Read Online Riding Lesson by Bonnie Bryant - Free Book Online

who’s your new buddy?” Simon asked, looking at Marie.
    Stevie quickly introduced them. “Marie is staying withCarole for two weeks. To celebrate, this is her first trail ride.”
    “Are you an experienced rider?” Simon asked Marie.
    “Well, I used to be an intermediate one, but I’m a little out of practice,” Marie explained.
    “Yes,” Lisa said. “Carole has been giving her some—er—pointers.”
    “Gosh, that’s great,” Simon said. “Carole really knows her stuff. Well, I’d better get going.”
    Marie glanced at Carole, then at Simon. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to ride back with you,” she said. “I’m kind of tired. And I think these guys might have more fun without me—I think I’m even rustier than I realized.”
    “Sure, no problem,” said Simon cheerfully. “Let’s hit the old trail.”
    “You don’t mind, do you, Carole?” Marie asked as she turned Chip out of the line.
    Carole shrugged. “It’s fine with me. You don’t want to wear yourself out.”
    “Right,” said Marie. “And this way I’ll be there to meet your father. He should be coming to pick us up pretty soon.” She urged Chip forward after Patch, who had started ambling off toward home without bothering to wait for a signal from Simon. “I’ll see you all in a while.”
    As Simon and Marie disappeared from sight, Stevie remarked, “It’s unusual for your father to pick you up on a weekday, isn’t it, Carole?”
    “Yeah, well, a lot of unusual things have been going on around here lately,” Carole snapped.
    Lisa and Stevie traded glances. They had a feeling that a change of subject would do them all good.
    “So, Stevie, did you ever convince your new friend Priscilla to try riding?” Lisa asked.
    Stevie touched Topside lightly with her heel, and he obediently moved off down the trail. “Not exactly,” Stevie replied. “In fact, I’ve been meaning to tell you guys what happened.” She quickly related her conversations with Priscilla at lunch and in biology class. “I finally realized that she wanted me as a friend, all right—but only if she could have me all to herself. She didn’t even care that she was asking me to give up all kinds of things that are really important to me, like you guys, for instance. As soon as I realized that, I had to call it quits with her. Nothing is going to split up The Saddle Club, and that’s that.”
    “And that’s just what you told her?” Lisa asked.
    Stevie nodded. “More or less. She took it better than I expected and went in search of a new best friend. Problem solved.”
    “I just wish my problem were that simple,” Carole said, biting her lip.
    “What do you mean?” Lisa and Stevie asked in a single voice.
    Carole just shrugged in reply.
    Before her friends could press her further, they were distracted by Prancer. The high-strung Thoroughbred seemed suddenly to have decided she didn’t want to be on a trail ride after all. Without warning she skittered to one side, almost banging into a tree. A surprised Lisa barely managed to keep her seat. Prancer shook her head and pawed at the ground. Lisa was riding between Stevie and Carole for a reason, though—not only was she the least experienced rider of the three, but Prancer was the least experienced trail horse. Now, with Topside ahead of her on the narrow trail and Starlight behind, the skittish mare had no place to go. She came to a dead halt and snorted.
    “Quick, tighten up on the reins before she tries anything else,” Carole said. “You want to make sure she knows you’re in charge and paying attention.”
    Lisa nodded ruefully as she did as Carole said. “Apparently she could tell that I wasn’t paying much attention to her a second ago,” she admitted.
    “Don’t worry about it too much,” Carole advised. “It happens to everybody once in a while. Just be extra careful for the rest of the ride so it doesn’t stick in her mind that she got away with anything.”
    “I will,”