Horse Tale Read Online Free PDF Page A

shrubs, and a tree. Chuck led them around the bench and pointed, and the girls saw a pile of mattresses. The mattresses were hidden from view from both sidewalk and street by the shrubs and the tree.
    “Awesome!” Stevie cried. “You wouldn’t even know they were here!”
    Kate glanced from the mattresses to the roof. “It must take some aim to hit it every time,” she commented.
    Chuck nodded. “We’re lucky. The fellow who plays the deputy trained for a while as a stuntman before he decided he’d rather be a cowboy. He hasn’t missed yet!”
    “F IRST THINGS FIRST ,” Chuck said, leading them into the gym of Two Mile Creek High School a few minutes later. “We have to get you gals properly gussied up.”
    “Awesome,” Stevie said. “Do we get spurs and hats like yours?”
    “Not quite,” Chuck said with a smile. He pointed to a tall red-haired young woman who was bustling around on the opposite side of the gym. “Go over and see Cassie, there. She’ll get you outfitted.”
    The girls did as he said, and in a matter of moments they were dressed in their costumes for the show. Stevie was disappointed to find out that these costumes consisted of long calico dresses and bonnets that might have come straight out of
Little House on the Prairie
.
    “Remember, we’re supposed to be the helpless victims, not the cowboys,” Carole reminded her.
    But Stevie couldn’t help grumbling a little, especially when she saw Cassie emerge dressed just like Chuck, with her long red hair pinned up and tucked under her black cowboy hat.
    “Come on, girls,” Cassie told them. “It’s time to practice. Did Chuck tell you the scenario?”
    The girls shook their heads. “All we know is that we’re captured by bank robbers,” Lisa said.
    Cassie smiled. “That’s right,” she said. “And we’re a real vicious band of desperadoes, so remember to look scared. You guys are going to be walking along innocently in front of the bank when we come out of it with our guns blazing. When we see you, each of us will grab one of you as a hostage and start dragging you toward our horses. You should all be screaming and crying out the whole time, but not so loud that the audience can’t hear the rest of the dialogue.”
    “Then what happens?” Carole asked. When they had seen the bank-robbery show before, there hadn’t been any hostages.
    “While you’re being carried toward the horses, one of you faints.” Cassie paused and looked at each of them in turn, then pointed to Carole. “Think you can do that?”
    Carole placed one hand over her forehead and pretended to swoon, crumpling dramatically to the floor. Her friends applauded the performance.
    “All right, then, you win the part,” Cassie said with a grin. “Another of the victims is supposed to wriggle free and run for cover.” She nodded to Lisa. “That’ll be you, okay?”
    “Sounds good,” Lisa replied.
    “You”—Cassie pointed to Christine—“will wrestle thegun away from the robber holding you and march him into the jail.”
    “All right!” Christine exclaimed. “I’ll show those no-account varmints who’s boss.”
    “What about Kate and me?” Stevie asked eagerly. “What do we get to do? Grab their horses and make a break for it? Knock them out with the handles of their own guns?”
    Cassie shook her head. “Afraid not. You two get carried all the way over to the horses. Then they drop you, and you run for cover offstage as the shoot-out with the deputy and the sheriff’s posse begins.”
    Carole knew Stevie was disappointed in the part she’d been assigned. But she also knew that once the rehearsal began, all of them were going to have a lot of fun putting on the performance, no matter what parts they were playing.
    After the girls and the five “robbers” had practiced their part of the show several times, screams and all, everyone knew exactly what to do and when to do it.
    “All right, girls,” Chuck announced. “Why don’t you go