The Painted Horse by Bonnie Bryant

a teacher toasted me unless I have evidence.” She pulled her camera outof her backpack and took a shot of Ms. Dodge and then one of the policeman. And then she took one of Ms. Dodge with the policeman. And then she gave the camera to Helen to take a shot of her with Ms. Dodge and the policeman.
    “Hey, wait a second,” the policeman said with a grin. He put his police hat on Stevie’s head.
    “My parents are
really
not going to believe this,” said Stevie with a laugh. She turned to Ms. Dodge. “When they see it, they’ll be toasting
you.
”
    “You did it all yourself, Stevie,” said Ms. Dodge.
    “I wonder,” said the policeman, pulling his mustache, “if I might have a few of those photographs. As a memory of an … unusual occasion.”
    “You bet,” said Stevie. “Give me your address.” The policeman gave her a formal-looking white card. His name was Michael Hill.
    “I was also wondering …” Officer Hill paused. “Um.” He looked at Ms. Dodge. Stevie could tell that he thought Ms. Dodge was wonderful and that he wanted to keep in touch with her.
    “You’re worried about Ms. Dodge’s ankle,” Stevie said. “Maybe she should write and tell you how it is.”
    Ms. Dodge turned pink. “Stevie!” she said.
    “A very good idea,” Mrs. Martin said with a smile. “1 think that is something that must be done.”
    The policeman gave Ms. Dodge a card. Steviethought this was a strange way to start a romance, but it seemed to be working.
    A N AMBULANCE CAME and the attendants put Ms. Dodge on a stretcher and loaded it into the back.
    “Where do I go?” said Stevie, staring at the ambulance. There didn’t seem to be any place for her.
    An attendant showed her a pull-down seat next to Ms. Dodge.
    The back doors were closed and the ambulance took off with a wail of its siren. Stevie thought this was pretty neat. Even if she hadn’t done any of the things she’d expected to do in New York, she’d done a lot of exciting things.
    “How are you feeling?” Stevie asked Ms. Dodge.
    “A little tired,” Ms. Dodge admitted, “and a little shaky. I’m not used to having this much excitement in my life.”
    “Who is?” Stevie said, taking Ms. Dodge’s hand.
    When they got to the hospital, the attendants rolled the stretcher out of the ambulance, snapped down its legs, then pushed it into the emergency room.
    Stevie had expected the emergency room to be like the ones on television programs, with people running back and forth. Instead, Ms. Dodge was given a pile of forms to fill out and then was told to wait. She filled the forms out, handed them in, and then nothing happened.
    “They’re waiting for us at the hotel,” Ms. Dodge said. “The van is supposed to leave any minute.”
    Stevie reached into her pocket and pulled out Officer Hill’s card. “I have an idea,” she said. She went over to the nurse who was handling the arriving patients and gave her the card. “My teacher was in an accident in Central Park, and this policeman wants to make sure that she gets good treatment.” She gave the nurse the card.
    The nurse’s eyebrows shot up. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Within minutes, Ms. Dodge had been whisked away to a treatment room.
    She came back a little while later with her ankle wrapped and a crutch under one arm. “It’s just a sprain,” she said. “We can get a cab back to the hotel and everything will be fine.”
    As they were riding in the cab, Ms. Dodge said, “How did you get me taken care of so fast?”
    “I dropped a name,” said Stevie casually.
    “Whose name?” said Ms. Dodge.
    “Officer Hill’s, the mounted policeman who helped us in the park,” Stevie said. They rode in silence for a minute. “I think it would be nice if you sent him a note to tell him that it’s nothing but a sprain.”
    Ms. Dodge smiled. “I believe I will.”
    * * *
    B Y THE TIME the class had boarded the van, everyone was exhausted. Stevie sat in a window seat, and