took the jack cheese out of the refrigerator and unhooked the cheese grater from the pegboard. “So tell me more about the lieutenant,” she said.
Her father shook his head in distress. “Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “I could tell you more, but it just upsets me so. The man had no business doing what he was doing and even less talking about it. He’s a grown-up and should understand that private means private!”
With that, he gave the meat an extra stir and splattered some of it onto the range. The flame sizzled and spat. Carole took a cloth and wiped it up. Her father’s words echoed in her ear as she worked.
If only he knew,
she thought.
She remembered him telling her and her friends to stay away from his desk. She remembered telling Stevie it would be okay because it had to do with her birthday. She remembered not believing Stevie whenshe told her there weren’t any secrets on the desk. She remembered not thinking there was anything wrong with what they’d done. But then she’d found out that there was something wrong with what they’d done. It didn’t make her feel good. In fact, it made her feel pretty rotten.
She wanted to tell. She was bursting to tell. She couldn’t stand keeping a secret from her wonderful, trusting father. But if she told him, what would he say? He’d be as angry with her as he was with the lieutenant. There wasn’t any difference between what they’d done, except that the lieutenant had told other people. Carole hadn’t done that. She and her friends would keep the secret forever.
A secret from her father, forever? The very thought was overwhelming to Carole. How could she not tell her father something important like that? She felt a swelling rise up in her throat. Tears welled in her eyes.
Her father looked at her, alarmed.
“It’s the onions,” she said, wiping away a tear that rolled down her cheek.
L ISA LOOKED HARD at the page, as if staring could make the words more sensible—or memorable. Then she closed the book and looked up at the ceiling, attempting to recite what she’d just been attempting to read.
“First comes the collar, then the saddle pad, and you tighten the girth, then you do the thing that goes around the horse’s tail—” She’d already forgotten the word. She looked at the book. She found that she hadn’t just forgotten the word. She’d also forgotten what she’d read.
“All right,” she said aloud. “It’s called the crupper—that’s the thing that goes around the tail—and you
don’t
do it then. You do it
before
you tighten the girth. Then next comes …”
Once again she couldn’t remember. She was very frustrated with herself. She usually was good at learning, particularly memorizing and reciting, but this wasn’t sinking in at all. The problem was the Know-Down. Actually there were two problems to do with the Know-Down. The first one was that there was an awful lot about the Know-Down that she and her friends still had to work on. Once Lisa and May did their demonstration at Horse Wise, which was scheduled for tomorrow, Lisa would have more time to concentrate on learning. Luckily, Lisa reminded herself, Stevie and Carole have been riding for a long time. They’ll see to it that I learn everything I need to know. And, of course, the three of them had an advantage.
Lisa felt a twinge of conscience. That was the secondproblem with the Know-Down. If the mix-up with the questions had happened at school, it would be wrong. But Pine Hollow wasn’t school and the Know-Down wasn’t a test. It was a game and the idea was to show how much you had learned and how much you understood. For the past two weeks The Saddle Club had been working hard on accomplishing that very goal.
Lisa dismissed her uncomfortable feelings and looked again at the book about harnesses. The next thing it talked about was breeching. What was that? She studied the chart and couldn’t find it at all. It probably didn’t matter. May almost certainly
Her father shook his head in distress. “Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “I could tell you more, but it just upsets me so. The man had no business doing what he was doing and even less talking about it. He’s a grown-up and should understand that private means private!”
With that, he gave the meat an extra stir and splattered some of it onto the range. The flame sizzled and spat. Carole took a cloth and wiped it up. Her father’s words echoed in her ear as she worked.
If only he knew,
she thought.
She remembered him telling her and her friends to stay away from his desk. She remembered telling Stevie it would be okay because it had to do with her birthday. She remembered not believing Stevie whenshe told her there weren’t any secrets on the desk. She remembered not thinking there was anything wrong with what they’d done. But then she’d found out that there was something wrong with what they’d done. It didn’t make her feel good. In fact, it made her feel pretty rotten.
She wanted to tell. She was bursting to tell. She couldn’t stand keeping a secret from her wonderful, trusting father. But if she told him, what would he say? He’d be as angry with her as he was with the lieutenant. There wasn’t any difference between what they’d done, except that the lieutenant had told other people. Carole hadn’t done that. She and her friends would keep the secret forever.
A secret from her father, forever? The very thought was overwhelming to Carole. How could she not tell her father something important like that? She felt a swelling rise up in her throat. Tears welled in her eyes.
Her father looked at her, alarmed.
“It’s the onions,” she said, wiping away a tear that rolled down her cheek.
L ISA LOOKED HARD at the page, as if staring could make the words more sensible—or memorable. Then she closed the book and looked up at the ceiling, attempting to recite what she’d just been attempting to read.
“First comes the collar, then the saddle pad, and you tighten the girth, then you do the thing that goes around the horse’s tail—” She’d already forgotten the word. She looked at the book. She found that she hadn’t just forgotten the word. She’d also forgotten what she’d read.
“All right,” she said aloud. “It’s called the crupper—that’s the thing that goes around the tail—and you
don’t
do it then. You do it
before
you tighten the girth. Then next comes …”
Once again she couldn’t remember. She was very frustrated with herself. She usually was good at learning, particularly memorizing and reciting, but this wasn’t sinking in at all. The problem was the Know-Down. Actually there were two problems to do with the Know-Down. The first one was that there was an awful lot about the Know-Down that she and her friends still had to work on. Once Lisa and May did their demonstration at Horse Wise, which was scheduled for tomorrow, Lisa would have more time to concentrate on learning. Luckily, Lisa reminded herself, Stevie and Carole have been riding for a long time. They’ll see to it that I learn everything I need to know. And, of course, the three of them had an advantage.
Lisa felt a twinge of conscience. That was the secondproblem with the Know-Down. If the mix-up with the questions had happened at school, it would be wrong. But Pine Hollow wasn’t school and the Know-Down wasn’t a test. It was a game and the idea was to show how much you had learned and how much you understood. For the past two weeks The Saddle Club had been working hard on accomplishing that very goal.
Lisa dismissed her uncomfortable feelings and looked again at the book about harnesses. The next thing it talked about was breeching. What was that? She studied the chart and couldn’t find it at all. It probably didn’t matter. May almost certainly
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