Riding Camp (12 page)

After that, nothing else mattered to Lisa. If she’d fallen off at the next jump she wouldn’t have cared. She’d done one jump exactly right and she was proud of herself. Other people seemed to agree. Carole and Stevie and the rest of the campers were clapping for her. They all knew how much work that one jump represented.
All that practice, all those hours had been worth it. As it turned out, she didn’t have to worry about the other three jumps. They went just fine. Lisa had the feeling, though, that no jump she ever made would feel quite as good as the first perfect one she made in a show.

S
TEVIE SMOOTHED HER
jacket while she and Topside waited their turn.

“Stephanie Lake!” Barry announced. Time to go.

Stevie and Topside had already competed in the Intermediate Jumping and Conformation events. Now, they were in Dressage. This event tested the training of both the horse and the rider. It was an opportunity for both Topside and Stevie to show good balance, concentration, and obedience. It was sometimes hard for casual viewers to see what was happening, especially when it was done well, because in Dressage, the horse had to respond to nearly invisible commands from the rider.

Stevie entered the ring, saluted the judges, and started her prepared ride. Her routine had been designed to show Topside off to best advantage, and as she began, her head was swimming with dozens of terms she’d been studying, like rhythm, cadence, hocks engaged, collection, and, most of all, impulsion. Topside didn’t know any of those words, but he
did everything perfectly. Together they made circles and curves at walk, trot, and canter. Stevie changed diagonals and leads, and their transitions were smooth as glass. Topside was in top form. Stevie couldn’t help grinning triumphantly. By the time she finished her stationary turns, one pivoting on a foreleg, another on a hindleg, Stevie knew she’d been perfect.

She completed her exercise and rode out of the ring to the sound of applause. She didn’t waste any time gloating about it, though. There was a lot of work to do. Since Teddy’s legs were still healing, Phil was riding Topside, too. They had to adjust the leathers for his lanky frame.

“He’s great,” Stevie said to Phil, patting Topside lovingly. “You’ll be fine. You’re better at this stuff than I am, and Topside’s better than both of us.”

“I don’t care about that now, Stevie,” Phil said. “Really.”

“Me, too,” she said, and she meant it. “It was really dumb, that idea we had about taking all the ribbons. It wasn’t any better than what Elsa and Debbie were doing. We should have known better. Riding is for having a good time.”

“You got that right,” he agreed. “By the way, I heard that Elsa and Debbie asked Barry if we could all go out on another camp-out tonight after the show, and he said yes. Still got those marshmallows?”

“Philip Marston!” Barry announced.

“You’re up!” Stevie said, nodding in answer to his question. “Go get ’em!”

C
AROLE WAS IN
all the advanced classes with both Elsa and Debbie. Only two other riders were in those classes, because the advanced riders were so experienced.

Lisa, Stevie, and Phil watched them in awe.

“This is so great!” Lisa said. “I mean, having this chance to see kids who are so good. That big horse show we went to in New York was fantastic, but in a way I think this is even better. Those people at the show were almost professional riders, way better than I’ll ever be. But these guys are really good riders and they’re my age. It’s fabulous.”

“You mean
she’s
fabulous,” Stevie said, watching Debbie go over the jumps. “See how her body sort of folds when she gets ready to jump? It isn’t exactly leaning forward. It’s just about perfect.”

“Wow,” Lisa said, admiring Debbie’s skill. “She’s as good as she said she was.”

“You’re only ever as good as you are,” Stevie pointed out. “Talking doesn’t make you better. She learned that.”

“We
all
did,” Phil said.

Then it was Carole’s turn. She was wonderful, too.
Lisa had watched her jump a lot, but she’d never seen her do better. When Carole was finished, there was a lot of applause. And nobody clapped louder than the other riders in the event.

At most shows, Lisa knew, ribbons were awarded immediately after each event. Barry had decided to do it differently. She suspected he wanted to minimize their importance, but he needn’t have worried. At the end of the show, many riders almost forgot to come to the awards ceremony. It just wasn’t important. What was important to each and every one of them was that they’d all learned and had a chance to show what they’d learned.

There were plenty of ribbons to go around. Lisa, Stevie, and Carole had each done well in their events and had blue and red ribbons to take with them. They were pleased, but they were also pleased when their friends got ribbons as well. They knew their accomplishments couldn’t be measured in just ribbons.

One thing that could be measured, though, was how much they all wanted to cool off in the pond before their final night at camp.

“Last one in has to pick up all the kindling tonight!” Jack shouted. It didn’t take any of them long to get into the water.

C
AROLE TOLD ANOTHER
ghost story at the camp
fire. This one was about Frankenstallion. The campers made s’mores as they listened, joining in with suggestions as the story progressed. They all laughed as Frankenstallion ended up marrying Marezilla and they had a baby named Dracufoal.

After a while, the campers began singing songs, starting, naturally, with the theme song from the Munsters. Stevie sat next to Lisa and Carole. Phil was nearby.

He tapped Stevie’s shoulder. “Want to go for a walk?” he asked. Quietly, they sneaked away from the camp fire. They didn’t do such a good job of sneaking, though, because as soon as they were standing, all the other campers turned and began waving good-bye to them.

Stevie blushed. “I’ve had enough of fires,” she began to explain. “See, I had this frightening experience—”

“Let’s just go, Stevie,” Phil said. He smiled and took her hand and they left, hearing the teasing laughter behind them.

“I can’t believe it’s almost over,” Stevie said. “Two weeks seemed like such a long time, but now,
poof!
It’s done. But so much has happened in two weeks. All those classes, the first camp-out, the fire, the show, and now our last camp-out.”

“Last camp-out? No way,” Phil said. “I think we’ll be back next summer for more of them, and I think we’ll be seeing each other in between.”

Stevie certainly hoped so.

She and Phil walked to the edge of the temporary paddock where the horses were housed for the night. A stream flowed along one side of it. They sat at the edge of the stream, took off their shoes, and dangled their feet in the cool water.

Stevie and Phil were silent for a long time. The field ran uphill and several of the horses stood on the top of the hill, silhouetted against the cool, deep blue sky by the moon beyond them. One rose his head and nickered. Another responded, nuzzling at his shoulder. Stevie could hear the horses nearby munch on fresh hay and grass contentedly. There were other night sounds—the brook, crickets, even an owl.

Stevie thought that this was maybe the most beautiful place in the world. She looked at Phil. There was just one more thing that could make it more beautiful. And at that moment, he leaned toward her and kissed her for the first time.

“H
E KISSED YOU
!” Lisa almost shrieked. The girls were back in Willow Creek, gathered at the edge of Stevie’s swimming pool, sharing secrets. Camp was over, but they had all acquired enough memories to last a lifetime!

Stevie nodded excitedly. Telling her friends about her first kiss was
almost
as much fun as doing it.

“Like, on the lips?” Carole said.

Stevie nodded. “You’re not jealous, are you?” she asked a little anxiously, suddenly aware that she was the first of them to be kissed by a boy.

“Jealous?” Lisa repeated. “Of course I’m jealous, but one of us had to be first and Phil’s a really neat guy, so I’m glad it was you.”

“Me, too,” Stevie grinned.

“I don’t mind, either,” Carole reassured her. “But tell me about it again—you know, the part about the horses on the hill?”

Stevie laughed. For now anyway, horses were still more important to Carole than boys, but Carole was glad her friend was happy, and that was fine with Stevie. Stevie told her again about the horses on the hill.

“It must have been beautiful,” Carole sighed.

“It was,” Stevie said. “Believe me, it was.”

“Uh-oh, here she goes looking all lovesick again,” Lisa teased her. “Remember, Stevie, how Carole had to bail you out of making a fool of yourself in class by getting you to have a coughing fit?”

“I remember, I remember,” Stevie said. “And I promise I’ll never do it again. Well, maybe never.”

Carole and Lisa laughed. It was nice having Stevie back to normal again.

Lisa wanted to make sure Stevie didn’t leave anything out, so she pumped her some more about her walk with Phil. Carole was a little distracted; she’d been thinking about something else.

“Tired of the four hundredth go-round of Stevie’s first kiss?” Lisa asked, noticing that Carole’s attention had slipped.

“Oh, no,” Carole grinned. “I’m ready for four-oh-one any time, but I was remembering something else,
too. Remember how Kate Devine told us she’d quit competitive riding because the competitiveness was keeping her from having any fun? I think we had more than a taste of that our first week at camp, and she’s right. That’s no way to ride!”

Lisa began combing her hair. “No, the best part about riding is doing what The Saddle Club does. We help one another.”

“Right,” Stevie said. “Just the way all of the campers were doing by the time of the show. It was great. It was like having twenty-seven more members of The Saddle Club.”

Carole looked surprised. “Would you really want twenty-seven more members?” she asked.

“No way!” Lisa said. “I like us just the way we are. At least that’s my vote.”

“Maybe not
twenty-seven
more members,” Stevie said thoughtfully. “But how about one more?”

Lisa and Carole didn’t have to ask her who she meant. Friends just knew those things.

Bonnie Bryant is the author of nearly a hundred books about horses, including the Saddle Club series, the Saddle Club Super Editions, and the Pony Tales series.