Flying Horse Read Online Free PDF

their wedding. Dorothy was one of Max’s old students and had been a top-level rider before an accident had taken her out of the show ring forever. Nigel, her husband, had ridden on the British Equestrian Team. Together they ran a show stable on Long Island, and Carole had once spent a few days with them there.
    “You girls are beginning to frighten the horses with all this excitement,” Mrs. Reg said. “Just like Max keeps telling you not to do. I think you’d better come along to my office, and I will explain things to you. Do not let your imaginations run wild. You aren’t going to be able to guess this, anyway.”
    Carole, Lisa, and Stevie exchanged grins as they followed Mrs. Reg to the stable office. Everything they’d ever done concerning Dorothy and Nigel had been fun.
    Mrs. Reg sat down in her leather chair and motioned the girls to sit, too. Carole perched on a window ledge, Lisa took the folding chair, and Stevie sat cross-legged on the floor. “Now try not to interrupt,” Mrs. Reg said severely, but a smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. “You may not be that excited when I explain everything to you. Dorothy and Nigel need The Saddle Club’s help.”
    “
They
need
our
help?” Lisa’s voice squeaked.
    “They can have it,” Carole said. “Whatever it is.”
    Mrs. Reg nodded. “You remember Dorothy’s mother, Mrs. DeSoto—”
    “Well, of course,” Lisa said indignantly. “We stayed at her townhouse in New York City, when we went to watch Dorothy ride at the American Horse Show.”
    “Right. Well, she hasn’t sold her town house, but for a while she’s been looking for a reason to get out of the city during the summer months. It’s hot there, and a lot of people go to the shore. But Mrs. DeSoto likes to keep busy—she’s not the type to sit around on a beach. Dorothy and Nigel have found the perfect solution. They just bought a Victorian house on Chincoteague Island. Mrs. DeSoto’s going to run it as a bed-and-breakfast during the summer months.
    “However, the house they bought needs a lot of fixing up before it can open for business. Dorothy and Nigel can’t spend the entire summer working on it,and Mrs. DeSoto certainly can’t do all the work herself. Plus, they really want the inn to be open for Pony Penning Week in early July, the busiest time of the year on Chincoteague. So what they’ve done is send out an all points bulletin to their old friends, asking for help. They’d like to get most of the work done next week.
    “Denise McCaskill has asked if she could go,” Mrs. Reg continued. “Red isn’t going, because Pine Hollow can’t spare him, but Denise said she’d really like a change of pace. Max was going to go, but”—Mrs. Reg’s smile widened—“he just got an overseas phone call from Deborah. She’s managed to cut short her commitments by almost a week, and she’s coming home Sunday. Max said they would come to Chincoteague and work, but I thought since I’ll be gone, they should stay and have the house to themselves for a few days. Max hasn’t been quite himself lately.” Mrs. Reg paused. “I guess Deborah’s missed Max as much as Max has missed her,” she said thoughtfully. “Otherwise, why would she be coming home early?”
    “What about us?” asked Carole.
    “Oh, right,” said Mrs. Reg. “Well, of course, Dorothy and Nigel want you to come, too. In fact, Nigel specially asked for you—he said any trio that could arrange his wedding so well, and so quickly, would bejust perfect for fixing up the inn! We’d leave early this Saturday—day after tomorrow—and come home next Friday morning. If we’re successful maybe the inn will be ready for a few customers by next weekend. Dorothy and Nigel don’t expect you to work twenty-four hours a day. The deal is this: You work four or five hours a day. In exchange, you get to spend a week in a Victorian mansion and enjoy the beautiful beaches of Chincoteague Island. Plus, of course, Dorothy and