Free Horsenapped! by Bonnie Bryant Page A

time,” she said truthfully. “You took that triple like a pro and your finale was really grand.”
    “And the middle wasn’t so hot,” Stevie said, evaluating herself honestly.
    “But you recovered and that’s really important. It maynot get you a blue ribbon, but it certainly does get you respect.”
    Stevie dismounted and gave Topside the pat that he deserved. “I don’t want a blue ribbon on this anyway. It’s yours to win,” she told Carole. “Good luck.”
    “Thanks,” Carole said.
    “I’m going to cool down Topside and put him in his stall. I’ll be back in time for your turn, okay?” Stevie asked. Carole and Lisa nodded and then turned their attention to the next competitor.
    “Look at her hands,” Carole said. “They’re all over the place. She’s never going to—” The first jump was down.
    Stevie walked Topside back to his stall. She wasn’t thrilled with her performance, but she was proud of the fact that she’d pulled herself back together after a few mistakes. Sometimes that was hard to do. Riding a great horse like Topside made it easier. As she walked, she told him all the wonderful things she’d do for him when she had time. Her promises included carrots and two-hour showers. He followed her willingly.
    The stable was quite deserted. Everybody was watching the jumping. So, Stevie was more than a little surprised to hear somebody talking agitatedly. She halted Topside and listened.
    There was a phone in the stable. It was only supposed to be used for emergencies, but a lot of people definedemergencies for their own convenience. From the tone of voice Stevie heard from around the corner, this person had definitely defined his problem as an emergency. He was speaking in a nervous whisper that made it impossible to identify the voice. There was no mistaking the urgency of the tone, though.
    “Of course I’ve got to have the money! And I’ve got to have it now …”
    Stevie didn’t want to barge in on that. Whoever was talking on the phone obviously had a problem and probably didn’t want anybody else to know about it.
    “Look, I’ve done what I had to do … I’ve been busting my gut getting everything—”
    Topside whinnied. Since all of the other horses were out, waiting to compete, the person on the phone knew somebody was near and apparently didn’t like the idea.
    “Look, I can’t talk now,” he said, and then Stevie heard the phone being cradled.
    Stevie was embarrassed to have overheard what she had overheard. She was also dying of curiosity. Anybody who was that desperate for cash could do anything. Was it possible that there was a horsenapper lurking around the corner?
    Stevie clucked her tongue to get Topside walking again. They rounded the corner, and although Stevie could see clear to the end of the hallway, there wasn’t asign of anybody. The telephone talker had disappeared altogether.
    Topside went into his stall willingly. Stevie loosened his girth and brought him a bucket of water and some fresh hay. She cross-tied him.
    “See you later, boy,” she said. She fastened the door to his stall behind her.
    Then, as she headed back toward the ring, Donald went whizzing past her, carrying clean tack. He nodded a quick greeting. It occurred to her that he might have seen something—or someone.
    “Oh, Donald,” she said. “Did you see somebody here just a few minutes ago?”
    He paused and looked at her thoughtfully. “Nope,” he said. “The place has been deserted since the junior jumping began.” Then he disappeared as quickly as he’d appeared.
    Stevie shrugged. It wasn’t surprising, really, that Donald hadn’t seen the person who’d been talking on the phone. He was always dashing one place or another and didn’t ever seem to see anything!
    Stevie looked at the phone as she passed it again, almost hoping that it would tell her something. All it told her, though, was that one of the hundreds of people who’d been tromping through the stable