looking through the other bags.
“We can use Lisa’s hair dryer to melt the butter,” Stevie offered.
“Does she always have ideas like this?” Monica asked Emily.
“Always,” Emily said. “Stevie, I’m going to call you Sunshine.”
Stevie blushed slightly, and the pale sun shapes on her cheeks turned pink. “If I’m Sunshine, you’re Blockhead,” she retorted. “You’ve got squares on your forehead.”
“Squiggle,” Monica said to Kate.
“Freckles,” Kate said to Lisa.
Lisa looked at Carole’s whiskers. “Here, kitty, kitty!” she called. Carole threw a sock at Lisa.
“Oh no!” Lisa cried in horror. “It’s one of Stevie’s socks!” She threw a pillow at Stevie.
“Pillow fight!” Emily cried, whacking Christine.
When they finished their fight, and Kate was declared Queen Pillow Thrower and Squiggle Nose, they rearranged the room so that sleeping bags for Monica and Christine would fit on the floor. Christine popped corn while Stevie melted butter in the glass from the bathroom. Emily opened sodas and passed them around.
Lisa flexed her foot and pointed it. She had a bruise on her shin, but it didn’t hurt very much. She felt tired from the day’s exertions, but also, in some strange way, refreshed. “You know,” she commented, “once in a while I think it’s actually good to get a little break from riding. Rafting was a lot of fun.”
“I guess I am glad we decided to go,” Carole agreed, “even if it did mean we couldn’t ride for a day.”
“Okay,” Christine said. “Explain something to me, please. Every other time you guys have come here, you’ve spent at least a day doing something else. The time you helped with my mom’s Halloween party you hardly rode at all. Why were you so obsessed with riding this trip?”
Kate looked amused. Emily looked dumb-founded.“Aren’t they always this obsessed?” she asked.
The Saddle Club looked a little uncomfortable.
“No,” Christine said. “They always ride a lot—we all do—but geez, this week was ridiculous! I would have come with you guys yesterday, but I was tired out from the day before.”
“I thought you never did anything but ride,” Emily said to Stevie.
Stevie started laughing. “We mostly ride,” she said. “I promise, Em. But this time—we thought you were only interested in riding.”
“You did?” Emily started laughing. “But I thought
you
were only interested in riding!”
“You mean I didn’t really have to be on that horse for eighteen hours in a row?” Lisa asked.
“Stewball and I could have made history,” Stevie said with a groan.
“We could have gone to the horse auction!” Carole added.
“Don’t blame me for this,” Emily said. “Whenever you guys talked about the Bar None, you talked about riding, riding, riding. You never talked about doing anything else.”
“Well, of course not,” Carole said. “Riding is the most important thing.”
“If you wanted to do something else, Em, why didn’t you say so?” Stevie asked. “We would have listened.”
“I could ask you the same question,” Emily retorted.
“You seemed so excited about spending the whole week on a horse,” Stevie explained. “You’ve never gotten to do that before—and we’ve been out here a bunch. Plus, we really do ride almost all the time.”
Emily nodded. “I didn’t want to mess up the stuff you guys usually do,” she said. “We have to do some things differently because of my C.P.—like choose the right picnic spots—so I didn’t want to ask you to do other things differently, too.”
“Oh well,” Lisa said. “Really, what would we have done differently? We couldn’t have gone to the dog show and the horse auction and the Wild West Show and white-water rafting—then we really wouldn’t have had enough time to ride.”
“Rafting was the best,” Carole said. “We’re lucky it came last.”
The others agreed. “Man,” Emily said, “by last night my seat was
“We can use Lisa’s hair dryer to melt the butter,” Stevie offered.
“Does she always have ideas like this?” Monica asked Emily.
“Always,” Emily said. “Stevie, I’m going to call you Sunshine.”
Stevie blushed slightly, and the pale sun shapes on her cheeks turned pink. “If I’m Sunshine, you’re Blockhead,” she retorted. “You’ve got squares on your forehead.”
“Squiggle,” Monica said to Kate.
“Freckles,” Kate said to Lisa.
Lisa looked at Carole’s whiskers. “Here, kitty, kitty!” she called. Carole threw a sock at Lisa.
“Oh no!” Lisa cried in horror. “It’s one of Stevie’s socks!” She threw a pillow at Stevie.
“Pillow fight!” Emily cried, whacking Christine.
When they finished their fight, and Kate was declared Queen Pillow Thrower and Squiggle Nose, they rearranged the room so that sleeping bags for Monica and Christine would fit on the floor. Christine popped corn while Stevie melted butter in the glass from the bathroom. Emily opened sodas and passed them around.
Lisa flexed her foot and pointed it. She had a bruise on her shin, but it didn’t hurt very much. She felt tired from the day’s exertions, but also, in some strange way, refreshed. “You know,” she commented, “once in a while I think it’s actually good to get a little break from riding. Rafting was a lot of fun.”
“I guess I am glad we decided to go,” Carole agreed, “even if it did mean we couldn’t ride for a day.”
“Okay,” Christine said. “Explain something to me, please. Every other time you guys have come here, you’ve spent at least a day doing something else. The time you helped with my mom’s Halloween party you hardly rode at all. Why were you so obsessed with riding this trip?”
Kate looked amused. Emily looked dumb-founded.“Aren’t they always this obsessed?” she asked.
The Saddle Club looked a little uncomfortable.
“No,” Christine said. “They always ride a lot—we all do—but geez, this week was ridiculous! I would have come with you guys yesterday, but I was tired out from the day before.”
“I thought you never did anything but ride,” Emily said to Stevie.
Stevie started laughing. “We mostly ride,” she said. “I promise, Em. But this time—we thought you were only interested in riding.”
“You did?” Emily started laughing. “But I thought
you
were only interested in riding!”
“You mean I didn’t really have to be on that horse for eighteen hours in a row?” Lisa asked.
“Stewball and I could have made history,” Stevie said with a groan.
“We could have gone to the horse auction!” Carole added.
“Don’t blame me for this,” Emily said. “Whenever you guys talked about the Bar None, you talked about riding, riding, riding. You never talked about doing anything else.”
“Well, of course not,” Carole said. “Riding is the most important thing.”
“If you wanted to do something else, Em, why didn’t you say so?” Stevie asked. “We would have listened.”
“I could ask you the same question,” Emily retorted.
“You seemed so excited about spending the whole week on a horse,” Stevie explained. “You’ve never gotten to do that before—and we’ve been out here a bunch. Plus, we really do ride almost all the time.”
Emily nodded. “I didn’t want to mess up the stuff you guys usually do,” she said. “We have to do some things differently because of my C.P.—like choose the right picnic spots—so I didn’t want to ask you to do other things differently, too.”
“Oh well,” Lisa said. “Really, what would we have done differently? We couldn’t have gone to the dog show and the horse auction and the Wild West Show and white-water rafting—then we really wouldn’t have had enough time to ride.”
“Rafting was the best,” Carole said. “We’re lucky it came last.”
The others agreed. “Man,” Emily said, “by last night my seat was
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