between her horse and Amy’s and grabbed the reins. She tugged sharply. It wasn’t the signal Amy’s horse was used to, but the meaning was clear. The horse stopped quickly.
“Are you okay, Amy?” Seth asked, drawing up to them.
Stevie turned around then to see what had happened. “Come on, guys,” she called back to Lisa, Amy, and Seth. “Let’s keep this moving.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Amy said.
“So you are okay?” Seth asked.
“Of course,” Amy said. “I’m always okay.”
Lisa began to wonder if that was true.
At that moment Jeannie’s horse made it around the final sharp curve of the trail onto the more level area.
“Everything okay up there?” she asked.
“Just fine!” Seth called out cheerfully. “We were just chatting and giving our horses a rest.”
“Good idea,” Jeannie said. “That was a steep path. They deserve a break. Now I think we’d better catch up with the others. Ready?”
Lisa answered by signaling Chocolate to begin walking again. Her thoughts were focused on Amy and Seth. Poor Seth had to work so hard to make things be all right for Amy! She felt sorry for him and wondered if she could help him at all. She certainly hoped so.
“I NEVER THOUGHT I’d say it felt good to be
off
a horse!” Carole said to John.
It was late afternoon, and the group had chosen their campsite for the night. The two of them were carrying grain for the horses to the temporary corral.
“We rode for almost six hours, with just a short break for lunch,” John reminded her. “That’s enough time in the saddle to test even the most hardened, uh—” He stopped, obviously groping for a polite word. Then he blushed.
“Mine, too,” Carole agreed, saving him the trouble. They laughed. “But it really doesn’t matter because I loved every minute of it.”
“Me, too,” he said.
Carole and John had been riding next to each other for much of the day. Carole found she liked him a lot. They had a lot to talk about because he knew almost as much about horses as she did. He had definitely decided to be a veterinarian, and he had already learned a tremendous amount about it. Carole loved listening to his ideas about horse care. It was true that sometimes he could be a little
too
knowledgeable, but after all, that was what her friends said about her!
“Let’s give this horse a couple of extra carrots,” Carole suggested, patting the gray gelding named Ashley that Amy had been riding all day.
“There aren’t enough carrots in the bag to make up for what she did to him coming down that hill,” John said.
“You really saw her kick him?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” he said. “No doubt about it. I heard her telling Seth that Ashley just ran away with her, but I saw differently with my own eyes.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Carole asked.
John shrugged. “It’s none of my business,” he told her. “Amy is trouble, and Seth is her brother. He thinks he can handle her. What could I do?”
There didn’t seem to be an answer to that. Carole reached into her pocket and fished out a couple of carrotsticks for Ashley. There was a lump of sugar there, too, that she’d brought specially for Berry, but she gave that to Ashley as well. He really had earned it.
K ATE AND C HRISTINE were in charge of pitching one of the tents at the campsite. Stevie and Amy were attempting to put up the other one.
“I think this thing attaches to this,” Stevie said to Amy. She held a piece of nylon tent in one hand and pointed to a clip on the tent frame with the other.
“I thought it went over there,” Amy said.
“Maybe,” Stevie said thoughtfully.
Tents were not Stevie’s strong point. Somehow she’d always managed to evade this job on sleep-outs. Tonight she obviously wasn’t going to be so lucky, but it was clear she had a soul mate in Amy.
“Look,” Amy said. “If we just clip everything we see to the nearest grommet, that should do it, right? After all, the
“Are you okay, Amy?” Seth asked, drawing up to them.
Stevie turned around then to see what had happened. “Come on, guys,” she called back to Lisa, Amy, and Seth. “Let’s keep this moving.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Amy said.
“So you are okay?” Seth asked.
“Of course,” Amy said. “I’m always okay.”
Lisa began to wonder if that was true.
At that moment Jeannie’s horse made it around the final sharp curve of the trail onto the more level area.
“Everything okay up there?” she asked.
“Just fine!” Seth called out cheerfully. “We were just chatting and giving our horses a rest.”
“Good idea,” Jeannie said. “That was a steep path. They deserve a break. Now I think we’d better catch up with the others. Ready?”
Lisa answered by signaling Chocolate to begin walking again. Her thoughts were focused on Amy and Seth. Poor Seth had to work so hard to make things be all right for Amy! She felt sorry for him and wondered if she could help him at all. She certainly hoped so.
“I NEVER THOUGHT I’d say it felt good to be
off
a horse!” Carole said to John.
It was late afternoon, and the group had chosen their campsite for the night. The two of them were carrying grain for the horses to the temporary corral.
“We rode for almost six hours, with just a short break for lunch,” John reminded her. “That’s enough time in the saddle to test even the most hardened, uh—” He stopped, obviously groping for a polite word. Then he blushed.
“Mine, too,” Carole agreed, saving him the trouble. They laughed. “But it really doesn’t matter because I loved every minute of it.”
“Me, too,” he said.
Carole and John had been riding next to each other for much of the day. Carole found she liked him a lot. They had a lot to talk about because he knew almost as much about horses as she did. He had definitely decided to be a veterinarian, and he had already learned a tremendous amount about it. Carole loved listening to his ideas about horse care. It was true that sometimes he could be a little
too
knowledgeable, but after all, that was what her friends said about her!
“Let’s give this horse a couple of extra carrots,” Carole suggested, patting the gray gelding named Ashley that Amy had been riding all day.
“There aren’t enough carrots in the bag to make up for what she did to him coming down that hill,” John said.
“You really saw her kick him?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” he said. “No doubt about it. I heard her telling Seth that Ashley just ran away with her, but I saw differently with my own eyes.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Carole asked.
John shrugged. “It’s none of my business,” he told her. “Amy is trouble, and Seth is her brother. He thinks he can handle her. What could I do?”
There didn’t seem to be an answer to that. Carole reached into her pocket and fished out a couple of carrotsticks for Ashley. There was a lump of sugar there, too, that she’d brought specially for Berry, but she gave that to Ashley as well. He really had earned it.
K ATE AND C HRISTINE were in charge of pitching one of the tents at the campsite. Stevie and Amy were attempting to put up the other one.
“I think this thing attaches to this,” Stevie said to Amy. She held a piece of nylon tent in one hand and pointed to a clip on the tent frame with the other.
“I thought it went over there,” Amy said.
“Maybe,” Stevie said thoughtfully.
Tents were not Stevie’s strong point. Somehow she’d always managed to evade this job on sleep-outs. Tonight she obviously wasn’t going to be so lucky, but it was clear she had a soul mate in Amy.
“Look,” Amy said. “If we just clip everything we see to the nearest grommet, that should do it, right? After all, the
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