Driving Team (6 page)

“You’re not going to tell Mrs. Davidson, are you?” Cynthia cried, a look of panic on her face.

“No,” Carole said. “I promise I won’t!”

She hurried back to where Lisa had just opened a big black book called
Horse Transport in Ancient Rome
.

“You’ll never guess who I just ran into.” Carole pulled out the chair next to Lisa’s and sat down hard.

“I don’t know.” Lisa barely looked up from the pages. “Somebody from school?”

“No. Cynthia!”

“Cynthia?” Lisa looked up and blinked in amazement. “She’s here again?”

Carole nodded. “Her mother has dropped her off here two days in a row! Can you imagine a parent acting like that?”

Lisa shook her head. “My mother gets pretty crazy about shopping, but she would never have dropped me off in a library all by myself. Not without a couple of armed guards, anyway.” Carole nodded. She knew that Lisa’s mother could sometimes be a little overprotective.

“This makes me so mad!” Carole fumed. “It’s so sad to see Cynthia sitting there, just looking at the pictures of Misty and not being able to read a single page!”

“It is sad,” agreed Lisa. “But what can we do?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that Cynthia needs help. She needs to feel like somebody likes her, that she’s not just a pest to be dropped off somewhere on the way to the mall.” Carole chewed her thumbnail for a moment, then looked at Lisa, her brown eyes sparkling.

“I just had a great idea! I know we’ve got all this research to do, but it doesn’t mean we have to do it together, all the time. Why don’t we take turns? One of us can work on the history of driving while the other reads
Misty
to Cynthia.”

“Okay,” agreed Lisa. “That way she won’t feel like such an outcast, and at least one of us will be getting some work done.”

Carole frowned. “Pretty soon we’ll have to come up with a way to get her mother to quit doing this altogether, but for now I can’t think of a better thing to do than to make this little girl feel special.”

“I think you’re right. Let’s start this minute,” said Lisa. “Do you want to read first or do research?”

“You read first,” replied Carole. “I’ll get started on this.”

“Great,” Lisa said. “Let’s go tell Cynthia.”

“Wait.” Carole scooted back in the chair. “Don’t let her know how upset we are about her mother. That’ll only make her feel worse than she already does.”

“Okay.”

Lisa and Carole walked back to where Cynthia was still tracing over the pony illustrations.

“Hi, Cynthia,” Lisa said as she and Carole sat down at the tiny table. “Want to read some more of
Misty
?”

Cynthia looked up at them, her blue eyes wide.
“Sure I do. But aren’t you two working on some school project?”

“Well, we decided to take turns,” explained Carole. “We had such a good time reading to you yesterday that we thought we could at least read a little bit more today.”

Cynthia beamed. “But we won’t read anywhere near Mrs. Davidson, will we? She almost saw me this morning when she was getting a huge stack of books from behind the counter. I had to run to the back of the children’s section as fast as I could.”

Carole and Lisa shared a guilty look. The only reserve books Mrs. Davidson had doled out that morning had been their own stack. “Oh, no,” Carole reassured Cynthia. “We’ll stay far away from Mrs. Davidson.”

“Okay,” Cynthia agreed excitedly.

“Let’s go find a quiet corner,” Lisa said. “I’ll read the next couple of chapters, then Carole and I will switch off and she can read.”

“That sounds like fun!” said Cynthia.

They got up from the table and walked toward a little nook in the wall, close to the reserved book counter.

“What’s your mother like, Cynthia?” Lisa asked as they squeezed between two tall bookcases.

“She’s real pretty and sweet,” Cynthia said, smiling.
“She let me adopt a kitten from the animal shelter, and she pops me popcorn and reads lots of books to me when we’re at home.”

Carole was curious. “What does she like to buy at the mall?”

“Red pocketbooks,” Cynthia giggled. “She has a whole collection of them. They’re all great big and she carries them over her shoulder. People tease her about them all the time.”

They reached the little nook, which was empty. Lisa and Cynthia sat down together on the floor. Carole smiled. “Well, I guess I’ll go back to our work. Come and get me when it’s my turn, Lisa.”

“Right.” Lisa opened the book to where they’d stopped the day before. “See you in a little while.”

Carole turned and had begun to retrace her steps toward their table when she saw Mrs. Davidson heading for the reserved books. An elderly woman followed close behind. For an instant Carole panicked. If they kept going straight, they would certainly see Lisa and Cynthia. Carole hurried toward them.

“Hi, Mrs. Davidson,” she called loudly. “Anything I can help you with?”

“No, dear, I was just going to get Mrs. Lovejoy her books on mushrooms.”

“Mushrooms?” Carole cried. “Really? I love to read
about mushrooms! Why don’t you let me get Mrs. Love joy’s books? That way I can have a peek at them before I get back to my own work.”

Mrs. Lovejoy smiled while Mrs. Davidson just looked confused. “Well, uh, I guess that would be all right. If you don’t mind, that is.”

“No, no,” said Carole. “I’d love to!”

She waited for Mrs. Davidson to turn back to the checkout desk, then hurriedly picked up Mrs. Lovejoy’s mushroom books and deposited them on the table she’d chosen.

“Don’t you want to look at them first, dear?” said Mrs. Lovejoy.

“Uh, maybe later,” said Carole, who was watching Mrs. Davidson at the checkout desk again. She was talking to a man and pointing in Lisa and Cynthia’s direction. “Right now I’ve got to help Mrs. Davidson.”

She hurried back up to the counter. “All the Italian dictionaries are located just this side of that big globe,” Mrs. Davidson was telling the man. “If you follow me, I’ll be happy to show you where.”

“Uh, did you say Italian dictionaries, Mrs. Davidson?” Carole leaned forward.

Mrs. Davidson blinked with even more surprise, then nodded. “Why, yes, dear. This gentleman needs to translate a letter.”

“I’d be happy to show him where they are,” Carole
blurted out. She shrugged. “I mean, it’s on my way back to my table, and I look at the Italian dictionaries a lot. I’m going to take Italian when I get to high school. I might even go live in Italy someday.”

Mrs. Davidson looked mystified. “Well, of course, if you’re sure you know where they are.”

“Oh, I do.” Carole turned and smiled at the man. “Just follow me, sir.”

She led the man to the dictionaries, deciding that it wasn’t exactly a fib she’d just told. She supposed she could take Italian once she got to high school, although she really hadn’t given it a single thought. She snuck a quick glance at Lisa and Cynthia reading away as she passed.
Thank heavens
, she thought.
So far, so good
.

After she pointed out all the Italian dictionaries, she helped Mrs. Davidson pull some medical reference books for a man with a broken finger; then she helped a little girl find an aerial map of Peru. By the time she got back to the table to start researching the history of driving, Lisa was waiting to take over.

“Hi,” Lisa said. “I’ve finished my chapters. How far have you gotten?”

“Not far at all,” said Carole, almost out of breath. “Every time I turn around, Mrs. Davidson is either about to lead someone past that little nook or she’s looking something up for somebody. I’ve spent the whole time keeping her away from you and Cynthia!”

“What should we do?” Lisa asked.

“Well, I’ll go read. You do as much research as you can, but keep an eye on Mrs. Davidson. She buzzes around here like a bee!”

“Okay,” Lisa promised.

Carole walked over to the nook and sat down beside Cynthia. As she read the next two chapters of Misty, she stayed on the lookout for the librarian. Apparently Lisa was doing the same thing. Once Carole saw her shelving some books in the cookbook section; then she saw her hurrying to take a young couple over to the periodicals. As Carole neared the end of her chapters, Lisa was looking up information on butterflies for a couple of Brownies. Mrs. Davidson, though, had not left the checkout desk. Carole gave a big sigh and looked at her watch. It was time to go. They’d spent all morning at the library, and as far as she could tell, all they’d done was help other people out in the reference room and read several chapters of Misty to Cynthia.

Lisa appeared. “Carole, have you checked the time?”

Carole nodded. “I know. We’ve got to go.” She looked over at Cynthia. “I’m sorry we can’t stay and read more of Misty, Cynthia, but we’ve got to go now. We promised Lisa’s mom we’d be at her house before one.”

“That’s okay.” Cynthia’s voice sagged with disappointment. “You were great to read to me. I’ll just go
back to my secret hiding place and look at the pictures for the rest of the afternoon.”

“We hate to leave you,” said Lisa. “Are you sure you’ll be okay till your mom comes?”

Cynthia gathered up her book and nodded. “I guess so,” she replied sadly. Then she looked up, happier. “My mom said she might come back early this afternoon and take me to the mall!”

“That would be wonderful, Cynthia,” said Carole as she got to her feet. “I hope she does, and I hope you have a great time.”

“Thanks,” said Cynthia with a wan smile. “Bye,” she called as she scurried off into the dark corners of the stacks.

Carole and Lisa walked slowly over to their table. “Can you believe we’ve been here all morning and haven’t taken one note?” asked Lisa. “We could have gotten so much more done if we’d just thought to move Cynthia to a different location.”

“I know,” agreed Carole. “But everything started happening so fast. It seemed like every time I looked up, Mrs. Davidson was on her way to that little nook!”

“Carole, we’ve got to do something about this,” said Lisa as she zipped up her jacket. “We can’t just let Cynthia’s mother keep on leaving her here like this. Even if she does come pick her up early this afternoon, it’s still practically child abandonment!”

“I know.” Carole tied her scarf snugly around her neck. “Let’s give it some thought on the way to your house. Maybe we’ll have some brilliant flash of inspiration.”

“We need Stevie,” Lisa said. “When it comes to brilliant flashes of inspiration, she’s the one to have on your team!”

“M
ORNING
,
GIRL
,” S
TEVIE
said softly. “How about a good scratch behind your ears?”

Belle stepped forward in her stall. Though she had already been fed, it was barely eight o’clock on Sunday morning, and she had the same sleepy look in her eyes that Stevie did.

“I bet you’re surprised to see me here so early,” Stevie whispered as she rubbed Belle’s soft ears. “I’m surprised to be here myself, but I’ve got to work on our project today, and who knows when my wonderful partner will show up. She’s probably having breakfast with her French friends, and you know how the French are about breakfast!” Stevie imitated Veronica’s haughty voice as Belle flicked her ears in surprise.

“I gotta go now.” She gave the horse a final pat. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

She turned down the hall and began to walk toward the back storage room, where she’d stashed the driving tack she’d untangled the day before. As she turned the corner, she noticed a light on in Danny’s stall and a wheelbarrow of dirty straw sitting by the door. She walked over and peeked inside, then gasped. In the middle of the stall, dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans, stood Veronica diAngelo!

“Veronica!” Stevie’s voice came out in a surprised croak. “What are you doing here?”

Veronica turned and gave her an icy stare. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’ve just cleaned Danny’s stall, and now I’m grooming him.”

“B-But it’s so early in the morning,” Stevie stuttered. “I didn’t think you’d get here before noon.”

“Looks like you thought wrong, didn’t you?” Veronica smirked over her shoulder.

For a moment Stevie was so astonished, she couldn’t think of anything to say. Then she decided that since Veronica had actually shown up, they’d better get some work done. “Well, I’m glad to see you. I finished cleaning the rest of the tack yesterday afternoon, so I guess we should start working the horses together. Why don’t we take Danny and Belle
out to the back paddock and longe them together in the driving harness?”

Veronica frowned for a moment, then shrugged. “Oh, all right,” she finally muttered. “You set it up. I’ll bring the horses.”

“Okay.” Stevie smiled. Even though Veronica was not in the sunniest of moods, at least she seemed to be willing to cooperate a little. Stevie headed to the storage room and fished the proper pieces of tack out of the box. Then she grabbed an extra-long longe line and headed to the back paddock. She had just checked to make sure she had two sets of each piece of tack when Veronica led Danny into the paddock.

“We’re ready,” Veronica announced, standing impatiently with one hand on her hip.

Stevie looked up and frowned. “Where’s Belle?”