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many horses at the Bar None. Do you think one of them might work?”
    “Stewball,” Stevie said instantly. “He’s the smartest.” When her friends laughed, she added, “Oh, all right, I know he won’t work. We’ve been through that before!” At one point, before Stevie got Belle, she’d almost bought Stewball and taken him home to Pine Hollow. Lisa, Carole, and Kate had helped Stevie see that Stewball was much happier as a cow pony than he would have been under English saddle.
    “Maybe Moonglow,” Carole suggested. Moonglow was a mare Kate had adopted from a wild herd. “She’s really done well in her training so far.”
    “But could she ever be as athletic as Southwood?” Stevie argued. “Or as smart as Stewball?”
    Carole shrugged. “You never know until you try. Thinkabout how it would sound: ‘Next on course for the United States, Katharine Devine and Moonglow!’ ”
    “Like poetry,” Lisa said, and the others agreed.
    “That’s enough grass,” Carole said a few minutes later, checking her watch. “We need to start tacking up Campfire now. Nigel needs to warm him up before they do their dressage.”
    They returned to the stables. Dorothy settled Nigel’s heavy dressage saddle across Campfire’s withers, and then the show PA system squawked and hissed and spat out Dorothy’s name. “Dorothy DeSoto, please come to the main office,” it said. “You have a phone call.”
    “Drew!” Dorothy said, and hurried away.
    “He’s probably the only person who knows the show’s phone number,” Stevie said thoughtfully. She adjusted Campfire’s saddle and buckled the girth on one side. “I hope none of the other horses are sick.”
    They worked in worried silence until Dorothy returned. Her pale face seemed to confirm The Saddle Club’s fear. “Is it Warrior?” Carole asked.
    Dorothy sank down on a hay bale. “Worse than that,” she whispered. “It’s Beatrice. She’s had an accident. She may never ride again.”

T HE S ADDLE C LUB clustered around Dorothy. “What happened?” Stevie asked.
    Dorothy blew out a long breath. “That was Drew on the phone,” she said. “He told me Beatrice met her family in Saint Croix yesterday afternoon. Last night they all went out for a moonlight boat ride. Beatrice dived off the bow of the boat and hit a reef just beneath the water’s surface.”
    Dorothy shuddered. “She fractured her skull, but they think she’ll be okay. She’s in surgery this morning. Beatrice’s father called to tell us about the accident. It certainly sounds as if she won’t be coming back. I imagine Southwood will be sold.”
    “But you said they think she’ll be okay,” Lisa said. “Whywould she have to give up Southwood? She could still ride.”
    “Maybe.” Dorothy shrugged. “I don’t have the whole story yet—I just know what Drew told me. But if Beatrice’s injuries are as severe as they sound, I doubt she’ll ride again. It’ll be a long time before she’s allowed to get back on a horse, and she’d have to work extremely hard to regain her skill. She’d have to really love riding in order to do that.”
    “Doesn’t she love riding?” Carole asked softly.
    Dorothy looked at her. “What do you think?”
    Carole bit her lip, then shook her head sadly. Beatrice loved to be successful. She loved to win. She never seemed to truly love riding.
    “She’ll never be content to ride without winning,” Dorothy said. “And it would be a long time, if ever, before she wins again. I’d say this is the end of Beatrice’s riding career.”
    The Saddle Club had all seen the accident that ended Dorothy’s riding career. “When you got hurt, you didn’t give up horses,” Lisa reminded Dorothy.
    Dorothy smiled. “That’s because I love them more than anything,” she said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life. I’m very lucky, because even though I can’t ride I’m still healthy and I can train students and work with horses. Being