Horse Tale by Bonnie Bryant

guess that’s one advantage of this dry climate,” Lisa commented. “Back home in Virginia it’s usually a lot damper, so a lot of the wood you find is too damp to use.”
    Christine wasn’t listening. “Look at that,” she said.
    The others turned and saw what she was looking at. The sun was setting, throwing off streaks of deep red, orange, and violet. Carole, for one, was sure she had never seen such a beautiful sunset. “This place is different from home in a lot of ways,” she commented quietly.
    The girls watched the sunset until it began to fade, then finished their task. Before long a campfire was crackling merrily in the fire pit. The girls settled down to roast their hot dogs (they had finally decided against bringing hamburgers, too) and to talk.
    “This is so much fun,” Lisa said. “I’m glad you suggested it, Christine.”
    Christine leaned back against a boulder and gazed up atthe sky, where the stars were growing brighter as the last bits of daylight faded. “I love it out here,” she said. “It’s so peaceful and free. Just us and nature.” She took a hot dog out of the package and tossed it to Dude, who gulped it down and wagged his tail gratefully.
    “It’s like we’re a million miles away from everything,” Carole agreed.
    “Yup,” Kate said. “Just us and our horses.”
    “Speaking of horses,” Stevie began. Carole noticed that Stevie seemed to be the only one not affected by the quiet, reflective mood. “Can you believe Stewball? I mean, I have to admit I was a little worried about how he’d take to English riding, but now I can see there’ll be no problem. He’s just brilliant, isn’t he?”
    “Brilliant,” Kate replied. Carole was pretty sure Stevie didn’t notice the sarcasm in Kate’s voice.
    “I know,” Stevie said dreamily. “He really can do anything. He’s the perfect horse.”
    The others exchanged glances. Carole was pretty sure she could see her own thoughts reflected on her friends’ faces. Maybe they had been wrong about Stewball. He really had performed very well in the English riding demonstration despite his complete lack of training. If he learned that fast, who could say that he wouldn’t make a fine show horse someday, especially with such a devoted and loving owner? And more important, who could say he wouldn’t be happy doing it?
    Carole sighed and finished the last bite of her hot dog. “I’m beat,” she said. “Let’s hit the sack.”
    “Sounds good to me,” said Kate, stifling a yawn. “It’s been a long and interesting day.”
    Carole had a feeling Kate wasn’t talking about just the ride.

W HEN S TEVIE AWOKE , it took her a moment to remember where she was. It was pitch-black. The sound of light snoring came from nearby.
    Then she remembered. She was in a tent in a Western arroyo. The snoring was coming from Carole. Stevie yawned, wondering what had awakened her. Carefully, so as not to disturb her friend, she pulled Carole’s arm out of her sleeping bag and pressed the button on her light-up digital watch. It was well past midnight.
    Stevie let Carole’s arm drop and sat up. Carole moaned and rolled over but didn’t awaken. Then Stevie heard noises outside coming from the direction of the corral. Her heart began to pound. What if some kind of predator was threatening the horses? She crawled to the entrance of the tent and peeked out. The entire area was bathed in moonlight,giving the landscape a luminous white glow as if it were covered by a thin layer of snow. It was beautiful, but eerie at the same time.
    Then Stevie saw Dude dozing by the remains of the campfire, and she relaxed. If there were any dangerous animals around, she was sure the dog would have scented them and sounded the alarm. But, then, what were the horses doing? Judging by the noise they were making, they were restless, but Stevie couldn’t see them from the tent.
    Just then a whinny came from the corral. “Stewball,” Stevie whispered. Trying to be