Stevie Read online

  I was so worn out from writing you that long letter (you’ll be impressed when you get it, just wait and see!) that I decided to wait and sleep on it before I started writing my report. So I sat down yesterday right after school—well, okay, make that right after my Tuesday riding class—to get started. Mom even chased my Jawbone-obsessed brothers away from the computer for me. (I may have forgotten to mention it in the letter, but Miss Fenton called my parents about the assignment, and naturally they weren’t exactly thrilled about the state of my grades. They grounded me for the next two weeks so that I’ll have “plenty of time to make this report good,” as Mom put it. Luckily they’re still letting me go to riding lessons, though, since they already paid this month.)

  And so I sat there staring at the blank computer screen. For about an hour. Every time I thought of something to write, it sounded incredibly lame and boring.

  Finally I decided I just had to do it. Maybe Miss Fenton would actually like lame and boring. So I started typing, trying to work in all that stuff she likes, especially stuff about responsibility. I got a few paragraphs into it, but then I couldn’t take it anymore. It all sounded so fake and stupid, not like me at all. But I wasn’t sure what else to try. So I told Mom I had a headache and she let me go to bed early.

  I was worried about my report all day at school, especially when Miss Fenton stopped me in the hall to ask how it was going. I just mumbled something and escaped, and made sure I avoided her for the rest of the day. At that point I was sure my school career—and my riding career—were doomed.

  Despite being grounded, I decided to swing by Pine Hollow right after school. I figured that if I was going to be banned from the stable soon, I might as well spend a little time there while I still could. (Plus, I knew both Mom and Dad had late meetings today and wouldn’t be home until almost dinnertime.)

  It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. As usual, just being at Pine Hollow made me feel a little bit better. I gave Topside a good grooming and tried to convince myself to go back to the report I had started and keep going. But I still wasn’t sure I could do it. I figured I needed a new angle. But what?

  Then Carole and Lisa helped me come up with the answer. We were doing a few chores in the tack room and talking as we worked. All I could think about was my stupid report, so that was what we were talking about. (Mostly, anyway—Carole kept drifting off to other topics, like Starlight’s training, Starlight’s feeding schedule, Starlight’s new horseshoes … Hey, but you remember Carole, right? The phrase “one-track mind” was practically invented for her. Not to mention the phrase “horse-crazy.”)

  So when she wasn’t talking about Starlight, Carole kept saying how Miss Fenton couldn’t possibly understand why I had been so distracted unless she understood how I feel about horses. And I guess that’s true, since a lot of my distractions lately have had a lot to do with horses and riding. Although if Carole went to Fenton Hall, she would realize that Miss F can have a pretty one-track mind herself when it comes to grades.…

  Anyway, Carole’s point was that she thought my report should be all about horses. She even volunteered to let me use her favorite photo of the three of us (me, Carole, and Lisa, that is) on horseback. It’s a really good picture—Carole’s dad took it a few months ago at one of our Horse Wise meetings. (Horse Wise is the name of our Pony Club, in case I never told you that.) Carole thought the picture would make a perfect cover for my report.

  Lisa wasn’t convinced about the horse thing. She kept saying I should make sure my report is very well written and complete, because she thinks teachers usually care just as much about how you write something as what you write. That doesn’t make much sense to me, but I guess Lisa should know. After all, she’s the straight-A student, beloved by every teacher she’s ever met. It’s a good thing she goes to the public school instead of to Fenton Hall, or Miss Fenton would probably give up on me altogether!

  But the point is, talking with my friends actually inspired a fantastic brainstorm. (The Saddle Club works that way a lot—the three of us seem totally different, but we can make each other think in ways we wouldn’t otherwise.) Carole’s idea about including the horse photo made me realize that a report doesn’t have to be just boring words. Lisa’s suggestions reminded me of some of the things Miss Fenton said to me and made me see that she would probably be wowed by any extra creative effort I put into this project, no matter what it is. (I hope so, anyway.)

  So here it is: I’m going to turn my boring report into a THRILLING MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION! If Miss Fenton can totally relive the past month or two of my life—every exciting detail, every bit of action and fun—through my report, she can’t help loving it. For one thing, she’ll be impressed by my thoroughness (as you may recall, that’s another obsession of hers). But also, she might even understand what I tried to tell her the other day—namely, exactly why I’ve been so busy lately and how much I learned that I couldn’t possibly have learned in school even if I studied for a million years. And how only having such a creative and interesting life could prepare me for writing such a creative and interesting paper—I mean multimedia presentation.

  Okay, I’d better send this and get to work. If Mom and Dad catch me e-mailing you instead of writing my report, they’ll flip out. Not to mention what my brothers would do. They’ve been skulking around all afternoon, peeking in here every two seconds to see if I’m finished yet.

  Anyway, I know I can make this the most incredible assignment any Fenton Hall student has ever done. It will have it all—action, adventure, excitement, emotions, bravery, and thrills galore.

  I just hope Miss Fenton is evolved enough to appreciate it!

  Welcome to My Life!

  A Multimedia Presentation by Stephanie Lake

  Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! You’re in for a thrilling, fascinating, and rare peek into the life of yours truly, Stevie Lake. Miss Fenton, you asked me to explain exactly why my schoolwork has slipped lately, and explain it I will. I’m not trying to make excuses for my less-than-wonderful grades. I only want to show you the real reasons for them. It isn’t that I’m not smart enough to do better or that I didn’t take the assignments seriously enough. It was simply that the whirlwind of action, mystery, intrigue, and drama that is Life consumed so much of my time that I wasn’t able to give my schoolwork the full attention it deserved.

  It all started with spring break. I was ready to spend the week reading To Kill a Mockingbird and studying fractions when fate intervened. Little did I know how much excitement, learning, even danger, was in store for me. But first …

  Personality Profile: Dinah Slattery

  (Miss Fenton, I know you know Dinah, because she used to go to Fenton Hall. But I thought it might be helpful to include this, just in case you don’t remember her well enough, since she’s pretty important to this part of my story.)

  Dinah Slattery was born in Maryland, but her family moved to Willow Creek, Virginia, when she was seven. She attended Fenton Hall, and she took riding lessons at Willow Creek’s own Pine Hollow Stables from age eight. While at Pine Hollow, Dinah rode a horse named Barq, a spirited Arabian whose name means “lightning” in Arabic. Dinah was a fine student at Pine Hollow, though she often had trouble remembering to keep her heels down. But she always loved horses. I remember that Max Regnery, owner of Pine Hollow, would often comment on how “enthusiastic” Dinah always was in riding class. Dinah is also good at lots of other things, like drawing and telling jokes. She was a terrific friend and a wonderful student at Fenton Hall, and I know I’m not the only one who missed her when she moved to Vermont the year before last. But Dinah and I have kept in touch through letters and e-mails, so we’re still good friends. And she still has that enthusiastic spirit and sense of adventure that always made hanging out with her so much fun, as you will see.

  And now, on with our story … It was the week before spring break, and I couldn’t wait. I was looking forward to spending a lot of time at the stab
le, riding and hanging out with my friends. And of course, I was raring to start reading To Kill a Mockingbird, which I was sure must be a very fascinating book, especially since I’ve always been interested in birds and other animals.

  Then I got Dinah’s letter inviting me to Vermont. An excerpt from her letter follows:

  Every year around spring break, we have sugaring off. That’s when we collect the sap from the maple trees and make syrup and sugar. We make up teams of three and I just learned that my team is one person short. Naturally, I thought of you. It’s a whole week full of fun. We do it the old-fashioned way, using horse-drawn sleighs and everything. You’re going to love it, Stevie. It’s a great time of year here, and I promise we wont spend a minute of it in the principal’s office!

  NOTE: Dinah’s reference to the principal’s office was just a joke. You may recall, Miss Fenton, that Dinah and I occasionally let our natural exuberance get the better of us so that we would have to come to you and explain ourselves. But of course, we were both much more mature than that by this time, so she was just kidding. She certainly didn’t intend for us to get into any trouble on this trip. Little did she know … But you’ll just have to continue reading to find out about the exciting and unexpected things that happened to us.

  Naturally, I was excited about the trip, even though it meant missing a very important meeting at Cross County Stables and having to give up many trail rides with my fellow members of The Saddle Club. Which brings us to …

  Close-up on: The Saddle Club

  The Saddle Club plays an important role in my story, so I’d like to introduce it here. It’s a club I started with my two best friends, Carole Hanson and Lisa Atwood. We all ride together at Pine Hollow, and we’ve been best friends ever since Lisa started taking lessons there. Carole and Lisa both attend the public school in Willow Creek, so I’ll give you a brief idea of what each of them is like, since they’ll be appearing frequently in this report.

  Carole has been riding for practically her entire life, and she loves it more than anything. She’s the best junior rider at Pine Hollow, and she lives, eats, sleeps, and breathes horses. Every inch of her room is plastered with photos, posters, and drawings of horses, especially her own horse, Starlight, who was a Christmas gift from her father. Carole already knows she wants to work with horses somehow when she grows up, although she changes her mind every other day about exactly what she wants to do—competitive rider, trainer, breeder, vet, or who knows what else. Personally, I’m not sure she’ll ever be able to decide. She just might have to do them all! Carole has lived in Willow Creek for a few years, but before that she lived all over the country on different military bases because her father, Colonel Hanson, is in the Marine Corps. Her mother died of cancer a couple of years ago, and Carole still misses her, but she has a great relationship with her dad, who’s a pretty cool guy. In addition to her horse, Starlight, Carole has a cat named Snowball. She loves country and western music, making Rice Krispies treats, and watching funny movies, and she hates green peppers.

  Then there’s Lisa. She’s the newest rider of the three of us, even though she’s a year older than Carole and me. But she’s almost as good as we are because she’s such a fast learner. And not just in riding—Lisa can do almost anything once she sets her smart, totally logical mind to it. Her grades are perfect, she plays about five instruments, takes ballet, and used to take art classes and tennis lessons. She even knows how to play chess and golf! Mostly it’s her mother who makes her learn all that stuff—Mrs. Atwood worries a lot about making Lisa into a proper young lady. But even without her mother bugging her, Lisa would probably still be a perfectionist. That’s just the way she is. Don’t ask me to explain it. At Pine Hollow, she used to ride a sweet, gentle horse named Pepper … but more on that later. Lisa has an older brother who’s studying in Europe, and a Lhasa apso named Dolly who can balance a Ping-Pong ball on her nose (I taught her that trick). Lisa loves studying, grooming Pepper, mashed potatoes, and writing in her diary; she hates being late and forgetting things.

  Despite our different personalities, the three of us get along great. That’s partly because we all love horses so much. Being horse-crazy is the first requirement for being admitted to The Saddle Club.

  The second requirement is also very important: All members must be willing to help each other out, no matter what. In the past, this has included standing by each other when we have problems with school or family or other things. Lisa and I are always ready to help Carole when she feels sad about her mother or is worried about some horse-related problem. Carole and Lisa are always willing to give me advice when I get a little too competitive with my boyfriend, Phil Marsten. Carole and I were even able to help Lisa survive her first and last date with my older brother, Chad. (And if we can do that, we can do anything—ha ha! Just a little report humor!)

  But the helpfulness of The Saddle Club goes beyond helping each other. We also love to help all kinds of other people whenever we can. For instance, we once helped Max Regnery get more business for his stable when we thought he might be having money troubles. We worked hard to run a festival fund-raiser for the children’s hospital. (You may remember that, Miss Fenton, since we held it at the same time as Fenton Hall’s spring fair.) We helped Skye Ransom, the famous teenage actor, learn to ride and thereby saved his film career. We pitched in to save the barn at our riding camp from a big fire. We threw a cool party for Colonel Hanson’s fortieth birthday. We even helped one of Pine Hollow’s mares, Delilah, give birth to her foal, Samson!

  As you can see from the above examples, The Saddle Club is more than just a group of friends who like to ride, just as the Red Cross is more than just a gang of doctors and the Supreme Court is more than a bunch of people who wear robes. The Saddle Club could be considered a service organization of the highest order, and we take our responsibilities—to ourselves, to each other, to the community, and the world at large—very seriously indeed.

  FROM: Steviethegreat

  TO: LAtwood; HorseGal

  SUBJECT: Surprise!

  MESSAGE:

  Hey, Lisa and Carole, guess what? Forget it, you’ll never guess. Remember that report I was complaining about earlier today? Well, I think I’ve really got it this time. I’m ready to write the greatest report in the history of the world! I don’t have much time—Dad just called Michael to set the table for dinner—so I’ll try to sum it up quickly. I’m going to try to really express to Miss Fenton what my life has been like lately. That might convince her that I have a good excuse for my bad grades—especially if she can see how much I learned about other stuff (like sugaring off, avalanches, horse racing, life and death, foxhunting, even elephants!). Also, instead of calling it an essay or something boring like that, I’m calling it a “multimedia presentation.” What that means is that I won’t be limiting myself to dull, dry words like in normal essays. I can do anything necessary to show her what it’s really like to be me!

  I won’t say I’m not a little nervous about this. After all, my entire summer is riding on this assignment (ha ha—riding on it—get it?). And Miss Fenton can be kind of serious sometimes, so I’m not a hundred percent sure she’ll appreciate what I’m trying to do. But I do know I couldn’t possibly finish the boring report I started yesterday, so I guess this is my only chance to redeem myself. (See Lisa? I was listening when you were talking today. I just hope I spelled “redeem” right!) And to be honest, I’m pretty pumped up about this whole assignment now. Finally, I’ll have my chance to explain what really prevented me from doing my homework. It might even be fun!

  I already wrote the whole introduction, including some stuff about The Saddle Club that I thought you guys might want to see. So I’m attaching the file with this e-mail so you can read it.

  Let me know what you think!

  FROM: HorseGal

  TO: Steviethegreat

  SUBJECT: Pigs fly in Willow Creek

  MESSAGE:

  Who are you, and what have you don
e with Stevie?

  Hee hee, just kidding. It’s great that you’re excited about your report. Although Miss Fenton and your teachers would probably die of shock if they found out that you were excited about any schoolwork.…

  Seriously, though, what you wrote so far is really great. I don’t know Miss Fenton that well, but I don’t see how she could help liking it.

  I hope you don’t mind me putting my two cents in, but I have one tiny suggestion about how to make it even better. I noticed that you haven’t mentioned Topside yet, or most of the other horses at Pine Hollow, either (except Starlight, Barq, and Pepper, but even them you only mention briefly). You’re probably already planning to do that next. Maybe you could do a personality profile for some of the important horses like you did for Dinah and The Saddle Club, but you may want to consider going farther than that. Like I was saying this afternoon, I think the most important thing for your paper (especially now, with your new direction) is to make Miss Fenton understand about the horses.

  I’ve been thinking as I type this, and I have a few ideas about how you could do it. For instance, how about this for a new opening line:

  Topside is his name, and he’s the most talented, gorgeous, athletic horse I have ever known.…

  Or maybe … the most wonderful, obedient, lovable horse on four hooves.

  If you don’t like that approach, what about this as an opening paragraph:

  Pine Hollow Stables is nestled among the rolling hills of Virginia, and it’s the most special place on earth. The owner, Max Regnery, takes good care of his horses and riders, and they love him for it. I love every horse in the stable, but most of all I love Starlight Topside. He’s a Thoroughbred gelding who used to belong to the famous competitive rider Dorothy DeSoto, and he’s the most talented, gorgeous, athletic horse I have ever known. His story and mine are inextricably intertwined, and it all begins at the wide double doorway of Pine Hollow’s main building.…