the funny feeling that no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to beat me.”
Now she was gloating and she knew it. It wasn’t her favorite part of her own character, but when Phil egged her on like that—well, she couldn’t help herself
“I saw a newborn foal today,” Phil said. It was a pretty smooth change of subject. Phil and Stevie were both aware of their tendency to be competitive. There was a sort of unwritten rule between them that when they started trying to top one another, somebody better change the subject.
“Oh, cute?”
“Very,” Phil said. “He was just a couple of days old.”
“We’re going to have a new foal at Pine Hollow soon,” Stevie said. Then she explained about Geronimo and how the mare he would mate was almost ready to foal. “Judy says it’s going to be a week or ten days. The foal might even be born by the time you come for the Know-Down.”
“That would be nice. There’s something so special about the little ones.”
“I love their long, spindly legs,” Stevie said. “They hardly look strong enough to hold the animal up.”
The two of them continued talking for a while.There seemed to be so much to talk about. They talked about foals, then riding, then when they seemed to be approaching the issue of the Know-Down again, they switched to school. When Chad stuck his head into Stevie’s room for a third time to scowl—indicating he was almost certain his girlfriend was desperately trying to call him—Stevie thought maybe she ought to say good-night to Phil.
“See you next week,” she said.
“Bye,” he said.
Stevie cradled the phone and then bounded up off her bed. She went in search of Chad so she could yell at him for interrupting her very private phone call. She would have done it, too, except that the phone rang again and it was for Chad—the call he’d been waiting for.
She went to work on her homework instead.
C AROLE ’ S FATHER SWIRLED the ground meat around in the frying pan. “You’ve got to break it up just so and brown it perfectly, otherwise your chili won’t be as good as mine.”
Carole listened attentively. She’d been given the job of chopping an onion for him and she found that if she ignored how much the onion was making her eyes water, they seemed to water less.
“You’re a wonderful teacher,” she said, encouraging him to keep on talking.
“I don’t know about that,” said Colonel Hanson. “You listen most of the time when I talk, but there’s a certain lieutenant in my office who appears to have a serious hearing difficulty.”
The frown on his face told Carole he was genuinely worried about something. She asked him what it was.
“Oh, it was that problem the other night. It never should have happened, you know, but this lieutenant was listening to something he shouldn’t have been listening to and overheard a private conversation.”
“You mean like on purpose?” she asked.
“Not really. Maybe if he had been listening intentionally, he would have gotten it right and would have kept his mouth closed. As it was, he heard it wrong and he told some people about it. It got a whole lot of people very upset.”
“Did this have something to do with national security?” Carole asked. Since Colonel Hanson was in the Marine Corps there was that potential, but her father assured her it wasn’t.
“No, our borders are safe,” he teased. “But the lieutenant’s carelessness caused a lot of trouble. I’ve been smoothing ruffled feathers since Saturday. Oh, there it is!” The triumphant tone was unmistakable and didn’tseem to Carole to have anything to do with the lieutenant. It turned out that she was right. He was talking about the chili. “See, when the meat begins bubbling just like that, then it’s really cooking and should start browning properly. Are you going to grate the cheese, too? That won’t make you cry the way the onions do.”
“Uh, sure,” she said, scooping the onions into a bowl. She
Now she was gloating and she knew it. It wasn’t her favorite part of her own character, but when Phil egged her on like that—well, she couldn’t help herself
“I saw a newborn foal today,” Phil said. It was a pretty smooth change of subject. Phil and Stevie were both aware of their tendency to be competitive. There was a sort of unwritten rule between them that when they started trying to top one another, somebody better change the subject.
“Oh, cute?”
“Very,” Phil said. “He was just a couple of days old.”
“We’re going to have a new foal at Pine Hollow soon,” Stevie said. Then she explained about Geronimo and how the mare he would mate was almost ready to foal. “Judy says it’s going to be a week or ten days. The foal might even be born by the time you come for the Know-Down.”
“That would be nice. There’s something so special about the little ones.”
“I love their long, spindly legs,” Stevie said. “They hardly look strong enough to hold the animal up.”
The two of them continued talking for a while.There seemed to be so much to talk about. They talked about foals, then riding, then when they seemed to be approaching the issue of the Know-Down again, they switched to school. When Chad stuck his head into Stevie’s room for a third time to scowl—indicating he was almost certain his girlfriend was desperately trying to call him—Stevie thought maybe she ought to say good-night to Phil.
“See you next week,” she said.
“Bye,” he said.
Stevie cradled the phone and then bounded up off her bed. She went in search of Chad so she could yell at him for interrupting her very private phone call. She would have done it, too, except that the phone rang again and it was for Chad—the call he’d been waiting for.
She went to work on her homework instead.
C AROLE ’ S FATHER SWIRLED the ground meat around in the frying pan. “You’ve got to break it up just so and brown it perfectly, otherwise your chili won’t be as good as mine.”
Carole listened attentively. She’d been given the job of chopping an onion for him and she found that if she ignored how much the onion was making her eyes water, they seemed to water less.
“You’re a wonderful teacher,” she said, encouraging him to keep on talking.
“I don’t know about that,” said Colonel Hanson. “You listen most of the time when I talk, but there’s a certain lieutenant in my office who appears to have a serious hearing difficulty.”
The frown on his face told Carole he was genuinely worried about something. She asked him what it was.
“Oh, it was that problem the other night. It never should have happened, you know, but this lieutenant was listening to something he shouldn’t have been listening to and overheard a private conversation.”
“You mean like on purpose?” she asked.
“Not really. Maybe if he had been listening intentionally, he would have gotten it right and would have kept his mouth closed. As it was, he heard it wrong and he told some people about it. It got a whole lot of people very upset.”
“Did this have something to do with national security?” Carole asked. Since Colonel Hanson was in the Marine Corps there was that potential, but her father assured her it wasn’t.
“No, our borders are safe,” he teased. “But the lieutenant’s carelessness caused a lot of trouble. I’ve been smoothing ruffled feathers since Saturday. Oh, there it is!” The triumphant tone was unmistakable and didn’tseem to Carole to have anything to do with the lieutenant. It turned out that she was right. He was talking about the chili. “See, when the meat begins bubbling just like that, then it’s really cooking and should start browning properly. Are you going to grate the cheese, too? That won’t make you cry the way the onions do.”
“Uh, sure,” she said, scooping the onions into a bowl. She
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