Free Wild Horse by Bonnie Bryant Page A

about the other horses.…”
    Lisa prolonged the ride, letting Prancer wander from meadow to meadow. Not until it started to get dark did she turn back toward the stable. She wondered how many more rides she would have before she left. Maybe it would be better not to come anymore. Dragging out the good-bye would only make things harder. Sure, she could come back and visit, but it would never be the same. In fact, it already felt different. With the way things were between her and Stevie, it felt as if The Saddle Club had broken up. And that was by far the blackest part of it all.

T HE PARENTS OF The Saddle Club almost never allowed sleepovers on school nights. They agreed that the girls saw plenty of one another at Pine Hollow, on the weekends, and during the trips they often took together. So Sunday through Thursday nights the three of them were expected to stay in, do their homework, and go to bed at a reasonable time. But every once in a while, a circumstance arose that was dire enough for the girls to convince their parents that they absolutely had to have a weeknight sleepover. When Lisa disappeared on Prancer instead of coming to the lesson, Stevie and Carole agreed that this was one of those nights. They simplyhad to have a two-thirds meeting of The Saddle Club. Right away. No matter what it took. So after two anxious phone calls and some hasty arrangements between Colonel Hanson and Mr. and Mrs. Lake, Carole found herself at the Lakes’ for the evening.
    She and Stevie wasted no time. They went directly up to Stevie’s room to put their heads together and find a way of saving Lisa from Wentworth Manor. They felt a little guilty about having a meeting without Lisa, but, as Stevie put it, “You can’t save a drowning man by jumping into the ocean.”
    “Huh?” Carole said.
    “Never mind—it’s just an expression,” Stevie replied.
    Mrs. Lake rapped on the door and poked her head in. “I thought this was an emergency meeting of The Saddle Club,” she said, putting down a plate of cookies for them. “The
whole
Saddle Club.”
    Stevie and Carole looked at one another, not knowing if they should explain Lisa’s absence. “It is, Mom, but you see, Lisa
is
the emergency,” Stevie said.
    “She’s not sick, is she?” Mrs. Lake asked quickly.
    “No,” Stevie said. Somehow she wasn’t sure her mother would be very sympathetic when she found out what they were meeting about. She had purposely left that vague when she’d asked permission to invite Caroleover, emphasizing that it was definitely an emergency and that her mother should trust her judgment. “She’s not sick.”
    “Then where is she?” Mrs. Lake asked bluntly. “What’s the emergency?”
    “We have to save her from being sent to Wentworth Manor,” Stevie said just as bluntly.
    “Lisa’s going to boarding school?” Mrs. Lake asked.
    “Next week,” Carole said.
    Mrs. Lake frowned. “So, I still don’t see what the emergency is. If Lisa and her parents have decided that that’s the best place for her, why should you interfere?”
    “But Mom!” Stevie protested. “
Lisa
didn’t decide anything! She just went along with it because her mom wants her to go there. She’d hate it there! And she’d miss us and The Saddle Club and Pine Hollow!”
    “I’m sure it’s hard for you to imagine her going away, but make sure you’re thinking about Lisa, sweetheart. It’s her future. Wentworth might be a great opportunity for her,” Mrs. Lake said.
    Stevie waited until her mother had left to respond. “That is so typical!” she hissed. “Parents always band together! I’ve
heard
my mother call Wentworth a chi-chi riding school, but now she’s siding with Mrs. Atwood.”
    “To be fair, maybe we should consider the possibilitythat Lisa would be better off at Wentworth,” Carole said reluctantly. She and Stevie were silent for about five seconds.
    “She wouldn’t,” Stevie and Carole said at the same time.
    “If she wanted to go