going to talk the other girls into
keeping Hotty for just a little while longer, she was
going to have to show commitment.
She nodded. 'We'll try it tomorrow.'
'And what if she does that crazy thing again?' Erin
asked.
'The chiropractor will be able to tell us if she has a
sore back,' Shelby replied.
'Yeah, and who's going to pay for that?' Lindsey
asked.
Erin's face split into a grin. 'Gwen Stefani, of
course!'
13 The Worst Part
Erin was late for class the next day. She scurried into
Maths with her head bowed and flopped into the
chair next to Shelby. She flipped to the back of her
exercise book and wrote a message.
I can't take this any more!!!!
'What?' Shelby murmured.
The stupid saddle!!!! Erin wrote.
'Tell me!' Shelby whispered.
At the front of the room their teacher, Mrs Tapley-
Hook, spoke. 'If X in this equation equals two-thirds
and Y equals fifteen, can you calculate Z?'
Erin cupped her hand over her mouth and kept her
eyes fixed on the whiteboard at the front of the room,
hoping that their teacher wouldn't notice.
'We dropped Hiccup's saddle at the saddler's this
morning, but he remembered it. I said that it had been
Mrs Edel's, but she sold it to the Crooks and the Crooks
were giving it to me. Then he said that the Crooks had
never owned a stock saddle. They'd only ever had dressage
saddles, so he didn't understand why they would
buy one – especially a second-hand one, and then he
said that it wouldn't fit any of their horses anyway.'
Shelby shook her head. They should have anticipated
that this might happen. Even in a city horse
people always know other horse people.
Mrs Tapley-Hook pointed her whiteboard marker
at the boy sitting in front of the two girls. 'Jasper?
Can you tell me the answer?'
'Z equals twenty-seven,' he answered.
'Very good.' The teacher turned around to write
some new problems on the board.
'Then what?' whispered Shelby.
Erin's eyes widened. 'Then mum stared at me like
I'd stolen it or something, and I said that . . .'
'What does Z equal in this equation, Shelby?' Mrs
Tapley-Hook asked.
Shelby froze. She looked for cues from her classmates,
but her eyes met only vacant faces.
'Thirty-two?' she guessed.
'You haven't been paying attention. You need to
concentrate now or you won't understand the rest of
the lesson. I won't ask you again.' Her teacher stalked
past the girls' desk to the back of the room.
Erin wrote another note in the back of her book
and underlined it.
And that's not even the worst part!
Erin's face was pale and pinched, as though she
was sick. Shelby was bursting to hear the worst part,
but now she would have to wait until the end of class.
She frowned into her equations. Who cares what Z equals? she thought. There were so many more important
things to talk about.
Finally the bell rang and all around Shelby could
hear the rumble of students talking at once, teachers
raising their voices with last-minute instructions, and
the scrape of chairs being pushed across vinyl floors,
or clanging against metal table legs.
'So then what?' Shelby prompted.
'I confessed.'
Shelby gaped. 'Really?'
Erin shoved her book into her bag and the two
girls shuffled behind the other students towards the
door. 'I didn't tell her about CC. I said that we'd
broken the saddle and that we had to get it fixed
before Lindsey's mum found out.'
'Was she cranky?'
A frown crossed Erin's brow. 'Of course she was
cranky!' she huffed. 'I knew it would be more than
fifty. I just never thought it would be three hundred!'
'Dollars?' Shelby gasped.
'No, broad-beans, you ninny. Mum was mad
because she didn't see why our family should pay to
fix the saddle when you broke it.'
'You told her I broke it?'
Erin continued. 'I just keep thinking of all the
other ways I could spend three hundred dollars.'
Shelby knew Erin would be thinking of shoes, or
mobile phone covers – something dumb like that.
'I don't want to do this any more, Shel,' Erin continued.
'I've decided. It would be
keeping Hotty for just a little while longer, she was
going to have to show commitment.
She nodded. 'We'll try it tomorrow.'
'And what if she does that crazy thing again?' Erin
asked.
'The chiropractor will be able to tell us if she has a
sore back,' Shelby replied.
'Yeah, and who's going to pay for that?' Lindsey
asked.
Erin's face split into a grin. 'Gwen Stefani, of
course!'
13 The Worst Part
Erin was late for class the next day. She scurried into
Maths with her head bowed and flopped into the
chair next to Shelby. She flipped to the back of her
exercise book and wrote a message.
I can't take this any more!!!!
'What?' Shelby murmured.
The stupid saddle!!!! Erin wrote.
'Tell me!' Shelby whispered.
At the front of the room their teacher, Mrs Tapley-
Hook, spoke. 'If X in this equation equals two-thirds
and Y equals fifteen, can you calculate Z?'
Erin cupped her hand over her mouth and kept her
eyes fixed on the whiteboard at the front of the room,
hoping that their teacher wouldn't notice.
'We dropped Hiccup's saddle at the saddler's this
morning, but he remembered it. I said that it had been
Mrs Edel's, but she sold it to the Crooks and the Crooks
were giving it to me. Then he said that the Crooks had
never owned a stock saddle. They'd only ever had dressage
saddles, so he didn't understand why they would
buy one – especially a second-hand one, and then he
said that it wouldn't fit any of their horses anyway.'
Shelby shook her head. They should have anticipated
that this might happen. Even in a city horse
people always know other horse people.
Mrs Tapley-Hook pointed her whiteboard marker
at the boy sitting in front of the two girls. 'Jasper?
Can you tell me the answer?'
'Z equals twenty-seven,' he answered.
'Very good.' The teacher turned around to write
some new problems on the board.
'Then what?' whispered Shelby.
Erin's eyes widened. 'Then mum stared at me like
I'd stolen it or something, and I said that . . .'
'What does Z equal in this equation, Shelby?' Mrs
Tapley-Hook asked.
Shelby froze. She looked for cues from her classmates,
but her eyes met only vacant faces.
'Thirty-two?' she guessed.
'You haven't been paying attention. You need to
concentrate now or you won't understand the rest of
the lesson. I won't ask you again.' Her teacher stalked
past the girls' desk to the back of the room.
Erin wrote another note in the back of her book
and underlined it.
And that's not even the worst part!
Erin's face was pale and pinched, as though she
was sick. Shelby was bursting to hear the worst part,
but now she would have to wait until the end of class.
She frowned into her equations. Who cares what Z equals? she thought. There were so many more important
things to talk about.
Finally the bell rang and all around Shelby could
hear the rumble of students talking at once, teachers
raising their voices with last-minute instructions, and
the scrape of chairs being pushed across vinyl floors,
or clanging against metal table legs.
'So then what?' Shelby prompted.
'I confessed.'
Shelby gaped. 'Really?'
Erin shoved her book into her bag and the two
girls shuffled behind the other students towards the
door. 'I didn't tell her about CC. I said that we'd
broken the saddle and that we had to get it fixed
before Lindsey's mum found out.'
'Was she cranky?'
A frown crossed Erin's brow. 'Of course she was
cranky!' she huffed. 'I knew it would be more than
fifty. I just never thought it would be three hundred!'
'Dollars?' Shelby gasped.
'No, broad-beans, you ninny. Mum was mad
because she didn't see why our family should pay to
fix the saddle when you broke it.'
'You told her I broke it?'
Erin continued. 'I just keep thinking of all the
other ways I could spend three hundred dollars.'
Shelby knew Erin would be thinking of shoes, or
mobile phone covers – something dumb like that.
'I don't want to do this any more, Shel,' Erin continued.
'I've decided. It would be
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