Free Horse Thief by Bonnie Bryant Page B

anywhere near them. “She was practicing in the ring, and a loud noise spooked the horse. The rider was badly injured—the horse accidentally trampled her and broke a few of her bones. She was in the hospital for weeks.”
    “How terrible!” Lisa exclaimed, shuddering. Carole and Stevie looked horrified, too.
    “That’s not all,” said Mo. “I saw Howard running away a few seconds after the accident, and he was carrying a cap pistol. What would he be doing with something like that? The day after the fall, I saw Celeste hugging Howard. Normally she wouldn’t be caught dead doing that.” Mo paused while the implications of Celeste and Howard’s behavior sank in.
    “That rider was Celeste’s main competition at Mendenhall,” she continued. “Now she’s out of commission for at least six more months. They’re not even sure she’ll ever ride again. Celeste’s been winning all the local riding events since the accident.”
    “That’s awful,” said Stevie angrily. “Why didn’t you tell someone? She can’t get away with this!”
    Mo shrugged. “Who would believe me? Celeste is the star of our Pony Club. The owner of Mendenhall completely dotes on her and listens to everything she says.”
    “Still, maybe if you said something …,” began Lisa, recalling Mo’s reluctance to let Stevie tell Max what happened to her tack that morning.
    But Mo shook her head again. “Believe me, I’ve tried,” she said positively. “And it hasn’t worked. Now I’m worried about what Celeste will do next,” she added, looking upset again. “I love Indy with all my heart, and I don’t want anything to happen to him or me.”
    What was Mo saying? Was she actually implying that Celeste would hurt Indy? Carole couldn’t imagine what she would do if anything happened to Starlight. She was thankful that Pine Hollow didn’t have a rider like Celeste around. Veronica was mean and did some pretty vindictive things, but she wouldn’t intentionally do anything to harm a horse or a rider. Ever since her first horse, Cobalt, had died as a result of her own carelessness, Veronica had been a more careful horsewoman. Carole grew sad just thinking about it. Before she had gotten her own horse, she had spent hours taking care of Cobalt, and she still missed him.
    She was brought out of her gloom by Stevie’s remark. “Pine Hollow is the best stable around,” Stevie was saying. “We can’t imagine riding anywhere else. All the riders here are really fun people—well, except for Veronica,but she’s the only bad apple in the bunch. The rest of us have a great time together, and we talk horses and riding all the time.”
    “Yes, and Max and Denise are fantastic instructors,” Lisa said eagerly. “Red is our head stable hand, and he’s terrific, too. I was almost a beginner when I came here, and they’ve taught me so much.”
    Amused, Carole realized that Stevie and Lisa had turned to another task at hand—recruiting Mo as a new rider for Pine Hollow! “I’d probably have to tie a red ribbon on Starlight’s bridle,” she joked, joining the conversation. “Otherwise, I might groom Indy one day by mistake!” Everyone laughed.
    Mo looked more cheerful. “Thanks,” she said gratefully. “I’d love to join Pine Hollow, but it’s an hour away from my house. It would be a long haul for my parents to drive me that far and back.”
    Lisa became aware of something moving to her left. She flicked her eyes there. It was Kurt. He was looking at the four girls together. He stood motionless for just a second, then his eyes met Lisa’s. It was almost a silent plea. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it, hesitated for a second, and shook his head. Lisa blinked. She watched him walking away. What was
with
that boy?
    The other girls noticed Lisa’s distraction and looked to see what had caught her attention. Kurt’s back was to them, and his shoulders were hunched.
    “It’s like he has a sign on him saying,