The Great Pony Hassle Read Online Free PDF Page B

seen it often enough in the mirror. But now Stirling, lips tight, was staring at the floor.
    â€œWould you leave, please?” said Stirling. “I have to use the toilet.”
    Staci left, and went to bed early to avoid her sister, and noticed that Stirling stayed in the bathroom a long time.
    â€œOh! Oh my gosh, come look!” Toni squealed from the bedroom window.
    Carried away by excitement, Toni actually seemed to be speaking to her, Staci. And it had been a whole day since she and Toni had said anything to each other. So even though she was deep in her book, trying to forget Paisley and all the rest of it, Staci came and looked.
    The van had just pulled into the driveway, and Noodles was peering out the side window like a big dog.
    And Paisley was already yelling even before she got out the passenger side door, “Hey, everybody! Come meet Noodles!” Being in the bedroom was no defense against Paisley. A person could have heard her in Europe, probably.

    And Toni was saying high and squeaky, “Oh my gosh, he is so adorable .” And he was too, looking out through the window with big, calm eyes, his golden ears pricked forward and the sunny forelock piled high between them.
    Staci hadn’t meant to say anything, but her voice came out of her like hiccups. “I—can’t—stand—it.”
    Toni looked at her, then put her arms around her. Staci appreciated that. She really needed a huge hug.

7
    In Which Noodles Settles In
    â€œI was right!” Paisley was explaining to Stirling—bellowing, rather. “Those people weren’t pony people at all! They just got the pony for when their grandson visited, and then they found out he’d rather watch TV!”
    Toni rocketed out of the house, with Staci trailing after. Once she was done hugging her sister, Toni wanted to see Noodles. Staci didn’t want to be anywhere near Noodles—it hurt too much. But she didn’t want to sit in the bedroom by herself, and she didn’t want to argue with Toni anymore. Never again would she feel one hundred percent sure Toni would follow her lead. It looked as though this time Toni was leading her.
    â€œRather watch TV!” Paisley repeated in outrage to Stirling and Cathy, who were listening patiently. “Rather watch TV than ride Noodles! So they just stuck Noodles out in an old cow pasture, with no oats or anything, and—”
    â€œDon’t knock people who like TV,” interrupted her father, who hardly ever missed Monday Night Football . “Can we get this pony out before it does something in my van?”
    â€œOh!” Paisley jumped to help. She had to get back into the van through the front passenger door and go hold Noodles by the lead rope before her father opened the sliding door on the side. But Noodles was in no rush to get out of the van. He seemed to like the van. He let Paisley get out first, then came out after her with a brave little leap. His thick tail flew briefly, and his mane and forelock flounced. He stood blinking at this strange new place, and Paisley patted him between the ears. His pink nose could barely reach her shoulder.
    â€œOooh,” Stirling and Toni said softly, and they rushed to stroke the pony’s silky golden neck, his cheeks, his forehead. Even Cathy said “Oooh,” and patted Noodles’s shoulder.
    Staci stayed away and said nothing, but she saw everything. She saw that Noodles had a tiny white star, no more than a whorl of white hairs, between his eyes, hidden by all that forelock. She saw that he had a snip of white on one soft nostril, and four perfect white stockings above four small, round hooves the color of taffy. She saw that he was short-legged and round-bellied and long, built like a fat dachshund, and she didn’t care. She saw that his tail, tangled even worse than his mane, stuck out like a bush from his back end. It needed to be combed out and smoothed down and maybe shampooed.