October Story Contest

The Western Club:   I’m Not a Scared  
By Lizzy1 & Misty age 11

“Sarah, we need to head back to the barn.” Kate said while trying to catch up on Apache, an Appaloosa gelding. “C’mon, it’s only 10:32 a.m. and our lesson is at 11:30, we have an hour before.” Sarah said walking Starburst, a buckskin gelding. Kate sighed. “I think today the stable hands are herding the horses to the other pasture. Let’s go watch.” Kate said to Sarah. “Yep, that’s true. Race you there!” Sarah said turning Buddy around. Kate turned Apache around and kicked him into a fast gallop. Sarah galloped Buddy behind Apache and Kate. They galloped side by side up a hill and down to a grassy meadow were the herd and stable hands were. They rode and watched them in the bright morning sun.

“That was a long ride.” Kate said leading Apache into the barn. “I know, we need to cool them down before our lesson.” Sarah said pulling the western saddle off of Buddy. Kate did the same. They both walked their horses out of the barn. Meanwhile, a silver truck pulled up in the driveway between the barn and arenas. “Who’s that?” Sarah asked walking Buddy. Kate shrugged. “New girl?” Kate said. The door swung open. Out stepped a girl with dark brown hair and had fair skin with a reddish tent in it. She looked sunburned. She wore blue jeans and cowboy boots. Joe, the barn owner/ riding instructor walked up to her and told her about him. Joe gestured Kate and Sarah to come over. They did so. “This is Kate and Sarah.” Joe said. “This is Lauren.” Joe said to Kate and Sarah. “Hi” they said. “I’ll show you the horse you will be riding today and you’ll be on your way!” Joe told Lauren.

“Good Morning students” Joe said as he stepped into the arena. “I hope you all had your girth checked and your horses warmed up because we are going to start this lesson off with cantering or loping.” “Lauren and Shadow, you’re up first.” Joe said. Lauren kicked Shadow into a smooth canter. Her hand left was above the horn, and her other hand was down by her side. Her bottom stayed in the saddle. Her heels stayed down. Everyone clapped. “Okay, Stacey and Big Red, you’re up!” Joe said. Big Red was a tough horse to ride and stubborn. Red fought the bit. He failed to trot and canter so; Joe called Sarah and Buddy up. Then the rest of the students that were in the lesson. “Meeting in the lounge after you un tack and cool down your horses.” Joe said. “I want one of you to show Lauren where that is, too.” Joe said too. Lauren dismounted and walked Shadow out of the arena. The black horse’s coat shined in the morning sun. Lauren walked Shadow into the barn and unsaddled him.

“Lauren, over here!” Sarah shouted. Kate was standing right beside Sarah. Lauren walked over to them. “We’ll show you to the lounge.” Kate said. “Before Stacey does.” Sarah said rolling her eyes. “Why? Is she a brat?” Lauren asked. “The biggest” Kate said to her. They walked to the lounge were the meeting was held. Once everyone arrived, the meeting began. “Okay, Lauren, I am going to put you on Big Red instead of Shadow.” Joe said looking down at his clip board. “Stacey will be on Shadow.” “Thank goodness.” Stacey said. “Nobody else will be switching horses.” Joe added. “Now, we need to get a move on if we want to do a haunted trail ride.” Joe announced. “Lauren, you can pair up with anyone.” “Sarah and Kate” Lauren said. Kate and Sarah smiled. Joe wrote something down on his clip board. “Meeting dismissed.” Joe said and everyone stepped out of the room. “Good luck with Big Red.” Stacey snapped.

Lauren, Sarah, and Kate walked out together. “C’mon, let’s ride.” Sarah said. “Remember, we have to be back before 1:00.” Kate added. “I’m just going to ride in the arena with Big Red.” Lauren said. “We’ll ride with you, let’s go!” Sarah shouted. Lauren saddled up Big Red. Sarah and Kate saddled Buddy and Apache. When they got to the arena, they mounted. “I got to see this!” Stacey shouted. She had Shadow with her. “Go ahead, ride that beast.” Stacey said. “Fine, I will.” Lauren shouted back. She kicked Red into a walk. The Bay walked on. Lauren held her reins a little shorter. The bay bobbed his head. Lauren kicked him into a trot, then, a canter. The bay almost did it willingly. Stacey’s mouth was wide open. “Well, I challenge you to a race. Let’s go.” Stacey snapped. They all rode out of the arena. “Were we going?” Lauren asked. “A tall grassy meadow, got a problem with it?” Stacey snapped. “No” Lauren said.

When they arrived at the meadow, Stacey pointed to a tree. “We will race around that tree and back.” Stacey snapped. Stacey looked at Kate and Sarah. “One of you does the honors.” Stacey snapped. “On your mark” Sarah said. “Get set” Kate said. “Go!” They both said. Lauren kicked Red in the sides. He went of in a gallop. Shadow was ahead. When they came to the tree, Lauren kicked Red ahead. He was now ahead of Shadow. Lauren let him have his head. Red was far ahead of Shadow. The finish was clear that Lauren and Red had won. Lauren stopped Red and trotted over to Kate and Sarah. Stacey trotted over to them next. “Beginner’s luck” she said and headed back to the barn. Lauren, Kate, and Sarah walked their horses back to the barn with grins on their faces. When they we done with their ride, they untacked their horses.

“My dad is coming to pick me up soon.” Lauren said. “Will you come back tomorrow?” Sarah asked. “I hope” Lauren said. “We need to start on our project for the haunted trail ride.” Kate said. A car horn honked and it was Lauren’s dad. “Bye” Lauren waved and grabbed her helmet. She jumped into the truck and her dad drove off. “How was the first day?” her dad asked. “Great” Lauren said. “You’ll be back tomorrow for your lesson.” said Lauren’s dad. “Can I stay all day tomorrow?” Lauren asked. “Well, I don’t know about that. I’ll tell you when I decide.”  Her dad said, too.

The next day the three girls worked on their in the lounge project. “I like the idea of the Headless Horseman.” Sarah said. “The costumes are tricky though.” Kate said. “Ow” Lauren shouted. She sucked on her finger. “Be careful, that needle is sharp.” Kate said. “This cape is tricky.” Lauren said. “The horses’ costumes are trickier.” said Sarah, who was working with Kate on the horse costumes. They all giggled. Lauren sewed the black collar on the black cape, then, sewed the buttons on. “Hey, you’re pretty good at that.” said Kate. “Thanks, my mom taught me.” Lauren said. Kate and Sarah measured the blanket for Apache, while Lauren cut holes in the cape for the buttons. After that, she slipped the cape over her head and buttoned all of the buttons. Sarah watched her and walked over to her. “Hey, nice job, your collar on the cape can’t slip down.” Sarah said. “Our lesson is in 30 minutes!” Kate exclaimed. Lauren slipped the cape off and put it in the tub along with her supplies. Kate and Sarah put their horse blanket in a different tub along with their supplies. They put them on a self and hurried out to the barn.

______________

The girls greeted their horses and groomed them. After that, they saddled them. Lauren and Kate walked their horses out of the barn. “Where’s Sarah?” Lauren asked while snapping her helmet on. “I don’t know, she is usual out here.” Kate said snapping her helmet on. “Here, take Apache, I’ll go she what’s going on.” Kate said handing the reins to Lauren. Kate walked into the barn. Sarah was looking for something. “What are you looking for?” Kate asked. “My helmet!” Sarah said walking toward the tack room. Kate walked after her. “There it is!” Sarah said. It was on a hook for anyone to use. “Let’s go!” Sarah said snapping on the helmet. She grabbed Buddy and walked out of the stable. Kate followed.

After the lesson the girls worked on their project. Lauren made sub sandwiches for lunch. Lauren finished the three capes and helped Kate and Sarah. They went to the barn to see if the blankets fit their horses. They all did and all they need to do was get buckles for the blankets. “We need black elastic strips and buckles.” Kate said while they walked to the lounge. “We need to go to a craft store to get that.” Lauren said. “I can get that tonight.” Sarah said. “Perfect” Kate said.

The next day after school, the girls finished their project. “Okay, on the night of the ride, we need to wear black shirts, pants and our capes.” Kate said. “Let’s go practice.” The girls took their horse blankets and headed out to the barn. Stacey was leaning against Shadow’s stall. Lauren walked into Red’s stall and groomed him. Then, she put the blanket on the bay and Stacey saw her. “What are you up to?” Stacey asked in a snotty tone. “Nothing” Lauren said putting the saddle on then the bridle. Then, she led him out of the barn and snapped her helmet on. The girls mounted and rode down to the meadow to practice. After they practiced, they where sure they were ready.

_____________________

On the night of the ride, the girls came dressed in black. The stable was busy with stable hands, students, and horses. The girls put the blanket on their horses and saddled them with black western saddles and bridles. They carefully wrapped their horse’s legs with black wraps. “Lauren, Sarah, come here.” Kate said. The girls left there horses in their stall and went over to Kate. Kate walked up in the hay loft and motioned Sarah and Lauren to follow. They did so. “Here are some black gloves; Sarah, here is your fake chopping knife; Lauren, here it the plastic jack-o-lantern; Now let’s review our parts.” Kate said passing the goodies around. “Okay, we are ready!” Lauren said. The girls rode to the meadow and took their places and put on the capes. The sun went down.

It was time for the big event; some helpers rode on horse back and called out were the group was. Kate was the first, helpers made fake fog. Kate would ride cross the trail in front of the guide. The guide stopped and Kate cantered across and across the meadow and eventually, couldn’t be seen. Now, it was Sarah’s turn. Sarah cantered, swinging the fake sword. She stopped before crossing the trail and cantered back in the woods. Then, Lauren was up. The guide trotted, so did the rest of the group. Lauren cantered on the trail far behind, holding the plastic, glowing jack-o-lantern. The group screamed. When they crossed the bridge, Lauren threw the jack-o-lantern against a tree on the other side of the bridge. She reared Red and galloped back down the trail. A person at the back of the pack screamed when the jack-o-lantern hit the tree.

“That was awesome!” Lauren exclaimed. “Hey” Sarah said. “What are you thinking about?” Kate asked Sarah. “Is Stacey at the barn?” Sarah asked. “Yes, Joe wanted her to check on the horses after the ride.” Kate answered. Sarah had an evil grin on her face. Then, Kate and Lauren got that grin.

Stacey sighed. “Okay, I am done with you horses.” Stacey snapped. The barn became foggy. Stacey walked over to the fog machine. “Who forgot to turn this off?” Stacey shouted. She turned it off. The lights went out. Stacey walked over to the light switch. Stacey turned the switch on and off, but the lights wouldn’t turn on. “This place needs new wiring.” Stacey said. Then, she heard the sound of horse hooves. “Which horse got out now?” she said. When she took the corner, their stood the headless horseman on a horse or so she thought it was the headless horseman. She ran. The horseman trotted after her and chased her in the tack room. She heard a tap, tap at the window. Stacey looked. It was the headless horseman! She ran out of the room and was surrounded by two headless horsemen! She ran screaming out of the stable. Her mom was wanting in the car. She jumped in and didn’t look back. One of the horsemen took off the cape and said: “Happy Halloween Stacey” and it was only Sarah. Kate and Lauren unmasked their selves. “We wouldn’t see her for a while.” Lauren said. They all laughed.

“What should we call your selves?” Sarah asked. “The Western Club” Lauren suggested. “That’s perfect!” Kate said. “We are now official The Western Club!” Sarah announced. They all giggled. “Ye-haw!” they said smiling.

Look for the next story coming soon!