Driving Team by Bonnie Bryant Page B

grabbed the longe line that held them together. She unclipped Belle, who raced to the other side of the paddock, and then she put all her weight on Danny’sline, forcing him to stop kicking and stand on all four legs. Both horses were streaked with sweat, and their ears were slapped back against their skulls.
    “Hey, what’s going on here?”
    Stevie looked around to see Max leaping over the paddock fence. “Is everything okay?”
    “I think it is now,” replied Stevie, breathing hard. She was so scared she was shaking.
    “What happened?” Max demanded, scowling with concern.
    “Veronica got them going too fast,” gasped Stevie. “Danny thought they were racing and tried to bite Belle. Then she freaked out.”
    Max frowned at Stevie, then at Veronica. “Look, girls. I don’t intend to have either of these horses injured over this project. Are you two sure you’re mature enough to handle this?”
    “I certainly am.” Veronica picked up the driving whip. “And so is Danny. It’s just Belle. She’s such an obviously inferior horse of mixed breeding.”
    “No, she’s not, Veronica,” Max replied sternly. “Belle is an intelligent animal with a lot of heart. Anyway, it’s not the horses I’m worried about. I thought you and Stevie were up to this challenge, but maybe I gave you too much credit.”
    “We’re sorry, Max,” Stevie apologized. She glanced at Veronica. “I know we can do this safely. I think wejust need to work on our communication skills a little bit.”
    “Are you sure?” Max sounded unconvinced.
    Stevie nodded. “Give us one more chance. We’ll do it right. We promise.”
    “Okay,” Max said, relenting. “One more chance. But if I hear as much as a whinny from this paddock, the only thing you two are going to be allowed to do at that joint meeting is hand out cookies and lemonade.”
    “Yes, sir.” Stevie looked at the ground as her dream of triumph disappeared. This was hopeless. Veronica was going to do everything she could to blow Stevie’s chance at impressing Phil at that meeting. Phil had even been hinting that he was going to do something special for the show, and here was her only big chance to do something even more special, and this idiotic girl was going to spoil it. They would be relegated to handing out cookies with the D-level Pony Clubbers, and it would all be Veronica’s fault. Stevie stood silently with her fists clenched until Max disappeared into the barn. Then she turned to Veronica.
    “How dare you imply that my horse has inferior breeding!” Stevie cried. “She’s got Arabian blood, mixed with some Saddlebred, and that makes the best combination in the world. She’s kind, she’s smart, and who would blame her for rearing up when another, bigger bully of a horse tried to bite her? She was justdefending herself! Anyway, Veronica, you wouldn’t know good breeding if it bit you on the nose. If anyone in this paddock suffers from a rotten pedigree, it’s you!”
    Stevie glared at Veronica for a moment, waiting for her reply. But instead of pulling herself up into her usual haughty stance, Veronica seemed to sag. She covered her face with both hands and burst into tears, crying as if her heart were breaking.
    For a moment Stevie didn’t know what to say. She still felt angry, but she’d never seen Veronica shed a single tear, much less burst into loud sobs. “Veronica?” she finally asked. “What’s going on?”
    “You wouldn’t understand,” Veronica sobbed.
    “Yes I would,” Stevie said more softly. “Try me.”
    “No you wouldn’t.” Veronica gave a loud sniff.
    “Yes I would,” Stevie insisted.
    “You wouldn’t care, anyway,” Veronica said in a thick voice.
    “I might care a lot if you’d tell me.” Stevie took a step toward her.
    Veronica looked up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She gave a resigned sigh. “You know that phone call I got yesterday?”
    Stevie nodded.
    “That was my mother telling me that she had to take