Holiday Horse Page 4

  “I hope your lips get stuck,” she muttered in his general direction.

  She couldn’t believe he was braving the icy cold evening air just to annoy her. There were a couple of inches of snow on the ground, and the wind was wailing around the eaves of the house, making Stevie feel cold just listening to it. But on second thought, she figured she shouldn’t be surprised. Her brothers were a lot like the U.S. Postal Service that way. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night could stop them from torturing her every chance they got.

  “I guess I should have taken this call in my room,” Stevie told Phil. She had a phone on the table beside her bed, but she had been in the kitchen when Phil had called, and she hadn’t wanted to waste any time running upstairs. After all, Phil was leaving first thing the next morning.

  Phil laughed on the other end of the line. One of the best things about him, as far as Stevie was concerned, was that he really understood how annoying her brothers could be. He had three sisters who drove him equally crazy.

  “In answer to the question you were asking before you were so rudely interrupted,” he said, “I hope I’ll be talking to you at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Even if it’s only on the phone.”

  Stevie beamed. “Really?” she said. “That would be great. I didn’t even think about that. We should definitely call each other at midnight.”

  “I have an even better idea,” Phil said. “Let’s call each other every hour on the hour. That way it will almost seem like we’re spending the whole evening together like we wanted to.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Stevie noticed that Michael had disappeared from the window. But she didn’t care. She was too excited about what Phil had said. “What a fantastic idea!” she exclaimed. “Like I told you, I’ll be baby-sitting at Max and Deborah’s all night. So I’ll have plenty of time to talk. Carole and Lisa won’t mind.”

  “Great,” Phil said. “I’ll just have to make sure I’m at the hotel at the right time. But that will be no problem. If my family doesn’t want to come back with me from wherever we are, I can just take the monorail back by myself.”

  Stevie couldn’t help sighing at that. She was still disappointed that she wouldn’t be going to Disney World herself. Riding the monorail and doing all kinds of other fun stuff with Phil would be the best way to welcome in the New Year, bar none. But she would have to settle for what she could get.

  “It’s a deal,” she said. “I’ll get my parents to lend me their calling card so that Max and Deborah won’t get charged for the long-distance calls. I can use some of my Christmas money to pay off the card.”

  “Good,” Phil said. “And we can take turns calling each other and share the expenses.”

  Stevie was about to say something else, but suddenly she felt something hit the back of her head with a loud, wet whap! Before she could react, icy rivulets started snaking their way down her neck to her back.

  Glancing at the floor, she saw a large snowball that was already starting to melt into a puddle. She whirled around. “Hey!” she shouted at her brothers at the top of her lungs. All three of them were standing in the kitchen doorway, laughing their heads off. Michael was brushing snow off his mittens.

  “Ow!” Phil protested in her ear.

  Stevie realized she had forgotten to move the receiver before yelling at her brothers. “Oops,” she told Phil. “Sorry. I think I’d better go. I have a little something to take care of here.” She glared at her brothers. They grinned and took off.

  “I understand,” Phil said with a laugh. “I’ve got to get going, too. I still have some packing to do. But I’ll call you New Year’s Eve. Shall we say six o’clock?”

  “I’ll be waiting by the phone,” Stevie promised.

  THE NEXT MORNING, the three girls arrived at the foot of Pine Hollow’s gravel driveway at the same time. They greeted each other, then hurried into the stable building together. They were eager to find Max and Deborah and present their gift. But when they entered, they saw that Max already had his hands full.

  “I’ll be with you in just a second, Mr. French,” he was calling to one of his adult riders, who was waiting patiently to talk to him. Meanwhile, Max was leading a horse named Barq with one hand and another stable horse, Coconut, with the other. Maxi was bouncing along happily in the infant carrier, which was buckled over Max’s shoulders.

  Carole noticed another man hurrying forward to help. She recognized Alec McAllister, the blacksmith Max generally used to shoe his horses.

  “Hey there, girls,” Alec greeted The Saddle Club cheerfully.

  “Hi,” Carole greeted the redheaded young man. “What are you doing here today?” The blacksmith’s regular monthly visit to Pine Hollow wasn’t for at least a week.

  Max answered for the blacksmith. “He’s here because Barq decided to throw a shoe this morning,” he grumbled, giving the lively Arabian gelding a dirty look. “As if I didn’t have enough to do around here already.”

  The three girls exchanged looks. Max almost never blamed his horses for his own workload, no matter what they did. He knew better than anyone what came with running a stable. From the sound of things, their gift was coming just in the nick of time for him as well as for Deborah.

  “Let me hold Coconut while Alec gets started,” Lisa offered, stepping forward.

  Max gladly relinquished the horse’s lead line. Lisa took it and stroked Coconut’s soft nose.

  “Did Coconut throw a shoe, too?” she asked.

  Alec gestured to the gelding’s feet. “Take a look,” he said.

  At that moment Coconut shifted his weight, and the girls could see that he had no shoes on any of his feet. They knew that Max, like most good horsemen, liked to let each of his horses go shoeless for at least a couple of weeks each year. It was a good way to make sure their feet stayed as healthy as possible.

  “As long as I was coming, Max decided we might as well put Coconut’s shoes back on,” Alec said. “He’s had enough of a vacation.”

  Lisa smoothed the friendly horse’s straw-colored mane. Coconut was a flaxen chestnut, which meant his mane and tail were a slightly lighter color than his golden yellow body. “Did you hear that, boy?” she said. “It’s back to work for you. I bet you’re looking forward to that, huh?” She had never ridden Coconut, but Carole had told her that he was among the best-behaved horses in the stable.

  For his part, Max was behaving very strangely at the moment. He had been paying no attention to the girls’ conversation with the blacksmith. In fact, he didn’t even seem to remember where he was or what he was supposed to be doing. He raised both hands and rubbed his forehead until his hair stood straight up. Even Maxi gave him a funny look.

  “Are you okay, Max?” Stevie asked worriedly.

  Max didn’t seem to hear the question. He started looking back and forth between Alec, who had set to work on Barq’s foot, and the hallway leading to the tack room and Mrs. Reg’s office. “I should go help Deborah,” he muttered uncertainly. “But I should help Red bring down the hay. And I should check the other horses’ feet while Alec is here.”

  “Um, Max?” Carole said. “We’ll help out if you want. What’s Deborah doing?”

  Max looked straight at the girls for the first time. “Oh, hello,” he said. “When did you get here?”

  “Uh-oh,” Stevie murmured. “There’s no time to waste. This is an emergency.”

  Her friends knew exactly what she meant.

  Lisa quickly put Coconut in cross-ties in a nearby aisle so that he’d be ready when Alec finished with Barq. Meanwhile, Carole and Stevie each took Max firmly by an elbow.

  “Now,” Stevie said, “let’s try this again. Where’s Deborah?”

  Max stared down at the girls’ hands on his arms, looking slightly confused, but he didn’t comment. “She’s in the office,” he said instead. “Answering the phone. It’s been ringing off the hook all morning.”

  “Okay. Now we’re getting somewhere,” Stevie said.

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nbsp; Before Max knew what was happening, Stevie and Carole had steered him down the aisle and into Mrs. Reg’s office. Lisa followed, shutting the office door behind her. Deborah was sitting behind the desk. As they entered, she was just hanging up the phone, shaking her head.

  “Whew,” she said. “I can’t believe so many people suddenly have urgent questions two days before New Year’s Eve. Haven’t they ever heard of taking a holiday?” She stood up and walked around the desk, reaching out for Maxi.

  Max handed over the baby. “Do you mind taking her for a while? I’ve got to take care of the hay, and—”

  “Not quite yet,” Stevie interrupted. She waited until Maxi was safe in her mother’s arms, then continued. “We have something to say to you.”

  Lisa reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the envelope containing the card she had made the night before. She handed it to Stevie.

  Carole held her breath as she waited to see the presentation. Despite all their careful planning, she felt a little nervous. What if Max and Deborah turned down their gift? They were both so responsible. They might decide they ought to stay at home and take care of things there instead of going out and having fun.

  One glance at the determined expression on Stevie’s face reassured Carole a little bit. The girls had already vowed that they weren’t going to take no for an answer. Even if Max and Deborah resisted the idea at first, The Saddle Club would just have to talk them into it. They would do whatever it took to make sure the couple had some nice, relaxing, romantic, adults-only time together.

  Deborah was back in her seat, holding Maxi in one arm while scrabbling around on Mrs. Reg’s desk with the other. The desk, which Max’s mother usually kept in a sort of disorderly order, was just plain disorderly now. It was covered with documents, sales bills and invoices, and miscellaneous scraps of paper.

  “There was an urgent message for you here somewhere from that tack company …,” Deborah told Max anxiously.

  Maxi chose that moment to spit her pacifier onto the floor. She peered down after it with a surprised expression on her chubby face. Then she opened her mouth and started to wail.

  Max let out a sigh and hurried forward to grab the baby. He put her over his shoulder and patted her gently on the back while Deborah picked up the pacifier and rushed to the tack room next door. Over Maxi’s cries, the girls could hear the sound of running water as Deborah rinsed it in the small sink there.

  A moment later all was well again, at least with Maxi. She sucked contentedly on the pacifier while Deborah rocked her in both arms. Maxi’s parents, on the other hand, looked more weary and frazzled than ever.

  Stevie stopped Max as he was about to rush out of the room to find Red. “Just one second,” she said. “I know you’re both busy. And we’ll be happy to pitch in with the chores as soon as we’ve finished here.” She nodded toward her friends.

  “Great,” Max said. “In that case, Carole and Lisa, can you give all the horses’ feet a quick check before Alex leaves? And Stevie, could you muck out Coconut’s and Barq’s stalls while they’re—”

  “Hold it.” Stevie’s voice took on a no-nonsense tone that sounded an awful lot like Max’s own when the instructor had something important to say. Carole could hardly keep from laughing at the startled expression on Max’s face. Deborah looked just as surprised. Even Maxi looked at Stevie with interest.

  “What is it, Stevie?” Deborah asked.

  Stevie held out the envelope. “We have something for you two,” she said. “It’s sort of a Christmas present. Well, more of a New Year’s Eve present, really. Let’s just call it a holiday present.”

  “For us?” Max took the envelope, looking mystified. He slit it open with his thumb and pulled out the card.

  “What is it, Max?” Deborah asked curiously.

  He walked over to her, reading the card as he did. Carole couldn’t read the expression on his face. “Look at this,” he told his wife. “The girls want to baby-sit for us on New Year’s Eve while we go out.”

  “We made reservations for you and everything,” Lisa said in a rush. “And we’ll come to your house and watch Maxi the whole time you’re gone. You won’t have to do a thing except drive yourself to the restaurant in Washington.” She smiled sheepishly. “And pay the bill, of course.”

  “Hmm,” Max said. He gazed at Deborah. She gazed back silently.

  Carole bit her lip. She couldn’t stand the suspense. After all The Saddle Club had done, were Max and Deborah going to say no?

  Stevie obviously thought so. “Listen,” she said, “I don’t care what arguments you have against this. We think—”

  Max and Deborah didn’t let her finish. They both spoke up at once. “We’ll take it!” they said quickly.

  “… AND I MISS YOU, too,” Stevie said. “I’ll talk to you in an hour.” She hung up the phone.

  It was shortly after six P.M. on New Year’s Eve. Stevie and Phil had just completed the first of their hourly phone calls. They were careful to keep the call to just a few minutes so that their parents wouldn’t get upset about the long-distance charges. But it was better than nothing, Stevie reminded herself.

  She glanced at her watch. It had stopped at four-thirty that morning. “It’s a good thing Phil offered to make the first call,” she muttered. She hurried into the kitchen and checked the clock on the microwave oven. She set and wound her watch, then went out to the front hall, where her overnight bag and sleeping bag were waiting.

  Opening the hall closet, Stevie started to grab her warmest down coat. It was colder than ever that night, and even though Pine Hollow was only a short walk away, Stevie knew she would need to bundle up.

  But her hand paused inches from the coat. She had just spotted something else in the closet. It was Phil’s favorite pro sports team jacket. He had left it at Stevie’s house one day about a month ago, and she’d forgotten to return it. Seeing it hanging there suddenly made her miss Phil more than ever. Florida seemed very far away.

  On an impulse, Stevie pulled the bright green-and-yellow jacket off its hanger and slipped it on. It was a bit big on her, but she liked the way it felt. It wasn’t nearly as warm as her other coat, but she decided that didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be spending much time outdoors tonight. And this would be one more way of helping her pretend that she and Phil were spending the holiday together.

  The buzzing of the doorbell interrupted her thoughts. “Uh-oh,” she muttered. “The invasion of the creeps is starting.”

  Chad raced into the hall and shoved past her to get to the door. “I thought you were leaving,” he tossed back over his shoulder as he swung the door open.

  “Don’t worry,” Stevie said. She stood to one side as several members of Chad’s soccer team jostled their way inside, complaining about the cold. “I was just on my way out.” She slung her bag over her shoulder and hurried through the door a split second before Chad slammed it shut.

  Stevie almost turned back for her warm jacket when she felt the first blast of icy wind hit her. But she couldn’t stand the thought of going back inside with Chad and his buddies. She wrapped her arms around herself and broke into a jog to keep warm as she headed down the driveway and turned in the direction of Pine Hollow.

  As she hurried along the streets that separated her house from the stable, Stevie thought about the evening ahead. She couldn’t wait to start The Saddle Club’s official New Year’s Eve sleepover. She couldn’t wait to talk about Britt and her surprise horse. She couldn’t wait to talk to Phil on the phone. Her cold face broke into a mischievous grin. She also couldn’t wait to start making prank calls to her brother’s party. Ideas were already percolating in her mind.

  Before long, the familiar buildings of Pine Hollow came into view. Stevie put on an extra burst of speed. Max and Deborah’s house was on a hill beyond the stable, but Stevie figured she had a few minutes before she had to be there. First she would stop in to wish Belle a happy New Year.

  She swung open the door and
sighed in relief as the warm, heated air inside the stable met her. Closing the door carefully behind her, she dropped her things against the wall and walked toward Belle’s stall.

  Halfway there, she ran into Max. He was still wearing his work clothes—a pair of dusty jeans and a worn flannel shirt.

  “I hope you’re not planning to wear that to the restaurant tonight,” Stevie said.

  Max glanced at his watch. “At this rate, I’m not sure I’ll be able to go tonight.”

  Stevie’s jaw dropped. “What!” she exclaimed. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  Max’s face looked set and anxious. “What can I do?” he said. “Joanne Lynn was supposed to stop by and drop off a check for Britt’s first few lessons. But she hasn’t shown up yet.”

  “And?” Stevie prompted him.

  Max shrugged. “And nothing,” he said. “Isn’t that enough? I can’t reach her on the phone, and Red has already left for the night. And in weather like this, I’d hate to think of her driving all the way out here and—”

  Stevie didn’t let him finish. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said firmly. She hurried back down the aisle to the entrance. Unzipping her overnight bag, she dug through its contents. Soon she found what she was looking for—a pen and a pad of paper.

  “Watch this,” she said.

  In large letters, she wrote, “Ms. Lynn: When you get here, please come to the house up the hill.”

  She held it up for Max to see. “Okay?” she said. “I think she can handle that. And I think Carole, Lisa, and I can handle taking a check for you.”

  Max stared at the note for a moment. Then he smiled. “I guess you can,” he admitted, rubbing his eyes. “Sorry. I must be more tired than I thought.”

  “That’s why you need to get up to the house and change clothes right now,” Stevie said, shooing him toward the door. “You need to relax for at least one evening. And so does your wife. Now scoot. Or we may decide to spend Ms. Lynn’s check ourselves, just to teach you a lesson.”