Horse Games by Bonnie Bryant

could think of then was how good it would feel to prove to Phil that her team was better than his. Or would it? She didn’t know. And, with Carole and Max calling her at the same instant, she didn’t have time to figure it out.
    “Stevie, you’ve got to make sure we’ve got extra racquets and balls. If our equipment breaks, we could have to forfeit!”
    “Stevie, did you call Cross County to find out where we should unload our horse vans?” Max asked.
    “Extra racquets are in the storage bin in the first van,” she told Carole. “Cross County says we have to unloadbehind their barn and we can use the paddock right there for our horses,” she told Max. “Okay?”
    “Okay,” Carole said.
    “Nice job,” Max added.
    And they were off.
    W HEN THEY ARRIVED at Cross County, Stevie realized that she’d left her crutches at Pine Hollow. Although she had been putting weight on her foot, she wasn’t sure how she’d do without anything to lean on.
    Phil saw her sitting in the open door of the van, uncertainly contemplating the ground in front of her. “What’s the problem?” he asked.
    “I forgot my crutches,” she told him.
    “Here, I’ll help you,” he said.
    He gave her a boost off of the van seat and helped her stand, allowing her to test putting some weight on the ankle.
    “Okay?” he asked. She nodded. It hurt a little, but she thought she could walk. She reached forward with her sore ankle to step.
    “Here, put your arm around my shoulder and lean on me,” he suggested.
    Stevie did that. She found, at first, that it seemed almost odd to walk without the crutches she’d gotten used to. But, with Phil’s help, it was okay. He took her over to the edge of the playing field and found a seat for her where she could see everything that was going on.
    “I’ve got to leave you now,” he said. “But I’ll see you later. And, good luck, okay?”
    He leaned forward and kissed her softly on her cheek. Then he was gone.
    What a nice guy
, Stevie thought. I’m
really lucky to know somebody as nice as that
.
    A S WITH THE last match, the players drew numbers and letters for their squads. Carole, Marie, and Lisa were Attack, Center, and Defense on the A squad. Adam, Betsy, and Polly were the B squad. Again, the match was to be four chukkas of six minutes each, with two minutes between the chukkas. The A squad would play the first and third chukkas. The B squad would play second and fourth.
    Phil was on Cross County’s B squad. Lisa was a little relieved that there would be no direct competition between The Saddle Club and Phil. When it came to competition with Phil, even indirect competition was as much as Stevie could stand!
    Then Mr. Baker announced that play would begin in five minutes.
    The teams rushed to finish tacking up their horses and checking their equipment. Lisa found the racquet she liked the best and located Carole’s for her too. “Nervous?” she asked.
    “A little,” Carole said. “But not about the game. I’m nervous about Stevie!”
    “Me, too,” Lisa confessed. “Every time she gets this I’m-better-than-Phil bug, we seem to suffer. Remember how it was at riding camp?”
    “Too well,” Carole said. “So I guess we’d better get out there and win this one for the Gipper.”
    “The what?”
    Watching old movies was one of Carole’s favorite activities with her father. She sometimes forgot that not everybody had seen
The Knute Rockne Story
. “Some other time,” she said. “Let’s just say, for now, that we should do our best.”
    “It’s a deal.”
    Carole helped Marie mount Comanche and they all did high fives. “High fifteen!” Carole announced. They were ready then.
    The girls trotted onto the playing field and lined up next to the Cross County team. The Cross County A team looked curiously at Carole, Marie, and Lisa. Lisa had the funniest feeling they were licking their chops. There was no question that they’d enjoyed beating Horse Wise the last time. Lisa