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him,” Carole assured her. “Mostly because we all do—especially Stevie.”
    Stevie nodded. “I used to ride Topside most of the time before I got Belle,” she explained. “He’s fantastic. He used to belong to Dorothy DeSoto, so he’s incredibly well-trained and athletic. Besides, he’s the nicest, most cheerful horse you’d ever want to meet. He really loves to perform well for his rider.”
    Lisa grinned. “But those aren’t the only reasons he’s perfect for you, Tessa,” she said. She winked at her friends. “You see, when we found out you were coming, we wanted to make you feel right at home.”
    Tessa paused in the stable aisle, looking intrigued. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Does he look like Humbug?” That was the name of Tessa’s horse back home.
    Carole shook her head. “Nope,” she said. “But before Max’s new horses arrived, we figured Topside was the closest thing we had to a real English horse.”
    “Now I’m truly confused,” Tessa declared with a smile. “Didn’t you tell me yesterday that Topside is a blue-blooded American Thoroughbred, born and raised right here in Virginia?”
    “Yep,” Stevie confirmed. “Topside is English by marriage, not by birth.”
    Tessa laughed out loud. “Oh, I can’t wait to hear the explanation for this!”
    Stevie grinned. “Like I said, he was once owned by Dorothy DeSoto … and Dorothy is married to Nigel Hawthorne.”
    Tessa gasped. “Of course! I’d forgotten about that. And Nigel is a member of the British Equestrian Team!” She clapped her hands and laughed again. “So Topside has British in-laws. I get it!” She shook her head good-naturedly. “Now I
really
can’t wait to meet him. He and I will have
so
much to chat about!”
    The four girls hurried to Topside’s stall. After the arrival of Derby and the other newcomers, Max had moved Topside to a stall just down the aisle from Danny’s. Carole gave Danny’s stall an anxious glance as the girls passed, but there was no sign of Veronica. That was no real surprise. Today’s Horse Wise meeting was unmounted, as every second meeting was, and it wasn’t like Veronica to show up early and risk being made to do stable chores.
    Tessa loved Topside just as much as her friends had expected. “Oh, he’s so sweet!” she cried as the big bay gelding nuzzled her cheek. “I can’t wait to ride him.”
    “You’ll get your chance soon enough.” Lisa glanced at her watch. “We have a jump class right after lunch. But now we’d better get over to the indoor ring—the Horse Wise meeting will be starting soon.”
    Tessa reluctantly said good-bye to Topside, then all fourgirls strolled down the aisle toward the indoor ring. As they rounded the corner, they almost ran smack into Veronica.
    “Watch where you’re going,” Veronica snapped automatically. Then she noticed Tessa behind Stevie, and her usual unpleasant frown deepened. “Oh. It’s you,” she said flatly, staring at the British visitor.
    Tessa returned Veronica’s surly comment with a sunny smile. “Hello, Veronica,” she said politely. “It’s marvelous to see you again. I trust you’ve been well?”
    Veronica opened her mouth, then closed it again. “Um, sure,” she muttered, shooting a suspicious glance at the other girls.
    “Wonderful,” Tessa said, still smiling.
    Lisa couldn’t help smiling, too. She was relieved that Tessa was being so polite despite Veronica’s rudeness. That meant Veronica didn’t have any cause for complaint, which meant Veronica had no excuse to get The Saddle Club in any more trouble with Max.
    “I don’t know what’s so wonderful about it,” Veronica said, tossing her dark hair over her shoulder and scowling at Tessa. “In fact, I think things are getting worse around here. I mean, Max is just letting anyone ride here now.”
    Lisa’s jaw dropped in astonishment. She exchanged glances with Carole and Stevie, who also looked stunned.
    Tessa wasn’t thrown. She