Mystery Ride Read Free

the sound out of her ears. But the horse was now calm.
    “I didn’t know humans could sound like that,” said A.J. in an awed voice. “That was
singing
, right?”
    “You should hear Stevie’s father,” Lisa said. “He even whistles off-key.”
    “Hey, it worked,” Stevie said. Crystal was looking around for something to munch on.
    “Thanks, Stevie,” A.J. said. “That really could have been a mess.” They both knew that if one horse started to spook, the others would have followed, and soon it would have been a nightmare.
    “I like to add happiness to the world whenever I can,”Stevie said, thinking that A.J. was going to be fun to have around this weekend.
    Something caught Stevie’s eye. Someone familiar was standing in the entrance to the barn. Stevie turned to get a better look, but the person, who was wearing a red sweater, vanished into a stall.
    A.J. caught Stevie’s arm. “Are you planning to lead the singing tonight?”
    “I don’t want to give the little kids nightmares,” Stevie said.
    “Stevie,” came a voice from above her head, “you’ve got to see this.” Stevie looked up. There was Lisa, her head poking out of the loft window.
    “What?” Stevie said.
    “It’s something I can’t describe.”
    Stevie headed for the stairs to the loft.
    Veronica diAngelo had set up a cot with an air mattress; a collapsible dressing table, with a mirror and room for her to spread out her hair stuff and makeup; and the battery pack for her hair dryer and curling iron.
    “You’re going to be a knockout, Veronica,” Stevie said. “When people see you, they’re going to knock and scream, ‘Let me out.’ ”
    “Ha, ha,” said Veronica.
    “There’s only one problem,” Lisa said. “Pine Hollow hasonly two bathrooms for ail of us, and there’s no shower. How can you blow-dry your hair if you can’t get it wet?”
    “I have an idea,” Stevie said. “We could provide you with a bucket.”
    “And you could soak your head in it,” said A.J., who had come up the stairs just in time to hear Stevie’s line. Ever since Veronica had tried to sabotage the Starlight Ride one Christmas Eve, A.J. had detested her. But at least, Carole thought, A.J. didn’t have to deal with Veronica every day.
    As the rest of the riders filtered upstairs, the noise and confusion and excitement transferred itself from the yard to the loft. Carole struggled to help the younger boys get their sleeping bags arranged.
    “Order!” came Max’s commanding voice from the other side of the loft.
    Yes
, Carole thought,
order is what we need.
She and the younger boys walked to the other side of the loft, where everyone was staring in amazement at Veronica’s portable beauty salon.
    “It’s like a horror movie,” said Ian wonderingly. “It’s like
Frankenstein
.”
    “The Bride of Frankenstein!
” said his friend Peter All-man.
    Everyone laughed, except for Veronica’s friends PollyGiacomin and Betsy Cavanaugh. Just about everyone in Horse Wise had had a run-in with Veronica.
    Max looked around the circle with stern blue eyes. “A crime has been committed this very afternoon. In this very stable.”
    A murmur of excitement ran through the riders.
    “It is a crime of great seriousness,” Max said. “The criminal must be unmasked and punished.”
    “Yes!” said Amie.
    “I challenge you to form Mystery Teams of two and three,” Max said.
    The members of The Saddle Club gave each other high fives. Until this moment they hadn’t been sure whether they’d be stuck on a team with Veronica or one of her friends. Now they had their own Dream Team.
    A.J. and Bart, who were good buddies, became a team of two. Seeing them together gave Stevie a twinge of sadness, because if Phil were there, he would have been with them. Veronica, Polly, and Betsy made another team. Amie, Jackie, and Jessica made another, and so did Peter, Ian, and Robbie. Jasmine and Corey said they would make a team with May Grover, who hadn’t