Dream Horse Read Online Free PDF Page A

asked.
    “John Wayne,” Stevie informed him solemnly.
    “Very good,” he said, equally solemnly.
    Stevie couldn’t contain herself. She giggled.
    “Just as I thought,” said the doctor. “Okay, here’s the story. You can go home tomorrow, but you’ve got to go to bed and stay in bed. You jostled your brain around rather severely, and it needs time to settle back where it belongs. Do you understand?”
    “But Rock Ridge isn’t that far. And it would just be a quick tr—” Stevie tried.
    “Bed,” the doctor said, cutting her off. “Or I’ll keep you here to be sure you stay in bed.”
    “Home and I’ll stay in bed, I promise,” Stevie told him. “As long as my friends promise to tell me absolutely everything—and I mean
everything
—that happens in Rock Ridge.”
    “We promise,” said Lisa.
    “On a stack of bedpans,” Carole confirmed.
    “Well, that settles that,” said the doctor. “I’ll check on you in the morning to be sure you’re okay, and I’llcall your parents, too. For now, you should rest.” He left the room.
    Carole and Lisa knew the last remark was the doctor’s way of telling them it was time to leave. Now that they knew Stevie was getting better and going home, they could. They each gave her a little hug, gentle ones so they wouldn’t jostle her brain any more than it had already been jostled. They left as they’d come in, on tiptoe, because Stevie’s eyes were closing again.
    Outside the hospital, Lisa and Carole paused to consider what they would do. There was a little time until their riding class. They decided to use the extra time in the best possible way. They were going to give Belle a complete grooming.
    “It’s the least we can do for Stevie while she’s laid up,” Carole said. Lisa agreed completely.
    Fifteen minutes later, the girls were hard at work at Pine Hollow. Belle seemed happy for the company and the attention. She stood completely still while Lisa and Carole tended to her beauty needs. By the time they were done, Belle’s coat was gleaming.
    “Stevie would be proud of us,” said Lisa.
    “More important, she’d be proud of Belle,” said Carole. Lisa realized that Carole was right. When it came to horses, Carole was just about always right.
    “Okay, Starlight, it’s your turn now,” said Lisa.
    She and Carole picked up the grooming gear and moved on to the gelding’s stall. Starlight could be frisky under saddle, but when he was being groomed, he was usually docile as could be. A lot of horses really enjoy getting combed, brushed, and washed and being the center of attention. Starlight was no exception.
    “Hi there, beautiful,” Carole greeted her horse. She reached up to clip a lead rope on one side of his halter while Lisa did the same on the other side so they could cross-tie him. Starlight lifted his head and shook it vigorously, pulling his halter out of reach.
    “Hey, Starlight, I’ve got your grooming bucket,” Carole said. It was her way of assuring him that nobody was going to do anything nasty, like check his teeth or give him a shot. She held up the bucket so he could look at it.
    He shook his head again, but this time he did it sideways. Lisa and Carole both managed to clip the leads on.
    As the girls began the grooming, Carole knew they had been smart to cross-tie Starlight. He was in a very jumpy mood. Every time one of them touched him, he shifted away. He stepped forward, and he dodged backward the half step that the cross-ties permitted.
    “Boy, is he crabby!” Carole said when he refused to lift his foot so she could pick his hoof.
    “He’s probably just jealous because we groomed Belle first,” Lisa suggested.
    Carole laughed. “Maybe,” she said. If there was one thing she’d learned about horses, it was that they each had very distinct personalities—as distinct as people’s personalities. That meant that they also had moods. Starlight was obviously in a bad one.
    “Do you think it would be a good idea to let