Lara Bergen: Sophie the Zillionaire

Penny? Perfect? Sophie the Zillionaire did not think so.

She cleared her throat. “Um, do you think I could have Duchess instead? You might not know this,” she said softly — she did not want the other girls to feel bad — “but I have a fifty-dollar bill at home. I’m almost the richest kid in my class. So a horse named Penny doesn’t seem right.”

“I see,” said Tallulah. She turned to Penny’s stall. A reddish brown face was peeking out. It nodded two times. Then it blew and made a soft, shivery horse sound.

“Too bad,” Tallulah went on. “I think Penny really likes you.”

Really? Penny liked her?

The pony nodded again.

“Do you still want to switch?” Tallulah asked her.

“No, that’s okay.” Sophie shook her head. Tallulah was right. Penny did like her. And she liked Penny, too, now.

Plus Penny was not a small pony at all. She was big. Much bigger than Sophie. So big, Sophie wondered how she would ever get up on her back.

“Is there a ladder?” she asked Tallulah. “I’m ready to go!”

“Yeah!” cheered the other girls. They were ready, too!

But they learned that this was not how it worked.

They learned that before you rode a horse or a pony, you had to groom it. And that meant lots of brushing — which was fun.

It also meant cleaning the pony’s feet — which was hard if he didn’t want to pick them up (like Kate’s pony, Joker).

Joker whinnied as Kate kept trying.

“He’s laughing at me,” Kate groaned.

They also learned that before you rode, you and your pony both had to dress up. The pony had to put on a bridle and a blanket. Oh, and a saddle. Of course. The riders had to put on hard hats. They were a lot like helmets, but very plain. (Sophie decided when she was a zillionaire, she would buy a fancy one.)

Then the riding part came. Finally! That was when the girls learned other things.

Things like:

You didn’t use a ladder to get on the pony. You used a big box called a mounting block, instead. And you always got on from the pony’s left side. And you had to be fast, or he would walk off.

Also, the ground looked really far away from the top of a pony! Sophie was glad to be wearing her hard hat then. She did not care at all that it was plain.

Once the girls were on their ponies, they rode around a ring. Kate got to be first. Sophie was in the middle, as usual. But that was fine with her. Steering a pony was not easy.

“Just follow Ringo,” Sophie whispered in Penny’s tall ear.

And she did. The whole time. Penny was such a smart pony!

Then they learned that an hour of riding went fast. Even when you were just riding around … and around … and around.

And all that grooming you did before you rode? You had to do it all over again after.

And they also learned that there were pony treats — like dog treats, but much bigger. And that pony teeth were big, too. And that pony drool was not too bad. (Pony poop, though, kind of was.)

And Sophie learned one more thing. This was probably the most important: A horse’s name did not matter. They were all great, no matter what!

In fact, Sophie knew what she would buy before a fancy hard hat or a fast car when she was a real zillionaire: a horse farm and lots of ponies just like Penny.

And lots of air freshener, too!

Sophie had more reasons than ever to be a zillionaire now. She had to buy all those things. And pay someone to do her chores. And she had to have more money than Mindy VonBoffmann, of course.

Sophie did not think the first thing could happen before Monday. Pony farms were pricey, she bet.

But the next two things might happen fast — if her bake sale went well.

Sophie told Kate about her amazing bake sale idea as Kate’s mom drove them home from the farm.

Kate wanted to help. “But if I help, do I get to make some money, too?” Kate asked.

Sophie thought about this for a second. Kate had a good point.

Plus if Kate made her own money, Sophie would not have to buy her gum. Kate could buy it herself.

Sophie grinned and shook Kate’s hand. “We are now business partners!” she said.

On Sunday afternoon, Kate came over.

“So, what are we baking?” she asked.

Sophie smiled. What else? “What is the alltime best-ever bake sale treat?” she said.

Kate rubbed her hands together. Her eyes got very big. She licked her lips and smiled back at Sophie. “Rice Krispies Treats!”

Huh? No. Sophie shook her head.

“Chocolate chip cookies!” she said.

Kate’s eyes got normal again. “Oh. Are you sure?” she asked.

“Sure I’m sure. Besides, I already made a sign,” Sophie said.

She held up a big piece of cardboard she’d found in the garage. She had written big words on it in Magic Marker.

BAKE SALE TODAY!

CHOCKLIT CHIP COOKEES!

#5 — CHEEP!

Kate scratched a freckle on her chin. “Are you sure you wrote that right?” she asked.

Sophie studied her sign. “Maybe that’s not the way you spell ‘chocolate.’ But it’s close enough,” she said.

Kate shook her head. “I don’t mean that. I mean the price. Five dollars for one cookie?”

“Well, yeah!” Sophie nodded hard. “Don’t you want to make as much money as we can?” she asked.

Kate shrugged. “I guess so. It just seems like a lot,” she said.

Sophie looked at the sign. Hmm. Maybe Kate was right. Maybe that was a lot. For one regular cookie.

So she added two words.

DEELISHUS!

and

SPESHUL!

“Better?” Sophie asked Kate.

Kate grinned. “Yes,” she said. “Uh … but are you sure you spelled those right?”

“Who cares?” Sophie waved her hand. That was not important when there were cookies to make!

The girls headed into the kitchen. Sophie put on an apron. She gave Kate one, too.

Then Sophie pulled out her cookbook. It was the one just for kids. She turned past the Stone Soup. And the Easy-Cheesy Carrots and Peasies. But she stopped at the World’s Best Rocko-Chocko Chips.

Yes!

“Okay,” Sophie said. “We need some butter….” She opened the fridge.

Just then, her mom walked in.

“Guess what? Dad took Max to the playground. So I’m all yours. How can I help?” she asked.

Sophie waved her mom out of the room. “You can’t,” she said.

Her mom looked surprised. “Are you sure?”

“I am very sure,” Sophie said.

She was very sure that she and Kate could make the cookies all by themselves. And she was very sure that she did not want to split the profits with anyone else. Not even her mom.

“Okay …,” her mom said. She used that voice that sounded like she did not really mean it. “But call me when it’s oven time. You girls do need help with that.”

“Fine,” Sophie said, blowing her bangs off her forehead.

She rolled her eyes as her mom left.

“Moms,” she and Kate both said.

Then they got baking.

They mixed everything the book said to mix, step by step by step. They also mixed in some eggshells. (That was an accident. They got them out, mostly.) Then all they needed were chocolate chips!

“Hey!” Sophie said, poking all around the pantry.

“Hay is for horses,” Kate joked.

“No, hey is for ‘Where are the chocolate chips?!’” Sophie said.

She poked around some more. Kate poked, too. Where could they be?