English Rider Read Free Page B

glanced at the digital clock on the microwave. “She’s been gone for hours. Maybe Veronica drugged her tea and shipped her back to England.”
    Carole laughed. “Now you’re starting to sound like Stevie,” she teased.
    Stevie snorted. “Not hardly,” she said haughtily. “Iwould have wondered if maybe Veronica knocked her out with a poison dart and shipped her to Zimbabwe. Or possibly Iceland.”
    At that moment the sound of the front door slamming rang through the house. “Maybe that’s her,” Carole said hopefully.
    The three friends hopped up and hurried into the front hall. But instead of Tessa, they found a very harried-looking Mrs. Atwood standing there.
    “Hi, Mom,” Lisa said. “How was your committee meeting?”
    “Frantic,” Mrs. Atwood replied breathlessly. “I can’t believe the point-to-point is in less than a week. There’s still so much to do! I just don’t know how it’s all going to get done. When we agreed to do all the work ourselves rather than contracting it out, I just never realized—”
    Lisa glanced at her friends and bit back a sigh. “It’s okay, Mom,” she said. “We’ll help. What do you need us to do?”
    A N HOUR LATER Lisa stopped typing and stretched her fingers to get rid of a cramp. “Ugh,” she said, leaning back in her chair. She, Carole, and Stevie were scattered through the living room, working hard on the various projects Mrs. Atwood had assigned them. “You know, I’ll be glad when the point-to-point gets here. And not just because I’m looking forward to it.”
    Carole grinned. “I know,” she said. “Your mom hasturned us into real workhorses lately, hasn’t she?” This wasn’t the first time The Saddle Club had stepped in to help with the fund-raiser. Mrs. Atwood had had them making phone calls, drawing up signs, and doing other work all week.
    Stevie, sprawled on the floor, looked up from coloring in a picture of a hot dog on her handmade refreshments sign. “Still, it will all be worth it,” she reminded the others. “The point-to-point is going to be awesome.”
    Carole nodded. “I know. I can’t wait. Although I am a little nervous about the junior hurdle race.”
    “Oh, come on.” Lisa grinned. “You know you’ll do great. You always do.” Carole was generally considered the best young rider at Pine Hollow.
    “I’ve never ridden in anything like it before,” Carole reminded her friends. “Neither has Starlight. This isn’t just a jumping contest. And it isn’t just a race. It’s both.”
    “I know,” Stevie said eagerly. “Isn’t it great?”
    “I wonder how many riders will be in our race?” Carole went on thoughtfully. In a way, the junior hurdle sounded very exciting. But it also sounded a tiny bit scary. “I hope there aren’t too many. I heard Max say something about limiting the number in each race to make things safer.” The country club committee had asked Max to be one of their expert advisers for the point-to-point, and The Saddle Club knew he was taking the responsibility seriously.
    Lisa scanned one of the scribbled lists she’d been typing into the computer. “The entry list is right here,” she reported.“As of right now there are ten people entered in the junior hurdle, including us. That shouldn’t be too bad.”
    Carole nodded. “It should be just enough to make things exciting without making the field too crowded.”
    “Of course, it would be even better if there were eleven people entered,” Stevie muttered.
    Lisa knew that Stevie was thinking about Tessa. That reminded her to check her watch again. It was almost dinnertime. “I wonder what’s keeping Tessa?”
    “Who knows?” Stevie said, grabbing a purple pen to start coloring in her sketch of a can of grape soda. “I can’t imagine anyone spending this much time with Veronica and living to tell the tale.”
    “Well, I’m beginning to think your theory was right, Stevie,” Carole said. “Or was it your theory, Lisa? Whoever