said.
“My mother tells me there’s a lot of tack that needs a lot of attention,” said Max.
“We’ve got to clean it all?” Stevie asked.
“Until you can see the reflection of your faces in the gleaming leather!” Max said.
“Yes sir!” Carole said, standing up.
Stevie stood up, too, and gave Lisa a hand to help her to her feet. She thought it would be a good idea to get out of Max’s office before he got any more ideas relating to things like manure piles.
* * *
“W E’RE THE LUCKIEST GIRLS in the world,” Lisa said an hour later as she finished making her third saddle gleam.
“Because we get to ride a lot?” Carole asked.
“No, because we’ve just had a very fine day and we’ve spent almost all of it with horses,” Stevie said.
“Okay, so let’s see if we can list all the fine things that happened,” Lisa suggested.
“We saved two horses’ lives,” said Carole.
“Maybe not,” Stevie corrected her. “I’m not sure we had much to do with saving Danny. I think all the work was done by Honey-Pie.”
“Hey, why wouldn’t you let me tell Mr. Stookey about that?” Lisa asked Carole, recalling the cough that had cut her tale short.
“Oh, easy,” said Stevie. “See, if we have to tell them about the wonderful job Honey-Pie did, we have to let them know she did it because she ran off—and incidentally, my theory is that awful noise was actually Danny crying out when he fell—”
“Me too,” Carole said, having come to the same conclusion.
“Me three,” Lisa added.
“And if they don’t know she ran off, they don’t know that we didn’t tie her securely enough—”
“That horse can be so stubborn, nothing would have held her when she decided to go to Danny,” Lisa said, remembering the nudging Honey-Pie had given her.
“Well, let me just say that there are a few things people don’t actually have to know about what happened today, and all of them have to do with us looking careless,” said Stevie.
“Okay,” Lisa agreed.
“Now, the next question—”
Veronica came into the tack room and seemed displeased to find them there. “Oh, you’re here,” she said.
“For a while,” Stevie said, indicating the dwindling pile of tack lined up for a careful cleaning.
“Daddy asked me to find out who I should make out the check to,” she said.
It had been a while since any of them had thought about the reward. A thousand dollars.
“Can we get back to you in a minute?” Carole asked. “We need to talk.”
“If you’re going to argue about it, I’m not sure I’ll give it to any of you,” she said, then turned on her heel and left the tack room.
“She doesn’t get it, does she?” Lisa asked, shaking her head.
“No, and she never will, so don’t bother trying to teach her,” Stevie said.
“Okay, so what do we do?” Carole said.
“There’s no question who really found and rescued Danny,” Lisa said. “Honey-Pie.”
“My thought exactly,” Carole said. “There are two things wrong with that. The first is that we’ve just agreed nobody ever really needs to know all the details of that.”
“And the second is, what is a horse going to do with a thousand dollars?” said Lisa.
“Especially a horse that already has two million!”
“But the problem is that we don’t really deserve that money,” Carole said earnestly.
“Well, should we just say ‘No, thank you’?” Lisa suggested.
“And take away the joy of knowing that it’s coming out of Veronica’s allowance?” Stevie responded, horrified.
“No, no, don’t worry. We’ll never do that,” Lisa assured her.
“So, who gets the money?”
“Sports cars, expensive clothes, alligator wallets, yachts …,” Stevie said dreamily.
“It’s not that much money,” Lisa said.
“But it’s enough,” Carole said.
“For what?” Stevie asked.
“For a nice—a really nice—secondhand horse trailer.”
Lisa and Stevie smiled, understanding Carole’s perfect
“My mother tells me there’s a lot of tack that needs a lot of attention,” said Max.
“We’ve got to clean it all?” Stevie asked.
“Until you can see the reflection of your faces in the gleaming leather!” Max said.
“Yes sir!” Carole said, standing up.
Stevie stood up, too, and gave Lisa a hand to help her to her feet. She thought it would be a good idea to get out of Max’s office before he got any more ideas relating to things like manure piles.
* * *
“W E’RE THE LUCKIEST GIRLS in the world,” Lisa said an hour later as she finished making her third saddle gleam.
“Because we get to ride a lot?” Carole asked.
“No, because we’ve just had a very fine day and we’ve spent almost all of it with horses,” Stevie said.
“Okay, so let’s see if we can list all the fine things that happened,” Lisa suggested.
“We saved two horses’ lives,” said Carole.
“Maybe not,” Stevie corrected her. “I’m not sure we had much to do with saving Danny. I think all the work was done by Honey-Pie.”
“Hey, why wouldn’t you let me tell Mr. Stookey about that?” Lisa asked Carole, recalling the cough that had cut her tale short.
“Oh, easy,” said Stevie. “See, if we have to tell them about the wonderful job Honey-Pie did, we have to let them know she did it because she ran off—and incidentally, my theory is that awful noise was actually Danny crying out when he fell—”
“Me too,” Carole said, having come to the same conclusion.
“Me three,” Lisa added.
“And if they don’t know she ran off, they don’t know that we didn’t tie her securely enough—”
“That horse can be so stubborn, nothing would have held her when she decided to go to Danny,” Lisa said, remembering the nudging Honey-Pie had given her.
“Well, let me just say that there are a few things people don’t actually have to know about what happened today, and all of them have to do with us looking careless,” said Stevie.
“Okay,” Lisa agreed.
“Now, the next question—”
Veronica came into the tack room and seemed displeased to find them there. “Oh, you’re here,” she said.
“For a while,” Stevie said, indicating the dwindling pile of tack lined up for a careful cleaning.
“Daddy asked me to find out who I should make out the check to,” she said.
It had been a while since any of them had thought about the reward. A thousand dollars.
“Can we get back to you in a minute?” Carole asked. “We need to talk.”
“If you’re going to argue about it, I’m not sure I’ll give it to any of you,” she said, then turned on her heel and left the tack room.
“She doesn’t get it, does she?” Lisa asked, shaking her head.
“No, and she never will, so don’t bother trying to teach her,” Stevie said.
“Okay, so what do we do?” Carole said.
“There’s no question who really found and rescued Danny,” Lisa said. “Honey-Pie.”
“My thought exactly,” Carole said. “There are two things wrong with that. The first is that we’ve just agreed nobody ever really needs to know all the details of that.”
“And the second is, what is a horse going to do with a thousand dollars?” said Lisa.
“Especially a horse that already has two million!”
“But the problem is that we don’t really deserve that money,” Carole said earnestly.
“Well, should we just say ‘No, thank you’?” Lisa suggested.
“And take away the joy of knowing that it’s coming out of Veronica’s allowance?” Stevie responded, horrified.
“No, no, don’t worry. We’ll never do that,” Lisa assured her.
“So, who gets the money?”
“Sports cars, expensive clothes, alligator wallets, yachts …,” Stevie said dreamily.
“It’s not that much money,” Lisa said.
“But it’s enough,” Carole said.
“For what?” Stevie asked.
“For a nice—a really nice—secondhand horse trailer.”
Lisa and Stevie smiled, understanding Carole’s perfect
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