the breakfast table and helped themselves to the delicious food.
Everyone began talking at once. First of all, the hunters wanted to know what had happened to May and Veronica. Stevie was only too happy to oblige and filled them in on all the details. Max and Mr. Baker tried to remain totally impassive while Stevie did imitations of Veronica and Mr. Baker, but Max had trouble stifling his laughter. Stevie was very good at imitations and had, of course, remembered every word spoken by Veronica and Mr. Baker. It was so funny that soon all the young riders were laughing as well. Stevie suspected that one of the reasons Mr. Baker let her continue her imitation was that his disinvitation to one young rider would serve as warning to anybody who had any ideas about breaking hunt rules.
“So, enough about Veronica. Tell me what you all did on the hunt while May and I did our part,” Stevie said.
“We chased you,” Lisa said.
“Yeah, only what we ended up chasing was our own shadows,” Anna complained. “I think we searched every single corner of that hillside.”
“Oh, no,” Carole assured her. “There are lots of hiding places we didn’t even get near. Remember the gully where the foal got stuck? And remember the time wedecided some pirates were hiding in a cave? And then there is the rock that juts out over the creek, where you tried to get Veronica to jump into the water?”
“Oh, right, where it’s only about six inches deep?” Stevie said.
“That’s the place,” Carole said. “Anyway, we never began to look in any of those places.”
“Too bad,” Stevie said. “Because if you had, May and I would have had time for a nap before you got here! You must be really angry with me.”
“Not at all,” Phil said. “It’s a great way to ride—not following a real trail, just following our instincts and being with our friends. We had a blast organizing ourselves into hunting parties so we could cover as much of the hillside as possible in as short a time as possible. It was fun!”
“It was?” Stevie asked. She’d hoped they’d all be just slightly angry with her for being so clever and making it impossible to hunt successfully.
Phil pulled out a chair and sat down next to Stevie. He put his arm across the back of her chair. “In fact,” he said to her quietly, “the only thing that would have made it more fun was if you were along with us. I missed you.” He smiled warmly. It made Stevie feel funny in her stomach—a nice kind of funny.
Stevie was never quite certain what to say when Phil said nice things like that. Probably the best thing wasjust to smile back. Still, she was a kidder, and she couldn’t help herself.
“You sure did miss me!” she teased. Phil laughed. That was one of the things she really liked about him.
Lisa picked up a knife and began tapping it on her orange-juice glass. She stood up. “Attention, everybody, attention!” she ordered. There was quiet. She picked up her glass. “I would like to propose a toast,” she began. “This is for the person who made this hunt so difficult—and so much fun.” Everybody looked at Stevie. “To the cleverest, cagiest, wickedest fox there ever was.”
“Brace of foxes,” Stevie interrupted her, nodding acknowledgment to May.
“Brace of foxes,” Lisa said, catching on quickly. May beamed proudly. “And all I can say is that I’m relieved to know that next week, on the junior hunt, we’ll have a much easier task. There’s no way a real fox can be as devious as this pair—unless, of course Stevie and May try to give them some pointers during the week!”
With that, she held her glass up to Stevie and then drank. Everybody joined in.
L ISA WAS BUSY grooming Diablo inside his stall when the door slid open. The horse had gotten his coat very dirty in the course of the mock hunt, and there was a lot of work to do. She didn’t want to be distracted from her work, but when she saw it was Carole, she relaxed. Carole
Everyone began talking at once. First of all, the hunters wanted to know what had happened to May and Veronica. Stevie was only too happy to oblige and filled them in on all the details. Max and Mr. Baker tried to remain totally impassive while Stevie did imitations of Veronica and Mr. Baker, but Max had trouble stifling his laughter. Stevie was very good at imitations and had, of course, remembered every word spoken by Veronica and Mr. Baker. It was so funny that soon all the young riders were laughing as well. Stevie suspected that one of the reasons Mr. Baker let her continue her imitation was that his disinvitation to one young rider would serve as warning to anybody who had any ideas about breaking hunt rules.
“So, enough about Veronica. Tell me what you all did on the hunt while May and I did our part,” Stevie said.
“We chased you,” Lisa said.
“Yeah, only what we ended up chasing was our own shadows,” Anna complained. “I think we searched every single corner of that hillside.”
“Oh, no,” Carole assured her. “There are lots of hiding places we didn’t even get near. Remember the gully where the foal got stuck? And remember the time wedecided some pirates were hiding in a cave? And then there is the rock that juts out over the creek, where you tried to get Veronica to jump into the water?”
“Oh, right, where it’s only about six inches deep?” Stevie said.
“That’s the place,” Carole said. “Anyway, we never began to look in any of those places.”
“Too bad,” Stevie said. “Because if you had, May and I would have had time for a nap before you got here! You must be really angry with me.”
“Not at all,” Phil said. “It’s a great way to ride—not following a real trail, just following our instincts and being with our friends. We had a blast organizing ourselves into hunting parties so we could cover as much of the hillside as possible in as short a time as possible. It was fun!”
“It was?” Stevie asked. She’d hoped they’d all be just slightly angry with her for being so clever and making it impossible to hunt successfully.
Phil pulled out a chair and sat down next to Stevie. He put his arm across the back of her chair. “In fact,” he said to her quietly, “the only thing that would have made it more fun was if you were along with us. I missed you.” He smiled warmly. It made Stevie feel funny in her stomach—a nice kind of funny.
Stevie was never quite certain what to say when Phil said nice things like that. Probably the best thing wasjust to smile back. Still, she was a kidder, and she couldn’t help herself.
“You sure did miss me!” she teased. Phil laughed. That was one of the things she really liked about him.
Lisa picked up a knife and began tapping it on her orange-juice glass. She stood up. “Attention, everybody, attention!” she ordered. There was quiet. She picked up her glass. “I would like to propose a toast,” she began. “This is for the person who made this hunt so difficult—and so much fun.” Everybody looked at Stevie. “To the cleverest, cagiest, wickedest fox there ever was.”
“Brace of foxes,” Stevie interrupted her, nodding acknowledgment to May.
“Brace of foxes,” Lisa said, catching on quickly. May beamed proudly. “And all I can say is that I’m relieved to know that next week, on the junior hunt, we’ll have a much easier task. There’s no way a real fox can be as devious as this pair—unless, of course Stevie and May try to give them some pointers during the week!”
With that, she held her glass up to Stevie and then drank. Everybody joined in.
L ISA WAS BUSY grooming Diablo inside his stall when the door slid open. The horse had gotten his coat very dirty in the course of the mock hunt, and there was a lot of work to do. She didn’t want to be distracted from her work, but when she saw it was Carole, she relaxed. Carole
Similar Books
