like telling Veronica that the activity was called grooming and that people who cared about horses did it. Lisa wasn’t as good as Stevie at saying things like that. They never sounded right coming out of her mouth.
“How was your shopping trip last night?” Lisa asked.
“A disaster,” said Veronica. She made a terrible face to emphasize the awfulness of it.
Lisa thought that maybe the mall had been especially crowded or something. She waited for clarification. It came.
“They didn’t have any decent boots,” Veronica said.
“Oh.”
“But that’s not why I’m here,” she said.
At least she was getting to the point.
“I had my father call the CI administrators today—like his secretary should have done last week. They refused to send the application. They had the gall to say we’d missed the deadline. I can apply again next year—if I apply on time. Can you believe it?”
Lisa could believe it. That’s what the rules said. A competition was entitled to establish whatever rules it wanted, and almost all competitions had some sort of deadline.
“This woman told my father—like she didn’t know whom she was speaking to—that it’s an invitational. Only so many invitations were sent out and that’s that. She said I can’t use a copy.”
“Oh, I’m sorry about that, Veronica. That’s too bad.”
Lisa wasn’t in a mood to gloat, but she was tempted. She could just imagine Mr. diAngelo trying to throw his weight around.
Veronica continued. “Well, the woman there did say that it’s the application form that’s important, not the person who requested it.”
“What?”
“She told Daddy that if somebody else has a form they aren’t using, I can submit that—as long as it gets in on time.”
“Oh,” said Lisa. She had the feeling that Veronica was about to get to the point. She also had the feeling it was going to be pretty uncomfortable. She was right.
“So you have to give me your form.”
It was beginning to sink in. Veronica had seen that Lisa’s form was still blank and, therefore, something Veronica could use.
“You expect me to just give it to you?” she asked. “What makes you think I’d do that?”
“Well,” Veronica began, “the whole thing is about Pine Hollow. It’s Pine Hollow that matters and how well Max’s students represent him and the stable. The stable is far more important than any of the individual riders. Realistically, you don’t have a chance of winning anything, you know. I mean, you’re pretty good for a relatively new rider, and anybody here would say that, so I’m not just trying to butter you up, you know. But pretty good isn’t going to be good enough at the Carolina Invitational. Danny and I are going to be great. Imagine how proud we’ll all be when I bring home blue for Pine Hollow! Surely you wouldn’t want to stand in the way of that kind of success for our very own stable, would you?”
Lisa swallowed and stared at Veronica, wondering if she’d really heard her right. She went back over Veronica’s wordsin her head. Yep. She’d heard it right. And Veronica wasn’t through yet.
“And besides, you can go to the show anyway. I know you want to be with your friends, and Max needs them to help transport the horses, so you’ll have all the fun of being there and watching all the good riders compete. You can’t imagine how much you’ll learn just from doing that. It won’t just be me that you watch. There will be a lot of other good riders, too. You’ll learn a lot!”
Veronica’s growing enthusiasm for Lisa’s learning curve was beginning to get on Lisa’s nerves.
“And just exactly what do you think I’ll be doing at the show?” she asked.
“Well, I’ve given that some thought,” Veronica said. “And I’d like to offer you the job of being my equipment manager for the show. You’re pretty good at keeping saddles polished and that kind of thing. Max is always telling me about that. You could do that for me at
“How was your shopping trip last night?” Lisa asked.
“A disaster,” said Veronica. She made a terrible face to emphasize the awfulness of it.
Lisa thought that maybe the mall had been especially crowded or something. She waited for clarification. It came.
“They didn’t have any decent boots,” Veronica said.
“Oh.”
“But that’s not why I’m here,” she said.
At least she was getting to the point.
“I had my father call the CI administrators today—like his secretary should have done last week. They refused to send the application. They had the gall to say we’d missed the deadline. I can apply again next year—if I apply on time. Can you believe it?”
Lisa could believe it. That’s what the rules said. A competition was entitled to establish whatever rules it wanted, and almost all competitions had some sort of deadline.
“This woman told my father—like she didn’t know whom she was speaking to—that it’s an invitational. Only so many invitations were sent out and that’s that. She said I can’t use a copy.”
“Oh, I’m sorry about that, Veronica. That’s too bad.”
Lisa wasn’t in a mood to gloat, but she was tempted. She could just imagine Mr. diAngelo trying to throw his weight around.
Veronica continued. “Well, the woman there did say that it’s the application form that’s important, not the person who requested it.”
“What?”
“She told Daddy that if somebody else has a form they aren’t using, I can submit that—as long as it gets in on time.”
“Oh,” said Lisa. She had the feeling that Veronica was about to get to the point. She also had the feeling it was going to be pretty uncomfortable. She was right.
“So you have to give me your form.”
It was beginning to sink in. Veronica had seen that Lisa’s form was still blank and, therefore, something Veronica could use.
“You expect me to just give it to you?” she asked. “What makes you think I’d do that?”
“Well,” Veronica began, “the whole thing is about Pine Hollow. It’s Pine Hollow that matters and how well Max’s students represent him and the stable. The stable is far more important than any of the individual riders. Realistically, you don’t have a chance of winning anything, you know. I mean, you’re pretty good for a relatively new rider, and anybody here would say that, so I’m not just trying to butter you up, you know. But pretty good isn’t going to be good enough at the Carolina Invitational. Danny and I are going to be great. Imagine how proud we’ll all be when I bring home blue for Pine Hollow! Surely you wouldn’t want to stand in the way of that kind of success for our very own stable, would you?”
Lisa swallowed and stared at Veronica, wondering if she’d really heard her right. She went back over Veronica’s wordsin her head. Yep. She’d heard it right. And Veronica wasn’t through yet.
“And besides, you can go to the show anyway. I know you want to be with your friends, and Max needs them to help transport the horses, so you’ll have all the fun of being there and watching all the good riders compete. You can’t imagine how much you’ll learn just from doing that. It won’t just be me that you watch. There will be a lot of other good riders, too. You’ll learn a lot!”
Veronica’s growing enthusiasm for Lisa’s learning curve was beginning to get on Lisa’s nerves.
“And just exactly what do you think I’ll be doing at the show?” she asked.
“Well, I’ve given that some thought,” Veronica said. “And I’d like to offer you the job of being my equipment manager for the show. You’re pretty good at keeping saddles polished and that kind of thing. Max is always telling me about that. You could do that for me at
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