Free Summer Rider by Bonnie Bryant Page A

straw. “Okay, Stevie, I’ve had enough,” Lisa exploded. “You’ve been hinting around about Todd all week, and I’ve told you over and over that I’m not interested in him. So cut it out, okay?” Major shifted uneasily under her, and she realized she was gripping the reins so hard that she was accidentally yanking on the bit. She loosened her grip, sending the horse a silent apology.
    Stevie was taken aback. Lisa was usually so even-tempered and reasonable that her friends sometimes forgot she had a temper. “Sorry,” Stevie said, wide-eyed. “I was just kidding around.”
    Lisa sighed. “I know,” she said. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be yelling about it. But I really wish you’d let up a little. Todd is a nice guy and everything, but I’m just not interested in finding a boyfriend at the moment. I have too many other things on my mind right now.”
    Just then Betty called Lisa’s name, and she rode forward to begin the course. Stevie and Carole exchanged surprised glances. “What was that all about?” Carole asked. But at that moment Todd and Phil returned, and Stevie quickly changed the subject.
    A FTER THE JUMP class, Lisa headed to the rec hall for an unmounted lecture while Stevie and Carole cooled theirhorses down in preparation for an equitation class. Phil and Todd were in a different class, so the girls finally had a chance to talk about Lisa.
    “I can’t believe the way she jumped down my throat,” Stevie said. “I mean, she apologized right away, but still …”
    Carole nodded. “I know. It’s not like her.” She glanced at Stevie. “You have to admit, though, you’ve been pretty relentless about this whole Todd-Lisa topic.”
    “Well, maybe,” Stevie admitted, pausing to let Belle take a few sips of water from the trough by the stable entrance. “But I only had Lisa’s best interests in mind. I thought maybe if she got interested in Todd, she’d forget about all the problems she had during the first two weeks here.”
    “You mean like Piper disappearing?” Carole said. “I know what you mean. I’m afraid Lisa is a lot more upset about that than she’s letting on.”
    Stevie nodded. “I thought a nice summer romance would be the perfect solution.”
    “It was a good plan, even if it didn’t exactly work,” Carole said. “But I have a little plan of my own.” She told Stevie about her attempts to find out what had happened to Piper. “Barry won’t tell me a thing, and nobody else seems to know. I found Piper’s home phone number on Lisa’s bed—I think she’s still trying to reach her, even though she hasn’t mentioned it lately—but nobody answeredwhen I called.” She sighed. “It’s as if she just disappeared into thin air.”
    Just then the instructor called to them. Class was starting. “We’ll have to talk more about this later,” Stevie said as they mounted and headed for the ring.
    A BOUT HALFWAY THROUGH the equitation class, Barry stopped by to observe. Stevie and Belle were near the fence, waiting their turn to perform, when he arrived.
    “Hi, Barry,” Stevie said brightly. “You’re just the person I wanted to see.”
    “Oh, really?” he said, looking slightly suspicious. “Why’s that?”
    “I need a pass to go into town tomorrow,” Stevie replied. “Actually, a few of us were hoping to go.”
    Barry raised one eyebrow quizzically. “How many is a few? And why were you hoping to go?”
    Stevie bent over to brush an imaginary fly from Belle’s neck, stalling for time as she tried to think of a good answer. “Oh, six or eight of us, I guess,” she said, trying to estimate how many people could fit into Mike’s station wagon. “It’s sort of—um—a reading group.”
    “A reading group?” Barry repeated, looking surprised.
    Stevie nodded vigorously. “That’s right,” she said. “We want to go to the library and do some research on, uh, show jumping. You know, prepare for the show and everything. Mike already said he’d