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  Carole knelt down beside him, her own hot tears running down her cheeks unchecked. Her heart was breaking. “I’m to blame,” she sobbed. “If I hadn’t forgotten to lock that dumb door, if only I’d studied harder … Judy would have saved her. Oh, Zach, it’s all my fault.” She couldn’t bear to look at the little creature before her. Its lifeless body was a searing accusation.

  Zach slipped his hand into hers and she could feel him trembling. They were both too overcome with sorrow to speak.

  Sunset looked down at her still baby and gave a little whinny. After sniffing it curiously for a moment, she nudged it with her nose and then began to lick it, removing the rest of the birth sac.

  Suddenly the lifeless foal twitched and began to wiggle.

  Carole stared, unable to believe her eyes. “Zach, it’s breathing. It’s alive!” she screamed joyfully.

  “All right!” Zach hollered. “Yeehaw!”

  The two of them hugged each other and jumped up and down.

  The furry little newborn tolerated its mother’s tender ministrations for a few minutes and then tried to get to its feet. The foal’s struggle to stand on its impossibly long, spindly legs left Zach and Carole crying with laughter.

  Sunset stood up and the little filly snorted at her mother as if to say, It’s about time. With wobbly little steps it moved over to the mare and began nursing.

  Carole and Zach looked at each other. They were grubby, sweaty, covered with slime, and had tear tracks running down their faces—but they were glowing with happiness.

  “C, do you remember when Stevie told me I hadn’t lived until I’d washed under a horse’s tail?”

  “Sure.”

  He slipped an arm around Carole’s shoulders as he watched Sunset and her new baby. “My friend, we sure are living large today.”

  AFTER THE NEWBORN finished nursing, she seemed overcome by sleepiness and awkwardly lowered herself to the ground for a nap. Sunset hovered over her baby protectively.

  “I can’t blame her for being tired,” Carole said to Zach. “I’m a little beat myself.”

  “You could use a shower, too,” he told her. “In fact, would you mind moving downwind from me?”

  Carole punched him in the arm and laughed. “Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

  Zach grinned. “I’ll have to wash my hands before breakfast, that’s for sure.”

  That reminded Carole just how early it was. “Hey, what were you doing out here at this time of the morning, anyway?”

  Zach looked sheepish. “I was using the shortcut to get to Pine Hollow. I needed to get my math book, and I figured no one would be around.”

  Carole was surprised to notice that they really weren’t very far from Zach’s backyard. She had been so intent on finding Sunset, she hadn’t even realized where she was. “I guess it’s a good thing for Sunset that you left your book there in the first place,” she said solemnly. “You do know you saved their lives, don’t you?”

  Zach shook his head. “No way. If you hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have had a clue about what to do.”

  “And I couldn’t have done it by myself.”

  “I guess we could split the credit, then.”

  Carole grinned. “Not a chance. I’m taking all the glory on this one.”

  Zach laughed. “Hey! Glory would be a good name for the baby, don’t you think?”

  “Perfect,” Carole agreed. “Too bad we don’t get to name her. That’s up to Mr. Wooten.”

  Zach shrugged. “Maybe he’ll be open to suggestions. Anyway, it sure has been an exciting start to the day. I never dreamed I’d ever do something like that. The whole thing was awesome.”

  “If you enjoyed it so much, maybe you should consider becoming a veterinarian. I am.”

  Zach looked dubious. “Would I have to do something like that every day?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Not a chance!” he told her emphatically. Then his eyes fell on the sleeping filly. “Well … it was pretty amazing.”

  “Even the part where you had to stick your hand inside?” Carole reminded him.

  Zach nodded. “Yeah, C, even that part.”

  The little filly didn’t nap for long, and once she was up on her stiltlike legs again, Carole decided it was time to make them walk back to Pine Hollow.

  She led Sunset while Zach trailed behind with Starlight. She told him to keep the horse well back so that there’d be no danger of the foal getting stepped on or the mother being upset by the other animal’s presence.

  The return journey was uneventful, for which Carole was profoundly grateful. Since it was now almost eight o’clock in the morning, she knew everyone at Pine Hollow would be awake and no doubt worried about the missing mare.

  Sure enough, when they came into view of the stable, Carole spotted Judy Barker’s truck in the driveway. She led the little group into the yard and was greeted by the veterinarian and an anxious Max.

  “What on earth is going on?” Max demanded.

  Carole felt herself blush with shame. “Sunset had her baby.”

  “So I noticed,” he said, taking the mare’s halter from her. “Is there some reason why she didn’t have it in my stable as planned?” His eyes landed on Zach and Starlight. “And why were you out riding so early this morning?”

  “Carole saved the foal’s life,” Zach told them excitedly.

  Carole shook her head. “Actually, Zach saved both their lives. I’m the one who put them in danger in the first place.”

  Max frowned. “I don’t understand. Judy said you called her from here last night.”

  “I did, but after I checked on Sunset, I guess I forgot to latch her stall door,” she confessed. “I remembered it only this morning, so I came over to see if everything was all right, but she was gone. So I took Starlight to find her.”

  “First things first, Max,” Judy said. “I need to know about the birth. You and Zach look like you had a rough time.”

  Carole smiled ruefully. She had forgotten what a mess they were. “I think Sunset had the worst of it. The foal had one of its legs tucked under, so it couldn’t come out. I pushed it back in and tried to unfold its leg, but my arms weren’t long enough. Luckily Zach has longer arms and he managed to do it.”

  Judy smiled broadly. “It sounds like you did everything right, Carole. I’m really proud of you.” She looked over at the boy. “You too. That took a lot of courage, young man. Now with your permission, Max, I think I’d better take a look at mother and daughter.”

  Carole watched Judy lead the mare and foal away. She hung her head, unable to meet Max’s eyes. “I’m so sorry, Max. I really blew it.”

  “Leaving the door unlatched was very careless,” he agreed. “But thank goodness you had a careless moment.”

  Carole couldn’t believe what she had just heard. She looked at Max in astonishment.

  He put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t you realize that if you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have come back to check on her and Sunset might have died alone in her stall this morning?”

  Carole hadn’t thought of it like that. It made her feel a little better. She had still messed up, but, strangely enough, it had turned out for the best.

  Mrs. Reg appeared from inside the stable. “Carole, Lisa is on the phone. You can take the call in my office, but don’t be long.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Reg,” Carole said, hurrying inside.

  When she got to the phone she heard a worried Lisa hanging on the line. “What’s going on? You sneak out of the house and leave us this note that says you have to go to Pine Hollow?”

  “Calm down. Everything’s fine. But you have missed out on some excitement. Sunset had her foal!”

  Lisa’s squeal of delight was so loud Carole was forced to move the phone away from her ear. “I don’t believe it!” Lisa gasped with excitement.

  Carole could hear Stevie in the background demanding to be let in on the news. When Lisa told her, Carole heard another shriek of joy.

/>   Lisa came back on the phone. “I can’t believe we missed it,” she wailed.

  “Actually you didn’t miss it by much,” Carole told her. “Anyway, I’ll tell you all about it when you get down here.”

  “We’re on our way,” Lisa said and hung up.

  Carole put down the phone and left the office. She found Zach in Starlight’s stall. He had untacked her horse and was giving him some water.

  “Thanks, Zach,” she said.

  Mrs. Reg came down the hall toward them. “I heard you two had quite the adventure this morning, and I thought you could use a little pick-me-up.” She handed them each a cup of hot chocolate.

  “Thanks, Mrs. Reg. It smells great.” Carole took the mug gratefully. There were even miniature marshmallows floating on the top, just the way she liked it.

  “Sure does,” Zach agreed. He took a tiny sip. “Yow! Be careful, C, it’s pretty hot.”

  “I should hope so,” Mrs. Reg sniffed. “I believe that is where the term hot chocolate came from. Why don’t you two go sit down somewhere while you drink it. You both look a little worse for wear.”

  Carole led the way to the locker room and sank onto a bench.

  Zach did the same. “Man, having babies sure is hard work.”

  Carole laughed. “You should try it from the other side sometime.”

  “Not something I’m ever going to have to worry about,” Zach chuckled. “But, wow, that was something. Beats television hands down!”

  Carole came to a decision. She had planned on waiting until Lisa and Stevie had arrived to talk to Zach, but this felt like the right moment. “Zach, did Mrs. Reg ever tell you about a pony named Sprinkles?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  She told him the story about the pony who was only good at walking. At the end the boy looked at her blankly. “I don’t get it. What fun is just walking?”

  “What’s fun is doing something well,” Carole replied. “Even if you can only do one thing, that’s still better than not being able to do anything, right?”

  “I guess,” he said, taking a sip of his cocoa.

  Carole put down her cup. “What I’m trying to say is, you love to ride fast and you love just being with your horse. That’s what you do well. That’s what makes you happy.”

  For the first time since the birth of the filly, Zach looked depressed. “That’s never going to win me a blue ribbon.”

  “No, it’s not. But, you know, Zach,” she said as gently as she could, “some people don’t like to compete in horse shows. It’s simply not their thing. As a matter of fact, I’ve heard a theory that people who don’t compete may have a better bond with their horse because their relationship is based purely on mutual pleasure. Neither the horse nor the rider is under any pressure.”

  Zach looked interested. “Not everyone who rides competes?”

  “Of course not,” she told him.

  “But everyone around here does.”

  “We show our horses because that’s fun for us. There may come a time when I won’t want to do it anymore, and then I’ll stop. But even if I do, I know I’ll never give up horses.”

  “Are you saying I can just take classes and go for rides?” he asked cautiously. “I don’t have to compete in the shows?”

  Carole smiled. “Absolutely, and anyone who tries to tell you different is wrong. Someday you may decide to try it again, but until then Stevie and Lisa and I can show you lots of fun things to do on horseback.”

  Zach grinned. “Cool. I’ll take you up on that, C.” He looked at his watch. “Wow! I’ve got to go home.” He leaped to his feet. “I kind of sneaked out without telling my folks. They’re gonna be worried about me.”

  “In case you’re interested, we’re playing mounted games again next week.”

  “Count me in,” he said enthusiastically.

  Carole smiled. “See you in school tomorrow.”

  Zach headed for the door. He paused and turned to Carole. “Thank you,” he said.

  After he had left, Carole sat back to finish her hot chocolate. She was slurping the last few drops when Lisa and Stevie rushed in. “Hi, guys,” she greeted them. “Have you seen the new foal yet?”

  “We just came from her,” Lisa gushed. “Have you ever seen anything so cute?”

  “And funny,” Stevie added. Then she stopped and stared. “Have you considered taking a shower lately?”

  Carole laughed.

  “You look terrible,” Lisa informed her. “What have you been up to?”

  “Didn’t Max or Judy tell you?” Carole asked, surprised.

  Stevie and Lisa shook their heads.

  “I helped deliver Sunset’s baby,” she told them happily. “Actually, Zach and I did.”

  “Alone?” Stevie asked, clearly astonished.

  “Yep! In the field.”

  Stevie and Lisa threw themselves down on the bench beside her.

  “Okay, start talking,” Lisa demanded. “And don’t you dare leave out any of the details.”

  In the next few minutes Carole told them the entire tale. Her two best friends were clearly amazed by the story.

  “I can’t believe a boy would do that,” Stevie said. “Guess Zach isn’t a typical boy after all.”

  “You must have been scared,” Lisa said. “I know I would have been.”

  “I was,” Carole admitted. But I was more scared for Sunset and her baby. Besides, we had no choice.”

  “You’re really amazing, Carole,” Stevie told her.

  “You’re going to make a fantastic veterinarian,” Lisa added warmly.

  “Do you suppose Judy goes through something like that every day?” Stevie wondered.

  “Let’s go find her and ask,” Lisa suggested.

  “Do you mind if we stop by Sunset’s stall again first?” Carole pleaded. “I’d really like to take another look at her foal.”

  Stevie and Lisa didn’t need coaxing. They were more than happy to take another peek at the baby.

  A few moments later The Saddle Club was gathered outside the birthing stall, watching the pair. Nestled deep in the soft hay, the new little filly was sound asleep, and Sunset, who had been so restless for so long, was standing quietly and peacefully over her new baby.

  “Judy said the filly’s perfect,” Carole whispered.

  “She sure looks it from where I’m standing,” Lisa said dreamily.

  “You did an amazing thing today, Carole,” Stevie said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

  “Amazing,” agreed Lisa.

  Carole smiled dreamily. It had been amazing.

  “Now,” said Stevie, “about that shower …”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  BONNIE BRYANT is the author of more than a hundred books about horses, including The Saddle Club series, The Saddle Club Super Editions, the Pony Tails series, and Pine Hollow, which follows the Saddle Club girls into their teens. She has also written novels and movie novelizations under her married name, B. B. Hiller.

  Ms. Bryant began writing The Saddle Club in 1986. Although she had done some riding before that, she intensified her studies then and found herself learning right along with her characters Stevie, Carole, and Lisa. She claims that they are all much better riders than she is.

  Ms. Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She still lives there, in Greenwich Village, with her two sons.

  Don’t miss the next exciting

  Saddle Club adventure …

  HARD HAT

  Saddle Club #97

  Stevie Lake thinks she knows everything there is to know about getting along in New York City—until she meets Regina Evans. Regina is the daughter of a New York friend of Stevie’s mom. When Stevie and her mother visit the city, Mrs. Lake and Mrs. Evans catch up on old times—while Regina introduces Stevie to her friends and their favorite hangouts.

  It’s a lot of fun until an accident leaves Regina and Stevie in real danger. But just when things look worst, Stevie gets a chance to prov
e that a horse can always save the day—even in New York City!

  Horse lover CAROLE …

  Practical joker STEVIE …

  Straight-A LISA …

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