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Lisa?” Carole asked.
    Lisa nodded.
    “Okay,” Carole agreed.
    Even as the words left her mouth, Zach yelled, “Yahoo!” and kicked Barq into a gallop. The three girls were a little startled. Since Zach wasn’t familiar with the terrain, it would have been wiser for one of them to lead the way. With no alternative, the three of them went after him.
    Feeling the rush of the wind in her face, Carole leaned forward, urging Starlight to go faster. He snorted and responded with a burst of speed. Up ahead she could see Zach as he raced along. His riding showed not a drop of style, but she had to admit that he had a great seat and seemed absolutely fearless.
    Stevie pulled even with her and the two of them shared a smile. Galloping was fun but it could also be dangerous, and a fall at this speed could have serious consequences. Carole decided they had better slow down. She managed to close the distance between her and the racing boy. “Zach!” she yelled. “Hold up!”
    With obvious reluctance Zach reined Barq to a halt. The horse bounced around on his feet, too wound up from the run to stand completely still. Carole noticed Zach was having a hard time holding him in place.
    Smiling and breathless, Stevie and Lisa joined them. Their faces were flushed and their eyes glittering from the sting of the wind.
    “That was great!” Zach enthused.
    Stevie smiled happily and flicked a strand of loose hair from her eyes. “We should do that more often.”
    “No time like the present,” Zach yelled, and before the girls could protest, he was galloping away.
    Carole was dismayed. “This is not good.”
    Lisa looked anxious. “That field gets rough farther on. He could get hurt.”
    “Not to mention Barq,” Stevie added. “Come on!”
    The three girls urged their horses back into a gallop using all their skills to shorten the distance between themselves and Zach. Fueled by the possible urgency of the situation, Carole managed to coax some extra speed from Starlight. Finally she found herself within earshot to the speeding rider. “Zach, stop!” she shouted.
    Zach looked surprised to find her so close to him.
    “Pull up!” she cried urgently.
    Something in her voice must have got through to him because he immediately slowed Barq down and gradually came to a halt.
    “Phew, that was close,” Stevie said as she rode up on a winded Belle.
    “What’s up?” Zach asked impatiently. “How come we’re stopping so soon?”
    “Zach, you can’t simply go galloping through placesyou don’t know!” Carole scolded him. “It’s not safe for you or your horse.”
    “It looks fine,” he protested.
    “Well it’s not,” Lisa assured him. “A couple of yards from here the field gets bumpy and rocky. You can’t see it because of the grass, but the horses could easily hurt themselves.”
    “Not to mention you could take a serious dive,” Stevie added grimly.
    Zach looked contrite. “Sorry. Guess I got carried away.”
    Carole sighed. After all, he was new to the rules of riding. “Never mind. Let’s go on to the creek.” Then she added firmly, “At a leisurely walk.” Although he was obviously disappointed, Zach obeyed and the rest of the trip was uneventful.
    Once down by the creek the girls immediately stripped off their boots and socks and dangled their feet in the cool water. As usual the talk drifted to the subject of horses.
    “Hey, Zach, come and join us,” Lisa called.
    Zach sat in the grass beside them.
    “Take off your boots,” Stevie urged. “The water’s great.”
    “Nah, then I’d have to wait for my feet to dry before I could put them back on.”
    “So?”
    “I didn’t think we were going to be here that long.”
    Carole saw his eyes stray longingly toward the horses. The beauty of the spot was wasted on him. It was obvious he was eager to get back in the saddle, not sit and talk. “We have to give the horses a chance to cool off, Zach,” she said, “but then we can get going.”
    Stevie also