5.

The next morning, before jumping practice, Satoshi, Jake, Kelsey and Aimee could be found Mucking out stalls, grooming their horses as well as all of the school horses. Then Max put them to work helping to make and repair horseshoes.

"Max," whined Kelsey, "Why do we have to do all of this?"

"Because the chaperones and I figure that if we keep you busy until practice you four just might stay out of trouble." Replied Max with a pointed look.

Kelsey sighed knowing she had lost and went back to work.

Jacen was outside under a tree repairing the stirrup on one of the saddles. He had just finished and was double checking the job he had done just to be sure everything was as it should be when Stevie walked up.

"Hey Cuz," she smiled

"Hey, Stevie." He smiled back

"Max is really cracking down on those four troublemakers." She smirked

"Well, they brought it on themselves, for thinking that it was a good idea to drug the chaperones, break curfew and throw a party in the hotel basement." Said Jacen with a slight shrug.

"Yeah, that's true," said Stevie

"Listen," said Jacen lowering his voice, "I found out some things about that other matter we talked about."

"You mean with Satoshi and the horse drugging suspicions that Kayla had?" said Stevie getting a little excited.

Jacen nodded.

"I talked with my dad this morning," said Jacen, "He knows the guys who worked security at the championships last year. Apparently, the guy that Kayla caught trying to drug her horse has been mixed up in that sort of thing before at the racetrack. when he was caught at the racetrack he was arrested and found guilty of being part of one of the biggest rings of betting scammers they ever busted. He did some jail time and by the time he almost got caught last year he was on parole under the condition that he couldn't go anywhere near any kind of equestrian event."

"So, if that's all true, why couldn't they arrest him when Kayla caught him trying to drug her horse?" asked Stevie.

"My dad said that by the time they caught him he had managed to ditch any evidence of drugging paraphernalia," replied Jacen, "So all they could charge him with was violating his parole."

"Well, that was rotten luck," said Stevie shaking her head, "But at least they got him for something."

"Here's the real kicker in all of this," said Jacen picking up the saddle and carrying it back toward the tack room, "That slime-ball somehow got himself a slick lawyer, by the name of Orwell Claymore, who's fees rarely total less than six figures, and got off with community service instead of jail time!"

"What's the so called "kicker" in all this?" asked Stevie as she fell into step beside him.

"This character, we're talking about, is a guy named Sonny Moran he's a small-time operator who has never had more than 50 bucks to his name, at any one time, because of his gambling addiction."

Stevie started slowly nodding her head as she caught on.

"So how could a chronically broke compulsive gambler afford a lawyer that expensive?" she said finishing Jacen's sentence.

"Exactly." Said Jacen, "I think that that is pretty good proof that he was working for someone with some deep pockets!"
"I'd better go tell the others about this," said Stevie.

"Just make sure that you tell them privately," said Jacen putting the saddle back on the rack in the tack room, "If Satoshi is mixed up in this, we don't want him to catch wind of what we know otherwise he'll start really covering his tracks and will never get him."

"Right," said Stevie.

Jacen and Stevie were just heading out of the tack room when they heard voices coming from near one of the stalls by the main door.

It was Satoshi and Kayla arguing near Kayla's horse's stall. Kayla's horse was a black colored white maned horse name Magic. He was standing at the stall door watching and listening as Kayla argued with Satoshi.

"You think you're really cute, don't you?!" Satoshi had snapped

"I don't know what you are talking about!" she snapped back

"Oh, sure you don't," sneered Satoshi, "Besides Jake, Aimee and Kelsey, the only other person that I told, about that party last night, was you!"

"You think I'm the reason that you got busted last night?!" exclaimed Kayla

"Yeah," growled Satoshi, "I think you ratted us out to get me back for dumping you!"

"First of all, I dumped you," retorted Kayla, "and second, I'm no stool pigeon!"

"Sure," sneered Satoshi looking like he was about explode.

Kayla turned and picked up the feed bucket that she had put down during the argument.

"Where do you think you're going?" snapped Satoshi, "We're not through yet!"

"Just leave me alone, Satoshi." She snapped. She turned and walked off toward the feed bins and promptly bumped squarely into Jacen. The impact threw her off balance and she fell backwards but Jacen was quick enough to catch her before she hit the ground. blue eyes met blue eyes.

"Thanks," she said smiling at him as he pulled her back up onto her feet. Stevie looked amused

"Well, Well, what have we here," said a girl's voice a couple of seconds later.

"Nothing," Kayla and Jacen said in unison as they straightened up to see Melanie and Jess standing there with a digital camera in hand.

Satoshi, who had followed, her just snorted and stormed off.

"I-uh-I have to go," stammered Kayla blushing a little.

She grabbed the bucket she had dropped and hurried off.

############

Jacen and the Saddle Club sat in the Willow Creek Arena watching the practice session. Jacen routinely scanned the Arena on the alert for possible problems.

"Sounds like a doozy of an argument that Satoshi and Kayla had," said Lisa

"Oh, it was," said Stevie, "Satoshi is convinced that she ratted out their party last night!"

"But she didn't," said Lisa.

"I know," said Carole, "But between their history, and the bad blood between them It'll be hard to convince Satoshi of that even if Jacen told him the truth personally."

"Yeah," said Jacen, "I'm afraid she's right, what I get from reading between the lines of their argument is that his ego took a pretty big hit when she dumped him and he obviously hasn't forgiven her."

The others nodded in agreement.

Just then Deborah came hurrying up to them. She had a newspaper in her hand.

"Uh guys," she said, "Have you seen this?"

Stevie took the paper and looked at the headlines it read:

Love Triangle at the Championship!

Below the headline was a picture of Jacen in the middle of catching Kayla to save her from the fall with Satoshi glaring at them.

"What?!" exclaimed Jacen.

"This is an advanced copy of the afternoon edition!" said Deborah scowling, "That new reporter Howie Dugan is more like a tabloid reporter than a serious journalist!"

"I can see that," said Carole, "But where did the picture come from?!"

Lisa looked angry.

"MELANIE!"

To Be Continued…Please Review