Chapter 1

Janet Drogue ran into the house, calling, "Rosalyn, Rosalyn!"
"What?" Rosalyn Carson asked.
"Someone just moved into the house across the street!" Janet said excitedly. "They have a girl about our age, and she has a horse!" Rosalyn followed Janet outside onto the porch of Marina Carson's house. Marina was Rosalyn's mother. Janet had made friends with Marina the year before, and now she stayed at the house like she lived there. Rosalyn watched the new girl lead the horse into a pasture. "Wow," she whispered. "That horse is so skinny. And it… it looks afraid, too."
"Why don't we go over and say hi to the girl?" Janet asked.
"Yeah, let's go!" Rosalyn replied. The closer they got to the house across the road, the slower they went. But finally they were there. Janet knocked on the door. A woman answered. "Yes, girl, what do you want?" she asked.
"We're from the house across the street." Janet said. "We came to meet you and your girl."
"Well then, you can just go out to the pasture, that's where she is!"
"Yes, ma'am." The two girls went to the pasture. They saw the girl there, looking scornfully at the horse. "My name is Isabelle. Who are you?" she asked without even turning around.
"I'm Janet, and this is Rosalyn." Janet replied. "We saw you and we thought maybe you'd like to go riding with us."
"Me, ride on that brat?" Isabelle asked scornfully. "He's the nastiest thing in the world."
"Why don't you sell him, then?" Janet asked, noticing that Rosalyn had left.
"Why? Because I need a horse!" Isabelle glared at the horse. "It's his own fault he's so skinny. That's his punishment, no food."

Chapter 2

"You can't do that!" Janet cried. "That's horribly mean!"
"Not compared to all the nasty things he's done to me!" Isabelle shouted back.
"A horse should be fed if you want it to obey!" Janet shouted.
"Go away!" Isabelle cried. "Don't ever come back!" Janet stormed into the stable. Marina was there, feeding the horses. "You look angry." She said. "What's wrong?"
"I wish that family had never come here!" Janet cried angrily.
"Why?" Marina asked, surprised. "They have a girl about your age, and the girl has a horse."
"Yeah, and she doesn't feed it!" Janet said, picking up a brush. "She hates it, and every time we look across the street, we'll see that girl whipping her horse, and then yanking it into it's stall, and just leaving it there!" Janet began to brush Leafy, a bay filly, Clover's foal.
"I'll go over there later and talk to the girl's mother." Marina said. "I don't like to tell people what to do, but I don't like people mistreating horses, either. But meanwhile," she added. "Try to pretend no one is there, and that horse is a wild horse. Just ignore the people."
"All right." Janet sighed. She looked out across the street. She saw the Isabelle yanking the horse out of its stall. But suddenly, Isabelle wasn't there. It was just the horse, coming out from behind a bush. But then Isabelle was there again, yanking the poor horse towards the pasture. Janet sighed and turned to Leafy, a bay filly. "Want to go for a ride?" she asked. Leafy whinnied. Janet laughed. "Just let me go get the stuff from the tack room." She said, walking outside. She soon came out with the tack. "We'll go for a long ride." She said to Leafy, looking across the road. "Why don't we go over to that girl's house, and bring some oats with us? That poor horse will die if it doesn't get some food soon."

Chapter 3

Janet put some oats in a saddlebag, and looked nervously towards the house. "Marina would want to help the horse," she told Leafy. "But she wouldn't like it if I interfered with what those people do." Janet began tacking Leafy up. Then she led Leafy outside. She looked across the road. Isabelle was there, trying to ride the poor horse. Janet decided she would ride across the road, towards the left, go into the woods, and come out from behind the house. She mounted Leafy, and urged him forward. Isabelle saw them, and said, "Don't come over here!" Janet didn't answer. Luckily, it was almost lunch. She would have time to give the oats to the horse while Isabelle was eating. It was very risky, though. If someone saw her… "Did you here me?" Isabelle asked sharply.
"Yes." Janet answered, as calmly as she could. "We were going on a trail in the woods, behind your house. Is that ok?"
"I guess it is for now." Isabelle replied. "The wood doesn't belong to us, yet." Janet rode Leafy to the left, and across the road. Isabelle watched every movement they made. Janet couldn't wait to get up to the woods. She urged Leafy into a canter. As soon as they were in the woods, Janet stopped, and watched. Soon Isabelle dismounted the horse, put it in a pasture, and went inside. Janet walked Leafy out into the open. The horse looked up, but didn't make any sound. Janet rode Leafy a bit closer, and then dismounted. She walked slowly towards the horse, leading Leafy with her. The horse leaped back when it saw them coming. Janet reached into the saddlebag, and scooped up some oats. The horse walked closer, and then started eating. Janet looked towards Isabella's house. She couldn't stay long. The horse ate all the oats she had, and then looked at her for more. Janet pulled a carrot from her pocket. The horse ate it as fast as it could. Then Janet saw the door to Isabella's house opening!

Chapter 4

Janet mounted Leafy and turned her towards the wood. "Go, Leafy, quick!" she whispered. Leafy bounded towards the woods, and when they were safely there, Janet turned around. She saw Isabelle coming out of the door. They had just made it!

"Yes girl, what do you want?" Isabella's mother asked.
"I want to say hi to Isabelle." Janet replied.
"Why? Isabelle told me you were mean to her last time you were here."
"I did get mad at her." Janet said, carefully picking her words. "And that's why I came back. I wanted to be friends with her. We both have horses, and I thought that maybe we could go riding together sometime. Oh yes," she added. "What's your last name?"
"Rodale," Isabelle's mother said, looking embarrassed. "Isabelle is back with Emerald. That horse isn't acting to good." She shook her head. "Well, go along and make friends with Isabelle, I'm sure she'll love having you for company."
"Thanks, Mrs. Rodale." Janet rushed to the back. When she saw Isabelle, she slowed down. "Hello, Isabelle." She said. Isabelle turned around. "You!" she cried. "Go away! I-"
"I came to ask if you wanted to go riding with me." Janet interrupted. "And to say sorry for shouting at you the other day." Isabelle looked shocked. "Well…" she faltered. "I'm not sure if Emerald will behave… I don't want to get thrown off."
"I'll ride Emerald!" Janet offered. "You can ride one of my horses, Leaper." Isabelle thought for a moment. "I wouldn't like you to get thrown off either." She decided.
"I don't care about being thrown off." Janet said firmly. "I really want to go riding with you!"
"Well… all right. But you might have trouble mounting. Do you need the whip?"

Chapter 5

"I don't think so." Janet replied quickly. "I might later on." She added, to make sure Isabelle didn't think she was going to make Emerald a non-whip horse. Isabelle thought for a moment, then she nodded. "He might want a break from it anyway." She said. "But I'll always use the whip!" she added. Janet frowned. She was so close to getting Isabelle to stop whipping her horse. "I'll go get Leaper." Janet said, running across the road. She tacked Leaper up, led her out of her stall, and brought her across the road. "Nice horse." Isabelle said when she saw Leaper. "Where did you get him?"
"He's a show horse. Marina bought her for shows and stuff."
"Oh." Isabelle replied. "Who's Marina?"
"She's Rosalyn's mom. Rosalyn is that other girl I came with the first time."
"Is she coming?" Janet noticed Isabelle was frowning. "No…" she said. "Just you and me… but she will be pretty mad."
"Let's just go by ourselves." Isabelle said quickly.
"All right." Janet said. "I can tack up your horse."
"Sure." Janet found Emerald's tack, and tacked her up. "Is Emerald a filly?" she asked, as she mounted.
"Yeah." Isabelle said, mounting Leaper. "Hey, your horse behaves perfectly!" Janet couldn't say that about Emerald. The second Janet had swung into the saddle, the Emerald had started bucking, and didn't stop. "She's a handful." Isabelle said. "You sure you don't want the whip?"
"No thanks," Janet replied, trying to stay on Emerald's back. "Why don't you send her to a horse trainer?"
"Because, that's a lot of money." Isabelle replied. "I've asked before, but my parents say I'll have to pay myself." Janet decided she would ask now. "Isabelle," she said uncertainly.



Chapter 6

"What?" Isabelle asked, riding Leaper around in a circle.
"Why… why don't you feed Emerald?" Janet asked. "Maybe if you were nice to her, she'd be nice to you. It might work!" Isabelle looked like she was thinking hard. "Well…" she said slowly. "It might work… but… how do you punish a horse when it acts bad?"
"Well, I usually… hmm… that's tough, the horses I've ridden have done only one bad thing to me, trying to eat, and then I just pull their heads up. I mean trying to eat while I'm riding," she added.
"Then what are you going to do to punish Emerald if she's bad, like rearing or bucking?"
"Stay on." Janet said firmly. "That'll make her more mad, probably, but she'll tire herself out and soon she'll learn she can't throw her rider off."
"Oh."
"Isabelle…"
"What?"
"I had an idea! I could train Emerald for you… for free! It would be so much fun for me, and you would have fun for you when you get to ride a perfectly well behaving horse! While I'm training Emerald, you can come over when ever you want to ride-" Janet was cut short, because Emerald leaped up in the air, landed, gave a series of bucks, and bolted for the wood. Luckily, she hadn't got the bit in her teeth. Janet pulled back firmly, but Emerald was going at a slow gallop towards the wood. Janet held on to the reins tight. If Emerald got the bit… something terrible could happen. Something terrible could happen right now. Janet thought. Emerald turned towards a creek, but Janet pulled back, and managed to turn the horse the other way. Janet wanted to cling to the saddle horn, or to Emerald's mane, but she had to keep a firm grip on the reins. She pulled back harder, but Emerald did not want to stop. Janet didn't know how much longer she could hold on.

Chapter 7

There was only one hope. Janet pulled back as hard as she possibly could and whispered, "Emerald, slow down, please!" Emerald put her ears back and listened. This sounded like the girl who gave her the food… maybe she should stop. Emerald slowed down into a trot. "Good girl," Janet breathed, sitting back in the saddle. Isabelle soon cantered up to them on Leaper, and slowed down to a trot next to Emerald. "You ok?" she asked, looking worried. Janet nodded. "Let's keep going," she said. The two girls rode deep into the woods. "Now lets ride towards the back of your house." Isabelle said.
"Ok." Janet agreed, but she didn't really agree. Rosalyn would probably see them. And she did. She stared at them, and then turned towards the house and ran inside. Janet knew the rest of the day was going to be terrible. The two girls rode into Isabelle's yard, and dismounted. Janet mounted Leaper to ride back again. "Bye Isabelle, see you later." Janet said.
"Bye!" Isabelle called cheerfully. Janet turned Leaper to go. "Hey Janet!" Isabelle added. "I decided to take your advice. I'm going to feed Emerald, and I'll bring her over first thing in the morning." Janet managed a weak smile. Then she trotted across the road. She dismounted Leaper, fed her, gave her a good grooming, and went inside the house. Rosalyn didn't speak to her for the rest of the day. Marina looked very worried. "What's the matter with you two girls? Rosalyn?"
"I don't know, Marina!" Janet cried. "Rosalyn has been acting so mean! Whenever I try to say something, she runs away!"
"Rosalyn, why are you being mean?" Rosalyn didn't hear. She had run upstairs. Marina looked at Janet. "Did you have a fight with her today?"
"No." Janet said. She decided not to speak to Rosalyn, until she said something first.

Chapter 8

The rest of the week was good a part of the day, terrible the next. Janet would spend the mornings and half the afternoon with Isabelle, but the rest of the afternoon and the evening, she would spend time all alone. Rosalyn still didn't talk with her. Marina grew more and more worried. Whenever she tried to ask Rosalyn about it, she'd run upstairs. Marina had also begun to notice that Janet wasn't trying to talk to Rosalyn. "Did the Rodale girl say something?" she asked herself again and again. Finally she decided to get Janet interested in doing something that Rosalyn was interested in. Jumping. She thought. The two girls are both interested in that. That night at dinner Marina said, "Janet, I've decided to enter Rosalyn in the jumping contest next week. Would you like that, Rosalyn?"
"Oh yes, Mom!" Rosalyn cried happily.
"I've also decided Rosalyn will ride Leaper." Marina said, working out her plan. Janet couldn't believe it. Rosalyn's riding Leaper, in a jumping contest! She thought angrily. Leaper's the horse I ride! "And," Marina continued. "I'm entering Janet in the same contest. She'll ride Leafy." Janet was about to shout and tell Marina thank you, but Rosalyn interrupted. "Then I'm not going!" she said flatly.
"Then you won't go to any other contest again." Marina replied. Rosalyn stared at Marina wide-eyed. She opened her mouth to argue, but shut it again. The next week was not at all terrible for Janet. She worked her hardest with Leafy, and Leafy worked her hardest. Rosalyn worked too, because she had said, "I'll do it, but I'd rather win last place than tie with her." Janet knew what she meant by 'her'. "She was talking about me." She told Leafy. Leafy whinnied her agreement. Soon it was the day of the contest. Janet didn't practice at all on that day. Leafy needed to be full of energy. Soon they loaded the two horses up in the trailer, and drove to the show. Janet was getting nervous. Then they were there.

Chapter 9

Janet helped get the horse out of the trailer, and then led Leafy out to do a little bit of practice. She studied the course as she practiced, and Leafy bucked a few times. "What's wrong, Leafy?" Leafy kept bucking, and wouldn't stop. Janet wondered if she would ever get off to check the tack. She pulled back very hard, and whispered for Leafy to stop. Leafy stopped, and Janet dismounted just before he started bucking again. She took the tack off. The saddles they owned always had the name of the horse it belonged to on it. There, on the saddle, was the name: JUMPER. It was the same with all of Leafy's tack. "How could this of happened?" she asked Leafy. She took the tack off, and ran towards Marina. "Almost your turn." Marina said.
"I can't go!" Janet cried, and before Marina had a chance to answer, Janet continued. "This isn't Leafy's tack! It belongs to Jumper!"
"You must have got the wrong tack!" Marina said after reading the name.
"No!" Janet said. "The tack was in Leafy's box!" She looked helplessly at Marina. Then she saw Rosalyn over to the right, smiling. Marina saw it too. "Rosalyn!" she called. Rosalyn hesitated. "Rosalyn!" Marina said sharply. Rosalyn reluctantly came over. "Did you switch the tack?" Rosalyn shook her head. "I didn't do any-" she begun.
"Did you?" Marina said, looking Rosalyn straight in the eye. Rosalyn looked down, and whispered, "Yes."
"I have a good punishment for you." Marina said decidedly. "Your turn is next. The person who's doing it right now is half way through. You'll miss your turn and go back to the house and get the right tack! You can ride Leaper over!"
"But-"
"Go!" Marina said firmly. Rosalyn led Leaper up a mounted. "I've got to go." Marina said to Janet. "I'll be back soon." Janet smiled. Without Rosalyn, Leaper would win!

Chapter 10

Janet was getting worried. Rosalyn wasn't coming back! Just then she heard a terrible noise. "Janet Drogue will be jumping now, with her Arabian filly, Four-Leaf Clover!" Janet looked around frantically. Where was Rosalyn? "Janet Drogue, with her Arabian filly, Four-Leaf Clover!" the announcer repeated. There was Rosalyn! Rosalyn handed the tack over, and Janet quickly tacked Leafy up. "Janet Drogue!" The announcer repeated again. Janet mounted Leafy and trotted out onto the ring. She studied the course before her. Time was the most important thing. Leafy began to buck playfully. Janet pulled up, and whispered, "Woah, Leafy! Calm down!" Leafy did calm down. Now it was time to start. There was a single jump first. Janet didn't have time to memorize the rest of the jumps. She urged Leafy forward. Ok, we're almost to the first jump, a bit closer and I'll squeeze. Now! Leafy soared over the first jump. Ok now, a sharp turn with a jump as soon as we get going straight. Good, now we're past the turn, almost there, now! Leafy went perfectly over the second jump, too. Next is a double combination. This'll be tough. Now, squeeze! Landed, now squeeze! Leafy just barely made it over the second jump in the double combination. Ok, almost to the end. Janet thought as they soared over the next four jumps. Triple combination. Squeeze, land, squeeze, land, one more, squeeze, and land! We made it! People were cheering. Janet had been the last contestant. The judges stood up, and announced, "Janet Drogue is the winner!" Janet and Leafy received a trophy and a colorful ribbon. Then she cantered over to Rosalyn, and whispered. "I won this for both of us." Rosalyn looked up, and smiled. Janet smiled back, and the two friends held the trophy high.

THE END