Roger and Murph were trying to hold the horse's head relatively still by hanging on to the tether.  It wasn't working; he was dragging them with him as he moved around.  She saw that Murph was making a step with his hands, and Nick was trying to climb onto the back of her horse.
     Chevalier half-reared and apparently came down on Roger's foot; the boy screamed and shoved the big animal's chest.  Murph hauled back and struck the horse in the nose with his fist.
     Stacy knew that a horse's nose was very tender and it was not that hard to break the bone that came down the center of it.  With a scream of primal rage she tackled Murph and knocked him to the ground with herself on top of him, punching him in the face and still yelling at the top of her lungs.  Chevalier reared again, giving Roger a chance to free his foot.  Dropping the tether, the boy staggered away with a loud curse.  Nick and Will pulled her up off of Murph, but she struggled and struck at them with her fists and her feet.  She was hitting hard, making them flinch; someone was battering her as well but she didn't care about that.
     "Hold it!  Hold it!  Hold it!"  It was a man's voice.  Someone pulled her away from Nick and Will.  Two teachers were holding them away from her, too.  On the ground, Murph groaned, and somewhere in the background Roger moaned "My foot!  My foot!  I need a doctor!"
     Chevalier took a step forward — people tried to stop him but they didn't slow him down — and stuck his nose in Stacy's face.  He was breathing very hard, his eyes rolled and the whites showed all around them.  His face and neck were sweaty.  He was scared, she realized.  She blew softly in his nostrils and whispered, "It's okay, boy.  It's okay.  Easy there my friend.  You'll be okay."  The teacher holding her arms let go of her then and she reached up to embrace her horse's neck.  "Just go easy there, Chevalier."  In the distance, there was a siren.
     "—can't believe some jerk would attack a horse!  Whoever it was, he's in big trouble!  A thing like this in Arrowhead!"
     Stacy looked around to see Principal Marsh hurrying across the lawn.  She saw him stop and take in the scene, including the two boys under restraint, the one on the ground, and his own son standing there on one foot looking ashamed.  The Principal's expression changed.  Stacy didn't know him well enough to read what he was feeling but she could tell it wasn't anything comfortable.  She felt sorry for him.
     He said, "The paramedics are coming.  When they're through, I want these boys in my office."

     As it turned out, he would have to talk to his son later in the hospital because Roger's foot was broken in four places.  Murph was all right although he certainly looked like he had been in a fight.  Stacy was waiting in the Principal's outer office when Murph, Nick, and Will came out.  She looked up and met Nick's eyes.
     He said, "I just thought it would be funny to ride your horse."
     She stared hard into his eyes and told him, "If you ever mess with me or my horse again, I'll make him step on you."
     "I won't," he said quickly.

     A veterinarian had been called out to make sure Chevalier's nose wasn't broken.  It wasn't, just slightly bruised.  Both of Stacy's parents drove into town to make sure she was all right.  She was slightly bruised too.  They wanted to drive her home but she said no, she would walk and lead Chevalier.  She wanted to keep him in the halter because she thought the bridle might pinch his sore nose.
     It was a long walk home, because Chevalier paused for grass here and there and although she could have made him leave it alone, she didn't have the heart to do it today.  Besides, it gave her time to think.
     She thought Nick and his friends wouldn't be bothering anyone at school anymore.  Between Dane's methods and her parents', she was pretty sure it was Dane's methods that had worked.  You had to stand up to bullies.  But then again, it was Principal Marsh who had really stopped them so maybe her parents' method had worked, after all.  Or maybe life wasn't that simple and it was a little bit of everything.  She didn't know.  All she knew was that she wasn't afraid to walk home from school anymore.   She leaned against her mighty warrior steed, watching him munch the grass by the side of the road, and thought it was a lovely day.

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