Autumn Trail by Bonnie Bryant

guess Carole’s being a good influence already. Maybe there’s hope for Veronica yet.”
    “I think there might be,” Carole said. “I’ve never seen her be as pleasant as she’s been for the past few days.” She gave Starlight’s coat a last once-over with the cloth in her hand. She double-checked his food and water and then gave him a pat before leaving the stall. Her friends followed. “I guess I’ll find out soon enough,” Carole added quietly as she spotted Veronica heading toward them from the other end of the corridor. “My father is picking us up in a few minutes.”
    “Lucky you,” Stevie muttered. She gave Veronicawhat she hoped was a sincere-looking smile as the girl approached. Stevie noticed that Veronica had a small but expensive-looking leather suitcase slung casually over her shoulder by a long strap. In one hand she was carrying a matching square case that Stevie would have been willing to bet contained her makeup. In the other hand she was holding a suspiciously pie-shaped object wrapped in aluminum foil. “Hi, Veronica.”
    “Hi, Stevie. Hi, Lisa,” Veronica responded. Stevie could tell that she, too, was doing her best to be pleasant and not show that she didn’t like Stevie any more than Stevie liked her. “Ready to go, Carole?” she asked sweetly.
    “Sure,” Carole replied. “My dad should be here by now. Let’s go out and check.”
    “Okay,” Veronica said agreeably. “I hope you and your dad like pumpkin pie,” she added, holding up the foil-wrapped package. “Our cook baked this especially for you.”
    “That was awfully nice of you, Veronica,” Carole said sincerely. She giggled. “My dad is a great cook, but he’s not much of a baker. You’ve probably just saved us all from a repeat of the great Apple Pie Horror from last year.”
    Stevie and Lisa watched in silence as Carole and Veronica walked off together, chatting easily. When they were out of sight, Stevie let out a long sigh that ended ina whistle. “I hope Carole survives this holiday,” she commented.
    “I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Lisa replied with a smile. She didn’t like Veronica much better than Stevie did, but she had to admit that Veronica seemed to be trying to be nice. And she admired Carole for giving her the benefit of the doubt.
    Just then Red came hurrying up to them. “Oh, Stevie, there you are. I have a job for you.”
    Stevie snapped to attention and gave a mock salute. “Aye, aye, Captain. At your service. What do you need me to do?”
    Red gazed at her in amusement. “It’s a pretty exciting job, First Mate Lake,” he said.
    “Great, what is it?” Stevie asked. “Exercising one of the horses? Straightening out the tack room? Hosing down the floors?”
    “Mucking out the stalls,” Red replied drily.
    “Oh.” Stevie tried not to groan. She reminded herself that this wasn’t really supposed to be fun. In fact, it was supposed to be a sacrifice. That made her feel a little better. It almost, but not quite, made mucking out stalls seem exotic. “Lead on, Captain,” she said, sounding almost as enthusiastic as before.
    Lisa smiled and shook her head. Stevie could make almost anything seem like fun, even something like mucking out stalls. “Do you need me to help?” she asked.
    “No, I don’t think so,” Red said. “We actually don’t have many to do right now. But I may take you up on the offer later.”
    “Good,” Lisa said. “Then in the meantime I’m going to check on Pepper. Have fun, Stevie!” Lisa was determined to stick to her vow to buck up the old horse’s spirits by keeping him company. She was sure Max had been right when he’d said it would make Pepper feel better.
    When Lisa arrived at the stall, Pepper once again failed to greet her at the door. She slipped into the stall, talking to him quietly so that he wouldn’t be startled by her approach.
    “Hi, boy,” she said gently. “Are you feeling better today?” Almost immediately, Lisa could