Free Horse-Sitters by Bonnie Bryant Page B

that?”
    The others looked, too. An elderly man holding a trowel was walking toward the garden shed. Carole recognized him as a member of the adult riding class. He pulled open the door, glanced down at the ground, and then quickly backed away with a shout.
    The girls traded glances. “Oh no,” they said in one voice. “Mr. Munch!”
    * * *
    V ERONICA WAS LOUNGING in the locker room when The Saddle Club finally dragged themselves there after finishing the last of their chores. Luckily Red had taken pity on them and offered to do the evening feeding himself, so they were free to go. The ponies were exercised, Memphis and Romeo had had their day’s training, Honeybee was medicated and polished to a shine. The stalls were clean, the tack was gleaming, and everything was in order.
    “What are you still doing here?” Stevie snapped. She was in no mood for Veronica right then. Every limb in her body ached, and all she could think about was gobbling down some dinner, taking a hot bath, and climbing into her nice, soft bed. “Are you trying to think of more stupid little things for Red to do?”
    Veronica ignored the dig. “What are you girls doing leaving so early?” she asked innocently. “Don’t you have to stay and feed all those polo ponies? Or are you letting Max down already?”
    “Give us a break, Veronica,” Carole said wearily. “Red is going to feed them on his regular rounds tonight. Not that it’s any of your business.”
    “Oh, I see,” Veronica sneered. “Couldn’t handle it, hmm? I thought as much. I may have to let Mr. Haverford-Smythe know how you’ve been slacking off.” With that, she flounced out of the room.
    Lisa sat down heavily on one of the benches and started to pull off her boots. “Boy, she’s really something, isn’t she?”
    “She sure is,” Carole agreed. “She and that grumpy groom,Luke, are two of a kind. I feel sorry for those poor horses. If their groom is that bad, just imagine how horrible Mr. Haverford-Smythe himself must be.”
    “Mick is awfully nice though,” Lisa pointed out.
    “True. But Carole’s right,” Stevie said. “If Veronica likes this Hufferford-Smith guy so much, you know he’s got to be a jerk.”
    “Don’t forget, the jerk’s groom will be here tomorrow to check on his precious ponies,” Lisa reminded them.
    Carole groaned. “Now
that’s
something to look forward to.”

“W ELL , ALL RIGHT ,” Luke said grudgingly. “I guess everything’s in order here.” He nodded toward The Saddle Club. “Good thing, too. I wouldn’t want to be late for my barbecue. I’ll tell you, this is the life. All play and no work. It’s definitely the way to go.”
    Lisa smiled weakly. Carole rolled her eyes. Stevie just scowled. It was late Sunday morning and Luke had just completed his inspection. The Saddle Club had been working on the polo ponies since arriving that morning, making sure each of them had a little exercise and a good grooming so they would be in top condition when Luke looked them over. The groom had arrived at Pine Hollow half an hour later than he had said he would, but the girls didn’t mind. It gave them a little more time to finish mucking out the horses’ stalls.
    As soon as Luke left, the girls got back to work. They still had plenty to do that day, and they wanted to get it all done as early as possible so they could finalize their plans for Wednesday’s tea party. They knew that once Monday came and school started they wouldn’t have a second to spare.
    Miraculously almost nothing went wrong all day. The only incident occurred when Red accidentally let Mr. Munch out of the shed. The iguana had chewed through the piece of string Stevie had used to tie his cage shut, and when Red was rummaging for a tool, the wily lizard scuttled for the door. Luckily Lisa had just come outside to check on Honeybee, who was in the paddock. She captured the escaping iguana on the doorstep and tucked him back into his cage, closing the door