Free Horse Race by Bonnie Bryant Page A

much better. If The Saddle Club worked on this problem as a team, they’d find a way to solve it. “Maybe we should talk to Deborah,” she suggested.
    Lisa’s face brightened. “That’s a great idea,” she said. “She’ll believe us. And she’ll probably know what we should do next.”
    “Okay,” Stevie said slowly. “I guess maybe we are in over our heads now.” For Stevie, that was an unusual admission. Seeing her friends’ surprised looks, she added, “Hey, I like a good mystery as much as anyone—maybe more—but not enough to put Carole in danger.”
    Carole nodded, her stomach tightening. “And Garvey’s not stupid,” she said. “He’ll probably figure out that I’ve talked to you guys about this, if he hasn’t already. Then we’ll all be in danger.”
    “Come on,” Lisa said, turning her attention back to her grooming. “Let’s hurry up and finish with C.C. Then we’ll go find Deborah.”
    T HEY DIDN ’ T FIND Deborah in any of the nearby barns, so they headed for the track to see if she was there watching the workouts. She was nowhere in sight, but another familiar face was.
    “Uh-oh,” Stevie said under her breath, tugging at Carole’s sleeve. “Mayday. Mayday. Josh alert at three o’clock.”
    But her warning came too late. Josh C, better known now as Show, had already seen them. He was standing near the rail with his parents. His father was taping a group of galloping horses with his camcorder. “Hey, Carole!” Josh called loudly. “Hi! Remember me?”
    “How could I forget?” Carole said quietly with a groan.But she did her best to smile as Josh came toward her. “Hi, Josh,” she greeted him. “I don’t think you met my friends yesterday.” She quickly introduced Stevie and Lisa.
    “Nice to meet you,” Josh said politely. Then he grinned at Carole. “I bet you’re surprised to see me here so early,” he said proudly. “After talking to you last night, I convinced my parents to come watch the workouts this morning. They thought it was a really cool idea—you know, as part of the total Kentucky experience.”
    Carole glanced at her watch. It was about eight o’clock. She vaguely remembered telling Josh and his parents about the early-morning schedule at the track the evening before. It hadn’t been easy to come up with things to talk to them about, even in the brief time she had spent taking their picture. Now she wished she had kept her mouth shut. She and her friends didn’t have time to deal with a love-struck Josh right now. They had to find Deborah.
    “That’s nice,” she said. “Um, I don’t want to keep you from enjoying the action. So I guess I’ll see you later.” She started to turn away.
    “Wait.” Josh put a hand on her arm to stop her. Even after she stopped, he left his hand there, squeezing her wrist gently. “I thought maybe you could watch with me for a little while. You know, tell me what’s going on and stuff.” He shrugged and grinned again. “I hardly know anything at all about horses. Maybe you can teach me.”
    Stevie and Lisa exchanged glances. Normally there was nothing Carole liked more than talking to people abouthorses. But this wasn’t the time for one of her hourlong lectures.
    “Sorry, Josh,” Stevie said. “I’m sure Carole would love to help you out, but I’m afraid we’ve got to drag her away.” She did her best to look apologetic. “She has a lot of work to do.
    She’s taking care of the favorite for one of today’s races.” Noticing that Josh’s father had turned and was taping them now, she added an elaborate shrug. “And unfortunately, work comes first.”
    “One of the favorites?” Josh said, looking impressed. “Wow! That’s really cool. What’s his name? I’ll tell my dad to bet on him.”
    “It’s a filly—um, a girl horse,” Lisa said. “Her name is Cookie Cutter—Uh-oh.”
    Her friends turned to see what Lisa was looking at and gasped. It was Garvey. He had just appeared and was