Gold Medal Horse Read Online Free PDF Page A

cotton sweater walked quickly into the room. “Good morning,” she said briskly. “Sleep well?”
    “Good morning, Mrs. Harrington,” The Saddle Club chorused. Drake and Tory waggled their fingers at their mother.
    “I slept well,” Tory announced.
    “I know that,” Mrs. Harrington said. “You’ve already told me so twice this morning. I was speaking to our guests. Carole, I heard what you just said, and I’ll make sure you get a grand tour sometime soon.” She smiled at The Saddle Club. “The little foals are delightful, but we’ll want to show you our riding horses, too. Now, Tory, Drake, hurry up! It’s almost time for the school bus!”
    The little kids slurped the last of their milk, kissed their mother, and waved to The Saddle Club before they shot out the door. “Tory—don’t forget your lunch!” Mrs. Harrington called after them. She smiled and said, “Thanks,” as the butler brought her a cup of coffee.
    “I’ll take you around Blue Hill soon,” she repeated. “This morning, though, I need to leave for the horse park right away, and I thought you’d probably want to comewith me. Dorothy and Nigel went over a few hours ago, and I’m sure you’re eager to meet up with them.”
    “And Southwood,” Carole agreed. “We hardly saw him at all yesterday.” It was the only downside to their game of Hide from Eddy.
    On the way to the horse park, Mrs. Harrington explained that she volunteered during Kentucky Rolex. “I serve as an outrider on cross-country day,” she said. “My mare and I keep a certain section of the course clear and keep the spectators in line. Also, I can ride for help if anyone, competitor or spectator, needs it.” She dropped them off near the stabling area, and Lisa asked someone who was going into the stables to tell Dorothy or Nigel that they were there. Soon Drew came out to meet them. He had four bottles of horse liniment in his hands, and as he came out the door he tripped. A bottle of liniment sloshed down his pant leg.
    “Oh, gosh!” he said, ignoring the stinking liniment. “I can’t believe it. You just missed Eddy by five minutes! He and Dorothy drove into Lexington to buy a leather lead shank—we forgot to bring one.” Drew looked disappointed. Lisa almost felt sorry for him because he so much wanted them to like his brother, but then she imagined a younger version of Drew, with the same goofy wide mouth and uneven eyebrows.
Ugh!
Lisa shook her head.
    “I can’t believe we keep missing him,” she said sincerely, because it was true. Lisa couldn’t believe their good luck.
    “Where’s Nigel?” Carole asked.
    “He took Southwood out for a long hack,” Drew said. “I just finished cleaning his stall. I need to put these bottles away, and then do you guys want to do something? We could take a trail ride—they have those on the other side of the park.”
    Lisa thought about it. A trail ride would be on a horse, and it would be an excuse to stay away from Eddy. Both of those things sounded great. She looked at her friends, who nodded. “Let’s go!”
    It was a long walk to the trail ride, and when they got there, the girls were disappointed. This was nothing like the trail rides they were used to, at home in Pine Hollow or anywhere else. This was a guided horseback ride along a smooth, flat trail—more like a road, really, Carole thought—and the horses followed one another nose-to-tail, at a walk, without needing any cues from their riders. Two other tourists were waiting for rides—an overweight man who could hardly climb into the saddle and a woman wearing shorts and sandals.
    “It’s like a kiddie ride for grown-ups,” Carole whispered. The guide, a lithe young woman, let them pick any horses they liked from the dozen or so tethered at thestart. Carole chose a bay, because that was Starlight’s color.
    “It’s still a horse,” Lisa whispered back, but she felt sad. These horses probably never got a chance to do fun things, like