Dude Ranch Read Online Free PDF Page B

Americans rode bareback
. Had she just seen one? She sat on the bunk and then lay down and closed her eyes. Stewball broke into a canter. Stevie smiled as her horse tried to catch up to the mysterious visitor and his dog in the predawn morning.…
    “Y OU KNOW ,” S TEVIE said two hours later when she and her friends were sitting at the breakfast table, “I always have blueberry pancakes on my birthday. It’s going to be funny eating steak and eggs this year.”
    “Your birthday?” Lisa said. “Is that coming up soon?”
    “Yeah, it’s on Saturday,” Stevie told her, though she thought it was odd that Lisa didn’t remember, since they’d just talked about it yesterday. “It’s Alex’s birthday, too,” she said, turning to Kate. “He’s my twin brother. Did you meet him when you were in Willow Creek?”
    “No, I don’t think I did,” Kate said. “Pass the salt, will you?” she asked Carole. Carole handed her the saltshaker. “Eli tells me he needs some help forking hay this morning. Anybody want to pitch in?”
    “I can’t,” Carole said. “I promised your mother I’dshow her my father’s barbecue-sauce recipe right after breakfast and before we go riding.”
    “Me, neither,” Lisa said. “I’ve got to get a postcard off to my mother before she starts calling every day.”
    “I can’t, either,” Kate said. “I promised lariat lessons to the Baker kids before we go on our ride. I guess Eli’s stuck with the job himself.” She looked meaningfully at Stevie.
    If there was one thing Pine Hollow’s riders learned, it was that taking care of horses was a lot of work, and they learned to help with it. Stevie couldn’t believe the lame excuses her friends were coming up with to duck a fairly simple job. “
I’ll
do it,” she said. “I don’t mind pitching hay. It’s better than mucking out stalls.”
    “That’s another advantage to keeping the horses in the pasture,” Kate remarked, and they all laughed knowingly.
    Stevie ate the last bite of her breakfast and cleared her dishes. If she was going to pitch hay, she might as well get to it. The sooner that was done, the sooner she and her friends could ride some more.
    “See you guys,” she said, and headed for the barn.
    Three pairs of eyes watched her leave the mess hall.
    “Mom’s waiting for us in the kitchen,” Kate said, pushing back from the table and grabbing her own dishes. The girls hustled, clearing quickly, and took their plates to the sink.
    “Okay, now how are we going to do this?” Carole asked once the three of them and Phyllis Devine were seated at the large kitchen table. “And, most important, how are we going to keep her from knowing about it?”
    “The way we’ll keep her from knowing about it is easy,” Phyllis said. “We just won’t tell her. The bigger question is, how are we going to get that birthday cake from this kitchen to the barbecue site on Saturday without having the layers fall apart?”
    “And how are we going to get her presents there without her seeing them?” Carole added.
    “I’ve got some ideas about that,” Lisa said. “If we can get her out of here before breakfast for an early-morning ride, I think we can stall her until lunchtime. As long as we keep her away from the road where the pickup will be bringing all the barbecue stuff, I think it’ll work. Only trouble is that it’s going to mean you’ll have to do all the work because
we’ll
be on the trail with Stevie.”
    “Don’t worry about that,” Kate said. “You two go with her. I’ll stay and help Mom. That way you can sort of get lost and she’ll believe it.”
    Carole curled her lip in distaste. “What if we really get lost?” she asked.
    “No way that could happen,” Kate assured her. “The barbecue’s going to be at Parson’s Rock. It sticks up outof the prairie like the Empire State Building. You can find it from anywhere within miles of here.”
    “Sure?”
    “Only a total greenhorn dude could get