Before They Rode Horses Read Online Free Page A

ponies playing all around it.
    “Oh, yes, he could,” said Stevie. “I once heard him talk about a restaurant he went to.”
    “I heard that, too. And the restaurant was owned by one of the riders at the stable,” said Carole. “So it doesn’t count.”
    Lisa poured boiling water into the teapot, covered it with a tea cozy, and lifted the tray.
    “Girls, Max asked us to take care of Deborah while he was gone. If this is how Deborah wants us to take care of her, then we’ll do it. After all, we are The Saddle Club, and when we work together, we can accomplish anything. Right?”
    “As long as it has to do with horses,” Stevie said grumpily.
    “Well, think of it as doing what we can to help Pine Hollow. After all, this is Max’s baby we’re talking about—Max the Fourth. One day, this baby will own Pine Hollow and teach kids how to ride. We have to make sure that his birth is as pleasant as possible for his mother. So, if you think about it that way, it
is
about horses.”
    “Sort of,” Stevie agreed.
    “I guess so, a little anyway,” Carole conceded.
    “I’ll go first,” said Lisa. “Come on.”
    The girls followed her back into the living room. As soon as they walked in, Deborah’s eyes opened expectantly.
    “I wish Max were here to hear this!” she teased.
    Lisa set the tray down. She handed Deborah a little dish filled with crushed ice. Then she poured tea for her friends. It didn’t take anywhere near as much time as she had hoped. In a matter of seconds, Deborah and her friends looked at her curiously. She took a deep breath and began.

LISA’S STORY:
I
    W HEN I WAS IN fifth grade, Ms. Stevens was the drama teacher at Willow Creek Elementary School, and she decided that we should do a big holiday production. She chose
A Christmas Carol.
All that fall, there was a buzz of excitement in our class. Our homeroom teacher, Ms. Barnard, read us the whole book, and then we read the play. Everybody knows the story, I think. It’s all about a mean old miser named Scrooge who has lost sight of what’s important in life and just lives for money. He’s got plenty of that, but it’s really all he has. Ms. Barnard explained that he was so miserable that he didn’t even know how miserable he was. Then one Christmas Eve the ghost of his dead business partner comes to his room and tells him that he’s going to be visited by three spirits, one of Christmas Past, who showshim how wonderfully happy he was in his early years; one of Christmas Present, who shows him how some poor people are really much happier than he is with all his wealth; and one of Christmas Future, who shows him how bleak his world will be unless he changes his ways. For most of the play, Scrooge is a really despicable man. He doesn’t even want to let his employee have a day off for Christmas! The employee is Bob Cratchit, and his son is Tiny Tim—you know, the one who says, “God bless us, every one!”
    I wanted to be the Ghost of Christmas Past in the worst way. We only read the book once in class. I must have read it four more times at home, and that was my favorite character. She was wonderful. She got to take Scrooge back to his childhood and through the beautiful Christmasses when there was happiness in his heart. I knew, too, exactly what she should wear. I had a black tutu that I had from my ballet recital of
Swan Lake.
It was perfect for the Ghost of Christmas Past, because she’s sort of a delicate child as well as an adult. Ms. Stevens said she was ethereal. That sounded like my ballet dress, even though I didn’t know what it meant. All I’d have to do was add something Christmassy, maybesome holly in my hair or something like that, and my dream would come true.
    My mother was as excited as I was. In fact, she might have been more excited. You know the way she gets. She even wanted me to take extra acting lessons so I’d get the part I wanted.
    “Are you
sure
this is a story that’s going to help me know how to be a