A Winning Gift by Catherine Hapka Page A

according to what Maddie had seen in that desk drawer, they’d have only until January to ride together. After that, who knew if they’d ever see each other again. At least not more than once a year or so when Maddie flew back for a visit . . .
    But Maddie shook her head, suddenly fed up with feeling gloomy all the time. That wasn’t her. If she had only a couple of months to watch Bridget fall for horses and riding, then she wanted to enjoy every second of it while she could.
    She linked her arm through Bridget’s. “Let’s go,” she said with a grin. “This is going to be fun.”

    Ms. Emerson seemed a little surprised to see Bridget again. But after a quick phone call to Bridget’s mother, she agreed that she could ride in the lesson as long as Vic and Val didn’t object.
    â€œThat’s totally fine,” Vic said when Maddie and Bridget found her in the grooming area and asked. “It’ll be fun having someone new in the group.”
    Val nodded, glancing up from brushing her pony’s fetlocks. “Me too,” she said. “It’s fine. Who are you going to ride today, Bridget?”
    â€œOh.” Bridget shot Maddie a look. “Uh, Cloudy, I guess?”
    Maddie blinked. Somehow she hadn’t even thought about which pony Bridget would ride. It made sense that she’d expect it to be Cloudy, since Cloudy was the only pony she’d ever ridden. But Maddie hadn’t been on her favorite pony since Sunday, and given what had happened since then, she really needed some Cloudy time herself right now.
    â€œUm,” she said. “We should probably ask Ms. E. Stay here. I’ll go.”
    She dashed off down the aisle, leaving Bridget chatting with Vic and Val. Ms. Emerson was in the barn office, going over some paperwork.
    â€œHey, who should Bridget ride?” Maddie blurted out. “Like, maybe Wizard, right?”
    Ms. Emerson looked up. “Doesn’t she want to stick with Cloudy?”
    â€œOh. Um, she thinks she’s too fast, maybe?” Maddie shrugged. “I don’t know. She liked the look of Wiz, though.”
    That wasn’t entirely untrue, she told herself. The two girls had wandered through the barn yesterday, giving treats to all the horses and ponies, and Bridget had commented on Wizard’s sweet brown eyes and silky white mane.
    â€œAll right. In that case, Wizard is fine,” Ms. Emerson said. “You’ll help her groom and tack, yes?”
    â€œAbsolutely.” Maddie grinned and tossed the barn owner a sloppy salute that would have made her mother’s commanding officer swear. “Thanks, Ms. E.”
    She returned to the grooming area. Seth had appeared while Maddie was gone, accompanied by his wheelbarrow and pitchfork.
    Maddie nodded a quick hello at Seth, not even looking directly at him. She figured Bridget was probably distracted by the lesson thing, but you never knew. “Hey, Bridge, Ms. E says you should ride Wizard. He’s the cute little gray pony you met yesterday, remember?”
    â€œWhat?” Bridget looked alarmed. “But I thought I’d get to ride Cloudy again. You said she’s the best with beginners.”
    â€œWiz is great at that, too,” Vic put in. “He’s super-quiet.”
    â€œBut—” Bridget began.
    â€œSeriously, Vic’s right,” Maddie said quickly. “Wizard is the calmest horse in the entire barn. He’d sooner fall asleep than run away with you.”
    Val giggled. “I’m not sure he knows how to run.”
    â€œAw, don’t be dissing the Wiz-man!” Seth put in with a grin. “He’s the coolest.”
    Bridget blinked, turning toward him. “Really?”
    â€œYeah.” Seth leaned on his pitchfork. “He’s my favorite.” Glancing at the two ponies the twins were getting ready, he added, “No offense, other