Read Online Horse Trouble by Bonnie Bryant - Free Book Online

riders. She put them each on horses they hadn’t ridden before and told each—in a whisper—that they were getting the best horse. That at least worked.
    Now in a quiet moment (because all the squabbling little girls were in class with Red), Carole turned to her other job for the day, which was to look for the pin some more, though she was becoming more and more certain they would not be able to find it. Carole decided it was time to make a careful examination of the stable area, particularly the wide aisle that ran between the stalls in the U-shaped stable. There was always a layer of straw on the floor there, and that was just the sort of camouflage a gold pin could use to hide out.
    Carole picked up a pitchfork and began working on the straw methodically. She picked up a forkful and shook it, hoping to find a gold pin dropping out of the mass of straw. Then, when nothing gold fell out, she put down that forkful and picked up another. By thetime she’d picked up eight forkfuls, she’d decided it was almost impossible that this would work. Still, she didn’t have a better idea. She picked up her ninth forkful. Then her tenth and her eleventh …
    “Don’t look at me that way,” she said to Starlight, who was gazing at her curiously over the door to his stall. Starlight didn’t have anything to say to that. He pulled his head back in. Carole continued her work in silence.
    Most of the horses were now out on trail rides or busy in classes. The stable was unusually quiet, and Carole was hopeful that it would make it easier for her to hear the very welcome
thump
of a solid gold pin hitting the wide boards of the stable floor. No matter how much she listened, though, there was no such
thump
.
    There was, however, another sound, and it was coming from the tack room. Carole stopped her work and listened. Then she was sure. There was definitely some sniffling going on. It didn’t sound like an allergy or a cold, either. It sounded very unhappy.
    Carole propped the pitchfork up against a beam and peered into the tack room. Somebody was in there crying and probably wanted to be alone. Carole didn’t intend to interrupt unless she seemed to be needed.
    One look and Carole knew she was needed. Theresat May Grover, one of Pine Hollow’s young riders and a particular favorite of Carole’s. May was crying her eyes out.
    “Could you use a friend?” Carole asked.
    “I don’t have any,” May said, tears streaming down her face, but the look in her eyes said that, more than anything, she wanted Carole to come be with her.
    Carole came in and perched on the bench next to May. She reached into her jeans pocket and found a tissue. Silently she offered it to the young girl. While May blew her nose, Carole recalled a conversation she’d overheard earlier between May and her friend Jessica. Before class May had been telling the other young rider in no uncertain terms just exactly how to do something, and Jessica hadn’t reacted kindly. Carole thought she recalled, in fact, that Jessica had told May just exactly what to do with the rest of her life. It hadn’t been nice, but even best friends had arguments sometimes. Carole hadn’t taken it very seriously. May apparently had.
    May was wise and strong. At least that was how she always appeared. As a result, her classmates sometimes thought she was a little bossy. She knew an awful lot about horses and tended to lecture her friends. Being right wasn’t always enough. That was somethingCarole had learned long ago, and she had the feeling that it was May’s turn to learn it now.
    “Is it what Jessica said?” Carole asked May.
    May looked at Carole in surprise, totally unaware of the fact that Carole had heard the argument. Carole had a funny feeling then. There was one person who always seemed to be aware of what was going on among the young riders, even when they had no idea that she was aware of it at all, and that was Mrs. Reg. Now Carole and her friends were trying, in