Wagon Trail Read Free Page A

Sarah Groom.”
    Stevie frowned. “So what’s wrong with Sarah Groom? She’s a neat little kid.”
    “Yeah. Well, she’s a neat little kid who’s got this weird crush on me. Every time I say anything to her she just turns red and starts sighing.”
    Stevie laughed. “Gee, Phil, it must be pretty tough to have all these younger women throwing themselves at you.”
    “Stevie, you know that’s not what I mean,” Phil said.
    “I know. I was just teasing. I really wish I could go on this trip with you, but I promised Deborah that I would go with her first, and a promise is a promise.” Stevie smiled and coiled the telephone cord around her finger again. “Anyway, it might be good for us to take separate vacations.”
    “What do you mean?” Phil sounded surprised.
    “I mean, you know how sometimes when you’re away from a person you really like, you can begin to see them differently and it makes you realize how much you like them all over again? In fact, it makes you like them even better?”
    “Yeah, I suppose,” Phil admitted.
    “Well, just think. By the time we both get back fromour vacations, we’ll really have missed each other and we’ll like each other all the more!”
    Phil sighed. “I guess you’re right, Stevie. But I still wish you were coming with us instead of Sarah.”
    “I do, too, Phil. But think of how great it’ll be when we finally get back together!”
    On that they said good-bye; then Stevie immediately dialed Carole and Lisa on three-way calling.
    “I solved my Phil problem,” Stevie announced proudly.
    “How?” Lisa asked. “Carole just called and told me that he had asked you to go rafting at the same time as our wagon train trip.”
    “Well, first I explained to him that I’d promised you guys and Deborah first and that I had just gotten confused on the dates.”
    “What did he say?” asked Carole.
    “He was real disappointed, because that meant his little sister would get to invite her best friend, Sarah Groom, who has a big crush on Phil.”
    “Uh-oh,” said Lisa.
    “No, it’s okay,” Stevie assured her. “Phil thinks Sarah is a pest. And anyway, I convinced Phil that the best thing in the world for us would be to be apart for a few days. We can see new sights and meet new people, and when we get back home we’ll appreciate each other all the more.”
    “Did he believe that?” Lisa asked.
    “He seemed to,” replied Stevie. “Anyway,
I
think it’s a great idea. Just think of all the new people we’ll meet. Why, maybe you and Carole will meet some terrific guys on the wagon train.”
    “We might, Stevie,” Carole laughed, “but so might you!”
    “Me?” Stevie asked incredulously. “I don’t think so.”
    “You never know!” teased Lisa.
    Stevie started to reply, but a thought stopped her cold. She didn’t think it would be possible for her to meet anybody half as cute and funny as Phil, but it was entirely possible that Phil might meet somebody a whole lot cuter and funnier than she was. And not just Sarah Groom. Lots of different people went on those rafting trips. What if some really cute girl fell out of her raft? Phil would leap in the river and rescue her and then their eyes would meet and they would fall—
    “Stevie, are you still there?” Lisa’s voice crackled over the phone.
    “Huh?” Stevie pushed the thought of Phil and the cute half-drowned girl to the back of her mind. “Yes, I’m still here.”
    “Can you go to the mall with Deborah and us tomorrow? We need to get some supplies for the trip.”
    “Sure. What time?”
    “Deborah said Max could watch Maxi at noon. Let’s meet at the stable at about eleven-thirty.”
    “Sounds good to me,” said Carole. “I’ll see you two there tomorrow.”
    “Bye, Carole; bye, Lisa. See you tomorrow,” Stevie said. She hung up the phone and massaged her ear again. The vision of Phil and the cute girl popped back into her head, but she ignored it. “Travel broadens your horizons,”