Hoof Beat (6 page)

Lisa finished pulling on her boots, collected the tack for Pepper, the horse she usually rode in class, and was about to leave the locker area when she noticed a tight knot of girls in one corner. Betsy Cavanaugh was in the center, her face red with anger and streaked with
tears. Lisa had always liked Betsy. She didn’t like to see her so upset about something.

“What’s the matter with Betsy?” she asked, walking over to the group.

“It’s none of your business,” Meg Durham spat out angrily.

“Oh, yes, it is,” Betsy said, overriding Meg. Then she turned to Lisa. “Look,” she said. “Just because I was here when Carole gave Stevie the money doesn’t mean I took it.”

“I never said you did,” Lisa told her.

“Well, you said one of us took it and there weren’t all that many of us there at the time. Two people have already asked me about it, but I’m telling you, I didn’t take it! If you want to know who did, why don’t you find out who just bought herself a new pair of sandals!”

Betsy glared at Lisa, ignoring the tears as they spilled out of her eyes and down her cheeks. Lisa was really sorry Betsy was so upset. Lisa doubted that Betsy had anything to do with the theft because she was such a nice girl. Sometimes the truth hurt, she realized. And sometimes the people who got hurt by the truth were innocent people, like Betsy.

Betsy wiped her tears with her bare hand, streaking her face even more. Lisa always carried tissues. It was one of the things her mother made her do. She pulled the little tissue pack out of her pocket and offered it to Betsy.

“No thank you,” Betsy said. “I’ve gotten enough
from you already today.” She sniffed and then turned her back on Lisa. Confused, Lisa shook her head and walked away. It was time to tack up Pepper.

Pepper, it seemed, was the only one who wasn’t jealous or angry at her, she mused as she slipped his bridle over his head.

“Oh, you’re here,” Carole said, genuine surprise apparent in her voice.

Lisa looked up, startled; she hadn’t heard anyone’s footsteps. “Of course I’m here, where else did you think I would be ten minutes before class?” Lisa asked. An awful lot of people seemed to be behaving very strangely today. She had the sinking feeling Carole was going to be another one of them.

“Hiding out,” Carole said. “But you’re brave.”

Lisa finished buckling the bridle and turned her attention to Pepper’s saddle. “I heard you’re not speaking to Stevie. Why? Because she lost your money?”

“No. Because she didn’t tell me about it.”

“I told her she should have,” Lisa said, feeling vindicated.

“You told
everyone
she should have,” Carole said.

Then Lisa knew for sure that this was going to be another strange conversation. “Just exactly what do you mean by that?” Lisa asked defensively.

“I mean that you told the whole world about some things that were just between friends. I asked Stevie to do me a favor and she tried, but she made a mistake. Now the whole world knows about it.”

“It was
news
,” Lisa reminded her.

“But it wasn’t anybody else’s business!”

“Stealing is
everybody
else’s business,” Lisa snapped. “It happened. I didn’t write anything that didn’t happen.”

“What you wrote made it sound like one of the girls here stole Stevie’s wallet with my money in it. That’s not news. It’s a wild accusation!”

Lisa could now feel herself getting angry. Carole obviously just didn’t understand what journalism was all about. It was her job to tell the facts. As long as she stuck to the facts, she wasn’t responsible for how other people interpreted them.

“I didn’t say that any of those girls stole the wallet,” Lisa reminded Carole. “I just said that they were there at the time Stevie got the money. Personally, I don’t have any idea who stole the wallet, but I’ll tell you one thing—if my article gets the thief to return the money, you’ll be thanking me, and so will everybody else.”

Carole shook her head. “I suppose,” she said. “But it seems a high price to pay for fifteen dollars.” And then she walked off to finish tacking up her own horse.

Lisa returned her attention to Pepper. She put the saddle pad on his back, then lifted the saddle up and placed it carefully on the pad. She slid the pad and saddle into place and reached under Pepper for the girth, pulling the strap tight and fastening the first buckle.

“They just don’t understand,” Lisa said to Pepper.
“Journalism is reporting facts. All I did was to report the facts. I didn’t say
anything
that wasn’t true. And besides that, Carole’s just angry because she’s found out that she doesn’t have any money to buy her father a present.”

Lisa gave the girth a final tug as if to emphasize her statement and the piece of leather snapped in her hand. This just wasn’t her day. Now she’d have to go to Mrs. Reg and get another girth. Sure as anything this would make her late for class.

The hallway in the stable area was filled with her classmates and their horses on their way to the outdoor ring. She made her way carefully among them, noting that absolutely nobody spoke to her. How different it was from what she’d been expecting that day! She’d thought everybody was going to be happy for her and proud of her. She was expecting congratulations and hugs. All she was getting was cold shoulders. She was relieved to get to Mrs. Reg’s office and the tack room.

“I need a new girth,” she said. “Pepper’s broke.” She gave Mrs. Reg the broken strap.

Mrs. Reg examined it carefully. “I just wanted to make sure somebody didn’t cut it,” Mrs. Reg explained.

‘Who would do something like that?” Lisa asked.

“Well, you never know in a hotbed of crime like this place …” Mrs. Reg left the thought dangling as she found a new girth and gave it to Lisa.

Lisa took the girth, thanked Mrs. Reg, and returned to Pepper’s stall. Methodically, she began to replace the old girth with the new one. She could hear the class begin in the nearby outdoor ring.

Lisa sighed. Even Mrs. Reg was annoyed with her. And that just meant that even Mrs. Reg didn’t understand the responsibility of the press. She’d read about reporters who had gone to jail to protect their own rights as journalists. This wasn’t exactly the same thing, but it did seem to Lisa that, like some of the finest journalists in the world, she was suffering. But suffering to protect the right of freedom of the press seemed to her like a small price to pay.

She finished buckling one side of the new girth and was about to start the second when she heard her name, from the outdoor ring.

“Where’s Lisa?” Max asked the class.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” somebody answered.

The words were like a slap in the face. And they proved to her that she was right. They didn’t understand. But they
would
understand. No matter how difficult it was, Lisa had to continue her work. She had to make the thief realize that she wasn’t going to let up until the wallet was returned.

This was no time for class, Lisa decided. She was late already, and besides, there was more news for the world to know—more to report. Quickly, she removed the saddle and bridle from Pepper, returned the tack to
the tack room, changed back into her street shoes, and began the walk home.

All the way home, she was writing her next article in her head. Her friends would see. She’d make them see.

“T
HESE ARE SUCH
silly clothes!” Trudy exclaimed, looking at herself in the dingy mirror in Pine Hollow’s locker area.

Stevie laughed out loud. Trudy was dressed to go riding. She wore an old pair of her jodhpurs, low boots, and a plain blue shirt. The outfit looked very normal to Carole, especially when compared with the outfit Trudy had worn walking into the stable!

“You think
those
are funny clothes?” Carole asked.

Trudy stepped back so she could see all of herself at once in the mirror. She squinted as she examined the total effect. “Yup,” she said, nodding. “They’re funny all right, but I don’t mind. You guys are dressed funny, too, so I don’t stand out.”

Carole almost took Trudy seriously until she spotted the twinkle in her eye. The idea of Trudy’s being afraid
to stand out in a crowd was just plain crazy. All three girls started laughing at once.

Trudy was different from anybody Carole had ever met, and she liked her a lot. She was glad Trudy was visiting Stevie, and she was particularly glad that Stevie had finally convinced Trudy to try horseback riding.

“You’re going to love this,” Carole assured Trudy while she handed her the tack she would need for Patch. The girls had gotten Max’s permission to take Trudy on a short trail ride through some neighboring fields and a wooded area. They were under strict orders not to go faster than a walk and not to show off.

Carole didn’t have to be told these things. She knew that a new rider would be safe enough, especially on a calm horse like Patch. But a calm horse could become a dangerously frisky horse if the other riders on the trail were trying stunts.

“Is my horse really big?” Trudy asked, eyeing Patch’s saddle warily.

“He’s big enough,” Carole answered evasively. “But don’t worry, you’re with us. We’ll take care of you.”

“Riding is great—just you wait,” Stevie said. “It’s the most fun thing we do. You’re going to love it.”

Stevie had expressed Carole’s feelings exactly. Riding was the greatest thing in the world as far as she was concerned. The minute Trudy was in Patch’s saddle, Carole was certain she was going to see how wonderful it was.

In fact, the only thing that came close to the fun of riding itself was sharing the experience with friends. And that was the only sour note of the day: Lisa wasn’t with them.

Carole and Stevie had talked about it. They were both still a little annoyed with her for writing the article about Stevie’s wallet and Carole’s money, but they thought Lisa had had an awful time of it on Friday and must have learned her lesson, so they wanted to make up with her. Lisa had told Carole she was really much too busy to come riding on Monday, but said she’d be at class on Tuesday as usual. It wasn’t like Lisa to pass up a chance to ride. Carole was about to try to convince her to change her mind when Lisa had told her she had to go. Before Carole could say another word, Lisa had hung up.

Carole didn’t know whether she was more disappointed that Lisa hadn’t wanted to listen to her or that Lisa was missing from their trail ride. She did know that she felt uncomfortable with the rift. The Saddle Club was used to being united. It just didn’t feel right when something came between them.

Carole finished saddling Barq. She walked him to the stable exit, fastened his lead to a cleat by the door, and helped Stevie finish saddling Patch for Trudy.

Within a few minutes, Trudy was in the saddle. Her face now had an even more pained look than it had when she’d arrived at the stables.

“The horseshoe,” Stevie said. “We have to show her that. It’ll make her feel better.”

Carole agreed. While Trudy clung to the English saddle’s abbreviated pommel, her knuckles white with the effort, Carole led Patch to the stable’s good-luck horseshoe. “Touch it,” Carole said. “Just touch it with your right hand. It’s one of our traditions. All riders touch that before they go for a ride. No rider at Pine Hollow has ever been seriously hurt.”

“There’s always a first time,” Trudy said, reaching tentatively for the well-worn good-luck charm.

“But it won’t be today,” Carole said positively, smiling encouragement at Trudy.

“Don’t make fun of me,” Trudy said, returning her hand to clutch the saddle.

“I’m not and I won’t,” Carole assured her. “Stevie and I both rode for the first time once. We were scared, too.” She handed Trudy the reins. Trudy grasped them so tightly that Patch thought she was signaling to step backward. Obediently, he did so, terrorizing Trudy even more.

Carole saw what was happening and got Trudy to ease up a bit. She realized as she was doing it that Trudy really had no idea at all what she was doing. Normally, a new rider would have some sense of how to hold the reins, how to balance, how to signal the horse to go and stop. Not Trudy. She seemed as uncomfortable riding a horse as Carole thought
she
would be living in a big city.

“I think he’s ready to walk someplace,” Trudy said, “so we’d better get going before he changes his mind.”

Carole laughed to herself, but she wasn’t laughing
at
Trudy. Carole had the feeling that what Trudy really meant was that they’d better get going before
Trudy
changed her mind. Considering how much Trudy was not enjoying her ride so far, Carole found herself really admiring Trudy. She was obviously scared, but she was still willing to go ahead, just because she’d said she would give it a try. Carole thought that showed a special kind of courage.

“Yes, let’s go,” Carole said. She mounted Barq and touched the good-luck horseshoe herself. Stevie, who had already mounted and touched the horseshoe, was in the lead.

Carole’s job was to follow. The order on a trail ride was always carefully planned. An experienced rider led the pack. The newest riders were in the middle, and another experienced rider was at the back where she or he could most easily spot trouble with the new riders. Carole was comfortable with this role, and on several occasions she’d had a chance to help a rider who needed it. In spite of Trudy’s fear, Carole was quite sure that the girl’s basic common sense would keep her from getting into any trouble. Anybody who was as scared as Trudy was would do anything to stay safe!