Read Online Endurance Ride by Bonnie Bryant - Free Book Online

hadn’t told so many grape jokes, we might have been paying more attention to the trail. Then we would have gotten to the check sooner, and Teddy wouldn’t be suffering
. It seemed like a high price to pay for a couple of grape jokes.
    Soon they heard the sound of a horse trotting behind them. They’d gone so long without hearing that noise that it was more than welcome. Stevie turned her head to look and saw a woman, dressed like Chloe, riding a black Arabian horse. “Whoa,” she said in surprise when she saw Teddy’s empty saddle and Phil walking. “What’s wrong?”
    Briefly they explained Teddy’s problem.
    “I can help a little bit,” the woman said, swinging off her horse. “I’ve got a salt packet.…” She dug around in a bag that was fastened to her cantle. “Here it is. And I’ve got some drinking water left.” She opened the lid of a water bottle hanging from her backpack and poured the envelope of salts into it. She shook the bottle, then squirted some of it into Teddy’s mouth. Teddy backed away in surprise.
    “Hold his head,” the woman instructed. Aiming carefully, she squirted the rest of the water into the back corners of Teddy’s mouth. The horse had no choice but to swallow. “There. That should help a little. Don’t panic—I’ve done this ride three times, and we’re less than a mile to the check. Do you want me to stay with you?”
    “I think we’ll be okay,” Mr. Baker told her.
    “Thanks so much,” Phil called after her as she rode away.
    “The people on this ride have been really friendly,” Stevie commented.
    Mr. Baker nodded. “Yes, but no good rider ever ignores a horse in distress.”
    L ISA RODE INTO the second vet check with only one thought on her mind: soda. She had a can of it zipped intoher fanny pack, where it had been bouncing against her hips all day long and driving her crazy. Chloe and her quest for trotting had kept Lisa from stopping to drink. Now she was so thirsty that if she didn’t drink her soda in the next thirty seconds she was going to die a shriveled-up human raisin. She felt like a living mummy.
    “Lisa!” Jasmine, May, and Corey swarmed around Prancer. “We’ll take her, Lisa,” May offered as Lisa dismounted. Lisa saw that they had hay and water buckets waiting. Deborah was talking to Max, and Mrs. Reg was helping Carole. Chloe’s parents were next to Mrs. Reg.
    “Thanks,” Lisa said gratefully. “I’ll be just one second.”
    She unzipped the fanny pack and pulled out the can. The soda was warm—no, hot—from the afternoon sun, but Lisa didn’t care. Right now, even boiling-hot soda sounded like nectar from heaven.
    Lisa opened the can. The hot, shaken soda sprayed out like lava from a volcanic eruption. The first vicious, bubbling stream caught Lisa in the face. She shrieked and held the can away—and soaked the Pony Tails, Prancer, Mrs. Reg, and two of the other competitors. Corey and Jasmine screamed and ran. May, holding Prancer’s reins, ducked to Prancer’s far side. The competitors and Mrs. Reg scattered. Only Prancer seemed totally oblivious. She munched her hay with a tranquil expression.
    The soda explosion settled into a foot-high fountain. Lisa looked at the mess splattered across the seat of her saddle. She felt the sticky solution dripping off her bangs. She thought about how thirsty she was. She heard a voice behind her.
    “In general,” Chloe said, “carbonated beverages are a bad idea on an endurance ride.”
    Lisa couldn’t help herself. She whirled to face Chloe, and somehow—just somehow—the still-spraying soda caught Chloe in the face. “Sorry!” Lisa chirped, holding out the can. Chloe leaped backward, looking stunned. The soda stopped gushing. Lisa looked through her dripping bangs at Chloe’s dripping face and shirt. She snorted, started to giggle, then lost control and laughed and laughed.
    For a moment Chloe looked furious; then suddenly she was laughing, too. “I wish that had been a