Horse Shy by Bonnie Bryant

Author:Bonnie Bryant [Bryant, Bonnie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-82492-9
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2012-09-25T14:00:00+00:00

A HALF HOUR later, Carole’s suitcase was unpacked and she was beginning to feel as if she were actually back home again. That made it time to call Stevie and Lisa. Maybe they could all get together at the Tastee Delight ice cream parlor—TD’s, as the girls called their favorite meeting place. But just as she reached for the phone, it rang.

“Hello?”

“Oh, Carole, you’re back!” Stevie said.

“Right on time,” Carole said cheerfully. “I was just about to call you. I had a wonderful time in North Carolina. I can’t wait to tell you and Lisa all about it. Saddle Club meeting tomorrow right after school? We can meet at TD’s for ice cream—”

“Carole, stop!” Stevie said. “You’ve got to get over here.”

“You missed me that badly, huh?” Carole teased. But when there was a silence, Carole began to get the awful feeling that something was wrong. Really wrong. “Where are you? What’s the matter?”

“I’m at Pine Hollow. It’s Cobalt—I mean, just get over here, will you?”

“What?” she said, but Stevie had already hung up the phone.

In a matter of minutes, Carole and her father were back in their car, this time headed for Pine Hollow. Carole was so worried she couldn’t speak. Her father just squeezed her hand and said, “It’s going to be all right, hon. You’ll see.”

As they neared the stable, Carole could hear the terrible whine of a siren. An ambulance pulled out of the driveway and turned toward the hospital, lights flashing, siren wailing. The diAngelos’ Mercedes was parked carelessly in the lot, its doors left open.

But the only things Carole really saw were the veterinarian’s pickup truck and the county vet’s wagon. That was when Carole knew the worst. Two veterinarians always had to sign a certificate before a horse could be destroyed.

“Cobalt!” she screamed, jumping from the car almost before it stopped.

Lisa and Stevie came running out of the stable. Lisa reached Carole first and put her arm around her. Stevie had tears streaming down her face.

“It’s too late, Carole,” she said. “He was too badly hurt! They had to do it. He would never heal. It was the long bone in his foreleg—it was shattered. He just lay there. And then it was over.”

“And then the ambulance came for Veronica,” Lisa continued. “She’s going to be okay. I guess she broke her arm. She was lucky. Luckier than Cobalt.” Lisa gasped at her own words, trying to hold back tears.

Carole stared blankly at the stable, wanting to go in, wanting to go away. She remembered feeling like that once before. She stood still, unable to move, until her father came up to her and put his strong arms around her shoulders.

“Come on home, hon,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do here.”

“Cobalt!” she sobbed.

Slowly, she turned, letting her father take her home.

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