Chapter 3
Josh was on his feet in an instant. His blood was boiling. Reaching down he turned down the power level on his regular enough to enhance his strength, speed, and reflexes but not enough for his eyes to turn white.
He bolted over to Colin van Cleef and grabbing the handlebars of the bike gave them a sharp twist dumping Colin on the ground. He twisted the wristband out of Colins surprised hand and gave it back to his sister.
"Oh, a tough guy!" snapped Clinton Deluca angrily, "Let's see you stop me!" he spun his bike around and aimed straight for Josh gunning the engine. Josh dove out of the way, when he hit the ground, he tucked and rolled and was back on his feet in one move.
DeLuca, now even more enraged because he missed, spun his bike round and charged at Josh again this time gunning the bike to full power.
What DeLuca didn't notice until it was too late was that directly behind Josh was the stone wall that straddled the edge of the small meadow and the edge of the quarry.
At the last second, Josh dodged again, and Clinton DeLuca smashed straight into the wall and was catapulted over the handlebars, over the wall and down into the quarry's biggest basin. He landed with a splash in the cold water that had filled it up since the quarry shut down years ago.
"Now that serves you right!" Called Stevie laughing
Carole turned on Colin Van Cleef.
"Get your friend and get out of here," she snapped, "You know you're not supposed to be on this side of the property line!"
"Yeah," said Lisa pulling out her phone, and holding it up, "Beat it, Or else!"
A few minutes later the girls watched as Colin and Clinton disappeared back the way they came, Clinton shivering and pushing his half-smashed dirt bike.
After the two troublemakers were out of sight, the girls and Josh turned their attention to the big task of finding their horses.
They split into pairs and went in different directions calling for their horses. A few minutes later Lisa and Carole, who had taken the main trail. were met by Max riding Barq.
"Man, am I glad to see you two," said Max, "When Starlight and Prancer showed up back at Pine Hollow without you, I got worried."
"So that's where Prancer and Starlight disappeared to, they went home." Said Carole
Max looked around.
"Where are the others?" he asked
"Looking for the rest of the horses," said Lisa
"How did this happen?" asked Max
"Clinton DeLuca and Colin Van Cleef III were riding their dirt bikes out on the riding trails," replied Lisa
"Yeah," said Carole, "They came blasting into our meadow up at the quarry and spooked all the horses and ponies except for Diamond and Patch."
"It sounds like I'll have to have another talk with Mr. Harwell their headmaster." Growled Max angrily, "You girls head back to Pine Hollow I'll round up the others."
An Hour later everyone and all the horses and ponies were safely back at the stables. Belle, Comanche, and the ponies were found down by the creek.
Josh, Jamie, Jess, Melanie, and the Saddle club were all down at the stalls grooming their horses and ponies.
They, and everyone else in the immediate vicinity could her Max on the phone giving Harwell an earful.
"And the next time I catch those two hooligans on my side of the property line, I'm calling the cops!" he was saying, "and I don't think I have to tell you that DeLuca's and Van Cleef's father's, two of your school's biggest contributors, won't be very happy if they have to bail their sons out of juvie again! not to mention the embarrassment to the WRI! So, keep them off my land!"
With that Max slammed the phone down.
"I'm sorry Mr. Regnery, It won't happen again Mr. Regnery!" said Max repeating Harwell's canned response in a nasal and mocking town.
"Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it!" he snapped glaring at the phone on his desk.
"Sounds like Max doesn't put much stock in what Headmaster Harwell said." Josh Remarked as he and the girls all carried their saddles back to the tack room.
"Neither does anyone else around here with half a brain," said Stevie, "More likely than not, Harwell will let them off with barely a slap on the wrist and they'll be right back in our hair by the end of the week!"
Just then Red stuck his head in the tack room.
"Hey guys, Max wants us in the lounge." He said. the small group headed into the lounge where Max was waiting.
"Okay everybody," he said, "Coming up the day after tomorrow is the mountain trail overnight. So, you all have 48 hours to get your permission slips signed and your stuff packed and remember, pack light!"
"Are we going to the usual spot?" asked Stevie
"No," said Max, "And that's the other reason I called this meeting. The Marstens got roped into holding a fundraiser that weekend for one of Mrs. Marsten's clubs, so we'll be riding out Pine Hollows own east trail toward the reservoir.
"Max," said Stevie, "That trail goes right by the WRI campus!"
"I know," Max nodded, "But don't worry, we won't be camping near the campus!"
Lisa shook her head.
"I've got a bad feeling about this!"
To Be Continued…Please Review