The Lonely Pony Read online

  Lola sniffed at the gate as Lolli shut it. Then she turned and looked around the pen. The goats and sheep were standing in their pasture on the other side of Lola’s new fence, looking in. Lola whinnied at them, then trotted over to say hello through the wire. After that, she started to graze on her side of the fence, while the other animals nibbled the grass on their side.

  Dr. Goldman smiled. “Ponies and horses are herd animals. Lola is probably happy to have company after being by herself for a couple of months.”

  “Maybe we can find her a home with other ponies,” Adam said.

  “Yeah.” Janey glanced at Lolli’s house. “Since Lola is having a snack, maybe it’s time for us to have one, too?”

  “Soon,” Lolli’s mother said. “You still need to set up a tub with water. And there’s not much grass in the pen—won’t we need hay?”

  “The Valentines are bringing the supplies they have.” Dr. Goldman shaded her hand against the late afternoon sun and peered down the driveway. “A-ha! Here they are, right on cue!”

  A moment later, an SUV pulled to a stop nearby. Tom hopped out of the driver’s seat. “Oh, look at that!” he exclaimed as he saw Lola. “She’s found some friends.”

  The back of the SUV was crammed with hay bales, and there was a big, black tub for water in the backseat. “Come on, kids,” Dr. Goldman said. “Let’s get this stuff unloaded.”

  Half an hour later, Janey was so exhausted she wanted to lie down on the grass and take a nap. She and her friends had hauled the heavy bales of hay into the barn. They’d dragged the water tub into the pen, then hooked up the hose to fill it. They’d opened one of the hay bales and carried part of it out for Lola to eat. They’d found a spare shelf in the barn to store the grooming tools, a spare halter, and a few other items Tom had brought.

  Meanwhile, Dr. Goldman had left with Tom, promising to return with her car to drive them all home. Janey couldn’t wait!

  But when she looked at Lola and saw her nibbling hay or grass, or sipping water, Janey felt happy and satisfied. “Lola is so cute,” she told Lolli as they watched the pony. “I’m sure it won’t take long to find her the perfect new home.”

  Lolli nodded, looking just as tired as Janey felt. “I’m glad she’s here, even if she’s a lot of work.”

  Janey giggled. “After this, taking care of Roscoe will seem super easy! Oh, and your new bunny, too, if you get him.”

  “Yeah.” Lolli shot a look at her parents, who were helping the boys put away the hose. “Still, I think I’ll wait and ask if I can get the bunny until after Lola goes to her new home.”

  Barn Chores

  “Here we are, Farmer Janey,” Janey’s father joked as he pulled into Lolli’s driveway the next day. “Better get going on your chores!”

  Janey smiled. “Thanks for the ride, Daddy.”

  She jumped out of the car. Adam and Zach were already there with Lolli, watching Lola eat grass in her pen. They’d come straight over after Adam’s morning dog-walking jobs.

  “You’re late,” Zach called when he spotted Janey. “But don’t worry, we saved all the stinky pony manure for you.”

  “Gee, thanks.” Janey rolled her eyes. “How’s Lola?”

  “Great,” Lolli said. “After we feed her and clean up her pen, maybe we can use those brushes Mr. Valentine sent to groom her.”

  Janey nodded. “Good idea. We want her to look good for her photo session.”

  “What photo session?” Adam asked.

  Janey held up her tablet. “I want to take some pictures of her to put on the blog. That will help her find a home faster.”

  “Good idea.” Lolli picked up a pitchfork. “But first, let’s get to work.”

  The kids worked hard. They cleaned up all the manure Lola had made overnight, using the pitchfork to put it in a wheelbarrow and then dumping it in the compost pile behind the barn. They scrubbed out the water tub and filled it again. They put out more hay.

  “Okay.” Lolli brushed hay off her hands. “Now for the fun part!”

  She hurried into the barn and fetched the bucket of grooming tools. There were several brushes, a wide-toothed comb, a hoof pick, and a bottle of spray-on conditioner.

  “Get ready for your beauty treatment, Lola!” Janey sang out as the kids entered the pen.

  Lola was eating the pile of hay the kids had set out. She barely looked up when they started brushing her.

  “Good girl,” Janey said. “You want to look pretty, don’t you?”

  Adam leaned over to peer at the pony’s tangled mane. “I think I’ll try getting some of these burrs out.”

  “Good idea,” Janey said. “Her mane looks totally vile.”

  She handed Adam the comb. He grabbed it and got to work.

  After close to an hour, the pony looked much better. Janey stepped back to survey their work.

  “She looks great,” she said. “See if you can get her to keep her head up so I can get some good pictures.”

  They spent the next several minutes on the photo shoot. It wasn’t easy, since the pony preferred eating over posing. But finally Janey got some cute photos of Lola.

  “Want me to upload them for you?” Zach offered.

  Janey nodded and handed over the tablet. Zach knew just about everything about computers and technology, so she knew he’d do a good job of cropping and positioning the photos.

  “Thanks,” she said. “You can upload the text I wrote, too, okay?” She pointed out the file on the desktop.

  “Sure,” Zach said as he got to work.

  Lolli peered over his shoulder. “What’d you write?” she asked.

  “Just a short entry about Lola,” Janey said. “I did it last night after dinner. Zach can read it to you when it posts.”

  A second later, Zach cleared his throat and started to read: “ ‘Meet Lola, the cutest little pony on the planet! And guess what? She’s looking for a new home, so some lucky person will get to pet her adorable face every day! Contact the Pet Rescue Club if you want to be that person! Lola can’t wait to meet her new best friend!’ ”

  “How does that sound?” Janey asked the others.

  “Fine, I guess,” Adam said. “I’ve never had to write an ad for a pony before.”

  “Yeah.” Lolli looked over Zach’s shoulder as the first photo appeared below the text. “Anyway, it hardly matters what we write. As soon as people see those pictures, they’ll be lining up to take Lola home!”

  “Rise and shine, pony girl!”

  Lolli cracked one eye open and saw her mother opening her window shades. “What time is it?” she mumbled.

  “Time to go out and take care of the pony,” her mother replied cheerfully. “You’ll have to hurry to get everything done before it’s time to leave for school.”

  “Okay.” Lolli yawned and sat up. It felt as if she’d barely slept at all! But she knew Lola needed her, so she dragged herself out of bed and pulled on her clothes.

  Lolli woke up a little when Lola spotted her coming and let out her cute high-pitched nicker. The goats and sheep trotted over to say hello, too. Being out with the animals so early in the morning made Lolli feel like a real farmer!

  “Good morning, Lola,” she said with a smile. “Ready for your breakfast?”

  She pulled more hay off the bale and carried it out to the pen. While Lola was eating, Lolli picked up the pony’s manure as fast as she could. Luckily there was still plenty of water in the tub, so Lolli figured her friends could help her dump out the leftover water and then scrub and refill the tub after school. By the time she finished everything her arms were tired from picking up manure and scratchy from the hay, and she was pretty sure she didn’t smell her best. But there was no time for a shower if she wanted to be on time for school.

  “Got to go, Lola,” she said, blowing the pony a kiss. “See you this afternoon!”

  By the time she arrived at school, Lolli was already yawning. But she felt more alert when Janey rushed over with big news.
/>   “We’re getting tons of hits on the blog post about Lola!” Janey reported, holding up her tablet. “See? It’s just like I predicted—tons of people want to adopt Lola already!”

  “Really?” Lolli smiled, knowing all her hard work that morning had been worth it. “Hooray!”

  Help from Ms. Tanaka

  “Did any more messages come in about Lola?” Lolli asked Janey after school.

  The two girls and Zach were waiting for Lolli’s father to pick them up. They were going to Lolli’s farm to do the afternoon pony chores. Adam was meeting them there after he finished taking care of his afternoon dog-sitting clients.

  “Yes—three more since I checked this morning,” Janey reported. “Let’s read them and see which person sounds the best.”

  She brought up the first message and scanned it. Lolli was reading over her shoulder.

  “Wow,” Lolli commented. “I’m not sure this one is serious.”

  “Yeah,” Zach said. “The girl thinks she can keep Lola in her bedroom like a dog or a cat.” He laughed. “She must not know how much a little pony can poop!”

  “Ew!” Janey made a face at him. “Never mind—here’s another one.”

  She scanned the next message:

  I always wanted a pony like Lola! But I need to change her name to Rebel. That’s because I’m going to take her to the rodeo and use her to rope cows like a real cowboy. Please write back and tell me when you can bring her to my house. Thanks, Robert.

  “Roping cows at the rodeo?” Lolli said. “I don’t think Lola would be very good at that!”

  “Yeah,” Zach said. “Roscoe would be a better rodeo horse than Lola.” He laughed. “My cat Mulberry would probably even be better!”

  Lolli took the tablet from Janey and scrolled back to the earlier messages, reading over them quickly. “Some of the people who wrote earlier sound okay, at least,” she said. “This girl says she has a really big backyard with lots of grass. And this other one says she’s ridden ponies at the fair a bunch of times so she knows all about them.”

  “Okay,” Zach said. “So how do we decide who gets her?”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Janey said. “But let’s wait a little longer so more people have a chance to see her.”

  All day Tuesday, Lolli couldn’t stop yawning. She and the rest of the Pet Rescue Club went to her farm right after school to take care of Lola. Lolli started pulling some hay off a bale, but she had to stop and yawn three times in a row.

  “Are we keeping you awake?” Zach joked. “Maybe you should take a nap on that hay instead of feeding it to Lola.”

  “Sorry.” Lolli stifled another yawn. “I’m not used to getting up so early every day to do chores.”

  Adam nodded. “I know what you mean. When I first started dog-walking before school, it was hard to wake up sometimes.”

  “Never mind,” Janey put in. “We got a bunch more messages about Lola today. Some of them sound pretty good.”

  Zach grinned. “No more rodeo riders?”

  “No more rodeo riders.” Janey rolled her eyes. “I wrote back to that kid Robert and told him Lola didn’t want to be a rodeo pony.”

  “So how are we going to figure out who gets to take Lola home?” Lolli asked.

  Janey bit her lip. “I’m not sure,” she said. “Maybe we should ask Ms. Tanaka for help.”

  “Our homeroom teacher?” Adam looked surprised. “Why?”

  “She told us she used to ride horses when she was younger, remember?” Lolli said. “Asking her is a great idea, Janey!”

  She only wished Ms. Tanaka was there to ask right away. Maybe that way Lola could find a home today and Lolli wouldn’t have to wake up early again tomorrow!

  But when she looked at Lola nibbling her hay, Lolli decided she really didn’t mind one more early morning. Not if it meant finding the perfect home for the sweet little pony.

  By the time school ended on Wednesday, several more messages had come in about Lola. “Good,” Janey told Lolli as the two girls walked outside together. “That way Ms. Tanaka will have plenty to look at. Look, there she is!”

  Ms. Tanaka was one of the bus monitors that day. Janey and Lolli waited until she’d finished helping some first graders get on their bus. Then they hurried over and told her what was going on.

  “You took in a pony?” Ms. Tanaka looked impressed. “Wow, I didn’t realize you kids knew how to take care of horses!”

  “We don’t,” Lolli admitted.

  “At least we didn’t,” Janey added. “We’re learning fast.”

  “Yeah. But we need help figuring out who should get her,” Lolli said. “Can you help us? We were hoping you could read the messages and help us figure out who sounds the best.”

  “Sure, I’ll take a look. Just give me a minute to finish up here, okay?” Ms. Tanaka said.

  Ten minutes later all the buses were gone and Ms. Tanaka was scanning the messages on Janey’s tablet. The more she read, the more worried she looked.

  “Oh, dear,” she said at last. “To be honest, kids, I’m not sure any of these sound like a good home for a horse—not even a tiny one.”

  “Really?” Janey’s heart sank. “Are you sure?”

  “Sorry.” Ms. Tanaka scanned the messages again. “Most of these people sound nice and well-meaning, but none of them mention having any experience with horses.”

  “What about the girl who says she’s ridden lots of ponies?” Janey said.

  Ms. Tanaka shook her head. “Going on pony rides at the fair isn’t the same as taking care of a pony full time,” she explained. “Lola needs a knowledgeable caretaker to keep her healthy and happy.”

  “But we didn’t know anything about taking care of ponies,” Janey argued. “And look how great Lola is doing with us!”

  “It’s only been a couple of days, right?” Ms. Tanaka said gently. “That’s not the same as committing to a pony’s lifetime.”

  “Oh.” Lolli bit her lip. “So how do we find someone knowledgeable about ponies?”

  The teacher scrolled back and read Janey’s blog entry. “Well, you might need to adjust your ad a little,” she said. “Focus less on how cute Lola is, and more on her needs in a home.”

  “Okay.” Janey sighed. “Could you help me do that?”

  Ms. Tanaka smiled. “Sure. But in exchange, you have to let me meet Lola. Okay?”

  Janey smiled. “It’s a deal!”

  “Truman!” Janey cried as a cute little dog jumped out of Ms. Tanaka’s car.

  The Pet Rescue Club was at the farm again. While waiting for Ms. Tanaka, they’d done the afternoon chores. Lola was eating her hay while Lolli brushed her. Lolli’s father was there, too, fixing a piece of the fence that had come loose.

  Truman raced over to greet the kids, barking and wagging his tail. Janey hugged him. “I’m glad you brought Truman along,” she told Ms. Tanaka, giggling as Truman licked her chin.

  Ms. Tanaka smiled. “Truman loves going places,” she said. She greeted Mr. Simpson and the other kids. Then she stepped toward the pen. “Oh, you were right—Lola is adorable!”

  The pony took one more bite of hay, then wandered over to say hello. Ms. Tanaka scratched Lola’s neck, which made her stretch out and grunt happily.

  “Hey, she likes that!” Zach exclaimed.

  “Horses usually love having their itchy spots scratched,” Ms. Tanaka said with a chuckle. She glanced at the pony’s hooves. “Oh, dear, it looks as if Lola hasn’t had her feet done in quite a while.”

  “Yeah, Zach’s mom said something about that, too,” Adam said. “Can you show us how to do it?”

  Ms. Tanaka shook her head. “That’s a job for an expert,” she said. “Lola will need to see a farrier soon—that’s another name for a horseshoer, or a blacksmith. She’s probably also behind on her shots and deworming, and might even need her teeth floated.”

  “Floated?” Zach laughed. “Lola’s pretty small for a horse, but she’s too big to fit in the bathtub!�
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  Ms. Tanaka laughed, too. “Floating is the term for a horse getting her teeth filed down,” she explained. “If it isn’t done regularly, her teeth can get sharp and cut her mouth when she tries to eat.”

  “Oh.” Janey bit her lip. “I guess that’s not something we can do ourselves, either?”

  “No, sorry.” The teacher shrugged. “You’ll need either a vet or a special horse dentist.”

  Lolli’s father had been listening. “All this is starting to sound expensive,” he commented.

  “Yes. Keeping a pony isn’t cheap.” Ms. Tanaka looked sympathetic. She rubbed the pony’s shaggy mane and glanced at the kids. “If Lola stays with the Pet Rescue Club much longer, you’ll probably need to think about how to raise enough money to pay for her care.”

  “Yeah.” Janey traded an anxious look with her friends.

  What had they gotten themselves into?

  Horsing Around

  Lolli could tell that her father was worried about what Ms. Tanaka had said. “It’s okay,” she said quickly. “We can have a fundraiser. Right, guys?”

  “Yeah!” Zach and Janey said at the same time, while Adam nodded.

  But Lolli’s dad shook his head. “I don’t know, kids,” he said. “This might be more than we can handle. Lola really needs to be with knowledgeable horse people. We should probably call the shelter in Lakeville—it sounds like they have people there who know how to take care of horses.”

  “No!” Lolli cried. “We want to help Lola ourselves!”

  “Yeah, tons of people have already seen her on the blog,” Janey said.

  Lolli’s dad looked dubious. “But you told me you haven’t heard from anyone who sounded right for Lola.”

  “Ms. T is going to help us write a better ad,” Zach told him. “Right, Ms. T?”

  Ms. Tanaka was staring thoughtfully at Lola. “I might be able to do better than that,” she said. “I just had an idea.”

  Lolli’s heart jumped. “What is it?”