was only kidding.” She’d started to say something else when a deafening roar went up from the adult side of the arena. A huge buckskin bull with long, pointed horns had just tossed his rider high in the air. The cowboy was scrambling in the dirt, trying to avoid being gored as the bull came charging after him, his horns low and his eyes wild. All the adult clowns were waving their arms and running in circles, desperately trying to distract the angry animal from the fallen cowboy. Every time one of them went near, though, the bull shook his horns and bellowed even more loudly.

“Hold on, boys, I’m coming!” a voice called. Carole and Lisa looked over at their side of the arena. San Antonio Sal had dropped the bouquet of plastic flowers she was clowning with and was running over to help.

“Should we go, too?” Lisa asked as they watched her scramble over the fence.

“You two stay right there!” Sal called over to them. “Don’t you come near this bull!”