Corey's Secret Friend (Pony Tails Book 12) Read online

  “I was thinking we could have a picnic at the PTSP,” Corey said. There was a special spot on the hill behind Pine Hollow that the Pony Tails called the PTSP, the Pony Tails’ Special Place. They were convinced that sandwiches tasted better there.

  “I think I’d better stay here,” Jasmine said.

  Corey and May looked at each other. If they kept bugging Jasmine, she’d get even more nervous.

  “See you,” Corey said.

  “Take care,” said May.

  3 Outlaw in Trouble

  “I hate to see Jasmine so worried,” May said.

  “I guess it’s something she has to get through,” Corey said. But she knew what May meant. Usually the Pony Tails were the world’s greatest threesome. Now they weren’t. Jasmine seemed to be in her own world.

  “I could use a ride,” Corey said. When the Pony Tails were upset, a ride could usually cheer them up. But they were on their way to Pine Hollow Stables, and that was too far for them to ride alone.

  May’s father came whistling out of the Grovers’ barn. He was a horse trainer, so he worked at home.

  “Hi, girls,” he said. He took another look at them. “Is something wrong?”

  “Jasmine has horse show nerves,” May said.

  Mr. Grover looked over to where Jasmine was talking earnestly to Outlaw. “I remember my first horse show,” he said. “I kept wishing I would break my arm so I wouldn’t have to ride.”

  May blinked in surprise. “You?”

  Mr. Grover nodded. “It’s one of the worst memories I have.”

  “I hoped there would be an earthquake so my first horse show would be canceled,” Corey said.

  “Some people hope for lightning and thunder,” Mr. Grover said. “Or an invasion of ants. It depends.”

  May and Corey exchanged grins. Mr. Grover always knew how to make them feel better.

  “How come you guys aren’t on horseback?” Mr. Grover said. “It’s a perfect day for riding.”

  “We’re going to Pine Hollow Stables, and it’s too far to ride alone,” said May.

  “Hmmm,” said Mr. Grover, rubbing his chin. “I might have the solution to that problem. I have to talk to Max and his mother about something. Why don’t the three of us saddle up and ride over?”

  “I could handle that,” May said. She hugged him. “You are the world’s greatest father.”

  Corey sighed. Looking at May and her father with their arms around each other made her miss her own father. Corey’s parents were divorced. She saw her father a lot, and she loved him as much as ever, but it wasn’t the same as when he lived with her and her mother.

  May must have known what Corey was feeling because she swept her into the hug. Corey felt a lot better. She reminded herself of what she’d told Jasmine: Nothing is ever perfect.

  “So let’s ride,” said May happily. The girls went to get Samurai and Macaroni.

  A few minutes later Corey rode Sam over to the Grovers’ barn, where May and her father were waiting.

  “Tallyho!” said May. “Let’s go.”

  As they rode into the pasture behind the barns, they saw Jasmine and Outlaw. She had her arms around his neck, and she was talking a mile a minute. Outlaw looked miserable.

  “You’re sure you don’t want to come?” May called to Jasmine. “My father’s with us, so we can ride to Pine Hollow.”

  Jasmine shook her head. She watched Corey and May and Mr. Grover ride to the top of the hill. The ground was boggy after a recent rain, so they went slowly. At the top of the hill they turned to wave. Macaroni’s yellow mane blew back in the wind. The blaze like a curved sword on Samurai’s nose shone in the morning light. Then they disappeared on the far side of the hill.

  Jasmine turned back to Outlaw. “We’ve got lots of work to do,” she said to him. “We have to review cantering.”

  Outlaw raised his head. He looked at Jasmine as if she were totally nuts. He snorted. He reared, jerking the lead rope out of Jasmine’s hand, and took off after the other ponies.

  Jasmine took off after him, but Outlaw was fast.

  “Outlaw!” Jasmine yelled, still running. “Don’t run! You could hurt yourself.”

  Outlaw put his head down and ran as fast as he could.

  “Please,” Jasmine called. “I’ll never mention the show again.”

  Outlaw stumbled and fell.

  As Jasmine got to him, he was struggling to his feet.

  “Are you okay?” she said.

  His eyes were full of pain.

  “Where does it hurt?” she said.

  Outlaw nickered and looked down. He was holding his right hoof off the ground.

  “It’s my fault,” Jasmine said. “I’ve been acting like a creep.” Tears ran down her face. “Other ponies have normal owners. You have a nut.”

  Outlaw nudged her with his nose as if to tell her not to be so hard on herself.

  She kissed her fingertips and put them on Outlaw’s right ankle. This was a pretty silly thing to do, but when Jasmine was little and she hurt herself, her mother used to kiss the hurt place, and it always made Jasmine feel better.

  Outlaw stared at her with his big brown eyes.

  “Can you walk?” she asked. He took a tentative step. He winced, but he kept going.

  The two of them struggled down the hill. As they neared the barn, Outlaw’s limp got worse. Jasmine could tell that his ankle was hurting even more.

  She led him into his stall. Gently she took off his bridle and saddle. “I’m going to get Judy Barker,” she explained. “Judy will know what to do.” Judy was Pine Hollow’s horse veterinarian.

  Outlaw dropped his head and poked his ankle with his nose as if he were trying to figure out what was wrong with it.

  Jasmine ran into the house to call Judy.

  Her father was on the phone. Jasmine touched his arm to let him know she needed to make a call. He held up a finger to show her he’d be done in a moment.

  “You wouldn’t believe such a big cough could come from such a little thing,” Mr. James said. “It scares me.”

  Jasmine realized that Sophie, her baby sister, must be sick.

  “She snuffles,” Jasmine’s father said. “But what’s most worrisome is that cough. It’s so deep.”

  Jasmine tugged his sleeve. “Is Sophie okay?”

  Mr. James nodded reassuringly. “I’m talking to Dr. Santiago.” He was the family pediatrician.

  Everything is going wrong, Jasmine thought. Sophie is sick. Outlaw is injured.

  She began to think of the pictures in her riding book. There was a whole chapter devoted to injuries of the foot. Outlaw’s sore ankle might not be just a sore ankle. It could be a strained tendon. Or a torn tendon. Or it could be a curb, a strain of the ligament at the back of the leg.

  Jasmine tried to make herself stop thinking these horrible thoughts. But all she could think of was the picture in the book of a pony with his legs in bandages. If a leg injury was really bad, Jasmine knew, sometimes a pony could never be ridden again.

  “Dad!” Jasmine said. “It’s an emergency.”

  “I’ve got to go,” her father said into the phone.

  As he hung up, Mr. James asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “Outlaw hurt his ankle,” Jasmine said. “He can hardly walk.”

  Mr. James put his arm around her. “Let’s go look. And then we can phone Judy Barker.”

  Buy Jasmine’s First Horse Show Now!

  About the Author

  Bonnie Bryant is the author of over one hundred forty books about horses, including the Saddle Club series and its spinoffs, the Pony Tails series and the Pine Hollow series. Bryant did not know very much about horses before writing the first Saddle Club book in 1986, so she found herself learning right along with the characters she created. She has also written novels and movie novelizations under her married name, Bonnie Bryant Hiller. Bryant was born and raised in New York City, where she still lives today.

  All rights reserved, including wi
thout limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 1997 by Bonnie Bryant Hiller

  Cover design by Connie Gabbert

  ISBN: 978-1-4976-5378-8

  This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

  345 Hudson Street

  New York, NY 10014

  www.openroadmedia.com

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