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goes anywhere near the tack room
, Stevie thought with satisfaction. She plopped down on the grass again and picked up her sandwich. A couple of ants had already climbed onto it, but she didn’t care. She flicked them off and took a bite. She couldn’t wait to start figuring out the best way to turn Carole and Tate into a couple.
    She didn’t need to bother. Tate and Carole were alreadysmiling at each other. Lisa had returned to her previous activity—leaning back and gazing into the bright blue sky.
    “You did really well in the game back there,” Carole told the new boy admiringly.
    “Thanks,” Tate said, smiling wider and revealing a perfect set of teeth. Carole couldn’t help noticing that he was even better-looking up close than he had been from a distance. “You did great, too, Carole. That question about the farrier’s tools was pretty tough.”
    Carole nodded ruefully. “Not that tough, though,” she said. “I remembered the word I was trying to think of as soon as the meeting was over.
Pritchel
.”
    “I hate when that happens,” Tate said cheerfully. “When I can’t think of a word, I usually try to think of something else. The word I’m trying to think of comes to me eventually. For instance, instead of trying to come up with
pritchel
, you could have named some other farrier’s tools, like pincers or hoof nippers or nail pullers.”
    Carole just nodded. She didn’t want to admit it, but she wasn’t sure she ever would have remembered all those tools, although she did now that Tate had listed them. She knew what they all were. She knew what they were used for. But she didn’t have all the correct names on the tip of her tongue the way Tate obviously did. Was there no end to this boy’s knowledge about horses?
    She decided to find out. “So, Tate,” she said, trying to sound casual, “before you got here, we were talkingabout Calypso.” She gestured to the mare down in the paddock.
    Lisa sat up and shot her a curious look. They hadn’t been talking about Calypso before Tate arrived. They had been talking about Tate. She gave Stevie an amused glance.
    Carole didn’t notice. She was trying to remember some of what Judy had told them that day during Horse Wise. Since Tate hadn’t arrived until after Judy had left, he wouldn’t have heard any of it.
    Carole decided to start with something fairly easy. “Um, we’re helping Max take care of Calypso while she’s pregnant,” she went on.
    Tate nodded, looking interested. “Really?” he said. “It’s nice of you to do all that extra work.”
    “Oh, we don’t mind,” Carole assured him. “It’s just that we were talking a minute ago, and we couldn’t remember what Calypso should be eating at this stage of her pregnancy. Do you know if broodmares need a special diet?”
    Stevie snorted. She knew that Carole didn’t need any help with that question. For one thing, Judy had just gone over it in Horse Wise. But even if she hadn’t, Carole had probably known all about the proper diet for broodmares before she was out of diapers herself.
    Tate didn’t seem to think the question was strange at all. He glanced down at Calypso. “Well, let’s see,” he said. “How far along is she?” When Carole told him, henodded thoughtfully. “I see,” he said. “So she’s well past the first eight months. During that time, pregnant mares can get the same food as all the other horses. But now that she’s into her last three months, she should be eating an increasing ration of grain. Also, you could give her a vitamin-mineral supplement.”
    Carole nodded. “That sounds good.” She opened her mouth to ask a slightly more difficult question about show tack.
    But Tate wasn’t finished. “There’s one very important thing to keep in mind, though.” He held up one finger like a schoolteacher. “You shouldn’t allow her to eat
too
much and get overweight. That can cause complications. And broodmares should be properly vaccinated to protect