Autumn Trail Read Online Free PDF Page A

which adjoined the tack room on one side, was slightly ajar. Even if she had noticed, she wouldn’t have thought anything of it. But as Carole was digging around in the trunk full of extra stirrup leathers, she heard a male voice coming from behind the door. She paused and listened long enough to determine that the voice belonged to Max, who seemed to be talking animatedly to someone on the phone. Then she turned her attention back to the leathers. It was a little unusual for Max to use the phonein his mother’s office rather than his own, but it was certainly nothing to worry about.
    Then Carole heard something that made her forget all about stirrup leathers. Was she going crazy, or had Max just said something about a “lovely lady”—and then
giggled
?
    Max was a good friend to the riders he taught, including The Saddle Club. But Carole had to admit that they didn’t know much about his personal life. In fact, now that she stopped to think about it, she had always sort of assumed that he didn’t really have one outside Pine Hollow. Now she realized that that might not be a fair assumption. After all, at the moment it sounded as though Max was talking to someone about a woman!
    Carole dropped the handful of leathers she was holding and scooted as close to the office door as she dared. For a moment she felt guilty about eavesdropping, but Max’s next words made her forget those feelings entirely.
    “Great, then everything’s settled,” Max was saying. “Provided I can get someone to take care of things here for a few days, tell Lillian I hope I’ll be seeing her soon.” He chuckled. “And tell that special lady that I really hope she’ll be coming home with me after the visit!”
    Carole gasped, then belatedly clapped her hand over her mouth, hoping Max hadn’t heard her. A special lady, whom Max wanted to bring home with him? It could mean only one thing—Max was in love! Shecouldn’t believe he hadn’t let on a thing about it before this. It was so romantic!
    But she didn’t have much of a chance to think about it. She could hear Max saying good-bye and hanging up the phone. The legs of Mrs. Reg’s old wooden chair were scraping against the floor. In a second Carole knew that Max would come out and see her there, and he would surely realize that she must have heard his conversation. If he had just been discussing grain prices or something, it wouldn’t have mattered, but Carole was afraid he’d be embarrassed, or even angry, if he knew she’d overheard him making plans to see his girlfriend. And if he was planning to bring this woman back to Pine Hollow with him and nobody had heard about it, he must have wanted to keep it a secret. Maybe Mrs. Reg didn’t even know about it! Maybe Max and his special lady were planning to elope! Maybe—
    But Carole didn’t have time for any more
maybe
’s just then. She glanced frantically at the tack-room door, wondering if she should make a run for it. The trouble was, if she shut the heavy, squeaky lid of the old metal trunk containing the stirrup leathers, Max would hear it and know she’d been there. And if she left it open, she was certain he’d be so annoyed at this bit of carelessness that he’d be sure to track down who had done it. She was trapped!
    Just then her gaze fell on something lying on a low shelf near the door. It was Red’s portable radio andheadphones. Carole knew that the stable hand sometimes liked to listen to music while he cleaned tack to make the tedious job go faster. Luckily, he must have forgotten and left it behind after his last cleaning session. Moving quickly, Carole tiptoed across the floor, grabbed the tiny radio, and jammed the headphones on her ears. She just had time to turn it on, twist the volume knob to “loud,” and sit down again in front of the trunk full of stirrup leathers before Max stepped out of Mrs. Reg’s office with a big smile on his face.
    He seemed startled to see her there. “Oh—hello, Carole,”