Autumn Trail Page 7

Lisa thought she saw Veronica roll her eyes, but the wealthy girl didn’t complain. The two of them stepped up onto “Plymouth Rock” as Stevie had directed, and Lisa, thinking quickly, even came up with a little speech to begin the play.

  “As we Pilgrims land here in the New World,” she declared in a very dramatic tone of voice, placing one hand on her chest, “we are determined to live in freedom, free from oppression, free from persecution …”

  “Free from fifty-cent words like ‘persecution,’ ” Carole heckled from the sidelines.

  “Free from people who don’t study their vocabulary lessons,” Lisa continued, shooting Carole a dirty look as Stevie and Veronica giggled. “Here we will live in peace, with our trusty horses as companions. They will live in peace with the native American horses, just as we will live in peace and brotherhood—I mean sisterhood—with the native American people we find here.…”

  “There’s really no such thing as native American horses, you know,” Carole said to Stevie as Lisa continued her silly speech.

  “What do you mean?” Stevie asked, looking surprised. “You always see the Native Americans riding horses in those old cowboys-and-Indians movies your father likes so much.”

  Carole nodded. “They had horses then. But they weren’t really native to this country. They came over with the Spanish conquistadors. When the native people first saw the Spanish explorers riding on horseback, they were really scared. They had never seen anything like it, so they thought it must be some new kind of half-human creature.”

  “Really?” Stevie tried to imagine what someone who had never seen a horse before would think of one, but she couldn’t picture it. “It figures you would know something like that,” she told Carole. Carole knew more horse facts, obscure and otherwise, than Stevie could learn in a lifetime. And, as her friends liked to tease her, she was ready to share them with everyone at the drop of a hat.

  “Hey, what’s going on over there?” Lisa demanded from her position on the basket. “Aren’t you listening to my inspiring speech?”

  “Sorry,” Stevie and Carole chorused, doing their very best to sound contrite.

  “Well, that’s okay,” Lisa conceded. “I was just wrapping it up anyway.” She cleared her throat and dramatically concluded, “And so I hereby declare that we will work in harmony with all the people here, and do stuff together, and be thankful, and all that kind of thing.” She concluded with a little bow, and stepped down off the basket.

  “I think it kind of lost something there at the end,” Carole commented.

  But Stevie had already moved on to the next part of the play. “Now you Pilgrims should build houses and plant food and stuff,” she directed Lisa and Veronica. The two girls exchanged a glance and a shrug and began to pantomime the activities Stevie had suggested.

  “What about us?” Carole asked Stevie. “Don’t we get to do anything?”

  “Of course. I was just getting to that,” Stevie said. “We get to be the Native Americans.”

  “Cool,” Carole commented with a grin. “Okay, Pilgrims, here we come!” She and Stevie joined the other two in their playacting, all of them making up the script to their “play” as they went along.

  “Look, the horses are watching us,” Stevie commented. Sure enough, all of the horses seemed to be observing them closely.

  “I hate to disappoint you, Stevie, but I’m afraid it’s not your acting ability,” Veronica said. “They just smell the apples and oats.”

  Stevie grinned, not even minding for once that Veronica had sort of insulted her. The snobby girl had actually made a joke!

  The girls finished their play, stressing the generosity and cooperation exchanged between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans who had helped them survive in the New World. “Okay, time for the feast,” Stevie declared at last.

  The girls hurried over to the table and started passing out the treats to the horses, who accepted them eagerly. “Look, Topside has the Thanksgiving spirit,” Stevie said. The others turned to see the big bay gelding bobbing his head as he took the pieces of apple Stevie was offering him. “See? He’s saying thank you!”

  The others laughed, but they had to admit that it did seem that way. After all the food was gone, Lisa made another little speech about all the things the Pilgrims had had to be thankful for, and how good it was for people today to take time out not only to be thankful but to think of ways they could help others.

  When she had finished, Stevie clapped enthusiastically. “That’s exactly what I was trying to say with this play,” she told Lisa. “Thank you for saying it better than I ever could.”

  “Well, thank you for inviting me to be a part of this,” Lisa replied graciously.

  “And thank you all for all your help setting it up and everything,” Stevie said.

  “Let me guess,” Carole put in. “Now you’re going to thank us in advance for helping you clean up this mess.”

  Stevie grinned. “You know me too well. And I’m thankful for that.” She grabbed the fake turkey from the table and shoved it back into the bag it had come in.

  As Stevie finished loading the rest of the fake food into the cart, the other girls all pitched in to help lead the horses back to their stalls. Veronica took Garnet’s lead rope and headed out of the ring.

  Lisa was standing closest to Topside, so she turned and began to unfasten his lead from the table. She was smiling, thinking about Stevie’s unusual play, although she was also wondering if she’d ever come up with a Thanksgiving project of her own. After all, with the play and the job at the stable, Stevie had two projects already.

  Topside’s rope had gotten a little tangled as he moved his head, so it took Lisa a moment to undo it. By the time she and Topside were ready to go, Lisa saw that Carole had taken Pepper’s halter and started to lead him out of the ring. But she had stopped and stepped back to look at him. Lisa could see that her friend’s forehead was wrinkled with concern.

  “Lisa,” Carole called, “have you noticed how uncomfortable Pepper seems? He doesn’t look well at all.”

  Lisa nodded. “I’ve noticed,” she said shortly.

  Carole and Stevie both turned to stare at her, surprised by Lisa’s harsh tone of voice.

  “Sorry,” Lisa apologized immediately, looking down at Topside’s lead rope in her hand. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

  “That’s all right,” Carole said, coming over to Lisa and putting her arm around her shoulders. “But what’s wrong with Pepper? How long has he been like this?”

  “At least since that night we brought him in from the pasture last week,” Lisa told them.

  “So that’s why you asked me to check on him today,” Stevie said. “Has Judy been to see him? Does she know what’s wrong with him?”

  Lisa nodded. “She’s seen him,” she said, so quietly that her voice was almost inaudible.

  “And?” Stevie said expectantly.

  “She said Pepper is … dying,” Lisa replied, looking up to meet her friends’ worried gazes.

  “Oh, no!” Carole and Stevie gasped in one voice. “How awful,” Carole whispered. “Poor Pepper.” She hurried over to hug the old gray horse, who was still standing patiently by the entrance to the ring.

  “There must be something Judy can do,” Stevie argued. “Hasn’t she given him any medicine or anything?”

  Lisa nodded and reached into her pocket. “She gave me this to give to him whenever he seems to be in pain.” She showed the other girls the medicine.

  “Well, I think he definitely needs some now,” Carole said. “Let’s take him back to his stall. We can give him some of the medicine after we put the rest of the horses away.”

  The others just nodded without saying anything further, since Veronica had just returned from Garnet’s stall. Even though she had been so nice lately, they still knew without discussing it that they didn’t want her to know about Pepper. That was something that should remain within The Saddle Club.

  “Hey, what are you al
l doing?” Veronica demanded. “I hope you’re not expecting me to put all these horses away myself.”

  “No, no,” Stevie answered quickly. “We’re helping.” She grabbed Delilah’s halter and led the docile mare toward the door. Carole followed with Pepper, and Lisa with Topside.

  Soon all of the horses were back in their stalls. Stevie had been trying to come up with a plan to get rid of Veronica while The Saddle Club took care of Pepper, but she needn’t have worried. Veronica announced that she wanted to give Garnet a bath before they left and strolled off toward her horse’s stall.

  Carole shook her head and stared after her. “She’s trying. I really think she’s trying.”

  “Well, maybe,” Stevie said, sounding a bit skeptical. “But, really, what would she have said if you’d insisted on leaving right now? I mean, she didn’t even ask.”

  Carole shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. As long as she’s taking care of her horse, I don’t mind waiting.”

  Stevie grinned. She should have expected that response. Carole’s first concern was always for the horses’ well-being.

  “Come on,” Lisa urged them. “Let’s go see Pepper.”

  Remembering their mission, The Saddle Club hurried to Pepper’s stall. The old horse was again standing facing the back corner, his head hanging low. But Lisa noticed that his breathing didn’t seem quite as labored as it had for the last couple of days.

  She mentioned this to her friends. “Good,” Stevie said. “That must mean that the medicine is working and he’s getting better.”

  “I hope so,” Carole said, although Lisa thought she didn’t sound quite as certain as Stevie did. “Anyway, I think we can give him another dose now.”

  “Okay, let’s do it,” Stevie said briskly. “Pepper, you’ll be better in no time, now that the world-famous Saddle Club medical team is on your case.”

  Lisa found herself smiling despite her worry. Things really didn’t seem so gloomy now that she’d told her friends about Pepper. She wished now that she had confided in them earlier. She should have known they’d see things the same way she did. And she knew that if anybody could help Pepper, it was The Saddle Club. They’d solved lots of seemingly hopeless problems before.

  Lisa administered Pepper’s medicine, and then all three girls stayed with him for a while. As they petted him and talked to him, he seemed to perk up.

  “Either his medicine is working, or he’s just enjoying all this attention,” Carole said as Pepper lifted his head to nuzzle her curly black hair.

  “Probably both,” Stevie decided. “See, that proves it. If he keeps taking that medicine for a while, he’ll get better. Judy was just being pessimistic. She doesn’t realize how brave and strong Pepper really is, and how much he has to live for.”

  “You’re right,” Lisa said. And looking at Pepper, she believed that Stevie really could be right. The old horse looked much better than he had a few minutes ago, although he still seemed tired.

  “Come on,” Carole said, giving Pepper a last pat on the neck before leaving his stall. “We’d better go help Veronica finish up with Garnet. It’s getting late.”

  Stevie and Lisa said good-bye to Pepper and followed Carole out of the stall. As they walked away, Lisa glanced back to see Pepper’s head peering down the corridor after them. Lisa smiled.

  LISA AWOKE BEFORE dawn. She knew she had been having a bad dream, and that Pepper had been in it. She didn’t recall much else about the dream, except that Pepper had been in trouble and she had been helpless to do anything for him. She couldn’t remember any details very clearly. All she knew was that she had been so worried about Pepper that it had made her wake up.

  She glanced at the glowing green numbers on her clock radio and groaned. It was much too early even to think about getting up. She rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

  It was no use. She couldn’t get Pepper out of her mind. She wasn’t sure why she was so worried, since he had seemed to be feeling a little better the day before when she and her friends had been with him. Usually Lisa was too sensible to let herself be bothered by bad dreams, but there had been something in this one that had scared her more than the monsters and goblins she had sometimes dreamed about when she was younger, although she couldn’t quite remember what it was.

  She got up and quickly pulled on the jeans and sweater she’d worn the day before, trying not to wake Stevie, who was sound asleep in the other half of the four-poster bed. Even with the heat on, it was chilly in the house at this hour, and the wide wooden floorboards in Lisa’s room felt like ice beneath her bare feet. She carefully slid open the top drawer of her dresser and located some warm woolen socks. She put them on, but left her shoes off for the moment so she could walk more quietly.

  Lisa managed to find a pen and a piece of paper on her desk without turning on the lights. She quickly scribbled a note to Stevie and set it on her bedside table. In exchange for the note, she picked up the keys to Pine Hollow that Max had given to Stevie and that Stevie had tossed on the bedside table the night before.

  Pocketing the keys, along with Pepper’s medicine, Lisa wrote another note, this time to her mother. She went downstairs and propped the note on the kitchen table, where Mrs. Atwood would be sure to see it as soon as she came down. Then Lisa put on her shoes and a warm jacket and left the house, pulling the front door closed behind her as silently as she could.

  She hurried toward Pine Hollow, her shoes crunching on the frost-hardened grass and her breath forming puffs of steam in the bitterly cold air. She wasn’t used to being out at this hour, and as she approached the stable, even the familiar fences and buildings looked strange in the grayish predawn light. Everything was still and silent. There wasn’t a soul to be seen anywhere, human or equine. Lisa knew it was because all the horses were stabled inside, but she still thought it gave Pine Hollow a spooky, deserted look, sort of like an Old West ghost town.

  “But colder,” Lisa whispered to herself with a shiver. She realized that the chill had crept in even through her thick down parka. Wrapping her arms around herself for warmth, she jogged the last few hundred yards to the stable entrance.

  She had to take off her gloves to fish the key out of her pocket and fit it into the lock, and her hands grew numb even in the minute it took to do so. She was glad when she heard the click of the lock turning and could slip inside the stable building out of the cold.

  Once inside, she wasted no time before heading for Pepper’s stall. She didn’t even stop to greet the curious horses who looked out and nickered at her as she passed, though she supposed they were probably wondering what she was doing there at this hour.

  Lisa had almost grown accustomed to not seeing Pepper’s head poking out to greet her as she approached, since these days he seemed to spend most of his time with his head hanging low, facing the back of the stall. She wouldn’t have been surprised to see that. But she was surprised by what she did see when she opened the stall door. Pepper was lying on his side in the straw, breathing hard.

  “Pepper!” Lisa gasped, going down on her knees and taking his head into her lap. Pepper’s eyes looked dull, and his breathing now had a rasping sound to it that Lisa hadn’t noticed before. Even though she knew that horses sometimes like to lie down in their stalls for a rest, she also knew that horses as old as Pepper seldom do so, since it’s often very difficult for them to get up again. She was afraid that it meant that Pepper had taken a turn for the worse, and she felt the paralyzing sense of worry she remembered from her dream return, stronger than ever. For a second she felt frozen in place, completely helpless to do anything for Pepper, or even to think.

  Then her logical mind took over, and she remembered the medicine in her pocket. As she stood up to dig the vial and syringe out of the pocket of her jeans, she noticed for the first time that Pepper hadn’t touched the food Stevie had given him the day before. She knew that in a horse a loss of appetite almost always meant trouble.

  Lisa carefully measured out a dos
e of the medication and knelt down again to give it to Pepper. Stroking his cheek, she waited for the medicine to take effect. As she waited, she talked softly to the old horse, not even aware of exactly what she was saying. But that didn’t matter. As Max frequently told all the riders at Pine Hollow, horses didn’t understand English anyway. But Lisa knew that they did respond to different tones of voice. Now she tried to make her voice as comforting as possible—almost as much for her own benefit as for Pepper’s.

  As she sat with him, talking all the while, Lisa noticed that Pepper’s breathing seemed to get a little bit quieter, although the rasping edge didn’t go away. The faithful old horse seemed glad for her company, but Lisa couldn’t help noticing that he also seemed less attentive to her than usual. It was as if he were thinking about something else and was just barely aware of her comforting presence. The restlessness she’d noticed in him so often lately was gone, though, and his breathing, while still labored and obviously painful, was slow and steady. His ears, which had once been so alert to every sound around him, flicked toward her occasionally, but like everything else about him, they seemed to be moving almost lazily, in slow motion, as if the effort was just too much for him.

  Lisa continued to pet him, and she continued to talk. She realized that she was telling him about how much she had enjoyed every single ride they’d ever had together, from the very first time, at her second riding lesson at Pine Hollow, to the last, on a trail ride just before Pepper’s retirement.

  “You know, Pepper,” she told him seriously, “I think you’re one reason I’ve gotten to love riding so much. I’m sure you’ve done that for a lot of other people, too. Remember how many people came to see you for your retirement party? They all came to say how much they loved you and appreciated you. And that goes triple for me, you know.”

  The horse let out a long sigh and blinked. For a second his eyes focused on her; then the faraway look returned as he blinked again more slowly.

  “Remember our first horse show?” Lisa asked. “Well, actually, it wasn’t really your first show, not by a long shot. But it was the first one we were in together, and those ribbons we won showed what a good team we made, didn’t they?