Free Horse Sense by Bonnie Bryant Page B

mash, and it’s a real nuisance to make. I had to make three batches tonight before I got it right. Then I had to wait for it to cool before I could give it to her. Imagine, cooking for a horse! I thought it would take me just ten minutes, but it took me hours. It’s not that I don’t care about Delilah, I do. Really. But it’s a
lot
of work.”
    “Don’t your friends help you with that kind of thing?”
    “I sort of expected that they would, but they’re so busy with their own things …”
    The colonel applied a small smear of brass polish to his belt buckle and began rubbing vigorously. “Sounds to me like you’re too busy to help them with their projects, too, aren’t you?”
    “Well, yeah,” Carole admitted. “Do you know that I have to clean Delilah’s stable twice as often now that she’s almost due? Judy says it’s terribly dangerous to have a foal born in an unsanitary stall. And with all the hay she’s eating these days—”
    “Spare me the details,” her father said, laughing. Carole grinned. She’d finished cleaning the first shoe. She picked up the second. “Oh, wait’ll I tell you what General Morris’s aide did today,” the colonel said, chatting about his day. Carole listened, applying polish to the shoes and buffing hard until each had a deep shine.
    Carole displayed the gleaming shoes proudly when he’d finished talking. “See how shiny you can get them when you use saddle soap before you polish them?”
    “Hey, that’s great,” her father said, admiring the shine on his shoes. “So we’ve gotten some benefit from your horseback riding after all. Very good. And look at me. I’m all done with my brass, too. Work always goes faster and better when two people do it at once. At least, that’s what I think.”
    “You know, I think you’re right,” Carole mused. Then the truth finally occurred to her. “And I think itgoes even faster and better when
three
people do it at once.”
    “Interesting idea,” her father said. “I’ve got to hit the rack now. Inspection’s very early.”
    “Me too. Judy’s coming to check Delilah early tomorrow, so even though it’s Saturday, you can still drop me off at Pine Hollow.”
    “Good night, Carole.”
    “Night, Dad,” she said, giving him the great big hug he deserved. “You’re the greatest.”

F IRST THING M ONDAY morning, Carole wanted to talk to Stevie and Lisa. The talk she’d had with her father had made her understand a lot of things—first and foremost that she and her friends really needed one another. She got to the stable especially early to allow extra time, but she’d forgotten that Stevie and Lisa couldn’t have known she wanted to see them. She was just pulling on her second boot when Judy’s truck drove up in front of the stable. She waved at the vet through the dirty window and met her in Delilah’s stall. She’d talk to her friends later, she decided.
    Stevie dashed into the locker area a half hour before class started. She needed every spare moment these days. She finished dressing in a matter of minutes,then started looking for some gear for the gymkhana in the tack box outside Mrs. Reg’s office.
    When Lisa arrived at the stable fifteen minutes before class, she wasn’t surprised to see both of her friends totally occupied. As usual, Carole was with Judy in Delilah’s stall. Stevie was shuffling through boxes of stuff in the tack room. It wasn’t clear what she wanted, but it was clear she wasn’t finding it. Lisa left her alone.
    Once she’d donned her riding clothes, Lisa sat on the fence in front of the stable, waiting for The Saddle Club’s newest member. Estelle usually arrived at the last minute, so Lisa wasn’t going to have much time. What she had to say would only take a moment, but it should be fun. It was always nice to share good news.
    Lisa was wearing her own Saddle Club pin. She knew it was just a pin, although in her opinion, it was a very pretty pin. What was important to