herself.
“So, now, tell me more about how you’re finishing Starlight’s training,” John said.
Carole was only too happy to do so.
* * *
D INNER TURNED OUT to be just as odd, and just as nice, as lunch had been. Jeannie and Eli had found a few cans of hash and a few cans of beans. They mixed them together and made a strange sort of stew.
“I think if my mother put this in front of me at home, I’d just throw it out,” Stevie said.
“You don’t like my cooking?” Jeannie asked, pretending to be hurt.
“No, that’s not what I meant at all,” Stevie told her. “Look at my plate—it’s empty. I’ll even have more if there is any. It tastes great to me.”
“Must be the wood fire,” Eli said. “That always gives everything a great taste.”
“What you mean is that it makes everything smoky, so that when you make a weird mixture like hash and beans, it just tastes like smoke,” Kate suggested.
“Would you like seconds, too?” Eli asked.
“You bet!” Kate told him.
When the last of the hash and beans was gone, Eli stood up in front of all his riders circling the camp fire. He began talking in his strongest, phoniest cowboy drawl.
“It’s tahm fo’ an ole cowpoke tradition,” he said, drawing out each word slowly.
“Ghost stories?” Stevie asked eagerly.
“Nah,” Eli scoffed. “It’s gonna be tall tales, and s’mores.”
“You mean we get to lie—and eat
real
food?”
“A-yep!” Eli confirmed.
“Bring on the marshmallows!”
The Saddle Club girls thought of themselves as being particularly good with tall tales. In fact, it was a tradition at Pine Hollow to make up stories about the owner Max Regnery’s grandfather. Stevie considered herself the all-time champion, so she declared that she would go first.
She told the riders the story of the discovery of Victoria Pass—the very place they were camping.
“A long time ago there was this hunter who lived nearby. He tracked a deer through the mountains. He tracked and he tracked and he tracked it for weeks. He became obsessed with catching this deer.”
“How obsessed was he?” Carole asked.
“Just wait and I’ll tell you,” Stevie assured her. “He reached the top of one mountain, which stood just about where we are now sitting, and for the first time he had a clear shot at the deer. He raised his rifle to his shoulder and squinted to focus, trying to get the deer into the cross hairs of his target scope—”
“I thought this took place a long time ago,” John teased. “They didn’t have cross hairs then.”
“Shhhh,” Carole said.
“But when he squinted, it made his contact lens pop out, and he couldn’t see a thing with the eye he used to aim. So he dropped his rifle, and he began rummaging around in the ground under his feet. Pretty soon, when he still couldn’t find the lens, he began digging, tossing dirt every which way. Before he knew it, he’d dug up the entire mountain and left us this beautiful valley.”
“Did he ever find his contact lens?” Lisa asked.
“Nah, it was probably lost at the bottom of the lake.”
“And the deer?” John asked.
“He stopped hunting it. He now lives exclusively on hash and beans!”
“Very good!” Eli said, clapping along with the others. He handed Stevie a s’more. “Who’s next?”
“Me,” Lisa said, raising her hand. “I’ve got one.”
“Okay, let’s hear it,” Jeannie said.
“Once upon a time—”
“Not a fairy tale, a
tall
tale!” Christine teased.
“Don’t worry; it’s tall,” Lisa said. Then she began again. “Once upon a time there were a brother and sister. They looked just like everybody else, and sometimes they even acted like everybody else, but they really weren’t.”
“I’ll second that!” Stevie said. Everybody laughed, and then Lisa took a deep breath to continue.
“Lisa, you don’t have to do this,” Carole said. “They’re gone, and it’s good riddance.”
“Maybe they even learned
“So, now, tell me more about how you’re finishing Starlight’s training,” John said.
Carole was only too happy to do so.
* * *
D INNER TURNED OUT to be just as odd, and just as nice, as lunch had been. Jeannie and Eli had found a few cans of hash and a few cans of beans. They mixed them together and made a strange sort of stew.
“I think if my mother put this in front of me at home, I’d just throw it out,” Stevie said.
“You don’t like my cooking?” Jeannie asked, pretending to be hurt.
“No, that’s not what I meant at all,” Stevie told her. “Look at my plate—it’s empty. I’ll even have more if there is any. It tastes great to me.”
“Must be the wood fire,” Eli said. “That always gives everything a great taste.”
“What you mean is that it makes everything smoky, so that when you make a weird mixture like hash and beans, it just tastes like smoke,” Kate suggested.
“Would you like seconds, too?” Eli asked.
“You bet!” Kate told him.
When the last of the hash and beans was gone, Eli stood up in front of all his riders circling the camp fire. He began talking in his strongest, phoniest cowboy drawl.
“It’s tahm fo’ an ole cowpoke tradition,” he said, drawing out each word slowly.
“Ghost stories?” Stevie asked eagerly.
“Nah,” Eli scoffed. “It’s gonna be tall tales, and s’mores.”
“You mean we get to lie—and eat
real
food?”
“A-yep!” Eli confirmed.
“Bring on the marshmallows!”
The Saddle Club girls thought of themselves as being particularly good with tall tales. In fact, it was a tradition at Pine Hollow to make up stories about the owner Max Regnery’s grandfather. Stevie considered herself the all-time champion, so she declared that she would go first.
She told the riders the story of the discovery of Victoria Pass—the very place they were camping.
“A long time ago there was this hunter who lived nearby. He tracked a deer through the mountains. He tracked and he tracked and he tracked it for weeks. He became obsessed with catching this deer.”
“How obsessed was he?” Carole asked.
“Just wait and I’ll tell you,” Stevie assured her. “He reached the top of one mountain, which stood just about where we are now sitting, and for the first time he had a clear shot at the deer. He raised his rifle to his shoulder and squinted to focus, trying to get the deer into the cross hairs of his target scope—”
“I thought this took place a long time ago,” John teased. “They didn’t have cross hairs then.”
“Shhhh,” Carole said.
“But when he squinted, it made his contact lens pop out, and he couldn’t see a thing with the eye he used to aim. So he dropped his rifle, and he began rummaging around in the ground under his feet. Pretty soon, when he still couldn’t find the lens, he began digging, tossing dirt every which way. Before he knew it, he’d dug up the entire mountain and left us this beautiful valley.”
“Did he ever find his contact lens?” Lisa asked.
“Nah, it was probably lost at the bottom of the lake.”
“And the deer?” John asked.
“He stopped hunting it. He now lives exclusively on hash and beans!”
“Very good!” Eli said, clapping along with the others. He handed Stevie a s’more. “Who’s next?”
“Me,” Lisa said, raising her hand. “I’ve got one.”
“Okay, let’s hear it,” Jeannie said.
“Once upon a time—”
“Not a fairy tale, a
tall
tale!” Christine teased.
“Don’t worry; it’s tall,” Lisa said. Then she began again. “Once upon a time there were a brother and sister. They looked just like everybody else, and sometimes they even acted like everybody else, but they really weren’t.”
“I’ll second that!” Stevie said. Everybody laughed, and then Lisa took a deep breath to continue.
“Lisa, you don’t have to do this,” Carole said. “They’re gone, and it’s good riddance.”
“Maybe they even learned
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