Horse Talk Read Online Free PDF

Stevie’s voice her hopes were cruelly dashed. It wasn’t Stevie’s fault—what would they have done without her? They would have ended up with the deadest of dead air, broken only by Lisa saying, “Uh.”
    Worst of all, thought Lisa,
Horse Talk
was boring. It had to be obvious to anyone who was listening for very long that all the questions were coming from one person. And if it was that obvious, no one was going to listen very long.
    The hour felt like a week, but finally it came to an end. Lisa managed a semicheerful, “See you next week at the same time, from the same place, beautiful Pine Hollow Stables. We’re
Horse Talk
!” Carole pushed the button that started their exit music before they both collapsed across the table.
    “I can’t move,” Carole muttered. “I think I’ll just lie here until next week. After all the questions I answered, I ought to be a B-rated Pony Clubber by now, at least.”
    “Uh-huh,” agreed Lisa. It felt so good to be able to say “uh” without panicking that she said it a few more times. “Uh. Uh. Uhhh.”
    “
Uh
or
ugh
?” Stevie asked. She came in and threw herself dramatically across the floor. “Not that I mind—I’d do anything for you guys—but my fingers are practically bleeding from dialing 555–8151 thatmany times. Why can’t Max join the twentieth century and get speed dial on his phone?”
    “Don’t know,” said Lisa. She started to lift her head to look at Stevie, but it was too much effort, so she put her head back down.
    “You know what’s really awful?” Carole asked without moving. “We have to do this three more times.”
    “Ugh,” said Lisa. “Definitely ugh.”

“Y OU WON ’ T BELIEVE what Mrs. Klemme said to me in the hall today,” Carole told Lisa and Stevie with a groan. It was Friday night, and The Saddle Club was having a sleepover at Stevie’s house. The girls were making plans for the next
Horse Talk
.
    “What?” asked Stevie. “She’s the radio program moderator, right?”
    Carole nodded. “After apologizing for not being with us for the broadcast, she said we did a great job and obviously didn’t need her! She said that we spoke clearly and slowly, and we seemed comfortable on the air—”
    “She must not have listened to the beginning,” Lisa muttered.
    “—but she was surprised by how technical the call-inquestions were,” Carole continued. “She said we should try to encourage more general questions, too.”
    Lisa snorted. “Did she suggest any ways to encourage more
questioners
? That seemed to be our problem.”
    Carole shook her head. “I’m not sure she realized that it was just one person calling in.”
    Lisa shrugged. She was trying hard not to feel bitter about the whole radio program.
Horse Talk
had been her idea, and she liked to be successful in everything. So far she couldn’t count
Horse Talk
a success, and she didn’t have much hope for its improving. “Mrs. Klemme told me she was impressed with how much you and I knew about horses,” she told Carole.
    “Most people don’t know much at all,” Stevie commented. She stuck her head under her bed and retrieved a few horse books that were gathering dust there. “I mean, no one else in our families has any clue. Most of the kids at school don’t ride. Even a lot of people who like horses don’t get the chance to learn much about them. When you think about it,
Horse Talk
is a public service.”
    “Two people have told me they were listening,” Lisa said. “Two. That’s all.”
    “I think Max found a radio by the end,” Carole said.
    “Anyway,” Lisa said, forcing a smile because she didn’t want to inflict her bad mood on her friends, “this week we’ll be prepared to not get questions. Is that all your books, Stevie?”
    “Yep.” Stevie added the ones from underneath the bed to a waist-high pile beside the bed. “Except for fiction, of course.”
    Lisa emptied her backpack. “I didn’t bring the ones that I knew you already