Rocking Horse Read Online Free

caught in it.”
    “And the bucket has to be tied to a post, not to a board in the stall,” Stevie added. “The weight of a full bucket might pull a board loose, but it wouldn’t hurt a post.”
    “What do you mean, I’m getting penalized?” Veronica shouted. Stevie and Lisa giggled.
    “Poor sportsmanship,” a voice chided them from the aisle. “Laughing at another team’s errors.”
    They both looked out. “Phil!” Stevie cried. “I’ve been looking for you!”
    Lisa saw A.J. and Bart standing behind Phil. “Hi, guys,” she said brightly, stepping out into the aisle.
    “Hi, Lisa,” A.J. said. Bart just waved and smiled.
    “We’re two aisles down,” Phil said, “on this same side. We’ve come to tell you to hurry. It’s time for dinner, and rumor has it they’re serving pizza.”
    “And we love pizza,” A.J. said. “So we want to be sure to get first dibs. Right, Bart?”
    “Right,” Bart said. He gave Lisa another shy smile. Lisa felt herself starting to blush. How could she be so silly?
    “I’ll get Carole,” Stevie said. “I think we’re almost ready.” She scurried down the aisle. Lisa looked at the three boys and struggled for something witty and clever to say.
    “So, do you think it’s going to rain?” she asked, just as a rumble of thunder sounded overhead. So much for witty and clever!
    “Might,” Bart said.
    “Yeah,” A.J. added, clapping Bart on the shoulder, “that’s our friend Bart. King of the one-word answers.”
    Bart shrugged. He didn’t look uncomfortable. “I do better with horses than people,” he told Lisa.
    “At least,” Phil added teasingly, “he does better with horses than
girls
.”
    Bart blushed deep red, and Lisa felt herself blushing again, too. “Stevie!” she called out.
    “Here we are!” Stevie said, coming out with Carole in tow. “Take us to your pizza!”
    A crack of lightning lit the darkening sky, and rain began to pelt the roof of the tent. “Run!” Phil shouted. They took off across the field toward the mess hall, laughing. Lisa was immensely grateful not to have to look at Bart. She felt incredibly self-conscious. Did everyone notice her blush? And was that good or bad?
    Lisa thought back to Bart’s blush. Was he always that embarrassed around girls? Or was it possible that he was—at least a little—interested in her?

L ISA SMACKED THE Off switch of her portable alarm clock to stop its ringing. She sat up in her sleeping bag and rubbed her eyes. Above her head, rain drummed steadily against the roof of the stabling tent, and the air smelled damp and cold. “Geez,” she said, “did it rain all night?”
    Carole stood up, shaking her sleeping bag loose, and leaned over the top of the tack room door. “Looks that way,” she answered. “I can see a lot of puddles, including one right here in the middle of our aisle.” They heard a thump from Starlight’s stall, and Carole giggled. “Starlight sees me. He justbutted his feed tub to tell me it’s time for his breakfast.”
    They all got up, rolled their sleeping bags and stowed them neatly in a corner, and put on their socks and paddock boots. They had slept in sweatshirts and old breeches. They divided the chores, Lisa getting the grain, Stevie the hay, and Carole the water.
    “I’ll be responsible for the water in more ways than one,” Carole said. “I’m going to fill that aisle puddle before we go to breakfast. You never know when an inspector might come around.” She grabbed a muck bucket and headed for the shavings pile.
    Lisa toed the edge of the puddle. “Do you think the tent’s leaking? I didn’t feel a drop all night.”
    “Probably the rain just blew in from the side and settled in that low spot,” Stevie guessed. “The whole aisle’s muddy. We’ll have to spread a lot of shavings.”
    Stevie dropped a flake of hay into each horse’s stall. She paused to say good morning to Belle. “Hello, beautiful. Did you sleep well?” Belle looked fit and