Horse Power (7 page)

C
AROLE GLANCED AT
the clock for the umpteenth time Saturday morning. The Devines would arrive any minute now, she knew. She looked out the window again.

“They’ll get here, honey,” her father said. “Frank said they’d arrive between ten and eleven. It’s only ten-fifteen now.” He spoke gently. Carole was glad that he seemed to understand her nervousness.

“And besides, you told Max we’d get to Pine Hollow around noon,” Lisa reminded her. “There’s plenty of time yet.”

“Uh, sure,” Carole told them, but their words didn’t relieve her discomfort. Now that Kate was just about to arrive, all she could think of was how foolish she’d been last week. How dumb she must have sounded.
How babyish Kate probably thought she was. How stupid. How— She cringed, just thinking about it all again.

Stevie stood up from the breakfast table, where the four of them had been lingering over coffee cake. She took her plate to the sink.

“Green car?” she asked, looking through the window. “With California plates that say KERNEL D?”

“That’s it!” Carole said. She leapt up from the table, nearly upsetting a glass of milk. “I’ll go get Kate!” she uttered breathlessly, heading for the door at breakneck speed.

“If my daughter ever enters the Kentucky Derby,” Colonel Hanson said with a grin, “I don’t believe she’ll need a horse under her to win.” He stood up and followed her out the door to greet their guests.

Lisa and Stevie waited patiently in the kitchen, rinsing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher for the Hansons. They both understood that Carole needed to clear the air with Kate before anything else.

Stevie brought the final glass from the table. Lisa, standing at the sink, could see out the window. She provided the play-by-play.

“Okay, now, first Mrs. Devine steps out of the car. Colonel Hanson hugs her. Back door opens. That must be Kate. She’s a knockout!” Lisa said, the envy clear in her voice. “Oh, I love those clothes!”

“I don’t want to know what she’s wearing. I want to know what she’s doing!” Stevie complained.

“Okay, okay. Carole’s waiting for her and— Listen, why don’t you come watch for yourself?” Lisa invited, moving over so Stevie could look out the window, too.

A
T THE
H
ANSONS
’ driveway, Carole smiled nervously at Kate.

“Oh, I’m glad you could—uh—come over today,” Carole said.

Kate stepped over to her uncertainly. “I feel awful,” Kate said.

“Are you sick?” Carole asked.

“No, that’s not what I mean,” Kate said. “I did something awful to you last week at Quantico.”

“You did? I thought
I
did something awful,” Carole began. “I can’t believe how stupid I must have sounded—I mean, how stupid I was. It’s just that I—”

“It’s all my fault. I should have told you,” Kate said. “Somehow, though, when I didn’t tell you right away, I just couldn’t.”

“But everything I said must have sounded so dumb. I was embarrassed that my father had to tell me who you are.”

“I should have told you,” Kate said. “I’m sorry. I’m
really
sorry. I hope we can still be friends.”

“If you aren’t mad at me because I behaved like an idiot, then everything’s fine.”

“Everything’s fine,” Kate assured her.

“Oh,
good
!” Carole said, grinning. “Come on in the house. Stevie and Lisa are here. They’re just dying to meet you.”

Carole picked up Kate’s overnight bag and led her in through the kitchen door.

“Kate, I’d like you to meet my two best friends,” Carole announced. “This is Stevie Lake and this is Lisa Atwood.”

Lisa felt a little awkward in the presence of somebody she’d heard so much about.

“Boy, I’m glad to meet you two,” Kate said brightly, immediately breaking the ice and putting Stevie and Lisa at ease. “Carole couldn’t stop talking about you last week, so I feel as if I already know you.”

Suddenly, Kate Devine didn’t seem so much like royalty to Lisa. She seemed more like a regular person. And whatever had caused the misunderstanding between Kate and Carole seemed to have been resolved. Lisa knew that she and Stevie would have to wait to learn the full story.

“Come on, I’ll show you my room,” Carole said, leading the way up the stairs.

As they climbed upstairs, Lisa noticed again how well Kate was dressed. She was wearing stylishly cut jeans, topped by an oversize red-and-white-striped cotton shirt that seemed to show off her nice figure. Her deep auburn hair was held in a ponytail by a ribbon that matched the pattern of her shirt. Her shoes, though just casual sports shoes, were the same red-and-white. On her left wrist, she wore a bright red-and-white watch. Somehow, even with perfectly normal casual clothes and patterns, Kate managed to look very specially dressed. The word was style, and Kate had it.

“Well, we feel as if we know you, too,” Stevie told Kate when they got to Carole’s room. “Because if you think Carole talked a lot about
us
last weekend, you should have heard what she’s been saying about
you
all week!”

Kate smiled warmly. “I sure hope I won’t be a disappointment,” she said.

“No way,” Lisa assured her. “Not if you’re half as neat as Carole says.”

Kate grinned at her warm welcome. “Well, I’m glad to be here. I like seeing ‘real’ towns.”

Lisa and Stevie looked at her quizzically.

“She means like a town that’s
not
a military base,” Carole translated, flopping onto her bed. Kate sat down beside her.

“Right. Bases are nice in a way,” Kate told the girls. “For example, they are really
clean
.”

“Sure, you can be court-martialed for dropping a gum wrapper, right?” Stevie teased.

“Almost,” Carole said, grinning. “Anyway, the total effect isn’t at all the same as a civilian town. The total effect on a military base is, well, military.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Kate said, laughing. “So, now what am I going to get to see in this real town?” she asked Carole.

“Dad told me that he wanted to visit with your parents, show them around a bit, but that we can go to Pine Hollow—that is, if you’d like.”

Lisa noticed Carole was being a bit more timid than
usual. She was clearly awed by Kate, and it was out of character for Carole to be awed by anybody, especially when it came to horses. Carole continued, “I hope you don’t mind, but I told Max—he’s our teacher—that we’d be there. He said he’d really like to meet you. The only trouble is that usually the summer campers, like us, have trouble riding there on weekends. See, the horses are all reserved, so it’s hard to ride. But there’s lots to see—including Samson, the brand-new foal.”

“He’s the one you three delivered, right?” Kate asked.

“Actually, it seemed that Delilah did most of the work,” Stevie told her. “But we’re sort of his aunts, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Kate said. “And I love foals. There was one at one of the bases …” she began.

After Kate had put her clothes for the weekend in Carole’s closet, all four of the girls headed to the Hansons’ patio, still chatting about horses. While Kate spoke, Lisa began thinking how much she liked this girl—how right Carole had been. It was as if the four of them had been together talking about horses for months, maybe years.

“… She was a wonderful horse. She’d ride all day for you, until she dropped. But, believe me, she would go at her own pace. There was no fire in her at all!”

Stevie, Lisa, and Carole all laughed at Kate’s story. “That’s not like our Samson. At least I don’t think so.
He was standing and nursing within a few minutes. That one has fire!” Stevie told her.

“He sounds so cute,” Kate said. “I can’t wait to see him.”

“Maybe Dad’s ready to take us over to Pine Hollow,” Carole said, standing up to find her father.

“D
ON
’
T FORGET TO
show Kate the tack room,” Stevie said a half hour later, tugging at Carole’s sleeve. The four girls were about to enter the stable at Pine Hollow. “After all, we polished everything in the joint just in your honor!”

“You’re kidding!” Kate said. “No dusty saddles? No dingy bridles? It won’t seem like a real stable.”

“Okay,” Carole agreed with Stevie. “We’ll start in the tack room. Almost everything is polished, but it’s only partly in your honor. The fact is, there’s going to be a three-day event here in a couple of weeks and everything needs to be totally shiny for that. We’re also having a gymkhana for us—you know, the young riders. You’re going to love it, too. Just wait!”

Carole led Kate into the tack room. On the walls and the saddle racks, everything was lined up carefully, and glowingly clean. The air was filled with the wonderful pungent smells of clean leather and horses. In one corner, a few kittens tumbled playfully, batting around an S-hook and chasing after it.

“Looks just like a tack room!” Kate remarked. “Oh,
except that the tack is noticeably cleaner than in any other tack room I’ve ever seen.”

Kate was joking, but Lisa could see Carole flush with pleasure. All of the members of The Saddle Club were proud of Pine Hollow. It was the kind of place where everybody pitched in to do the work, so everybody could be proud of her accomplishments.

“And here’s the locker area. We each have a little cubby where we can stow our stuff. And for riders who don’t have their own hats—” Carole turned to gesture toward the wall where the hats were kept. The wall was covered with tenpenny nails spaced a few inches apart to hold a variety of sizes of black velvet-covered regulation riding hats. “—here are—”

Carole paused. She realized with a start that the riding caps were not scattered on the nails randomly, as usual. In fact, they were very carefully arranged so that they formed the letters K-A-T-E!

“Oh!” Kate said, surprised. “Now I
do
feel welcome!”

Carole’s eyes went to Stevie. “Do I see your fine hand here?” she asked. Stevie grinned, acknowledging responsibility. “Sometimes Stevie uses the hats for a message board,” Carole explained.

“Well, thanks, Stevie,” Kate said.

“You’re welcome—and I mean
very
welcome. We’re glad to have you at Pine Hollow.”

“I’m just a visitor,” Kate reminded her.

Lisa hoped that Kate wouldn’t be
just
a visitor for long, and she could tell that her friends were hoping the same thing.

Carole took Kate on the extended grand tour of the stable. The group paused at almost every stall for an introduction to each horse. Kate listened and seemed to enjoy the tour, but Lisa noticed that although she appeared interested in Pine Hollow, she didn’t offer any information about her own riding experience. It was almost as if she were avoiding the topic. Lisa wondered why that would be. She decided to try the direct approach.

“What kind of horse do you ride in competition?” Lisa asked.

“Oh, different ones,” Kate said evasively.

“Thoroughbreds?” Lisa asked.

“Sometimes,” Kate answered.

Stevie and Carole both asked Kate questions about the horse shows she’d ridden in and the prizes she’d won, and each time they got the same kind of evasive answer Lisa had gotten. It was clear that the door was shut. The girls knew better than to pry.

“And now it’s time to meet Samson,” Carole said, leading the group to the paddock where the three-week-old foal was frisking about.

“Oh, he’s beautiful!” Kate said, all reserve melting away. “Look how long his legs are—and his coat is so shiny already!”

“Come on up this way,” Carole said. “We can sit on
this knoll here and watch, but we’re far enough away so that Delilah feels secure.”

The four girls walked up the hill and sat comfortably on the dry grass, warmed by the summer sun. A breeze brought the fresh scent of hay and horses to them. Carole thought that the sight of horses at play and the scent of fresh fields were the nicest treats she could give her senses.

Delilah had eyed the visitors warily while they stood at the edge of the paddock, glancing back and forth between the girls and her foal. But when the girls moved back to the knoll and sat down, she seemed to relax, confident that there was no danger to her baby.

“She’s something,” Carole said. “I’ve been riding her for a couple of years now and she’s terrific with me. As a rider, she trusts me completely. But now that she’s a mother—”

“Mares are very different when they are with newborns,” Kate agreed. “She’ll relax a little bit as Samson grows up. And I’m sure that when you ride her again, she’ll be just as trusting—as long as she knows Samson’s okay.”

“Mothers are like that,” Lisa agreed, thinking of her own occasionally overbearing, overprotective mother. “And speaking of mothers, I promised mine I’d be home in time for lunch.” She stood up and glanced at Stevie.

“Me, too,” Stevie said, rising as well. “Carole, thanks for the great time last night.” She looked at
Kate. “Get her to make popcorn, Kate. She’s the
best
at it. I’m glad you’ve come to Pine Hollow. We’re going to have fun together,” Stevie added.

“Thanks,” Kate said.

“So long,” Lisa told Kate and Carole. Then, waving good-bye, she and Stevie headed down the knoll. As they neared the barn, Carole could hear Stevie talking.