Stable Hearts (9 page)

C
AROLE FITTED THE
earpieces of Max’s stethoscope into her ears and set the end of it gently against Dime’s belly. “Listen,” she said, taking the earpieces out and handing them to Lisa. “He really does sound rumbly. It can’t be colic.”

“But he’s still not eating,” Lisa said sadly. She patted Dime’s flank, and the pony gave her an angry look, his ears pinned against his head. Carole held Dime’s lead rope firmly.

“Feel his ribs,” Carole said. “They’re starting to stick out. He’s losing weight. Poor pony. Red made him a bran mash today, and he didn’t even eat all of that.”

“I asked Max what Judy said,” Lisa reported.
“He said she couldn’t find anything wrong either, but she drew some blood to send away for tests. She’ll get the results back in a few days.”

Carole nodded. “Good. That’ll tell us if there’s any infection or—”

“I hate him!” Stevie flew into the stall, howling with sadness and rage. She threw her arms around Dime and sobbed into the pony’s mane. “He is such a jerk! I hate him!” she cried between sobs.

“Oh no,” Carole said. “What happened?”

“He’s going to his dance with someone else!” Stevie sobbed harder. Dime, for a change, seemed sympathetic—he turned and nuzzled Stevie’s shoulder. Carole and Lisa looked at each other in shocked silence.

“With someone else?” Lisa asked.

“How could he?” said Carole. “That’s horrid!”

“I just hate him,” Stevie replied. “He’s such a jerk. It’s over between us, entirely over.”

Lisa patted her on the back. “I can’t believe it,” she said indignantly. “Who’s he going with?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Stevie wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve and smoothed Dime’s rumpled mane. “He thought—he actually thought that I asked him to come see the hay barn because I was going to his dance. He said he didn’t want
to come here, and I said I didn’t want to go there and that I hoped he had fun dancing with all the other girls, and I know he will and I hate him, I really do” She hiccuped back another sob.

“So he didn’t actually ask anyone else to his dance?” Carole said.

“Well, no, of course not! But he’ll probably meet someone else there he likes better—I mean, it’s obvious he doesn’t care about me.”

“Oh, Stevie.” Carole slumped against the wall of the stall. Dime pinned his ears back at her, and Lisa grabbed his lead rope and spoke sharply to him. She couldn’t believe Stevie had made such a mess over what really was a little dance. Well, no, she could believe it—Stevie sometimes made big messes over small things. Lisa tried to imagine whether she would get this worked up if John Brightstar, her friend out West, had done something similar. She didn’t think so. She seldom got as upset over anything as Stevie did. Lisa sighed. She wished she could go to a Valentine’s Day dance with John. She’d go to his school. She wouldn’t care. Too bad he was two thousand miles away.

Carole had seen Dime put his ears back again, and even though she was concerned for Stevie,
that bothered her more. Why was this usually cheerful pony acting so ugly? Carole didn’t know what else to do for him. She knew Max was already doing everything he could.

Stevie sat down next to Carole and buried her head in her arms. “I thought it was going to be such a nice evening,” she said. “I was really hoping for a nice time.” Carole shook her head sadly. All along she’d thought Stevie was overreacting, but now the misery in Stevie’s voice hurt her heart. Why couldn’t Stevie and Phil have worked it out? They were both going to be unhappy now.

“Well,” Lisa said after a long, depressing pause, “I suppose we should go ride.”

“I suppose so,” Carole said. “Starlight needs the exercise. Stevie?”

Stevie rose to her feet. “Yeah. I mean, that’s what we planned to do. We might as well do it.” She couldn’t remember when she’d been less enthusiastic about a trail ride. For a moment she thought of all the special rides she’d taken with Phil, but that only made her feel worse. They had had a lot of fun together, but it was over now.

The girls gathered their grooming equipment and tack and began to prepare their horses. Standing in Starlight’s stall brushing the dust
from his glossy flanks, Carole began to feel just a little bit better. Anyone who owned a horse like Starlight couldn’t feel depressed for long. She leaned against him.

“Hey! My favorite young ladies! Would you by any chance be going on another trail ride?” Mr. Stowe came around the corner of the aisle, a saddle in his arms, smiling broadly.

Stevie smiled listlessly in return. “Good guess,” she said.

“Hello, Mr. Stowe,” Carole said. “Did you finish your surprise?”

Mr. Stowe made hushing movements with his hands. “Not yet,” he said. “No, I thought I’d go for a ride with you girls first. That is, if you don’t mind.”

Stevie rolled her eyes at Lisa in dismay. Lisa understood, but what could they say? Mr. Stowe had been so nice to them.

“Sure,” Carole said faintly. It was the only polite answer.

Mr. Stowe secured Delilah on a set of cross-ties just outside Starlight’s stall and began grooming her. “I’ve got my secret hidden in my car,” he whispered to Carole over the door of Starlight’s
stall. “Elizabeth’s car is still in for repair, and she was just asking me for another ride. I can’t have her see the secret! So I told her I was going to ride with you right now.” He moved to Delilah’s other side, and as a consequence he spoke more loudly. “I’d like to stay away from Elizabeth for a little while.”

Carole looked up from combing Starlight’s tail. She saw Mrs. Reg come around the corner and then stop, facing Mr. Stowe’s back. Mrs. Reg’s smile faded away, and a hurt expression took its place. She looked at Mr. Stowe’s back for another moment, then turned on her heel and left.

Carole stood still for a moment, puzzled and too surprised to say anything. Why did Mrs. Reg look so upset? All Mr. Stowe had said was that he’d like to stay away from her. Carole turned this phrase over in her mind, trying to decide whether it would upset her. It probably wouldn’t be the nicest thing to hear, she decided, but it wouldn’t be that bad. But Mrs. Reg had looked really hurt—stunned and disappointed.

Carole didn’t say anything to the other girls, because she didn’t want Mr. Stowe to know that he’d upset Mrs. Reg. He hadn’t done it on purpose,
after all. But she continued to wonder about it even after they were mounted and riding through the bare trails.

Mr. Stowe seemed conscious of how morose they all were.
How could he not be
, Carole thought,
when none of us is laughing or even talking?

“I do hope you all would have told me if you didn’t want an old man’s company,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been offended, honest now.”

“We would have told you,” Lisa assured him. What difference did it make if Mr. Stowe went with them? “We’re just a little worried—about one of the ponies, and about the dance.”

“The dance’ll be fine. You three’ll be surrounded by beaus.”

“Bows?” asked Stevie. “The only one of us who wears ribbons is Lisa.”

Mr. Stowe laughed heartily, as though Stevie had made a joke. Stevie sighed. She couldn’t make a joke right now if she tried.

“Oh, my gosh,” Carole said softly.

“What’s wrong?” Lisa drew Prancer to a walk.

“Nothing,” Carole said with a quick shake of her head. But it
was
something. She suddenly understood why Mrs. Reg looked so upset. Mrs. Reg
liked Mr. Stowe.
Liked
him liked him! Like as a boyfriend!

Poor Mrs. Reg. Carole looked at gangly Mr. Stowe, who was slap-trotting alongside her, and felt more depressed than ever.

“Hey, Stevie,” Mr. Stowe said, “here’s one for you. How many dummies does it take to screw in a lightbulb?”

“How many?” Stevie asked dully.

“Six,” he said. “One to hold the lightbulb, and five to turn the ladder around.”

Stevie and Lisa laughed, but Carole didn’t even try. She felt so sorry for Mrs. Reg. Then she felt sorry for them all. It was Valentine’s Day, and Pine Hollow was full of broken hearts.

W
HEN THEY GOT
back to Pine Hollow, they saw Mrs. Reg in the outdoor arena, schooling Eve, a beautiful gray mare Max had adopted not long ago. Eve had been rescued from an abusive owner and was just starting to recover her trust in people. Mrs. Reg had taken her on as a special project. The mare was beginning to flourish.

“Look at that!” Stevie said, bringing Belle to a halt outside the ring. “Mrs. Reg is riding Eve!” Mrs. Reg trotted a circle, and Eve delicately mouthed the bit.

Carole beamed. “They’re starting to really work together. Look—you can see how much Eve is cooperating.”

Lisa felt too proud and happy to speak. After such a depressing afternoon, seeing Eve go so well under saddle was like a special gift. When Eve had first been rescued, Lisa had worked harder than any of the rest of them to help her find the courage to live.

Mr. Stowe, too, was silent for a moment, watching Mrs. Reg ride the gray mare. Mrs. Reg, thought Carole, looked truly beautiful on a horse. She rode as gracefully as a young girl, and there was something about her growing relationship with Eve that was wonderful to see. Carole fought a sudden urge to tell Mr. Stowe what she suspected of Mrs. Reg’s feelings.

“Yep, that’s a pretty little filly, all right,” Mr. Stowe said. “I always did like them Thoroughbreds.”

“Eve’s not a Thoroughbred,” Carole said, turning away from him with a slight feeling of annoyance. Poor Mrs. Reg!

Mr. Stowe dismounted and loosened Delilah’s girth. “After I get this horse put away, I’m going to go set up my surprise,” he said. “I want you all to promise me, no peeking until the dance starts. And no telling Elizabeth, either.”

“We promise.” Stevie buried her face in Belle’s
neck as she had in Dime’s. She didn’t care about Mr. Stowe’s surprise anymore, and she doubted Lisa and Carole were very excited, either. The knot she’d had in her stomach ever since Phil drove away would not unravel. The only reason she was going to the dance at all was because it would beat staying home with her bratty brothers.

Carole waited until Mr. Stowe had put Delilah away and left the main stable before telling her friends what she thought.

“No way!” Stevie said. “Mrs. Reg likes Mr. Stowe? That’s unbelievable.”

“It is,” Lisa agreed. She pulled Prancer’s bridle off and scratched the mare behind the ears. “I’m sorry, Carole, but it doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t sound possible.”

“Why not?” Carole asked bluntly.

“I mean—we’re talking about Mrs. Reg!” Stevie sputtered. “She can’t feel like that for anyone! She was married, for one thing. To Max the Second.”

“Max the Second has been dead for an awfully long time,” Lisa argued. “I bet Mrs. Reg probably would like to have someone to go to movies with, and out to dinner and stuff like that. She probably
would like a boyfriend. I just can’t imagine her going out with Mr. Stowe.”

“I would agree with you guys except that I saw her face,” Carole persisted. “She wouldn’t look that upset for any other reason. I’m sure I’m right. She likes Mr. Stowe.” She put Starlight back in his stall. Lisa and Stevie put Prancer and Belle away, too, and they met in the center of the aisle.

“It’s too bad Mr. Stowe doesn’t like her back,” Lisa said at last.

“I know,” Carole replied. “I couldn’t believe he didn’t say anything about how nice she looked out there on Eve. I think he only saw the horse. I don’t think he noticed Mrs. Reg at all.”

“Men,” Stevie said heavily. “They’re all creeps. Still, maybe we could do something about Mrs. Reg and Mr. Stowe. Maybe we could—”

“No.” Carole cut in firmly. “We can’t do anything about this at all.”

“I agree,” Lisa said. “All we’d probably end up doing is embarrassing Mrs. Reg, and I’d never risk that.” She checked her watch. “Come on. Let’s go back to my house. It’s time to get ready for the dance.”

They put their gear away, put on their winter
jackets, and started walking to Lisa’s house. “Imagine someone liking Mr. Stowe!” Stevie said, shaking her head.

“I know,” said Carole, sighing. “He’s so old.”

“W
HAT ARE YOU
wearing, Stevie?” Lisa asked. She modeled her new sweater in front of her mirror. Carole’s suggestions had been good. The sweater looked great over black leggings and a black turtleneck.

“I don’t know,” Stevie said. “What difference does it make now?”

“You must have brought something to wear,” Carole said. “What were you planning on wearing when you thought Phil was coming?” She pulled Lisa’s red sweater over her head.

“That’s just it,” Stevie said with a sigh. “I couldn’t think of anything I liked well enough. I’ve outgrown some of my favorite stuff. And now I just don’t care. I’m so angry at Phil. The creep.”

“So you came to spend two nights at my house, and you didn’t bring anything to wear to the dance?” Lisa asked.

“Well …” Stevie looked vaguely embarrassed. “I meant to ask you guys for help last night, but I got so excited after I talked to Phil
that I forgot. It doesn’t really matter. I’ll just wear what I have on.”

Lisa looked at Stevie’s torn, dirty jeans, old gray sweatshirt, and cream-colored turtleneck. She went into her closet and started rummaging around. “Here are some clean jeans,” she said, tossing Stevie a pair. “And here. How about this?” She held up a dainty white sweater with pearl buttons and a lace collar.