impression,” she said to herself, clucking her tongue.
It took a while to sort them all—whites, colors, delicates, and heavy-duty dirty. The last category was mostly jeans and barn clothes.
She hauled the first pile to the laundry room and began the tedious job of doing the wash. It wasn’t that bad, really. The machines did all the work. She only had to sort, load, add the right chemicals, and wait.
She did delicates first because they’d dry the fastest, and then the permanent press stuff, followed by cottons and so on. When the first load was in, she brought the rest downstairs and lined them up on the floor next to the washing machine. They looked a little bit like schoolchildren standing in line in the cafeteria.
Schoolchildren reminded her that she actually did have some homework. She went upstairs to fetch her book bag, brought it back down, and set up a study center at the kitchen table.
First was prealgebra. Stevie didn’t like to admit it, but she sort of liked prealgebra. The arithmetic wasn’t very hard—nothing like, for instance, long division. And when she got the right answer, it was sort of tidyand satisfying. When she found that X = 2, she knew it was right. She wasn’t so confident about Y = 13.76598. She did that problem again until it came out to Y = 7. That was right. She smiled, satisfied.
By the time the colors were in the dryer, Stevie really was finished with her homework. She’d read eight pages of history and answered six questions about plate tectonics. There was an English paper due at the end of the week, but she’d finished the reading and she’d have more time later to do an outline.
When the whites were dry, she switched loads, drying colors and washing heavy-duties.
She folded all the clothes that were dry so far and then picked a pretty white blouse out of the stack to wear. It looked clean, but it had some wrinkles. She located the iron and ironing board and pressed the blouse. It looked much better. She took it upstairs and laid it on her bed while she showered and washed her hair.
Her new hairdo did take longer, but the curls were so different from what she was accustomed to that they made her smile. Then she put on her pressed blouse, retrieved a clean pair of riding pants from the dryer, and pulled on a fresh pair of socks and her boots. She found her riding helmet and set it out to take with her, but a second glance told her it needed some work. It was covered with dust and straw. She found hermother’s lint brush and took the helmet out onto the back porch to clean it. It only took a little while before the pretty black velvet emerged from the dust.
Back upstairs, she spotted herself in the mirror in her room and immediately recognized the need for some lip gloss and a hint of blush. She smiled back at the face in the mirror. She looked good, but she needed something else, just a little something. What was it?
Stevie began combing through her drawers. An accessory. Something with a little color to brighten her outfit. And there it was—a baby blue pullover sweater with decorative seed pearls outlining a kitten. So cute! She remembered that it had been a gift from some relative last year. Why hadn’t she ever worn it before?
It was almost time to leave, but first Stevie finished folding her laundry and put it all away. Then she was out the door, headed for Pine Hollow.
Everybody was busy at the stable. The only one who actually greeted her was Belle. Max was teaching a class, and Red was busy with a colicky horse. Mrs. Reg was on the phone with someone who apparently was considering boarding his horse at Pine Hollow and wanted to know everything about the place, from the quality of the other horses there to the number of nails that had been used to put the stable together.
Stevie was essentially alone, and that suited her just fine.
She gave Belle a quick grooming and then went intothe tack room. She took her bridle off the hook but left her saddle there.
It took a while to sort them all—whites, colors, delicates, and heavy-duty dirty. The last category was mostly jeans and barn clothes.
She hauled the first pile to the laundry room and began the tedious job of doing the wash. It wasn’t that bad, really. The machines did all the work. She only had to sort, load, add the right chemicals, and wait.
She did delicates first because they’d dry the fastest, and then the permanent press stuff, followed by cottons and so on. When the first load was in, she brought the rest downstairs and lined them up on the floor next to the washing machine. They looked a little bit like schoolchildren standing in line in the cafeteria.
Schoolchildren reminded her that she actually did have some homework. She went upstairs to fetch her book bag, brought it back down, and set up a study center at the kitchen table.
First was prealgebra. Stevie didn’t like to admit it, but she sort of liked prealgebra. The arithmetic wasn’t very hard—nothing like, for instance, long division. And when she got the right answer, it was sort of tidyand satisfying. When she found that X = 2, she knew it was right. She wasn’t so confident about Y = 13.76598. She did that problem again until it came out to Y = 7. That was right. She smiled, satisfied.
By the time the colors were in the dryer, Stevie really was finished with her homework. She’d read eight pages of history and answered six questions about plate tectonics. There was an English paper due at the end of the week, but she’d finished the reading and she’d have more time later to do an outline.
When the whites were dry, she switched loads, drying colors and washing heavy-duties.
She folded all the clothes that were dry so far and then picked a pretty white blouse out of the stack to wear. It looked clean, but it had some wrinkles. She located the iron and ironing board and pressed the blouse. It looked much better. She took it upstairs and laid it on her bed while she showered and washed her hair.
Her new hairdo did take longer, but the curls were so different from what she was accustomed to that they made her smile. Then she put on her pressed blouse, retrieved a clean pair of riding pants from the dryer, and pulled on a fresh pair of socks and her boots. She found her riding helmet and set it out to take with her, but a second glance told her it needed some work. It was covered with dust and straw. She found hermother’s lint brush and took the helmet out onto the back porch to clean it. It only took a little while before the pretty black velvet emerged from the dust.
Back upstairs, she spotted herself in the mirror in her room and immediately recognized the need for some lip gloss and a hint of blush. She smiled back at the face in the mirror. She looked good, but she needed something else, just a little something. What was it?
Stevie began combing through her drawers. An accessory. Something with a little color to brighten her outfit. And there it was—a baby blue pullover sweater with decorative seed pearls outlining a kitten. So cute! She remembered that it had been a gift from some relative last year. Why hadn’t she ever worn it before?
It was almost time to leave, but first Stevie finished folding her laundry and put it all away. Then she was out the door, headed for Pine Hollow.
Everybody was busy at the stable. The only one who actually greeted her was Belle. Max was teaching a class, and Red was busy with a colicky horse. Mrs. Reg was on the phone with someone who apparently was considering boarding his horse at Pine Hollow and wanted to know everything about the place, from the quality of the other horses there to the number of nails that had been used to put the stable together.
Stevie was essentially alone, and that suited her just fine.
She gave Belle a quick grooming and then went intothe tack room. She took her bridle off the hook but left her saddle there.
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