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"At least you still love me, don't you, Trib?" Twelve-year-old Melanie Graham said to her pony, Tribulation. Not that Trib was really her pony, Melanie reminded herself. She was just borrowing him from her cousin, Christina Reese.
Trib turned his head to look at her, a hunk of hay dangling from his mouth. Melanie ruffled his fuzzy mane, then finished currying a manure stain on his flank. Her morning riding lesson was in thirty minutes, and Trib had to look perfect for inspection.
With a sudden sigh, Melanie leaned back against the stall wall. Outside, she heard the happy chatter of the other campers assigned to A barn. This was the beginning of the second week of Camp Saddlebrook's event clinic. Melanie had had a terrific time riding and making new friends. But yesterday when her father hadn't shown up for the Parents' Day activities, she'd been so disappointed. A familiar sadness had crept over her.
It still lingered this morning.
Oh, just forget about him, Melanie told herself as she went back to rubbing Trib vigorously. Too vigorously, Trib told her with a swat of his tail.
"Sorry, Trib," Melanie apologized. "I'm just angry at my dad."
Not that she wasn't used to being stood up. Her father, Will Graham, was a record producer in New York. He'd become so successful -- flying from coast to coast almost every week -- that he had little time for his daughter. That was one reason Melanie had gone to live with her aunt and uncle, Ashleigh Griffen and Michael Reese, on their horse farm in Kentucky for the summer.
"Hey!" Christina Reese stuck her head into Trib's stall. Her long strawberry-blond hair was windblown, her freckled nose sunburned. "We need you out here before Eliza comes down from the big house."
"What for?" Melanie asked but Christina had already gone. Walking over to the door, Melanie peered around the jamb. The aisle of A barn was filled with campers.
"Jennifer, what's going on?" Melanie called. Jennifer's horse, Geronimo, was also in A barn. Fourteen-year-old Jennifer was on the same team as Eliza, Christina, and Melanie.
Jennifer hurried over, her dark eyes sparkling with excitement.
"We made a big sign that says 'congratulations' and put a ribbon on Flash's new halter," Jennifer told her. "Eliza's still inside the house talking to Perky about buying Flash, but she should be here any minute."
"That's so cool!" Melanie's sadness lifted as she thought how happy Eliza had been this morning. Flash, the big Thoroughbred Eliza had borrowed from her instructor for the clinic, had almost been sold to someone else. But thanks to yesterday's rock concert that Melanie's dad arranged, the campers had raised enough money for Eliza to buy the horse through the Young Riders program.
Dropping her curry comb in her grooming bucket, Melanie went to join the others. Sean Laslow and Dylan Becker, the only two male campers, hung back from the rest of the group. As Melanie approached, she noticed Sean's hands were jammed in the pockets of his riding breeches and a sullen expression clouded his cute face.
"What's wrong with you? Is Dylan's snoring keeping you up at night?" Melanie teased.
"Hey, he's the one who talks in his sleep," Dylan shot back, his grin playful. The two boys shared a room above the old carriage house while the girls slept in the dorm-like rooms called the kennels, where the farm's foxhounds had once been housed.
"Dylan!" someone called. Rachel Greenberg was hurrying across the green that separated A barn from B barn. Her long black hair, pulled back in a ponytail, bounced as she ran; her riding helmet was propped under her arm.
By now, everybody at camp knew that Christina and Dylan liked each other. Everybody, that is, except Rachel, who seemed determined to make Dylan interested in her.
"Good morning, Rachel," Melanie said with exaggerated sweetness. Ignoring her, Rachel walked right up to Dylan. Dylan greeted her with a big smile. Too bad Dylan was such a nice guy, Melanie thought. He'd never tell Rachel to get lost.
Melanie turned her attention back to Sean, who was slouched against a support pillar. Melanie knew he'd been disappointed yesterday, too. He and his teammates -- Rachel, Dylan, and Bekka Jenson -- had come in last in the quadrille competition. Sean had taken the loss hard, especially when his parents had chastised him in front of everybody at the picnic after the performances.
Still, at least his parents had been there, Melanie thought. Her father hadn't even bothered to call to tell her he couldn't make it until the last minute.
"You okay?" she asked Sean.
"Why shouldn't I be?" he said gruffly, and Melanie knew that he wasn't okay. All last week Sean had been the camp's clown and joke-teller. This morning, he seemed like a different kid.
"I just knew you were disappointed in the quadrille yesterday," Melanie continued.
He shrugged. "Nah. The quadrille was just some stupid exercise Perky thought up to torture us with."
I thought it was fun, Melanie was about to say, but she quickly swallowed her words. Sean didn't look like he was in the mood to hear them.
"She's coming!" Jennifer called in a low voice. Melanie looked toward the house. Christina was walking down the hill with Eliza. She was gesturing dramatically as if trying to keep Eliza's attention on her.
When the two got about fifty yards away from the barn, Jennifer led a chorus of 'congratulations!" Eliza's eyes widened in surprise, and she pressed her hand to her mouth as if to keep from crying.
Melanie knew how the older girl felt. Right now, she didn't have a horse of her own either. Back at Whitebrook Farm, she rode Pirate, a blind ex-racehorse. But that was to help pony the young Thoroughbreds to and from the training track. For lessons, she was riding Trib, Christina's outgrown pony. She and the rambunctious Trib got along great, but it wasn't like having your own horse to love.
Thoroughbred #29 Melanie's Last Ride. Copyright © by Joanna Campbell. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.
Excerpted from Melanie's Last Ride by Joanna Campbell
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