Phantom Horse by Bonnie Bryant

with a way to help her. The Saddle Club had never let her down before.
    When she arrived at Pine Hollow after school, Carole almost collided with Stevie, who was racing out of the locker room as Carole was walking in.
    “Whoa!” Stevie exclaimed, pulling up short just in time. “Sorry about that. Good thing it was you coming in and not Max.” All the riders knew that one of Max’s strictest rules was no running in the stable.
    “I’m glad you’re here,” Carole said. “Where’s Lisa?”
    “She’s at a ballet lesson, I think,” Stevie said. “Or is it a flute lesson? I can’t remember.” Lisa’s mother wanted her daughter to be well-rounded, which meant she made her take all sorts of lessons and classes after school. Stevie glanced at her watch. “Uh-oh, I’d better get going if I don’t want to be late. See you later.”
    “What? Wait,” Carole said. “Where are you going? I was hoping I could talk to you about something …”
    “Can it wait until tomorrow’s sleepover?” Stevie asked, glancing at her watch again. “Tonight’s my dinner, remember?”
    “Dinner?” Carole repeated blankly.
    Stevie looked slightly annoyed. “At Phil’s house,” she said. “I told you all about it on the phone Tuesday night.”
    “Oh, right,” Carole said. She vaguely remembered the conversation. Stevie had made a three-way call to her and Lisa to tell them about the dinner invitation, but Carole had been too tired to pay much attention.
    “Anyway, I really have to run now,” Stevie said. “I still have to change before my mom drives me over, and I don’t want to be late. I mean, how would it look if the guests who came all the way from Israel are there on time and the one who’s just coming from ten miles down the road keeps everyone waiting?” Without waiting for a reply, she gave Carole a little wave and dashed away.
    Carole sighed and walked to her cubby to get her riding boots. As she pulled them out, they dislodged a pair of sunglasses, which clattered to the floor. As Carole bent to pick them up, she recognized them as her father’s favorite pair. She had borrowed them from him a couple of weeks before and must have forgotten to return them. Setting the sunglasses on the bench so that she’d remember to take them home, she began pulling on her boots, already dreading the afternoon ahead.
    F EELING COWARDLY , C AROLE decided she would work Starlight on the longe line that day instead of riding him. She told herself he was overdue for a review session of longeing over cavalletti. Horses needed a lot of repetition of every lesson if they were to learn it well, and Starlight was still relativelyyoung. But in her heart she knew that was only an excuse because she didn’t want to ride him.
    Still, she felt a little better about her decision when she realized it wouldn’t do Starlight one bit of good to ride him when she was this upset. There was no sense communicating any more of her tension to her horse than was absolutely necessary.
    But the plan didn’t work out as well as Carole had hoped. Even though she wasn’t on his back, Starlight obviously sensed that something was wrong, and it affected his performance. He seemed confused about the simplest commands, acted restless and skittish, and generally didn’t perform at his usual calm, competent level. Carole knew it was her fault for working with him when she was so tired and upset, but Starlight’s erratic behavior certainly wasn’t helping her mood. She finally gave up and led him inside, glad that nobody had been around to see their embarrassing performance, except for Troy’s old dog. Princess had been lounging near the stable entrance for the past half hour.
    After Carole had untacked and groomed Starlight and left him resting comfortably in his stall, she wandered to the locker room to collect her things. She pulled her schoolbag out of her cubby and looked around for the sunglasses. But they weren’t where she’d left