Horse Power (14 page)

“No, it’s not. Actually, it’s not even the Corps. Dad came to Quantico because he wants to retire. He’s been talking to the brass about it. Two months ago, he and Mom made a down payment on a dude ranch out west. They both like horses and thought it would be perfect for me—until I ruined it by deciding to stop riding!”

Suddenly, everything that had happened at her first meeting with the Devines at Quantico a few weeks before became clear to Carole. She understood why the Devines had been so evasive about their plans. And she and her dad had thought it was because it was top secret stuff!

“But you’ve solved the problem now, haven’t you?” Carole asked. “You’ve rediscovered what’s
fun
about riding.”

“
I
didn’t solve the problem,” Kate said. “
You
did—all three of you. That shows the power of good friends.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Carole said, finishing a mouthful of pizza. “Personally, I don’t think it’s friend power, I think it’s
horse
power.”

“Could be!” Kate agreed. Lisa and Stevie laughed at Carole’s joke.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to go to a dude ranch for a visit,” Carole said. “I know it’s very different from the kind of riding we do at Pine Hollow, but horses are horses and I bet it would be great. Will you write to us and tell us all about it?”

“I’ll do better than that,” Kate said. “I’ll invite you all out to be our guests after it opens.”

“Now
that’s
horse power!” Carole declared.

“Hmm,” Stevie said. “Maybe we could plan a gymkhana for the Devines’ ranch. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“Only if we can have Kate on our team!” Lisa declared.

And they all agreed that would be perfect.

Bonnie Bryant is the author of nearly a hundred books about horses, including the Saddle Club series, the Saddle Club Super Editions, and the Pony Tales series.