seemed like the most wonderful day of her life.
“Oh, Christine!” she said, looking once again at the figurine Tomahawk. “It’s perfect. Thank you!” Shegave her new friend a very big hug, one that was long enough so that they could both control their tears before they parted and sat down.
Kate recognized that it was time to change the mood. “Eli,” she said, handing him a rope, “would you show some of these Easterners some of the things you can do with a lariat?”
It only took a bit more urging to get Eli to show off. “This stuff’s better on a horse,” he said, but he did turn down offers to ride some of the horses who were at Parson’s Rock. He showed the girls how to circle a lariat low and high, jumping in and out of the spinning rope like double-dutch. He then showed them how he could toss the loop onto small targets at great distances. He almost snagged a very surprised chipmunk.
It was a wonderful end to a wonderful party, Stevie thought, gazing at the pile of gifts at her feet.
“W HERE’D S TEVIE GO ?” Lisa asked Carole late that afternoon after they’d returned to The Bar None. They were with Kate in their bunkhouse, removing their riding clothes and donning bathing suits for a cool swim in the creek.
“Beats me,” Carole said. “Do you know, Kate?”
“I saw her march off to the barn after Stewball was in the paddock, but I don’t know what she was doing there. Maybe she just wanted to thank Eli again.”
“Maybe,” Lisa said. “But I thought Eli was done for the day after the horses were let out into the paddocks. Wouldn’t he have gone to the wranglers’ bunkhouse?”
“Oh, there’s never any telling
where
Eli is,” Kate said. “He’s always full of surprises.”
“And speaking of surprises,” Lisa said, grinningproudly. “We sure had one for Stevie today, didn’t we? It was terrific. At least I thought so.”
“I thought so, too,” Stevie said, climbing up the steps of the bunkhouse. She’d heard their conversation through the open window. “It was an absolutely fabulous surprise. You had me totally fooled. I thought I was the only one in the world who remembered my birthday.”
“You thought we were all deaf, dumb, and blind?” Carole asked. Stevie grinned. She had the feeling she was going to deserve what Carole was about to say to her. “You only mentioned it about forty-two times in the last few days. You must have thought we were pretty awful to be so coldhearted toward you.”
“I did,” Stevie said. “And I should have known you guys better! You did have a surprise for me. Surprises are so great. Both for the surpris
er
and the surpris
ee
.” She smiled sagely, like a cat licking her chops after consuming a canary. Stevie sat down on her lower bunk and began yanking off her hot boots. She wiggled her toes. “Oh, that feels good. And the swim is going to feel even better.”
“Wait a minute, there, Stevie,” Kate said, holding her hand up in protest. “You were talking like you’ve got some kind of surprise planned. Do you know something we ought to know?”
Stevie feigned the most innocent look she couldmanage. “Why,
whatever
could you be talking about?” she asked.
Carole, Lisa, and Kate suspected they wouldn’t be able to get another word out of Stevie on the subject of surprises, but that didn’t keep them from trying.
As the girls walked over to the swimming hole, towels over their shoulders, they pumped her for information. One by one, as they jumped into the crystal-clear waters, they pumped her. One by one, as they threatened to dunk her, they pumped her, but they didn’t learn anything more useful. Stevie just kept on grinning happily. And, since she was a very good swimmer, she dunked them back.
T HE NEXT MORNING , Stevie arose before her friends. They all had to get up early so they could be packed and ready to leave for the airport. As far as Stevie was concerned, that was a
terrible
reason to get up early. But
“Oh, Christine!” she said, looking once again at the figurine Tomahawk. “It’s perfect. Thank you!” Shegave her new friend a very big hug, one that was long enough so that they could both control their tears before they parted and sat down.
Kate recognized that it was time to change the mood. “Eli,” she said, handing him a rope, “would you show some of these Easterners some of the things you can do with a lariat?”
It only took a bit more urging to get Eli to show off. “This stuff’s better on a horse,” he said, but he did turn down offers to ride some of the horses who were at Parson’s Rock. He showed the girls how to circle a lariat low and high, jumping in and out of the spinning rope like double-dutch. He then showed them how he could toss the loop onto small targets at great distances. He almost snagged a very surprised chipmunk.
It was a wonderful end to a wonderful party, Stevie thought, gazing at the pile of gifts at her feet.
“W HERE’D S TEVIE GO ?” Lisa asked Carole late that afternoon after they’d returned to The Bar None. They were with Kate in their bunkhouse, removing their riding clothes and donning bathing suits for a cool swim in the creek.
“Beats me,” Carole said. “Do you know, Kate?”
“I saw her march off to the barn after Stewball was in the paddock, but I don’t know what she was doing there. Maybe she just wanted to thank Eli again.”
“Maybe,” Lisa said. “But I thought Eli was done for the day after the horses were let out into the paddocks. Wouldn’t he have gone to the wranglers’ bunkhouse?”
“Oh, there’s never any telling
where
Eli is,” Kate said. “He’s always full of surprises.”
“And speaking of surprises,” Lisa said, grinningproudly. “We sure had one for Stevie today, didn’t we? It was terrific. At least I thought so.”
“I thought so, too,” Stevie said, climbing up the steps of the bunkhouse. She’d heard their conversation through the open window. “It was an absolutely fabulous surprise. You had me totally fooled. I thought I was the only one in the world who remembered my birthday.”
“You thought we were all deaf, dumb, and blind?” Carole asked. Stevie grinned. She had the feeling she was going to deserve what Carole was about to say to her. “You only mentioned it about forty-two times in the last few days. You must have thought we were pretty awful to be so coldhearted toward you.”
“I did,” Stevie said. “And I should have known you guys better! You did have a surprise for me. Surprises are so great. Both for the surpris
er
and the surpris
ee
.” She smiled sagely, like a cat licking her chops after consuming a canary. Stevie sat down on her lower bunk and began yanking off her hot boots. She wiggled her toes. “Oh, that feels good. And the swim is going to feel even better.”
“Wait a minute, there, Stevie,” Kate said, holding her hand up in protest. “You were talking like you’ve got some kind of surprise planned. Do you know something we ought to know?”
Stevie feigned the most innocent look she couldmanage. “Why,
whatever
could you be talking about?” she asked.
Carole, Lisa, and Kate suspected they wouldn’t be able to get another word out of Stevie on the subject of surprises, but that didn’t keep them from trying.
As the girls walked over to the swimming hole, towels over their shoulders, they pumped her for information. One by one, as they jumped into the crystal-clear waters, they pumped her. One by one, as they threatened to dunk her, they pumped her, but they didn’t learn anything more useful. Stevie just kept on grinning happily. And, since she was a very good swimmer, she dunked them back.
T HE NEXT MORNING , Stevie arose before her friends. They all had to get up early so they could be packed and ready to leave for the airport. As far as Stevie was concerned, that was a
terrible
reason to get up early. But
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