Stable Hearts Read Free

was, and she didn’t think it could be pleasant for her to have Mr. Stowe hanging around. It reminded her of the way Simon Atherton had trailed after them in his geek days.
    Mr. Stowe and Mrs. Reg looked at each other. Both seemed a little uncomfortable.
    “I certainly hope I haven’t been disturbing you,” Mr. Stowe said.
    “Oh, no, not at all,” Mrs. Reg said quickly.
    “It is a lovely day for a trail ride,” Mr. Stowe said. “If you’d care to …”
    Mrs. Reg actually blushed a little. Carole was embarrassed for her. How dreadful of Mr. Stowe to make her feel so uneasy! “Ordinarily I would love to,” Mrs. Reg said. “Any other day … but today, unfortunately, I do have to get this feed order finished. The feed store rep is coming at four o’clock—”
    “And I’ve been distracting you.” Mr. Stowe looked stricken.
    “No, I’ve enjoyed it,” Mrs. Reg protested, with what seemed to Lisa excessive but admirable politeness. “And it is a lovely day. Why don’t you go out with the girls and enjoy yourself?”
    Stevie had hoped that Mr. Stowe would just take the hint and leave Mrs. Reg alone. Unfortunately, both Mrs. Reg and Mr. Stowe seemed to take the trail ride offer seriously. Really! As if they would want to ride with Mr. Stowe! Still, Stevie knew the invitation was mostly her own fault. And at least if Mr. Stowe was with them, he wouldn’t be annoying Mrs. Reg. It would be a noble sacrifice.
    “Well, thank you, girls. It’s a nice offer to make to an old man. I’m sure I’ll have fun.” Mr. Stowe smiled. “I haven’t been out on the trails here yet, but Elizabeth assures me that they’re lovely.”
    “They are,” Carole said. “Uh—Mrs. Reg, what horse should he ride?”
    Mrs. Reg thought for a moment. “You rode Nero on Wednesday, didn’t you, Howard? I think Delilah would be a good mount for you on the trail. She’s a lovely palomino.”
    Carole nodded. The names of both horses confirmed Carole’s suspicions about Mr. Stowe’s limited riding ability. Nero was a very old, gentle lesson horse who was about to be retired, but he was sometimes a little nervous out in the woods. Delilah was both gentle and ladylike, no matterwhere she was. She would take good care of a beginning rider.
    “We’ll be careful with him, Mrs. Reg,” Carole said, giving up her plans for galloping Starlight through the stubbled fields. “We won’t jump or anything like that.”
    “Good,” Mrs. Reg said briskly.
    Mr. Stowe looked confused. “Just what would you be jumping?” he asked.
    Carole was astounded. “The jumps,” she said. “The jumps out on the trails.” Surely Mr. Stowe couldn’t be that ignorant!
    “Oh, you mean the
horses
will be jumping,” Mr. Stowe said. “I thought maybe you girls had some sort of preride ritual. I was hoping you wouldn’t make me a part of it. My vertical leap, I’m sorry to say, has diminished considerably with age.”
    Mrs. Reg laughed again and none of the girls knew what to think. Stevie couldn’t tell if Mr. Stowe was joking or serious. If he was joking, it was a pretty stupid joke, but if he was serious, they were in for an awful ride. Anyone who knew anything about English riding knew that the horses were taught to jump obstacles.
    Lisa took a deep breath. “We’d better go,” she said. “Our horses are waiting on the cross-ties.”Lisa knew Prancer would get impatient if she had to wait much longer.
    “Have fun, all of you,” Mrs. Reg said. “Have fun, Howard.”
    Stevie thought that she had never once in her life met a person named Howard. She tried to imagine Mr. Stowe as a baby named Howard, but couldn’t. “We’ll show you where Delilah is,” she offered.
    “We’ll help you groom her and tack up,” Carole continued. She doubted Mr. Stowe would know how to do any of this.
    “Oh, I can manage that,” Mr. Stowe said cheerfully. “Point me to my horse and point me to my gear, and I’ll do the rest. You girls tend to your own