room and tossed the poltergeist book onto one of the benches. “Still, maybe I’ll take that book home. We can read it to get ideas for tricks to play on Phil.”
Dinah shrugged. “Well, if Phil was behind this, I’ll have to admit I’m impressed,” she said dubiously. “I sure can’t figure out how he could have done it—not without skipping school, anyway.” Like Carole and Lisa’s school, Phil’s was in session that day.
“Oh, he did it all right,” Stevie said. “He did the other pranks that have happened around here, too—the missing saddle soap and the black cats in the tack room. And I’ll figure out how, just you wait and see.”
W HEN P HIL WALKED in with Lisa a few hours later, Stevie didn’t say a thing about the chair and the book. She just smiled sweetly. “Hi, Phil. Hi, Lisa. How was school?” she asked.
“Fine,” Phil replied. He set down his school backpack and pulled out a black vinyl bag with the words “The MagnificentMarsteno” lettered on the side. “But I’m sure you two had more fun here.”
“That’s for sure,” Lisa agreed. “My math teacher gave us a pop quiz. I think half the class failed. I’m just glad I did a little studying last night after dinner.”
“I’m sure you did well,” Stevie said. “You always do. And without anything like the escaped-bull story, right, Dinah?”
Dinah giggled. “That was a good one,” she said.
“What?” Phil asked. “Is this another story about some terrible prank you guys pulled in school?”
“It sure is,” Stevie confirmed. She gave Phil a sidelong glance. “I’m sure you’ll like this story—after all, you do have some experience with pranks yourself.”
“This was a great one,” Dinah said eagerly before Phil could respond. “Mrs. Tatnall decided to give us a pop quiz in science class one Monday, and nobody was prepared for it—especially not me and Stevie.”
“That’s right,” Stevie put in. “We had spent the entire day before here at Pine Hollow and hadn’t even thought about homework.”
“So just as Mrs. Tatnall was passing out the test papers, Stevie suddenly jumped out of her chair and started yelling that she’d seen a bull escape from the field across the street.”
“That was before they built the new post office there,” Stevie explained. “There was just a huge field with some cows and a big, mean bull in it. Luckily the bull was nowhere in sight at that particular moment, so I just explainedthat I could have sworn I saw him taking off across the street and heading around the corner of the school toward the playground.”
“Mrs. Tatnall panicked and ran out to tell the principal to bring in the first-graders from recess,” Dinah said. “She spent the rest of the class with the other teachers searching for the escaped bull. They kept looking until they finally noticed him coming over the hill—safely
inside
the fence.”
“Later, I just told them that the shape I’d seen might have been the school janitor on his tractor. But better safe than sorry, right?” Stevie finished with a grin.
“Especially since we never did have to take that quiz,” Dinah added. She glanced at Lisa. “Some people might like studying and taking tests, but not us—right, Stevie?”
Stevie glanced at Lisa. Dinah’s remark had obviously been aimed at her, and Stevie was surprised. It wasn’t like Dinah to be purposely mean. It seemed that she and Lisa were bringing out the worst in each other, and Stevie couldn’t think of a thing to do to help. “Say, Lisa, where’s Carole?” she said quickly instead of answering Dinah’s question. “I thought she would come over with you.”
“She couldn’t,” Lisa replied. “She has a dentist’s appointment today, remember?”
“Oh, that’s right,” Stevie said. “Well, I guess we’d all better get to work then, since we’re one hand short. Max already made Dinah and me do all the chores in the entire stable, so the rest of the
Dinah shrugged. “Well, if Phil was behind this, I’ll have to admit I’m impressed,” she said dubiously. “I sure can’t figure out how he could have done it—not without skipping school, anyway.” Like Carole and Lisa’s school, Phil’s was in session that day.
“Oh, he did it all right,” Stevie said. “He did the other pranks that have happened around here, too—the missing saddle soap and the black cats in the tack room. And I’ll figure out how, just you wait and see.”
W HEN P HIL WALKED in with Lisa a few hours later, Stevie didn’t say a thing about the chair and the book. She just smiled sweetly. “Hi, Phil. Hi, Lisa. How was school?” she asked.
“Fine,” Phil replied. He set down his school backpack and pulled out a black vinyl bag with the words “The MagnificentMarsteno” lettered on the side. “But I’m sure you two had more fun here.”
“That’s for sure,” Lisa agreed. “My math teacher gave us a pop quiz. I think half the class failed. I’m just glad I did a little studying last night after dinner.”
“I’m sure you did well,” Stevie said. “You always do. And without anything like the escaped-bull story, right, Dinah?”
Dinah giggled. “That was a good one,” she said.
“What?” Phil asked. “Is this another story about some terrible prank you guys pulled in school?”
“It sure is,” Stevie confirmed. She gave Phil a sidelong glance. “I’m sure you’ll like this story—after all, you do have some experience with pranks yourself.”
“This was a great one,” Dinah said eagerly before Phil could respond. “Mrs. Tatnall decided to give us a pop quiz in science class one Monday, and nobody was prepared for it—especially not me and Stevie.”
“That’s right,” Stevie put in. “We had spent the entire day before here at Pine Hollow and hadn’t even thought about homework.”
“So just as Mrs. Tatnall was passing out the test papers, Stevie suddenly jumped out of her chair and started yelling that she’d seen a bull escape from the field across the street.”
“That was before they built the new post office there,” Stevie explained. “There was just a huge field with some cows and a big, mean bull in it. Luckily the bull was nowhere in sight at that particular moment, so I just explainedthat I could have sworn I saw him taking off across the street and heading around the corner of the school toward the playground.”
“Mrs. Tatnall panicked and ran out to tell the principal to bring in the first-graders from recess,” Dinah said. “She spent the rest of the class with the other teachers searching for the escaped bull. They kept looking until they finally noticed him coming over the hill—safely
inside
the fence.”
“Later, I just told them that the shape I’d seen might have been the school janitor on his tractor. But better safe than sorry, right?” Stevie finished with a grin.
“Especially since we never did have to take that quiz,” Dinah added. She glanced at Lisa. “Some people might like studying and taking tests, but not us—right, Stevie?”
Stevie glanced at Lisa. Dinah’s remark had obviously been aimed at her, and Stevie was surprised. It wasn’t like Dinah to be purposely mean. It seemed that she and Lisa were bringing out the worst in each other, and Stevie couldn’t think of a thing to do to help. “Say, Lisa, where’s Carole?” she said quickly instead of answering Dinah’s question. “I thought she would come over with you.”
“She couldn’t,” Lisa replied. “She has a dentist’s appointment today, remember?”
“Oh, that’s right,” Stevie said. “Well, I guess we’d all better get to work then, since we’re one hand short. Max already made Dinah and me do all the chores in the entire stable, so the rest of the
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