Riding Lesson by Bonnie Bryant

everyone was congratulating Marie as if she’d just told them the meaning of life.
    The next time around Marie was braver. “I’ll try a two-pointer this time,” she told Max.
    “Okay,” he said. He glanced down at the list. “What are the bars?”
    Marie shrugged. It was obvious that she had no idea. “Someplace a horse goes for a drink?” she guessed with a grin. Several people chuckled at the joke.
    “That’s wrong,” Carole called out, forgetting for a moment that the question should go to the next person in line, who happened to be Adam Levine. “They’re the sensitive toothless gums in a horse’s mouth. The bit goes over them.”
    “Thank you, Carole,” Max said, looking displeased. “You just earned two points for Adam. Please remember to answer only when it’s your turn.”
    Carole sat back and stared at the ground, her face flaming, as giggles erupted from other players. She glanced at Marie out of the corner of her eye, but Marie wasn’t one of the gigglers. In fact, her face was red, too, and she was staring at the ground just like Carole.
    After a few more rounds Carole was so far ahead of the others that Max declared her the winner, ending the game. She had taken a four-point question every time and gotten all of them right.
    “Nice work, Carole,” Max told her. “I hope everyonehas learned something new today. That’s it for our Horse Wise meeting; those of you who are in the flat class, go get tacked up and meet me in the outdoor ring in fifteen minutes.”
    Stevie, Lisa, and Carole were all in the flat class, as well as the jump class that followed it.
    “Marie, you’re going to join the class, aren’t you?” said Stevie. She glanced at Carole out of the corner of her eye as she said it. Carole had been acting so unpredictably lately—Stevie was afraid she’d get her head bitten off for even talking to Marie. Then Stevie immediately felt guilty for having such thoughts. She wasn’t going to be mean to Marie just to make Carole happy, but Carole was her friend and she was obviously miserable. Stevie couldn’t help feeling sorry for her, especially since she knew what it was like to be in the grips of an extreme case of sibling rivalry.
    In any case, Carole didn’t seem to be listening to Stevie or anyone else. She appeared to be lost in thoughts of her own, her face set in its now-familiar frown.
    “Sure,” Marie said in answer to Stevie’s question. “Max said it would be okay to take the flat class. He’s not even going to charge me for it—it’s his birthday gift to me.” Her words were light, but Stevie couldn’t help noticing that her tone was softer and more serious than usual.
    “Great,” Stevie replied. “Come on, I’ll help you tack up.” She threw one more worried glance at Carole before following Marie toward the tack room.
    Fifteen minutes later the flat class began. For most of the class time Max had the students work on posting and sitting trots. Even though they were good things for riders of all levels to practice, Carole couldn’t help wondering if Max was taking it easy that day because of Marie. Still, she was glad to notice that he barked orders at Marie just as if she were a regular member of the class.
    The jump class began as soon as the flat class ended. The riders who weren’t taking the jump class, including Marie, headed inside to untack their horses. If Max had been taking it easy during the flat class, he seemed determined to make up for it now. For the next hour Carole was too busy to think about Marie at all.
    “T HAT WAS A great class,” Lisa commented as she, Stevie, and Carole led their horses inside after the class had ended.
    Carole nodded. The jump class had improved her mood immensely—she realized it was the first time all week that she had really concentrated on something other than Marie Dana. Reminded of her houseguest, Carole looked around, expecting to see Marie hanging around somewhere waiting for them. But she was