The Great Pony Hassle Read Online Free

the bedroom with her: a daisy-chewing, sleepy-eyed, soft-nosed, sweet-faced, shaggy palomino pony with the white-gold mane and forelock piled between his ears like a sunrise.
    Noodles.
    Noodles, the darling … no. If she couldn’t have him for her own, she didn’t want to dream on him. She opened her eyes to try to stop seeing him. It didn’t work as well as she would have liked. The room was dark, and her mind kept making the tormenting pictures.
    â€œPO-ny pony po-neeee …”
    â€œShut up!” Staci whispered into the darkness. She didn’t dare say it any louder with Grandmother Dill in charge. Why didn’t Grandmother shush Paisley herself? Why was she letting Paisley stay up so late and keep the rest of them awake? Then Grandmother would get them all up bright and early in the morning for one of her horrible, healthy, hot breakfasts. It wasn’t fair. None of it was fair.
    When Staci finally went to sleep, she dreamed of Noodles. She was standing right beside him, but he was ignoring her and nuzzling up to Paisley. It was not a good dream.
    The next morning—sure enough—Grandmother Dill woke her early. Woke them all early. It was their last day with Grandmother Dill, thank goodness. Mom and Mr. McPherson would be back by evening.
    At the table with the others, Staci noticed grumpily that Paisley looked bright-eyed and cheery in spite of the red chigger bites on her arms and legs and even on her neck and cheeks. “I got half the fence posts in yesterday,” she reported loudly to anyone who was listening. “I’ll get the rest in this morning and start on the wire. Maybe I’ll get the whole pasture done before Dad gets back! Then we can go right over and get Noodles.”
    Neither Stirling nor Staci looked up, but Toni did. “Noodles?” she inquired.
    Paisley’s eager reply was interrupted by Grandmother Dill. Straight as a soldier, she turned about-face from a search of the cereal cupboard. She was frowning as hard as Paisley was smiling. “Girls. I have had enough of tricks. Who has taken the oatmeal?”
    â€œOh!” Paisley’s smile sagged into dismay. “Oh, Mrs. Dill, I forgot, I mean, I didn’t know you wanted the rest of that for breakfast. I woke up itchy in the middle of the night and I didn’t want to bother anybody, so I just took another bath with some more oatmeal.”
    â€œI see.” Grandmother Dill relaxed. “You have left it in the bathroom? Bring it here for me, please.”
    â€œI—I can’t. It’s all gone.”
    Once again Staci saw Grandmother Dill astonished by Paisley. “You have used it all? My big box of oatmeal?”
    Paisley nodded, gulping. “It felt so good ,” she said in a voice much smaller than her usual bellow. “I just kept dumping it in.”
    â€œMy word,” exclaimed Grandmother, “it is a wonder the drain is not clogged. Perhaps it is!”
    â€œI’m sorry,” Paisley said. She was overdoing it, Staci thought sourly. But in the next moment she understood why. Grandmother had whisked out of the kitchen, running to check the bathtub drain, and Paisley looked up at the other girls with a wicked grin. She winked.
    â€œOh!” Toni grabbed at her mouth to keep from laughing aloud. Even Stirling giggled. Only Staci could not appreciate how Paisley had rescued them all from another oatmeal breakfast.
    â€œThe drain’s all right,” Paisley whispered. “I dumped most of it down the john.”
    â€œIs she always like this?” Toni whispered to Stirling.
    â€œPretty much,” Stirling whispered back, smiling. “More so lately.”
    â€œI’m superpowered with pony power!” Paisley declared aloud. Loudly, in fact. “Some people have pedal power”—she grinned at Staci, who did not grin back—“and my aunt Caledonia is into horsepower. She’s got about a dozen horses.