Secret of the Stallion by Bonnie Bryant

tomorrow so we can have hamburgers.”
    “Shhh,” Carole hushed her. “We are guests, you know.”
    “I know,” said Stevie. “Besides, I really do love pizza. I think I do. At least, I used to.”
    Lisa stifled a giggle. Stevie was being funny, but nobody wanted to hurt anybody’s feelings.
    “
Avanti
,” said the Italian boys. They began their brief walk downtown.
    Lisa was pleased to find Enrico walking beside her.
    “Did you have a good ride this afternoon?” he asked.
    “I did and I didn’t,” Lisa said truthfully. “My horse—his name is Pip—was giving me trouble. I don’t know why, either. The other day when I rode him, he was such a dream. Carole, Stevie, and I think that maybe he fussed because he’s in a new place.”
    “Ah, perhaps,” said Enrico. Lisa smiled to herself. She loved the way Enrico said “perhaps.” Although he spoke excellent English with almost no accent, there were some words that just had a nice lilt to them. “Perhaps” was one of them. It came out more like “puh-heps.”
    “We’ll just have to see how he behaves tomorrow,” said Lisa. “I’ve got to say, though, if he’s as naughty tomorrow as he was today, the American team will not be taking home any blue ribbons.”
    “Ah, perhaps you don’t have to worry about that,” said Enrico. “Since the Italian team will doubtlessly be performing at its best, it will not be your horse’s fault that the team does not win.” There was a twinkle in his eye. It was a challenge and Lisa intended to meet it.
    “Puh-heps we’ll see,” she said.
    “Hmmm,” he responded. Then he took her arm and tucked it around his so that they could walk closer together. They didn’t stay together long, however. Much to Lisa’s surprise, she found herself being jostled away from Enrico, and, before she knew it, he had let go of her arm and Veronica was walking between them.
    “Is the restaurant this way?” Veronica asked Enrico, talking only to him as if Lisa had disappeared from the face of the earth.
    “Since the whole group appears to be walking in that direction, I would say that is correct,” Enrico answered her. Lisa couldn’t believe how polite he was being.
    “Of course it is!” she snapped at Veronica.
    Veronica didn’t look at her.
    “I just love pizza,” said Veronica. “But I don’t think the pizza in America or England is anywhere near as good as the pizza in your homeland, Enrico. Don’t you agree?”
    Enrico was about to answer her when Stevie’s voice rose above the crowd.
    “Oh, look at that jewelry store!” she said loudly, pointing across the narrow street. It was more than Veronica could resist. She excused herself from Enrico and scooted across the street just as the rest of the group was entering the restaurant.
    It was a cozy restaurant, much like the pub in the inn where they were staying. The building was old, with dark brown beams crossing the ceiling. They followed the owner up a narrow set of stairs to what must have once been a loft and now served as a small room for private parties. Their tables were all laid out and waiting for them. The owner assured the riders that their pizza would be there in a few minutes.
    By the time Veronica rejoined the group, complaining that the jewelry store had little more than costume jewelryto offer, Lisa and Enrico were seated at a table for eight with Stevie, two boys from Holland, and three of the English riders. There was no room for Veronica. Stevie winked at Lisa. Lisa smiled back. Stevie was a
very
good friend. But she’d always known that.
    Veronica, however, was undaunted. She tapped one of the Dutch boys on his shoulder and told him that his friend wanted him to sit at the other table. The boy was so polite that he moved to the other table and was seated before he had time to wonder exactly who it was who had wanted him there. Once he’d moved, Veronica slid happily into his seat, directly across from Enrico.
    In a few minutes the pizza was