Free Stable Witch by Bonnie Bryant Page B

she practically yelled. “And you know what I’ve been thinking? That one of the rules of The Saddle Club is that we be willing to help each other out in any kind of situation. Or is that not one of the rules anymore? If you guys think I shouldn’t ride in the show, fine!”
    Stevie’s fingers were trembling as she gripped the receiver, waiting for Carole and Lisa’s reaction to her angry torrent. She hated to talk that way to her friends, but Mrs. diAngelo’s attempt to keep her out of the show was the last straw. How could The Saddle Club just stand by and let it happen?
    “Stevie?” Carole asked quietly.
    Stevie could hardly respond. Finally she managed to get out a choked “Yes?”
    “We were calling to tell you that we’re sorry we ever doubted you, we believe in your innocence one hundred percent, and we’ll stand behind you no matter what,” Carole said.
    Stevie stared at the receiver suspiciously. “But, Idon’t get it—why did you change your minds?” she asked.
    In a rush, Lisa and Carole explained how they had come to their conclusion. They had known that Stevie would do anything to beat Veronica—or at least almost anything. What they hadn’t realized until today was that a trick like slashing the stirrup leather was just as dangerous for Garnet as for Garnet’s rider.
    “We know you’d never do anything that would put a horse at risk,” Lisa finished.
    Again there was a pause, as Stevie tried to absorb everything that her friends were saying. It was funny, but she had been so surprised that someone else seemed to have it in for Veronica, she hadn’t thought of Garnet either. And now it was nice to hear her friends apologize, but the memory of yesterday still stung. These were her two best friends in the world, and their doubting her had hurt—badly. Stevie couldn’t just put on a cheery face and pretend everything was perfect.
    “It’s nice of you to call,” she said, finally. “But it would have been even nicer if you had been there for me yesterday.”
    “We know,” Carole and Lisa responded in unison.
    “And you’re right—the way we acted was completelyout of line with The Saddle Club ideals,” Lisa added.
    “Well try to make it up to you,” Carole said gravely.
    Stevie paused before saying, “I guess I am a little too competitive with Veronica. I can understand why you thought I might have gone overboard this time.” Then, with an effort to laugh, she added, “I sure look guilty, though, don’t I?”
    Lisa hesitated. “I hate to say it, Stevie, but you’re the obvious culprit.”
    Lisa and Carole went on to apologize nine or ten more times before Stevie could cut them off.
    “Listen—apology accepted, okay?” she said. She knew it might take a while longer for her to completely forgive Lisa and Carole, but there was no point in making them grovel.
    Now that the air was cleared, Lisa decided that it was time to get back to the practical aspect of the problem.
    “I think there’s only one solution,” she continued. “We have to find the real perpetrator and expose him—or her—to Max.”
    “But that’s practically impossible. Veronica has so many enemies, how can we single out one?” Stevie joked.
    “With some good old-fashioned sleuthing,” Lisa replied.
    “Some good old-fashioned, lightning-fast sleuthing, you mean,” Carole put in. “We’ve got to clear Stevie’s name in less than a week.”
    “There’s no better time than the present,” said Lisa. “Let’s get back to the scene of the crime.”
    The girls agreed to meet at Pine Hollow that afternoon. They would do some investigating, as well as take a Saddle Club ride together.
    That prompted Stevie to ask Lisa how the jumping practices were going. Lisa sighed. “They’re going nowhere fast,” she said glumly. She described her torturous sessions with Veronica. “The worst thing is, she’s right most of the time. I make so many mistakes that I can’t even remember all of them. I wrote