Read Online English Rider by Bonnie Bryant - Free Book Online Page A

these two won’t explain why. They’re being very mysterious.”
    “She went with Veronica?” Lisa’s heart sank. “What do you mean?”
    Carole shrugged. She looked almost as disgruntled as Stevie did. “Remember how Mrs. Pennington said she’d help out with the scurry race?” she said. “Well, Veronica rushed right over after class and volunteered herself and Tessa to help out. They’re inside making plans with the Penningtons right now.”
    “I don’t get it.” Phil looked completely confused. “Whywould Veronica want Tessa to come with her? Isn’t Tessa
your
friend? Last I heard, that would definitely make her
not
Veronica’s friend.”
    Stevie sighed impatiently. “We’ll explain it all later,” she said. “Right now, we have to—”
    Stevie bit back her words as Tessa and Veronica emerged from the stable and came hurrying toward the group. Both of them were smiling, looking flushed and excited.
    “Super! You’re still here,” Tessa said. “You don’t mind if I go over to the Penningtons’ house with Veronica a little later, do you?”
    Lisa shrugged and did her best not to frown. “Why would we mind?”
    “Brilliant,” Tessa declared happily. She glanced over her shoulder. “Come on, Veronica. We’d better get back inside.”
    “Right,” Veronica agreed. She smirked at Stevie, Carole, and Lisa. “Mrs. Pennington asked the two of us
specifically
to take care of her gorgeous harnesses,” she bragged.
    Stevie raised one eyebrow skeptically. “You mean clean them?” she said. “Are you sure you know how?”
    Veronica gave Stevie an irritated look. Then she turned to Phil. “Phil, could you come and help us?” she wheedled, smiling at him brightly. “We need some help carrying all that heavy harness to the tack room, and you’re the strongest one around here.”
    Phil looked a little suspicious. Lisa didn’t blame himone bit. Usually Veronica acted just as obnoxious toward him as she did toward any other member of The Saddle Club. But he shrugged agreeably. “Sure,” he said, sliding down from the fence.
    “Great,” Veronica said smugly. “While you’re at it, maybe you can tell us a little more about that Cross County driving team you mentioned. That way we can fill in the Penningtons when we go over there later.”
    Phil shrugged again. “Okay.” He cast an apologetic glance at the other girls. “I’ll be back soon. Then we can head over to TD’s.”
    Tessa gasped. “Oh no!” she cried. “I forgot all about that when I told Mrs. Pennington I could make it this afternoon.” She bit her lip, looking anxious as she glanced from Veronica to the other girls and back.
    Lisa waited for Tessa to make her excuses to Veronica. After all, the trip to TD’s wasn’t just an ice cream break. It was supposed to be a Saddle Club meeting. That was important.
    But Tessa wasn’t looking at Veronica now. She was looking at Lisa and the other girls. “Um,” she began hesitantly.
    Stevie didn’t let her finish. “Don’t worry about it,” she said shortly. “We can all go to TD’s another time.”
    “Right,” Carole added. “It’s no problem.”
    “Really?” Tessa looked relieved. “Thanks, guys.” She turned to face Veronica and Phil, looking excited again. “Right then—let’s go get that harness!”
    The three of them hurried off. Lisa watched them go, feeling slightly queasy. “So, what do you think now?” she asked. “What’s going on with Tessa and Veronica?”
    Carole shook her head, looking grim. “I was really trying to look on the bright side,” she said. “You know—that Tessa was just being nice.”
    “Missing a Saddle Club meeting to hang out and swap shopping stories with Veronica goes
way
beyond just being nice,” Stevie snapped.
    Lisa nodded sadly. “It’s totally weird. Kind of like one of those nightmares you have sometimes that don’t make any sense, but you still know they’re scary.”
    Her friends nodded. “What do we do now?”