Rocking Horse Read Online Free Page B

all right. And I’ll tell you what, I’m not leaving for breakfast until Veronica does. I’m not giving her another chance.”
    “We’ll all keep an eye on her,” Carole promised.“For now, Lisa and I will finish up out here. When you’re done with Belle we’ll go to breakfast.”
    Carole made sure that the other stalls were in good order. Lisa offered to straighten the tack room. When Stevie finished, she and Carole went into the tack room, where they discovered that Lisa had changed into a clean sweatshirt. She’d brushed her hair into a neat ponytail and tied a ribbon around it, and she was using a small hand mirror to apply lip gloss.
    “Whoa!” Carole said. “Lisa, they’re not inspecting us until right before we ride.”
    “Yeah,” added Stevie, “and I don’t think they give extra credit for lip gloss.”
    Lisa half hid the mirror behind her back. She blushed and looked at the ground. “I just didn’t feel like looking so grubby,” she said.
    “Who would notice?” Stevie said, indicating her own dirt-stained sweatshirt. Then she understood. “Ah,” she said. “That’s the question, isn’t it? Who might notice? More to the point, who were you
hoping
would notice?”
    Lisa blushed deeper red. She turned and stowed her lip gloss and mirror into her duffel bag, then firmly zipped the bag. Carole took another step inside the tack stall and pulled the curtain across the doorway. “Lisa,” she said gently; “you can tell us anything.”
    Lisa grinned. “I know, it’s just a little embarrassing. But lately I’ve noticed—I mean, don’t you think Phil’s friend Bart is kind of cute?”
    Carole had never really thought about Bart one way or another, but she was instantly supportive. “He seems like a nice guy. He’s quiet, but he’s great around horses.”
    Lisa nodded. She knew that was about the highest compliment Carole could give another person.
    “So …,” Stevie said.
    “So I was thinking about asking him to the dance,” Lisa confessed in a rush. “I don’t know him that well, but I’d like to know him better, and that would be a good chance. And it would be fun. And—I’d like to, that’s all. But I’ve hardly got the nerve to say that to you guys. I don’t know how I’ll ever actually say anything to Bart. I was hoping that looking nice would help me feel more confident.”
    “It couldn’t hurt,” Carole said. “Look, why don’t the three of us make a point of inviting the three of them? That way it won’t be so embarrassing, and you’ll still get to spend time with him at the dance and get to know him better.”
    “Phil’s already coming,” Stevie protested. “He knows all about it.”
    “Well, of course,” Carole retorted. “That makes it even easier. Phil’s coming, so A.J. and Bart will want to, too.”
    “That would be super,” Lisa said. “Thank you. I don’t know why this sort of thing is so hard.”
    “We’ll make it easier,” Stevie said. “The Saddle Club always sticks together.”
    “You bet,” said Carole.

L ISA SIGHED . “G UESS I got all dressed up for nothing.” Her friends laughed. Even though Lisa looked better than they did, she hardly looked “all dressed up.”
    “I wouldn’t say for nothing,” Stevie teased. “Carole and I certainly appreciated your efforts.”
    Lisa grinned. “Good. At least I know
you’ll
go to the dance with me.”
    “But of course,” said Stevie.
    Lisa knew she shouldn’t feel so tense. What was one little dance, after all? But she was disappointed that she hadn’t seen Bart, or Phil, or A.J. at breakfast. Breakfast was served buffet style, whenever thePony Clubbers were ready for it. The boys must have eaten early; they weren’t anywhere in sight.
    “I’ll bet Mr. Baker had them do their course walk early,” Stevie guessed. “Phil said he was going to be one of the first on the course this morning.” At real combined training competitions, dressage usually went before