Horse Power Read Free Page A

telling Kate more horse stories.
    A half an hour later, Carole heard the familiar honk of her father’s car horn. She and Kate signed back out of the stables and climbed in.
    “Who won the tennis match?” Kate asked Colonel Hanson as she shut the car door.
    “We’ve sworn each other to secrecy on the subject,” Carole’s father said mysteriously, shifting the car into gear. He pulled out onto the main road.
    “That bad, huh?” Kate teased.
    “I don’t think I’ll answer that one,” the colonel said, but his grin gave him away. He turned the car toward Liversedge Hall.
    “I think we have our answer,” Kate told Carole.
    “Did you girls enjoy the stables?” he asked, changing the subject smoothly.
    “Oh, you know I always do,” Carole answered. “But I’m afraid I ran on a bit about my favorite subject. I loaded poor Kate with one zillion details about horses. I didn’t bore you, did I?”
    “Oh, no,” Kate told her. “It was interesting.”
    “And I guess you gave Carole a zillion details in return, didn’t you, Kate?” Colonel Hanson asked. “I just knew you girls would hit it off. It’s a good thing, too, because the Devines are going to come stay with us next weekend, Carole. We’ll give them a taste of ‘off-base housing,’ to tempt them.”
    “Oh, great!” Carole said. “Then I can show youPine Hollow, too—and you can meet Stevie and Lisa. I’ve told you about them, right?”
    “Yes, you did,” Kate assured her. “I almost feel as if I know them already.”
    “Here you go, Kate,” Colonel Hanson said, pulling up in front of Liversedge Hall. “We’ll see you next weekend, okay?”
    “Yes, thanks. And thanks for the lift, too,” Kate said, stepping out of the car. “I’ll see you next weekend, Carole.” She stood back from the car and waved. Carole waved, too, until she couldn’t see Kate anymore.
    “She was really great, Dad. For once, you were absolutely right that I was going to like a friend’s daughter.”
    “Well, you get along with most people so I knew it would be okay, but when the Devines told me about her riding, I knew you’d make a pair.”
    “What riding?” Carole asked.
    “Kate’s riding,” he said.
    “She didn’t say anything to me about having ridden herself.”
    “That’s odd,” Colonel Hanson said. “Both Frank and Phyllis told me she was a really good rider. I thought they were just boasting. But it turns out Kate’s a championship rider. She’s gotten all kinds of blue ribbons and points in competitions. I can’t believe she didn’t tell you about it.”
    “Oh, no,” Carole groaned, suddenly getting a really bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
    “What’s the matter?” Colonel Hanson asked.
    “I can’t believe I did that!”
    “What?” he asked.
    “And I know who she is,” Carole said.
    “Of course you do. She’s Frank and Phyllis’s daughter.”
    “No, I don’t mean that, Dad. I mean I’ve actually
read
about her. There was an article about her and how good she is and everything like that in a riding magazine. But they called her Katharine Devine, not Kate, so I didn’t realize it was the same person—but it just has to be. Oh, I don’t believe this!”
    “What is the matter?”
    “Dad, I just spent about an hour and a half lecturing her about basic horse stuff.”
    “What’s wrong with that?” Colonel Hanson asked.
    “Everything,” Carole said. “It’s like you telling the commandant of the Marine Corps that he should start with his left foot to march!” Carole shook her head in embarrassment and disbelief.
    “I think I’m beginning to get the picture,” her father said. “But there’s no reason for you to feel bad, honey. After all, Kate had plenty of opportunities to tell you that she knew the things you were telling her. Why do you suppose she didn’t?”
    “Maybe because I was making a fool of myself?”
    “She didn’t strike me as the kind of person who enjoys making other people