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and looked at the ceiling. “I bet we sound just as strange to her as she does to us,” she commented.
    “Who?” said Stevie. “Janey? I doubt it.”
    “Sure,” said Lisa. “If we went down to New Zealand, we’d be the strange ones.”
    “But we’re not there, we’re here,” said Stevie.
    “And we’ve got to finish these
Horse Talk
questions,” Carole reminded them.
    “Okay,” Stevie asked in a Michael voice, “when can you first start training a horse?”
    “Well,” Carole said reflectively, “you can’t start until it’s
born
 …”
    L ISA REACHED FOR a fresh sheet of paper. The floor of Stevie’s bedroom was littered with lists of questions in Lisa’s neat handwriting. Carole was making notes for the answers. She didn’t write out exactly what she and Lisa would say, but she put down all the points they would need to make in their discussion.
    “We’ve got twenty-five questions,” Lisa said. “That should be enough, don’t you think?”
    Stevie and Carole thought about it. “Let’s do a fewmore,” Carole said. “We’re better off having too many than too few. I mean, what if we talk too fast? And we can save the extras for the week after.”
    Stevie thumbed through one of her dressage manuals. “Maybe a question about double bridles?” she suggested.
    Carole shook her head. “You don’t use a double bridle,” she said. “None of us does. If it’s too advanced for us, it’s definitely too advanced for
Horse Talk
.”
    Stevie sighed and smiled. “I guess so. How about piaffe and passage?” Stevie had a passion for dressage, an elegant kind of riding that was similar to ballet. Double bridles were special bridles used in very high-level dressage, and piaffe and passage were two of the highest-level dressage moves.
    “How about, ‘What does the word
dressage
mean?’ ” Carole said. “That’s a little closer to our audience’s level.”
    “That’s supposing we have an audience,” Stevie countered. “So far, it’s Mrs. Klemme, Max, and two people Lisa knows.”
    “Of those, only Max knows anything about dressage,” Lisa said. “Carole’s right.” She wrote the question down while Stevie grumbled.
    “Let me see the question list again,” Stevie said. Lisa handed it to her.
    The bedroom door flew open and Chad sauntered in.
    “Get out of here!” Stevie said to him. She grabbed at his leg. Chad dodged her. “We’re busy!”
    Chad snatched one of the lists out of Stevie’s hand. “What’s this?”
    “Give that back!” Stevie screeched. She grabbed his leg.
    “Chad!” Lisa shouted. “Give it back!”
    Carole jumped up and tried to get the list away from Chad. He held it away from her, kicked free of Stevie, and danced around to the other side of Stevie’s desk. “Let’s see,” he said teasingly. “Maybe it’s a love letter? No … it’s just more horse stuff. Oh, wait! I get it. It’s the
Horse Talk
talk!”
    “Put it down, Chad,” Carole pleaded. “It’s ours.”
    “You miserable slime-bellied toad,” Stevie added. She lunged toward Chad, but he held the list high in both hands.
    “Come any closer and I’ll tear it up,” he threatened. They froze. “ ‘Hello,
Horse Talk
. Why do I need to take lessons to learn how to ride? Doesn’t the horse do all the work?’ ” he read from the list. Chad’s eyes lit up. “You’re cheating!” he said.
    “We are not,” Lisa said indignantly. “We’re just being prepared.”
    “Awfully prepared,” Chad commented. “I’m sorry I missed the first show. I’ll have to tune in for the second. Question sixteen: ‘How much food do horseseat?’ ” He laughed. “What a stupid question! Here’s another—”
    “Give it
back
!” Stevie grabbed the list. Chad hung on to it, and the paper ripped in two. “Now you’ve done it!” Stevie shouted. Chad laughed again. He tossed his half of the list to Carole and ran out of the room.
    “
Horse Talk
!” he said over his shoulder. “How