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  Just then Lisa hurried up to them. “Come on,” she said. “It’s time for Honeybee’s grand entrance. Someone needs to get her. Meanwhile, we’re also supposed to be pouring tea and stuff. Aunt Eugenia is pretty annoyed that we disappeared like that.”

  “Oops,” Carole said. “I almost forgot. How’s the tea party going?”

  “Lovely,” Lisa replied, rolling her eyes. “It’s in full swing. The ladies can’t wait to meet Eugenia’s darling Honeybee.”

  “I’ll go get Honeybee if you want,” Carole offered.

  Lisa nodded. “Great,” she said. “Come on, Stevie, it’s time for our next job of the day—waitressing.” The two girls rushed out to the party site while Carole went to get Honeybee. The four old women and Deborah were seated at the table, sipping tea, nibbling on the food, and chattering loudly.

  “There you are,” Eugenia snapped when she saw the girls. “I hope you realize that Deborah has had to pour the tea since you girls weren’t here. Now get over here and make yourselves useful.”

  They obeyed. Lisa picked up the teapot and started refilling cups, while Stevie picked up the empty cream pitcher and carried it over to the cooler beneath the tree to refill it.

  Carole found Stevie there a few seconds later. “Stevie,” she said in a strange voice.

  Stevie looked up and saw that her friend was pale and trembling. “What’s wrong?” she asked immediately.

  Carole gulped and glanced furtively at the tea table. “It’s Honeybee,” she whispered. “She’s gone!”

  MOMENTS LATER STEVIE’S and Lisa’s own eyes confirmed what Carole had told them. They skidded to a stop in front of the paddock. It was empty, and the gate was open and swinging in the breeze.

  “How did it happen?” Carole moaned.

  “Maybe we didn’t latch it right when we left before,” Lisa suggested. “We were in an awful hurry.”

  “I can’t believe that fat old thing would even want to escape,” Stevie said. “She never showed much interest in anything but eating before.”

  “Well, you know what they say about the grass on the other side of the fence,” Lisa said. “We’d better find her, and quick.”

  They searched frantically, looking behind the garden shed, around the front of the stable building, and even inside in the stable aisles, but the mare was nowhere to be seen.

  “We’ve been gone a long time,” Carole said worriedly when they reconvened in front of the paddock. “They’re going to notice we haven’t come back.”

  “You guys keep looking. I’ll go see what I can do back there,” Lisa said. “Maybe I can distract them or something.” Seeing Stevie’s look, she added, “And no, I don’t think they’d be interested in a tour of the stable right now.” She hurried back to the tea table.

  “It’s about time, young lady,” Eugenia said when she saw her. “Margaret needs some more tea. And where’s Honeybee?”

  “Um, she’ll be here in a minute,” Lisa said uncertainly, wishing Stevie were there. She was a much better liar. “Um, Stevie and Carole are, ah, getting her ready.”

  “I thought you did that earlier,” Eugenia said, looking displeased.

  “We did,” Lisa said quickly. “That is, um—”

  “Never mind,” Eugenia said brusquely. She stood up. “If these girls can’t bring Honeybee to us, we’ll just have to go to her. Now where is she?”

  “We, uh, put her in the paddock,” Lisa said, trying frantically to think of another excuse to stall them.

  But it was too late. Eugenia quickly marshaled her friends and led the way, marching around the corner to the paddock. Deborah went with them, not seeming to realize that anything was wrong as she chatted with one of the women about her grandchildren. Lisa followed helplessly. One part of her wanted to break down and confess, but another part resisted. How could she tell Eugenia they’d lost her horse?

  Eugenia took in the empty paddock. “Where is she?” she snapped. “I thought you said she was here.”

  Lisa thought fast. “Um, no, I said we put her here,” she said. “Then we decided she might get dirty, so we took her back to her stall.”

  Looking annoyed, Eugenia spun on her heel and gestured to her friends. “This way,” she ordered them. The old ladies followed obediently. Deborah started to do the same, but Lisa grabbed her arm and held her back.

  “What is it, Lisa?” Deborah asked.

  “We lost her,” Lisa hissed.

  Deborah looked confused. “What? Lost who?”

  “Honeybee,” Lisa explained urgently. “We don’t know where she is. She’s gone. Vanished. Disappeared.”

  “Uh-oh,” Deborah said, glancing ahead at Eugenia’s retreating back. “Well, don’t worry. She can’t have gone far.”

  Lisa nodded. “Stevie and Carole are looking for her right now.”

  “Okay,” Deborah said. “Come on.” She and Lisa hurried after the other women, catching up to them outside Honeybee’s stall.

  “She’s not here either,” Eugenia said with a frown. “What’s going on here?”

  “Oh, I’m sure there’s an explanation,” Deborah said with a calm smile. “Stevie and Carole must have taken her outside to the party area. Why don’t we go back out there now and see?”

  “Well, all right,” Eugenia said gruffly.

  Deborah gave Lisa a wink behind the old woman’s back. “Go ahead and help search,” she murmured. “I’ll try to keep them calm.”

  “Thanks, Deborah,” Lisa said gratefully. As the party goers strolled outside, Lisa stood still, uncertain where to begin looking. They were in real trouble. If they didn’t produce the mare within the next few minutes, they really were going to have to confess. And she didn’t relish the thought of that at all.

  Lisa’s thoughts were interrupted, suddenly, by the sound of screaming. It was coming from the direction of the tea party. She gasped. “Oh no,” she exclaimed. “Mr. Munch?” She raced outside and saw her worst fears confirmed. Mr. Munch was perched right in the middle of the tea table, chewing thoughtfully on a cucumber sandwich and looking quite content, obviously undisturbed by the shrieking humans surrounding him.

  Lisa heard Carole and Stevie gasp as they rushed up behind her. “But how did he get out of the shed?” Carole asked.

  “I have no idea,” Lisa said. “I closed the door carefully before. I know I did. I even went back and checked it.”

  Stevie glanced at the women. Deborah and two of the guests were smiling at the sight of the iguana on the tea table. But Eugenia and the other women were quite hysterical and were screaming at the top of their lungs.

  “What’s going on here?” Max asked breathlessly, rushing onto the scene.

  “Um,” Stevie began. Even she was at a loss to explain this one.

  Luckily Max figured it out. “Stevie, I’d suggest you remove that creature from the table immediately,” he said sternly. But as Stevie hurried forward to comply, she would have sworn she detected a twinkle in his blue eyes.

  “Please, Aunt Genie,” Deborah was saying. “Please try to calm down. It’s only an iguana. See? Stevie’s taking it away now.”

  Max, Carole, and Lisa went forward to try to help. Max laid a hand on Eugenia’s arm. “It’s all right, Aunt Eugenia,” he said. “Everything’s under control now.”

  “First they won’t bring my Honeybee out, now this,” she moaned. “What next?”

  Max turned to Carole and Lisa, looking worried. “I’d suggest you bring her horse out immediately,” he whispered. “Maybe that will calm her down.”

  Carole and Lisa gulped nervously and traded glances. This was it. They couldn’t put off their bad news any longer. And after all, Eugenia was already hysterical. How much angrier could she get?

  Lisa opened her mouth to confess, but at that moment there was a cheerful shout from around the corner. A second later Stevie appeared, leading Honeybee.

  Carole’s jaw dropped. Was she seeing things? Or was that really Stevie strolling toward them, jerking her h
and from side to side to avoid being nipped by the cantankerous old mare she was leading? For one crazy moment Carole wondered if Stevie had managed to disguise one of the other horses as Honeybee. But no, there was no mistaking that fat rump and ornery disposition.

  “Where did you come from?” Eugenia demanded. “I thought you’d gone to take away that nasty reptile.”

  “I did,” Stevie said. “But then I figured I’d stop and pick up Honeybee from the indoor ring.” She smiled calmly. “You see, I was on my way out with her when I heard the screams, so I left her there while I came to see what was happening.”

  Carole and Lisa let out huge sighs of relief. They knew very well that Stevie was lying—the indoor ring was in the opposite direction. But wherever Honeybee had come from, they had never been so glad to see her.

  “Oh, she’s lovely, Eugenia dear,” one of the guests cooed. “Just as you described her.”

  Eugenia smiled, forgetting all about the girls. She stepped forward and took the lead line from Stevie. “Isn’t she, though?” she agreed proudly. The Saddle Club noticed that Honeybee didn’t even try to nip her mistress. Then again, that could have been because she was too busy trying to eat the plateful of scones.

  The Saddle Club slipped away from the group and huddled under the apple tree. “Where did you find her?” Carole demanded in a whisper.

  “The garden shed,” Stevie replied. “When I went to put Mr. Munch away, I opened the door and there she was, standing right where the lawnmower usually is.”

  Lisa gasped. “But how—”

  “Veronica, of course,” Stevie interrupted. “It had to be her. She must have put her in there to get back at us for taking over the polo ponies. I bet she let Mr. Munch out at the same time.”

  “Come to think of it, I did see her hanging around near the shed a little earlier,” Lisa said. “I can’t believe she could be so rotten.”

  “That’s what we always say when she does something horrible,” Carole pointed out. “But she always shows us we haven’t even begun to see how rotten she can be.”

  After Honeybee had been properly admired, Deborah offered to take the women inside to wash up after their rather strenuous tea party. The three guests followed willingly, but Eugenia stayed behind. As soon as her friends were out of earshot, she turned to Max. Her face was bright red, and her hands were clenched at her sides.

  “I have never been so humiliated in my entire life!” she shrieked at him. “My party is completely ruined, and it’s all your fault. Yours and these—these irresponsible children you have helping you.” She whirled to face The Saddle Club. “I hire you to do two simple things: help with my party and care for my horse. You destroy my party by letting horrible creatures loose on the table, and you can’t even produce my horse when I want her. You’ve been nothing but trouble to me all week long. I think you’re just about the laziest, most impudent children I’ve ever met. Why, if you were my own I’d take you over my knee—”

  “That’s enough, Eugenia,” Max said suddenly. His voice was low but firm, and Eugenia paused, looking surprised.

  She put her hands on her hips. “What do you mean by that?” she demanded.

  “This is what I mean,” Max began, and from there he went on to tell her in no uncertain terms. Without being rude or nasty, he told her exactly how obnoxious she’d been all week, and that it had to stop. “You’ve been running these girls ragged since you arrived,” he finished quietly, “and they’ve been very patient with you. I will not stand here and listen to you insult them. Do you understand?”

  “Well, I never!” Eugenia huffed. “I can’t believe you’re speaking to me this way.”

  “I had no choice,” Max said quietly. “Now, I think you owe the girls an apology.”

  Eugenia just glared at them all for a moment. Finally, she seemed to relent a little. “Hmmph,” she said, not really looking at any of them. “I suppose this little incident is best forgotten. After all, it’s hardly your fault that creature turned up.”

  The Saddle Club decided that was as close to an apology as they were going to get. But more importantly, they were amazed and delighted at Max’s speech. He was back!

  As Eugenia stomped away toward the house, muttering and grumbling, Carole glanced at Max. He glowered back at her, and for a moment she was afraid he was going to lay into them next. They might not have put Mr. Munch on the tea table, but their behavior hadn’t exactly been perfect that day, either. She was sure he knew all about the polo pony incident, and probably about Honeybee’s disappearing act as well.

  But then Max lowered his gaze to the tea table. Stevie was doing her best to keep Honeybee away from it, but the horse insisted on trying to chew on the tablecloth, and her efforts had knocked everything askew. Several teacups had spilled, and the pile of cucumber sandwiches still showed the imprint of Mr. Munch’s footprints. It was a ridiculous scene, and Max finally seemed to realize it. He burst out laughing. After a moment the girls joined in.

  A few minutes later, as all four of them walked inside to put Honeybee back in her stall, Max cleared his throat. “I guess you girls are probably wondering what’s been going on here lately,” he said gruffly. “I haven’t quite been myself during Eugenia’s visit, have I.”

  It wasn’t really a question, so the girls didn’t bother to answer. They just waited.

  “The truth is,” Max went on, “I’ve been a wimp and I know it.”

  Stevie couldn’t resist. “You said it, not us, Max,” she said with a grin.

  Max rolled his eyes. “Very funny. But seriously, I just want to apologize. I hadn’t quite realized until today how hard you girls have been working the last few days. I never should have let you take on responsibility for those boarders when you had so much to do.” He shook his head. “Especially when school is in session. I hope your duties here haven’t interfered with your studies.”

  “Uh, no, of course not,” Stevie said, her face turning pink as she remembered falling asleep in class that day.

  “It has been a lot of work,” Carole admitted honestly. “But somehow I guess we’ve managed so far.”

  Max smiled. “Somehow you have,” he said. “And I just want you to know, Red and I will help you out as much as we can from now on. The polo ponies are leaving tomorrow evening, but how about if Red and I see that they get some exercise tomorrow morning?”

  “That would be great,” Lisa said with relief. She paused. “Although I think we already owe Red one favor,” she added, thinking of the way Red had helped them get the horses ready for inspection.

  “That’s all right,” Max said, chuckling. “I’m sure he’s not keeping track.”

  “But, Max,” Stevie said, still curious. “Why did you let Eugenia say all those horrible things to you in the first place?” She hoped he wouldn’t be angry with her for asking, but she really wanted to know. “We were beginning to think you’d been taken over by aliens or something.”

  “Not quite,” Max said, looking embarrassed. “I guess you deserve an explanation. But I’m afraid it’s nothing as interesting as an alien invasion. Do you remember when Deborah and I went to visit Eugenia after our wedding?”

  The girls nodded. “It was a couple of months later, right?” Lisa remembered.

  “Right,” Max said. “And unfortunately, that had given me just enough time to break her wedding gift to us.” He grimaced. “Not that it was such a loss. It was a big, swirly glass bowl of some sort, but I’m sure it was very expensive.”

  “Did she find out you broke it?” Carole guessed.

  Max nodded. “Deborah told her during that visit,” he said. “She meant it to be a joke, but Eugenia didn’t take it that way. And I’ve been trying to make up for it ever since.”

  “Why bother?” Stevie said. “She’s such an old grouch. Who cares what she thinks of you?”

  Max shrugged. “She’s family now, Stevie,” he said. “I want all of Deborah’s family to like me.” By this time they had reached Honeyb
ee’s stall. “Why don’t you let me take care of her this time,” he said.

  “Thanks, Max,” Carole said, surprised. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course,” he said, sounding a little irritable—in other words, just like his usual self. “You girls have a lot of work to do before you leave tonight, so you’d better get cracking.”

  The Saddle Club exchanged grins. It was official. Max was back.

  AN HOUR LATER Polly found Stevie in the outdoor ring exercising one of the polo ponies. “I’m back,” she called cheerfully. “How did it go?”

  “No problem,” Stevie told her, riding over the fence. “Romeo missed you, but he’s been practicing his trotting half-pass and he’s doing great.”

  “Thanks, Stevie,” Polly said. “I’m going in to see him.” She rushed away.

  Carole saw Polly hurry past as she was emerging from the tack room. She stepped back inside, where Lisa was cleaning tack. “Polly’s back,” she announced. “Let’s go get Mr. Munch.”

  They carried the cage between them and set it down in front of Romeo’s stall. Polly was inside. She poked her head out. “Oh, was Mr. Munch here the whole time?” she asked. “I hope he wasn’t too much trouble.”

  “No trouble at all,” Carole said. “He made lots of new friends.”

  “Good. Billy can’t wait to see him.” Polly reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a crumpled check. “Here’s the money from my parents,” she said, handing it to Lisa. “Thanks again for taking care of these guys.” She turned to give Romeo a hug.

  Carole and Lisa looked down at the check, then at each other. They smiled. They had been working so hard they’d almost forgotten one very important thing: They were getting paid for it. “You’re welcome,” they said in one voice.

  “IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE our careers as horse-sitters are finally over,” Carole commented, tightening Starlight’s girth one more time before mounting. It was several days later. The Saddle Club had finally said good-bye to the last of their clients two days earlier when Mr. French had returned. Now they were about to set off on a well-deserved trail ride.