Bridle Path Read Online Free Page B

added.
    “Whatever it is,” promised Lisa.
    “And, of course, there are Pony Club jobs that need to be up-to-date.”
    “My notebook is almost up-to-date,” Lisa said.
    “Mine is,” said Carole.
    “Mine
will
be,” said Stevie.
    “And I’m not actually certain that I’ll have time to call about the tickets,” said Max. “I do have to sort and catalog all the specialized riding habits in the attic. Mom has told me it
has
to be done this week.…”
    “We can do it,” Lisa said. “I’m good at cataloging stuff.”
    “And I’m good at organizing closets and storage places,” Carole said.
    “And I’m good with messy rooms,” Stevie said. Everybody looked at her and laughed. Even Stevie.
    “Whatever it is, we’ll do it,” Carole said. “Promise.”
    “I’ll try, then,” Max said. “I know you girls would enjoy going to the show. The Gambler’s Choice is on Friday. That’s the thirty-first. Mother has a complete list of chores.”
    “Just give it to us,” Carole said. “We’ll see to it that it gets done.”
    “Sounds like a good deal to me,” said Max. “And as I said, I’ll see about tickets. If I have time. I’ve got to get going now. And you’re about done with Topside’s tack, aren’t you?”
    “Almost,” Carole said, surveying the now shiny-clean leather in front of them.
    “You know, one of the problems with one really clean saddle is that it makes all the other ones around it look dirty. Well, see you!” With that, he left.
    Stevie hoisted Topside’s saddle onto its rack and hung the clean bridle above it. She stood back and looked at the row of saddles. Max was right. The other five in the same row looked grungy compared to Topside’s.
    “Well, shall we?” she asked. Her friends shrugged in submission.
    “Why not?” Carole asked.
    “It only makes sense,” agreed Lisa. “Remember, every little chore that we do will make it easier for Max to get us tickets for the horse show. Toss me a sponge.”
    They began their work in earnest.

L ISA CLICKED HER mouse a few times, frowned, and then shook her head. That wasn’t right at all, and it was getting worse. She was trying to make a chart that would list all the jobs they needed to finish by Friday, what day they should be done, and who should do them. The problem wasn’t with the list, though. Clicking the computer’s mouse had made a jumble of everything, and now she had to figure out how to unjumble it.
    She moved the cursor to the top of the page and typed in a new first entry. It read:
    Make this computer do what I want it to. Saturday. Lisa.
    Well, at least that was being organized, and being organized was Lisa’s strongest characteristic.
    When Lisa finally finished the chart, she ran three copies on her printer and put two in envelopes for Stevie and Carole. The third she taped onto the mirror above the dresser in her room. That way she could look at it every morning and every night. Now everything was clear as could be. And what was clearest of all was that there was a
lot
of work to be done. She taped a string attached to a pencil next to the list. That way she could check off everything as it got done. She hoped she’d be able to check it all off by Friday. She sighed.
    A T THE SAME time, Stevie was thinking about all the work that had to be done that week, too. Only in Stevie’s mind, the major task was putting the days behind her so she could get to Friday night and go to the horse show.
    She’d been to national-level horse shows before. She and her friends had watched Dorothy DeSoto compete in New York. But this was going to be even better. This time Dorothy would be sitting with them, and the man Dorothy was going to marry would be competing in one of the most exciting events therewas. This wasn’t just going to be wonderful, it was also going to be romantic!
    There was a rustle under Stevie’s bed. She rolled over onto her stomach and hung her top half over the edge of the bed. She lifted up the