Starting Gate Read Online Free Page A

the limo as it passed, curious to get a glimpse of the passengers inside.
    Stevie chuckled. “Look! I bet everybody thinks we’re somebody famous.”
    “Well, we are famous in our own way,” said Carole. “We’re very famous to three horses that are traveling somewhere between here and Virginia.”
    “That’s right,” said Lisa. “We’re big stars to those guys!”
    After a few minutes Stephan pulled off the highway and down a long road with huge empty parking lots on either side.
    Again, Lisa leaned forward out of the overstuffed sofa. “Is this Ashford Racetrack, Stephan?”
    “Yes, it is. Racing season won’t start for another month or two, so it looks deserted.” Stephan pointed to one corner of the parking lot, where a number of trailers and sound trucks were parked. “Right now, though, it’s the perfect place to make a movie.”
    Stephan steered the big car close to the trailers. Just as he was about to turn off the engine, a young man dressed in shorts and a Skye Ransom T-shirt came running up.
    “Hi, Stephan,” he said, grinning at the older man. “Is this Skye’s precious cargo?”
    “It is.” Stephan turned off the engine and got out of the car to open the girls’ door. “May I present Misses Lisa, Carole, and Stevie, The Saddle Club.”
    “Hi, girls. I’m Jess Morton, Skye’s assistant. Welcome to our set.” Grinning, he shoved a clipboard under one arm and stuck out his hand.
    “Hi,” the girls said, shaking hands.
    “Skye’s sorry he couldn’t meet you himself, but he’s shooting a scene right now. He sent me over to get you acquainted with everything.”
    “Will he be shooting for a long time?” asked Lisa.
    Jess shrugged wearily. “On this set, you never can tell. How about I give you the ten-cent tour until he can join us?”
    The girls smiled. “Sure,” Lisa said. “That sounds wonderful.”
    “Well, we have to walk by today’s location before we can get to the stable, so why don’t we start there?”
    “Great,” said Stevie and Carole together.
    They said good-bye to Stephan and followed Jess over to a roped-off area of the parking lot. Though The Saddle Club had been on movie sets before, this one seemed bigger than any they’d ever seen. All sorts of people hurried past them, each with different jobs to do. Assistants clutching newly typed script pages ran by, while set carpenters carried long planks of lumber and plywood. Jess pointed out the boom mikes that hung overhead and the thick electrical cables coiled along the ground like giant tree roots. He walked The Saddle Club through several differentinterior sets, all the while dodging makeup people and sound engineers and several assistant directors.
    “Gosh,” said Stevie, hungrily eyeing a row of food vans that lined one end of the parking lot. “This is like a mini city all by itself.”
    “You’re absolutely right,” said Jess. “And we’re not really even on location. Sometimes, when you’re filming far from the studio, the set really does become your own private city.”
    He opened a gate and led them through some tall green hedges. “Here’s a part you’ll really enjoy.”
    They followed Jess through the hedges to a large grandstand, through a short tunnel beneath the stadium, and then they were standing just behind the starting gate of Ashford Racetrack.
    “Here it is,” he said with a grin. “The famous Ashford mile and a quarter. Lots of terrific racehorses have run here.”
    “I know,” said Carole. “Whirlaway and Seabiscuit and Man O’War and Ruffian.”
    The girls watched as two riders wearing the orange work jackets of the Ashford track exercised their horses in an easy canter around the wide track.
    “This is beautiful,” said Stevie. “It makes me miss Belle. I wonder where she is.”
    “She’s probably in Oklahoma now,” Carole assured her, “just watching the oil wells pass by.”
    Jess smiled. “Is Belle your horse?” When Stevie nodded, he asked, “Well, do