Saddle Club. Horse-crazy? she thought. They sure weren’t acting like it. Willing to help each other out in any situation? While Carole was helping out Red and Mrs. Reg, the two of them were sitting at home. “But we always help out!” Lisa wailed. “Why can’t someone else help out for a while?” The picture didn’t answer. It just stared back at her accusingly. How long would she and Stevie go, it seemed to ask, breaking both rules of The Saddle Club?
I N HER DREAM Stevie was running. She was running along a road. She was wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt. She had no memory of putting them on. And Lisa was there, too, running beside her. Lisa was saying something. What was it? Over her own panting breaths, Stevie could just make out her words. “Pick up your knees! Look sharp! Come on, here we go! One, two, one, two!” Stevie looked at her surroundings: bare trees, gray sky, houses, mailboxes. “It’s not a dream!” she yelled.
“Of course it’s not!” Lisa replied. “I just got you up and out running before you had time to realize you were awake.”
“Gosh.” Stevie was dumbfounded. She tried to soundnonchalant when she asked, “What, ah—What time is it?”
“Six-forty-five! Hey, no lagging on this hill!” Lisa barked. “Move it! Move it!”
At the word
hill
Stevie felt her feet start to drag. Or maybe it was the realization that she was awake at the same time she normally got up for school. Either way, she slowed her pace. She was suddenly aware of a cramp in her side, a burning sensation in her lungs.
Lisa looked over at her trainee. She had to think of a way to keep her going. “Stevie?”
“Can’t talk,” Stevie panted. “No breath.”
“Just nod then. You see that big oak tree way up in the distance?”
Stevie nodded.
“Imagine that tree is Alex. And he just insulted you. He told you riding wasn’t a real sport. He told you—Hey!” Lisa yelled as Stevie lunged forward in a great burst of speed. “Wait for me!”
Back at the house, Lisa critiqued Stevie’s performance. They had jogged two miles. Stevie had moaned and groaned for one and a half. “But you did it without stopping,” Lisa conceded, “and I’m proud of you.”
Stevie couldn’t answer. She was too busy draining a huge plastic jug of water. “Pheweeeee! That wasn’t so bad. Now let’s eat.”
Lisa looked doubtful. “You want to eat before your push-ups and sit-ups?” she asked.
“Push-ups?” said Stevie, refilling her jug. “And sit-ups?”
Before Lisa could answer, Alex, Michael, and Chad traipsed into the kitchen. Alex was all in spandex. Michael and Chad were in pajamas, rubbing their eyes. “Do you always have to wake us up?” Michael grumbled at Alex.
“Yeah, with all that
whistling
?” Chad said disgustedly.
“It’s just I have so much energy that I wake up in a good mood and I—
Hel
-lo!” Alex said, taking in Stevie and Lisa. The three boys stared at them.
“I didn’t know you slept over, Lisa,” said Chad.
“I didn’t,” Lisa said, giggling at Chad’s sheepish look. She and Chad had once gone on a couple of dates. Nothing had come of it, but it still made for the occasional awkward moment. Especially, Lisa thought, when she caught Chad in his pajamas!
“You see,
we
don’t have a problem getting up early,” Stevie said pointedly. “We’re used to it—from going to horse shows.”
“Ha, ha,” said Alex. “What did you do, Lisa, pour a pitcher of water over her head?”
“Actually I—”
“Pitcher of water? Don’t you mean jug?” Stevie cried.In a flash she dumped hers over Alex’s head. “Come on, Lisa!”
The two girls thundered up the stairs. They ran into Stevie’s room and slammed the door. A moment later there was a knock. “You can’t come in!” Stevie yelled.
“Oh, can’t I?” said a stern voice.
Grinning wanly, Stevie opened the door. “Ah—Hi, Mom.”
Mrs. Lake stood there dressed for work. Somehow she managed to frown at
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