Pick Your Poison Part 2

Jerichogirl: HF RU SIC?

About ten seconds later, a message appeared.

TexMex: HF NOT NOW Jerichogirl: NIKKI 2 INFIRMARY. HOME NOW & CRABBY TexMex: Y Jerichogirl: NO -1 2 EXERCISE SHOW STOPPER ON JUMPS TexMex: FYI I KNOW HORSES. I CAN DO IT Jerichogirl: TOM? TexMex: 2DAY IF I CAN GET RIDE W/JAMES. GF GOES 2UR SCHOOL Jerichogirl: K Nearly a minute pa.s.sed while Jeri watched her blinking cursor. Then words popped up again.

TexMex: SORRY NOT GOING 2DAY. WHAT NOW Jerichogirl: IDK I CAN RIDE NOT JUMP TexMex: IBRB Jeri waited, but he wasn't right back. It was blank so long she wondered if her Internet connection was broken. Too bad his friend James wasn't coming to see his girl-friend today. Jeri was ready to close down when another message popped up.

TexMex: U THERE.

Jerichogirl: AAK.

TexMex: JAMES CHANGED MIND. I CAN B THERE @ 4 2 RIDE.

Jerichogirl: THX NIKKI WILL B GLAD!!!!! ME2 BFN TexMex: 4. EOM CU L8R Jerichogirl: TTFN HAGD HAGD. Have a great day. Jeri smiled. She planned to have a great day now too.

After a roast-and-potatoes Sunday dinner in the dining hall, Jeri changed into old clothes to wear to the barn later. They were last year's jeans, which she'd outgrown, mak-ing them fashionably tight hip huggers now. Except they didn't stay up as well as they used to, she thought, giving them an extra tug. She wasn't wearing tight jeans because Dallas was coming, she a.s.sured herself. They were just old, and it wouldn't matter if they got dirty. Her T-shirt covered everything as long as she kept her arms down.

Abby joined Jeri and Rosa in their room later. "Nikki's having a little kip. I'm awfully glad Dallas can help," she said. "This is all my fault."

"I'd feel rotten if I were you too," Rosa agreed.

Jeri frowned. Couldn't Rosa sound more sympathetic? Jeri tipped her desk chair back against the wall. "I bet the food from the store was bad. It was delivered, right?"

Abby nodded. "That redhead - Scottie? - brought the food."

"He's a cutie," Rosa said, smacking her lips loudly.

Jeri ignored her. "What time did he come?"

"Around three. Maybe later."

"Did you save the receipt? Something you signed?"

Abby nodded. "I had to keep records of the costs for my project."

"Can I see it?" An idea was forming in Jeri's mind. "What if-" She cut herself off. No use getting Abby's hopes up yet.

Abby retrieved the receipt, and Jeri studied it in silence. The time stamped on the signed ticket was 3:09 p.m. the day before. The store's phone number was printed at the bottom. She wondered when Scottie actually left the store with Abby's delivery. She reached for her phone. Five min-utes later, she hung up and turned to Abby with a smile.

"I think I know what happened, and it wasn't your fault." She waved the receipt. "It says here that Scottie de-livered your food at 3:09. According to Mr. Howard, he left the store before 2:00 with only one delivery -yours. The grocery store's only a ten-minute drive away, so he was probably at Landmark School by 2:10. Apparently Scottie got in trouble for taking a detour to visit his girlfriend. He must have done it before coming here." She paused and leaned forward. "Get it?"

Abby's eyes widened. "Scottie left my groceries in a hot car for an hour!"

Jeri nodded. "That's how the cold stuff spoiled."

Rosa snapped her .ngers. "And why those biscuits exploded so easily. They were already hot."

"Smashing!" Abby cried, sinking back in her chair. "Brilliant."

"Let's go tell Ms. Carter," Jeri said.

"I agree with your deductions, girls," Ms. Carter said a few minutes later in her of.ce. She hugged Abby. "Now you can stop feeling so bad. There's no way we could have known Scottie left the food in a hot car." A small frown puckered her forehead. "I do need to call Headmistress Long about this though. The school buys fresh produce and milk from the store. We can't have this happening again."

Jeri tapped the list. "Abby, it says you ordered fresh mushrooms."

"For the salad."

"Aren't some kinds of mushrooms poisonous?"

Ms. Carter nodded. "Yes, but not the kind you buy in the store. This time of year people get sick from eating mushrooms they .nd growing in the wild. Morel mush-room hunting is very popular in the spring, but people accidentally pick poisonous mushrooms as well."

An idea was forming in Jeri's mind about doing an ar-ticle on accidental food poisoning for her media fair entry. She'd start her article with Nikki going to the in. rmary and tell about tracking down the source of the food poisoning. Could she mention Scottie or Howard's Grocery without getting sued? Surely she'd be safe if she stuck to the truth about him leaving the food in a hot car. After all, truth was what investigative reporters uncovered and exposed.

She could also discuss other kinds of food poisoning. There must be photos online comparing poisonous and safe mushrooms. The school also had a greenhouse near the Sports Center, and she knew Mr. Petrie, the gardener. She'd liked him ever since he gave her some . owers for Abby when she was sick a few months ago. Jeri bet she could get an interview with him and also with Nikki. Noth-ing like quotes from an expert plus the victim to give her article a boost.

The doorbell rang, interrupting her planning. Jeri glanced up. Four o'clock already! This time she beat Rosa to the door-but barely-tugging her tight jeans higher as she walked.

Together they led Dallas back to Ms. Carter's of. ce, and Jeri explained why he was there. "Can Nikki show Dallas what exercises to do with Show Stopper?"

"She can't go to the barn -not today. Doctor's orders." Ms. Carter tapped a pencil on the desk. "The horse show means so much to her, though. How about if she comes downstairs and gives you some instructions? Would that be enough, Dallas?"

"Yes, ma'am." He twisted his Stetson around in his hands. "I only need a list of the exercises to put him through. Jeri can show me his stall then. My ride doesn't go back to Patterson till six o'clock."

"You're kind to help her out," Ms. Carter said. "She'll be very grateful." She grinned suddenly. "Even if she doesn't show it much."

Jeri laughed and then went to get Nikki. Nikki hurried downstairs, still wearing her sweats and a wrinkled T-shirt that declared "Treat a woman like a racehorse, and she'll never be a nag." She hadn't combed her hair in two days, Jeri bet. She envied Nikki for not caring how she looked-her rumpled appearance, her bedhead, her dark sunken eyes, the sleep crease across her cheek. Show Stopper was her only concern.

Nikki wrote out a detailed list of exercises, giving Dallas all kinds of pointers that Jeri knew he didn't need. But Dallas just nodded. Then she produced a digital camera for Jeri. "Photograph each exercise from every angle. Also try to snap the exact moment they go over fences."

Jeri nodded and slipped the camera case strap over her shoulder. "Let's go," she said, smiling at Dallas.

"Wait up!"

Jeri turned as Rosa grabbed her pink ball cap from the hall tree. Jeri fumed silently. Why did Rosa have to come? She'd do all the talking now.

Nikki disappeared into the study while Jeri waited for Rosa to make a ponytail. From inside the study, Jeri heard Brooke ask Nikki for a small loan. "Just for a couple days till Dad puts my allowance in my account."

"Okay," Nikki said, "but no more till you pay me back."

Jeri shook her head. She couldn't imagine being Nikki or Brooke, whose parents .lled their checking accounts. Oh, well! "Come on, Rosa. Your hair looks . ne."

Rosa followed them out the door and pulled it closed after her. "Thanks for helping Nikki," Rosa said, falling into step on the other side of Dallas.

Jeri moved over to make room for her on the narrow sidewalk and slipped off the edge, turning her ankle. She could walk in the gra.s.s beside Dallas, but that felt stupid. Jeri dropped behind them. Dallas glanced over his shoul-der, moved to the gra.s.s himself, and motioned Jeri forward to walk in the middle. Her heart warmed as she moved between them. Rosa didn't seem to care, though, as she chattered nonstop all the way to the barn.

The next two hours was the most fun Jeri'd had in weeks. She could have watched Dallas trot and canter around the outdoor ring all night. He barely touched the saddle, not thwumping it repeatedly like some of the r iders. Jeri noticed several girls studying Dallas on Nikki's thoroughbred.

As Jeri photographed Dallas, she couldn't help wishing she'd worn a bigger pair of jeans. She had to stretch to take the photos, and every time she reached up to snap a picture, she felt a breeze on her bare stomach. At least Dallas was too busy to watch her.

Jeri's heart leapt as Dallas and Show Stopper sailed over one barrier and hedge after another. If she didn't know better, she'd guess Dallas had been riding Show Stopper for years instead of an hour. Nikki could relax. Her horse was in good hands.

Rosa climbed on the bottom fence board beside her and hung her arms over the top. "Getting some good pictures?"

"I think so." Jeri shaded her eyes against the setting sun.

"Do you like Dallas?" Rosa asked. "I could help you get him." She gave Jeri's out.t a once-over. "It wouldn't be that hard if you dressed like that every day."

"I don't want to get him!" Jeri concentrated on taking more photos, glad for an excuse not to look at Rosa, but she felt the heat crawling up her neck.

"Playing hard to get?" Rosa wrinkled her nose. "That's not my style, but it might work on Dallas."

"Oh stop it, Rosa," Jeri said. "Dallas is friends with me, like he is with every girl."

"It wouldn't have to stay that way." When Jeri didn't respond, Rosa shrugged. "Suit yourself. See ya later." Rosa wandered over to a group of girls.

Jeri watched her go and then turned to take more pictures. Across the exercise ring, several small groups of people had lined up along the fence to watch. Jeri ignored them and kept taking pictures until Dallas .nished the last exercise.

Later, while Dallas brushed Show Stopper's glistening coat, Jeri carried buckets of water to the stall. In the corner by the hay bag, she noticed a dark cloth and bent to get it. It was a blue bandana. "Is this yours?"

"Nope." Dallas pulled one from his back pocket. "Mine's right here."

Jeri hung the dusty bandana over the stall door and then got an apple from the bucket that Sam, the stable hand, always left by the tack room.

"Here." She handed it to Dallas.

"Thanks." He glanced at her stomach, then away. "Show Stopper earned it."

"So did you!" Self-consciously, Jeri pulled her shirt down. "Nikki was so worried earlier today. Thank you for doing this."

Dallas grinned. "I enjoyed it. We can't afford to board my horse at school, so this has been fun for me."

"I know Nikki's grateful too."

Suddenly tongue-tied, she turned quickly and bent to brush dust from her jeans. She liked being Dallas's friend, but she'd lied to Rosa earlier. She didn't want to just be friends with him. But would a boy as nice as Dallas C handler ever notice a girl as uncool as Jeri McKane?

She let out a big sigh. Talk about wishful thinking.

4.

danger, warning, caution.

Monday after school Nikki was waiting for Jeri when she got back to the dorm. Under her wild and uncombed hair, her face was a mottled red, but Jeri couldn't tell if she was sick again -or mad.

"What's wrong?" she asked, hanging her jacket on the hall tree.

"Your friend Dallas is a dumb cowboy!" she snapped. "Show Stopper's sick today. Sam called from the horse barn."

"Sick?" Jeri frowned. "A fever? What?"

"He won't eat! Dallas must have fed him the wrong food! I bet he didn't cool him down after his workout either."

"He did just what you told him to," Jeri said. Nikki had a lot of nerve, even if she was worried.

"Well, Show Stopper's totally off his feed and really sluggish. Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe Sam should call the vet."

"He did." Nikki plopped down on the bottom step of the staircase. "He couldn't .nd anything wrong."

Jeri sat beside her. "Show Stopper probably just misses you as much as you miss him," she said.

"You think so?" Nikki gave a lopsided grin. "Maybe you're right. Sorry."

Jeri grinned back.

Late that night Jeri read her murder mystery in bed long after Rosa fell asleep. At the end of her chapter, her bedside clock read 11:21. She yawned so wide her jaws popped. If she didn't get to sleep soon, she'd snooze through her cla.s.ses tomorrow.

She headed to the restroom, her feet padding quietly in the empty hall. She'd .nished and was washing her hands when she heard running footsteps. Brooke pushed open the restroom door and dashed to a stall. She was sick to her stomach once, then again.

And again.

The toilet .ushed, but Brooke didn't come out. Jeri .nally swung open the stall door. Overhead lights were bright, shining down on Brooke where she sat on the tile .oor, eyes closed.

Jeri knelt beside her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm .ne." Brooke clutched her stomach. "Now anyway."

Jeri felt Brooke's forehead like her mom always did when Jeri had the .u. "You don't feel feverish."

"I think it was something I ate. I got hungry while I was doing homework, so I went downstairs for a piece of cold pizza." She wrinkled her nose. "It didn't stay down."

"Was the pizza yours?" Each girl had her own small cupboard and a small labeled plastic container in the huge fridge for their own special food.

"Yeah, it was mine." Brooke stared at Jeri. "Why?"

"Nothing." Jeri took Brooke's arm and helped her to her feet. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to a rash on her hands. "Maybe you have chicken pox or measles."

"I don't. It's allergies, that's all."

"Can you make it back to your room alone? I'll go get Ms. Carter."