I can barely hear him above the pounding of my heart. Why is he picking on me? I know I’m not the best rider here, but there are six other girls and I’m the only one he’s corrected the whole lesson. It doesn’t help that Mr. Rodriguez watches quietly from the sidelines.

Olivia looks worried when she meets my gaze. Sorry, she mouths, making a face.

“Okay, let’s call it,” Max shouts, whacking the side of his boot with the riding crop. “Finish up, and don’t forget to groom your own horses. If you love them, show them.”

“Harsh,” Piper says loudly. She’s been trying to get his attention the whole lesson, and he’s barely said one word to her.

“But true,” he says. “Last lesson I had to groom all five horses. Not my job.”

“Pretty sure it is,” Piper says, tossing her perfectly curled hair. “My mom pays your dad to do that for us.” She hands him her horse’s reins and stomps off.

“Lulu and I always groom our own horses,” Olivia says, glaring at Piper’s back.

“Good for you,” he says, and I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic. He nods to me and saunters off with Piper’s horse.

“He did okay today,” Olivia whispers as we lead our horses back to the barn. “He was kind of tough on you, though.”

Remy nudges me with his nose. I lean against him briefly. “I guess.”

“I can tell him he was a jerk if you want me to,” she offers.

“No, it’s fine,” I say with a sigh. “He was right. I do need to keep my chin up.”

Olivia puts both hands on her hips. “Whatever. Next time he’s mean to you, I’ll show him how to keep his chin up.”

I shake my head. Now that class is over, Max is no longer important. I change the subject to what’s been on my mind the whole lesson. “I brought the book with the lock.”

“The one you need me to break into? Anything I should know about?”

“It’s an old book I found,” I say with a shrug. “You know how I am with mysteries.”

Olivia takes a rubber curry brush out of the bucket. “You like books too much in general.”

I ignore this and grab my backpack. I pull the book out carefully. “Here it is.”

“Ooh.” Olivia snatches the book from my hands and holds it reverently. “This looks super old! Where did you find it?”

“Nowhere special. Just tucked away.”

“Hmmm.” Olivia puts the lock up to the light. “It seems simple enough.”

“Don’t break it, though. I don’t want the pages ripping or anything.”