Stable Hearts Read Free Page A

horses. Christy, is it?”
    “
Carole
,” Carole corrected him.
    “Carole, sorry,” Mr. Stowe said. “And I’m riding Jemima.”
    “
Delilah
,” Carole said. She felt a faint twinge of irritation. She sometimes struggled with people’s names, but really, Jemima! She loved Delilah second only to Starlight, her own horse. She decided that she would have to keep a close eye on Mr. Stowe. Despite what he said, he might not know what he was doing. Carole didn’t want Delilahto suffer from Mr. Stowe’s ignorance. What if he twisted the girth, or didn’t clean out Delilah’s hooves? “I’ll just go along with you,” Carole offered.
    Lisa and Stevie knew what Carole intended. They would all have to keep close watch on this man. Lisa took Carole’s saddle from her and Stevie took her bridle, and they tacked up Starlight as well as their own horses. When they met at the mounting block outside the stable, however, Carole looked more cheerful.
    “See,” Mr. Stowe said, “I told you I knew how to do it. You didn’t need to watch me after all.”
    “Yes, but I didn’t know that,” Carole replied.
    Mr. Stowe grinned. “I know, and I don’t blame you. Disreputable-looking character like me, you want to make sure I treat your horses right.”
    “You don’t look disreputable!” Lisa protested. Mr. Stowe had exchanged his cowboy hat for the protective helmet Max insisted all riders wear. He still looked more Western than English with his cowboy boots, jeans, and bolo tie, but he didn’t look disreputable—and besides, Stevie often rode in cowboy boots.
    Mr. Stowe checked Delilah’s girth, lowered his stirrups, and swung into the saddle with practicedgrace. Carole breathed a sigh of relief, just as she had when she saw him curry Delilah in counter-clockwise circles and expertly untangle the straps of her bridle. He wasn’t a total beginner, at least. She mounted Starlight. Stevie and Lisa mounted Belle and Prancer.
    “Oh, I look disreputable enough next to you pretty girls,” Mr. Stowe said. “Still, it’s nice of you to have pity on an old man. I consider it a treat to be riding out with you.”
    Lisa thought it was no wonder Mrs. Reg had been laughing so much, if this was how Mr. Stowe usually talked.
    “We weren’t taking pity on you,” Stevie told him. Carole coughed to keep from laughing. No, they weren’t taking pity on Mr. Stowe. They were taking pity on Mrs. Reg.
    Still, it was hard to dislike the old man. He actually seemed rather charming, in a pesky sort of way.
    They started out on the easiest, flattest section of trail, and it was clear to all the girls that while Mr. Stowe was not an advanced rider, he was not a beginner, either. He rode more as if he were sitting in a chair than on a horse, and he let his shoulders slump and his heels come up, but hewas relaxed and handled the reins competently and gently. After they’d walked a little while, he gave Delilah a pat. “Nice girl. She’s got good gaits, doesn’t she?” he said. “Like settin’ in a rocking chair. Not as much of a looker as the three you all are riding, though. Carole, is yours a Thoroughbred?”
    Carole warmed to Mr. Stowe. “No, Starlight’s part Thoroughbred, but he’s not a registered horse,” she said. “He does look like a Thoroughbred, though. Prancer, the horse Lisa is riding, she’s a Thoroughbred.”
    “I guessed that,” Mr. Stowe said. “The tucked-up way she carries herself, and those long, elegant legs. I’ve always liked Thoroughbreds. They look kind of like ballerinas to me.
    “Stevie, I can’t place your mare,” he continued. “She’s got a nice shape and a pretty way of going, but I just don’t know what breed she looks like. Nice little head, good ears.”
    Stevie smiled. “Belle’s a combination—part Saddlebred and part Arabian.”
    Mr. Stowe smiled. “Oh, I should have known. That’s a good blend.”
    All three girls were beginning to find Mr.Stowe a remarkably pleasant man.