High Horse Read Online Free Page B

attention to those hints.
    Carole led Patch easily up the ramp and disappeared inside. While she was gone, Jackie punched Amie on the elbow, and Amie began chasing Jackie. As Lisa watched them play tag, she smiled. Poor Carole, she thought. She’s trying to impart some horse wisdom to these two, and they’re not in the least bit interested.
    As Carole came out of the horse van, she took a deep breath, as if she were trying to quell her annoyance, and then looked around for the girls. By thistime they were over at the other end of the paddock. Carole shook her head.
    Just then Stevie came around the side of one of the horse vans, swinging her arms. Suddenly she got an evil look on her face. No, it wasn’t evil, Lisa decided, that was going too far. Mr. Haegle had said that it was important not to exaggerate. Instead Stevie’s expression was … devilish. Lisa saw that Stevie was looking at Veronica diAngelo, who had Red O’Malley, the head stable hand, checking her equipment list.
    “Bringing your manicure set?” Stevie said with a nasty grin.
    “I see you never got that beauty makeover,” Veronica retorted. “What a shame.”
    “Cool it, girls,” Red O’Malley said.
    Another interesting situation. Lisa quickly started scribbling in her notebook. She couldn’t believe how many fast-breaking stories there were on this MTO.
    S TEVIE WALKED AWAY from Veronica. There was no point in bothering with her. It was a pity Veronica was coming along on this MTO, but Stevie decided just to ignore her. Besides, it was time to find Phil and make sure that she got a seat next to him in the van. It was a two-hour drive to Silverado State Park. They could talk. They could joke.
    But then she saw Phil helping Betsy Cavanaugh tie her sleeping bag. Gosh, Stevie thought, I knew Betsy was dumb, but can’t she even tie a knot by herself?
    “Phil, you got the sleeping bag so
flat
!” Betsy said admiringly.
    Stevie waited for Phil to laugh at the ridiculous comment, but instead he smiled at Betsy and said, “It’s something I learned out West. When you’re strapping your bedroll behind your saddle, you want it to be really secure.”
    Stevie knew that this was true, and she knew that it’s not easy to get your sleeping bag as compact as cowboys do. She had wrestled with this problem when she was staying at The Bar None Dude Ranch, and the truth was that she had never gotten her bag as flat as she would have liked it. But there was no reason for Phil and Betsy to worry about compact sleeping bags right now. Betsy’s bag would simply be stowed in the bus along with everyone else’s. Who cares if it’s bulky, Stevie thought.
    “Which do you like best?” Betsy breathed. “Western saddles or English?”
    Stevie couldn’t believe that Phil was paying attention to such a dumb question. You couldn’t compare Western and English saddles. They were like apples and oranges.
    “They have different purposes,” Phil said. “A Western saddle is geared for all-day comfort and for roping and tying calves. An English saddle is designed for precision and speed.”
    “I guess you’re really good at both kinds of riding,” Betsy said.
    Stevie couldn’t take any more. This is the dumbest conversation I’ve ever heard, she thought, and marched on by.
    As Stevie stomped past the two of them, Phil looked up in surprise. Or was it surprise? Lisa mused. Hmmmm. She chewed thoughtfully on the end of her pencil. By spending so much time with Betsy Cavanaugh, could Phil be trying to make Stevie jealous? Lisa grinned to herself. Of course he was. He’d seen Stevie and Joe together and decided to get even.
    As Lisa watched Stevie march off toward the stable, Lisa reflected that Stevie got riled up much too easily. Stevie had flown off the handle without stopping to think about what was happening. Another character defect for Lisa’s journal! It made Stevie seem so human. Mr. Haegle was going to love it.

I N THE VAN the riders told knock-knock