Free Starting Gate by Bonnie Bryant Page A

compete either, because Starlight is in the middle of a traffic jam somewhere in Oklahoma.”
    “Well, I’ve been in lots of competitions,” Carole said softly. “And I’ll be in lots more. Missing one isn’t going to kill me.” She looked at the others, then she began to blink back tears. “I am beginning to worry about Starlight, though. He and the other horses have been in that trailer an awfully long time.”
    “Hi, everybody.”
    The girls looked up. Deborah stood there, her mouth curled down in a disgusted line. Max pulled out the chair beside him and motioned for her to sit down.
    “I just wanted to let you guys know that I’ve got good news and bad news.”
    “Are the horses okay?” Carole blurted out as Stevie froze with her spoon halfway between her yogurt and her mouth.
    Deborah gave a soft smile. “Oh, yes,” she assured Carole. “The horses are fine.”
    “Thank heavens!” said Stevie.
    “I just finished talking to the man who is actually driving the van that’s carrying the horses. He said he was terribly sorry for all the delays, and he’s expecting to arrive first thing in the morning.”
    “Did he give any explanation for why the horses aren’t here now?” asked Lisa.
    “He said he got poor instructions from the first driver,” reported Deborah.
    “I knew it!” cried Stevie. “That guy was a nitwit! He didn’t even know where California was!”
    “Well, he’s no longer with the company,” said Deborah. “The man I talked to assured me that the horses are fine and healthy. In fact, he’s going to stop for the night at a place where he can let them out into a paddock so they’ll have some kind of a break from the trip.”
    “I don’t know,” Carole worried out loud. “I still wish there was some way we could really find out if our horses were okay.”
    “I heard each of them on the guy’s cell phone,” said Deborah.
    “Huh?” Max looked at her. “You talked to the horses?”
    “I sure did,” replied Deborah. “I told him I wasn’t going to be satisfied until I heard each one snort, whinny, and munch. He took his cell phone to each stall, and I heard good, healthy sounds from each.” She looked at the girls and laughed. “Although, to be honest, I wasn’t absolutely positive I could tell the difference between Danny’s snort and Belle’s nicker.”
    The girls looked at each other, then began to laugh. Maxi was laughing right along with them when Max’s cell phone chirped.
    “Hold her a minute,” he said, passing Maxi to Deborah as he flipped open the phone.
    “Hello?” he said into the tiny receiver. “Oh, hi, Mom!”
    The girls could hear the sound of Mrs. Reg’s voice all the way across the table.
    “You talked to the driver of the van?” Max winked as Mrs. Reg continued. “And he told you he’d be here tomorrow, and that everything was fine?”
    Max nodded as his mother talked on. “And even though he thought you were crazy, you made him take his cell phone around to each stall so that you could hear each individual horse?”
    The girls giggled. Mrs. Reg had done exactly the same thing Deborah had!
    Grinning, Max kept repeating what Mrs. Reg was saying. “He said, ‘I’ll do it, but you won’t be able to tell the difference between any of them!’ ”
    Max listened a moment, than laughed. “Say that again, Mom. I want the girls to hear you.”
    He held the phone in the middle of the breakfast table. Mrs. Reg’s voice came through loud and clear. “He didn’t think I would know the difference between Danny and Belle and Prancer and Starlight! Imagine! Of course I know the difference. And all four are absolutely fine!”

“L ADIES AND GENTLEMEN , our last contestant in today’s final event is Alana White from San Antonio, Texas, riding her horse, Spirit.” The announcer’s voice rang over the arena as a small, trim rider guided her prancing black Arabian into the ring.
    “Wow,” Carole breathed. “What a wonderful-looking