their ice creams, they couldn’t touch them. Even the sight of Stevie’s typically outrageous sundae failed to cheer them up.
“Hey, let’s dig in,” Stevie said enthusiastically, rejoining the table. She picked up her spoon and was about to take a big bite out of the multicolored ice cream and topping mound. As she raised the spoon to her lips, she paused, meeting Lisa’s and Carole’s eyes. One look at their faces and she lost her appetite at once. She set her spoon down with a clatter. Her mind was reeling. Were her best friends turning on her, too? Was it something she had said? She knewthat she’d been pretty harsh on Veronica, but that was nothing new.
“Listen, you guys,” Stevie began. She paused to get control of her voice which had started to quaver.
As Stevie searched for the right words, a stir went through the restaurant. The Saddle Club looked toward the door. Veronica had come in and was standing at the entrance scanning the crowd. Finally her eyes rested on their table. The look on her face said it all. She had come to make Stevie pay.
In the hush that fell, the only sound was the angry tap of Veronica’s shoes as she marched toward them, hands on her hips. She stopped before The Saddle Club’s booth and took a deep breath. Everyone waited for her to erupt.
But before she could say a word, Stevie sprang up. She looked Veronica straight in the eye. Her voice had stopped shaking completely. “You are going to be very sorry if you make any kind of an accusation about anything at all,” she warned, loudly enough for the whole restaurant to hear. “In case you’ve forgotten, my mother and father are lawyers. If you start telling stories about me, I’ll slap a lawsuit on you so fast you’ll wish you lived in Abu Dhabi!”
Veronica’s jaw snapped shut. Stevie’s threat had rendered her speechless. There was nothing left forVeronica to do but back down for the time being, and she knew it. She turned on her heel and marched out. A few Horse Wise members followed, calling after her to wait up. The Saddle Club stared after the retreating group.
“Well,” Stevie said, “that might have kept her from talking, but it sure didn’t make her change her mind about me. I know she still thinks I did it. And the chances of my parents agreeing to get involved in this mess are about one in a million.” With an exasperated sigh, Stevie sat back down in the booth, and looked at her friends.
Carole and Lisa were staring at her in silence. Tears gathered in Stevie’s eyes as she stood up again, this time to face her best friends. “I can take anything from Veronica,” she said in a choked voice. “But I can’t stand my two best friends in the world doubting me!”
Carole and Lisa didn’t try to stop Stevie as she hastily tossed money onto the table and fled from the restaurant. Both of them knew that it was no use. The only thing they could say was that she was right—they were doubting her. They slumped in their booth, staring at Stevie’s dripping sundae as if it, somehow, held the answer.
I N SPITE OF all that had happened, Lisa hadn’t forgotten her goal for the schooling show. She had decided to work hard both at Pine Hollow and at home. That night she wrote out yet another list of things she had to work on with Prancer.
When her alarm sounded the next morning, she flicked on her light and studied the list to remind herself of all of her problems. “Things I Need to Do in Order to Jump Better” was its title. So far it read:
1. Keep eyes up.
2. Keep heels down.
3. Don’t lean too far forward.
4. Don’t lean too far back.
5. Don’t drop reins before the fence.
6. Don’t hang on reins over the fence.
7. Don’t rise up too high in saddle.
8. Don’t sit too low in saddle.
9. Don’t stiffen up.
10. Don’t get nervous.
11. Don’t be tense.
12. Don’t worry about anything.
Lisa wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to concentrate on numbers 1 through 8 without
“Hey, let’s dig in,” Stevie said enthusiastically, rejoining the table. She picked up her spoon and was about to take a big bite out of the multicolored ice cream and topping mound. As she raised the spoon to her lips, she paused, meeting Lisa’s and Carole’s eyes. One look at their faces and she lost her appetite at once. She set her spoon down with a clatter. Her mind was reeling. Were her best friends turning on her, too? Was it something she had said? She knewthat she’d been pretty harsh on Veronica, but that was nothing new.
“Listen, you guys,” Stevie began. She paused to get control of her voice which had started to quaver.
As Stevie searched for the right words, a stir went through the restaurant. The Saddle Club looked toward the door. Veronica had come in and was standing at the entrance scanning the crowd. Finally her eyes rested on their table. The look on her face said it all. She had come to make Stevie pay.
In the hush that fell, the only sound was the angry tap of Veronica’s shoes as she marched toward them, hands on her hips. She stopped before The Saddle Club’s booth and took a deep breath. Everyone waited for her to erupt.
But before she could say a word, Stevie sprang up. She looked Veronica straight in the eye. Her voice had stopped shaking completely. “You are going to be very sorry if you make any kind of an accusation about anything at all,” she warned, loudly enough for the whole restaurant to hear. “In case you’ve forgotten, my mother and father are lawyers. If you start telling stories about me, I’ll slap a lawsuit on you so fast you’ll wish you lived in Abu Dhabi!”
Veronica’s jaw snapped shut. Stevie’s threat had rendered her speechless. There was nothing left forVeronica to do but back down for the time being, and she knew it. She turned on her heel and marched out. A few Horse Wise members followed, calling after her to wait up. The Saddle Club stared after the retreating group.
“Well,” Stevie said, “that might have kept her from talking, but it sure didn’t make her change her mind about me. I know she still thinks I did it. And the chances of my parents agreeing to get involved in this mess are about one in a million.” With an exasperated sigh, Stevie sat back down in the booth, and looked at her friends.
Carole and Lisa were staring at her in silence. Tears gathered in Stevie’s eyes as she stood up again, this time to face her best friends. “I can take anything from Veronica,” she said in a choked voice. “But I can’t stand my two best friends in the world doubting me!”
Carole and Lisa didn’t try to stop Stevie as she hastily tossed money onto the table and fled from the restaurant. Both of them knew that it was no use. The only thing they could say was that she was right—they were doubting her. They slumped in their booth, staring at Stevie’s dripping sundae as if it, somehow, held the answer.
I N SPITE OF all that had happened, Lisa hadn’t forgotten her goal for the schooling show. She had decided to work hard both at Pine Hollow and at home. That night she wrote out yet another list of things she had to work on with Prancer.
When her alarm sounded the next morning, she flicked on her light and studied the list to remind herself of all of her problems. “Things I Need to Do in Order to Jump Better” was its title. So far it read:
1. Keep eyes up.
2. Keep heels down.
3. Don’t lean too far forward.
4. Don’t lean too far back.
5. Don’t drop reins before the fence.
6. Don’t hang on reins over the fence.
7. Don’t rise up too high in saddle.
8. Don’t sit too low in saddle.
9. Don’t stiffen up.
10. Don’t get nervous.
11. Don’t be tense.
12. Don’t worry about anything.
Lisa wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to concentrate on numbers 1 through 8 without
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