Lisa Atwood cried. When it came to school, Lisa and Stevie Lake were opposites. Stevie utterly detested it and always got into trouble. Lisa enjoyed it and brought home straight As. “Nope.” Stevie shook her head defiantly. “There’s not. I’ve thought and thought, and there’s not one single reason why I, Stephanie Lake, should be glad that the summer’s over.” The two girls were sitting on hay bales at Pine Hollow Stables with their other best friend, Carole Hanson. Pine Hollow was the stable where they all took riding lessons and where Stevie and Carole boarded their horses. Carole was in the middle about school. She didn’t hate it or love it; she got through and did fine. Once in a while she even became interested enough in something she was learning to forget about horses—for about five seconds. “Maybe you just need time to readjust—you know, have a few days to let it sink in, the way Lisa and I have,” Carole suggested. She tried not to sound as doubtful as she felt.
