By Bonnie Bryant. Published 1989.
There’s a group of tourists going on a trail ride, and Max
wants Carole to go along to help out with the inexperienced riders. It has to
do with horses, so she gladly accepts. Among the group is a boy about her age
named Scott. He asks her questions about riding, and then gladly listens to her
very long answers.
A thunderstorm comes up suddenly. Scott is on Patch, who, if you’ll remember, has a fear of loud noises. Carole has just enough time to jump
up on behind Scott before the thunder comes, and Patch takes off. She is able
to keep Scott on the horse, and eventually Patch slows down. Scott says Carole
saved his life.
When they return to the stables, Scott offers to come the
next day to help Carole with her chores. Stevie and Lisa see him hanging on her
every word, and tell her he obviously likes her. But Carole says she’s not
ready for the whole dating thing yet. Thank goodness, a twelve-year-old with a
bit of sense. Stevie, always eager to help, says Carole has to turn him off in
some way. They come up with the plan that they’ll muck out the stalls the next
day, pretty much the worst job at the stables.
But it turns out, Scott is a hard worker, and doesn’t seem
to mind it at all. He even impresses Max, who talks about the wonder boy for
days after. So that plan didn’t work.
Carole is having a problem outside the stables, as well. Her
father has been dating a woman, Lynne, who is very interested in Carole. She is nice to her, to make her father
happy. She did want him to start dating and having fun. Lynne insists on taking
her shopping, and buying her a dress. Carole finally agrees to a simple one
that’s not disgusting. Stevie and Lisa think Lynne is trying to act as a mother
to Carole.
Lynne drops the news that there’s a dance at the Officer’s
Club, to raise money for Toys for Tots, and her father got a table for four,
and Carole needs to find a date. Her father was scared to tell her. Carole asks
Scott to go with her. Way to not lead him on, Carole, damn.
At the dance, Lynne and Carole’s father are planning on
being in a dance contest. First prize is a pair of airline tickets. Carole
jumps to conclusions, and thinks that’s perfect for a honeymoon, so they must
be getting married. She completely freaks out, and runs to the bathroom,
crying. She runs into a table, and sprains her ankle.
Scott has his dad take Carole home, so her father can still
participate in the dance contest. They end up winning.
Carole mopes about for a few days, until her father asks her
what is up. She says he should share his happy news first. He has no idea what
she’s talking about. Of course he’s not getting married. He likes Lynne as a
friend, but in fact he finds her a bit bossy. Carole realizes they have the
same problem, and both need to be more direct.
Carole can’t ride because of her ankle, but she can still go
to the stables to do some work. Scott joins her to soap some saddles. Carole is
direct with him, and says she likes him for a friend. Scott understands, and
says he’ll be going back to Ohio soon anyway. But he has gained a love of
horses, and he wants to continue working with them when he gets home. They
promise to write to each other.
During all this, Lisa and Stevie have something they’ve been
hiding from Carole. The day Carole went on the trail ride, a photographer came
to watch their class. She liked Stevie and Lisa, and asks her to do some work
for her. They immediately have fantasies about their top model careers.
They soon find out that that’s not exactly how it goes. She
has them “modeling” things for a riding catalog, and it’s really hard work.
They find themselves down in the dirt, and behind horses. Apparently she’s
really just interested in photographing the products for the catalog.
They do, however, get paid fifty bucks each. They feel
guilty for doing all this without Carole, or even telling her, and decide to
give her the money, to put towards her fund for an airline ticket to go see
Kate Devine at her dude ranch.
But wait! Carole’s father has the two airline tickets that
he won. He says they’d be perfect for them to go to the ranch, but he probably
won’t have time off before they expire. So she can bring a friend. She just
doesn’t know how to choose between Stevie and Lisa. But, when they give her the
money, she doesn’t have to. Now the whole Saddle Club can go to the ranch.
o
Stevie thinks a girl making her own clothes is
“drippy”. I take offense at that.
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