The boy introduces himself as Liam, Red's cousin. He says that he's come to Pine Hollow to buy a horse from Max, that his parents own a huge ranch, and that he's grown out of his old stallion. Phil's the only one who clocks that he's lying, and sarcastically says that Max doesn't have any stallions for sale. The Saddle Club chat with Phil about Liam's strange behaviour. While this is happening, Lisa grabs her stomach, and seems to be in pain. She insists nothing's wrong, and that she's just got a lot on her mind.
Red catches up with Liam. He asks about Liam's parents, but Liam explains that he came to Pine Hollow alone. He says his parents allowed him to visit because he got straight A's on his report card. Red seems oblivious to the fact that Liam is, once again, clearly lying, and says he better ring his parents to let them know he's arrived safely. Red takes him into Max's office to use the phone. Liam picks up one of Max's trophies, Red tells him not to touch it because it's Max's prized possession. Liam pretends to speak to his mother on the phone, but stops as soon as Red leaves the room.
Lisa is grooming Prancer, and her stomach seems to be hurting again. She tells Carole it's just a stitch. Carole says that Lisa seemed tired during the lesson, and offers to groom Prancer so Lisa can lie down. Lisa is horrified at this idea, and says she doesn't have time to lie down, she's too busy. In fact, she has to get home right this second to babysit Melanie.
Liam is once again telling tall tales, this time telling Stevie that he used to have a horse just like Comanche - before he moved to China. Yeah, right. Phil asks Liam how many hands high this horse was, Liam replies that horses don't have hands, they have hooves. Stevie thinks Liam's making a joke, and laughs. Phil offers to Stevie that he will turn Comanche out for her, which she accepts. Phil offers Liam the reins and tells him to turn Comanche out and Liam falteringly says he will - with his tack still on. Kid clearly knows nothing.
In the lounge, Stevie tells Carole that Phil's been acting weird. Phil comes in and tells the girls that Liam the 'horse expert' wanted to turn out Comanche without untacking him first. Carole doesn't believe him, and Stevie says that, technically, Phil offered to turn Comanche out, not Liam, so maybe Liam just didn't feel like it. Phil insists that Liam's a liar who doesn't know anything about horses. The girls accuse him of picking on Liam, and Phil says that he'll find proof.
Liam goes into Max's office, grabs a riding whip, and is playing around with it. Phil spots him, and when he asks Liam what he's doing, Liam jumps and knocks Max's trophy to the ground, breaking it. Max comes in, and Liam immediately pins it on Phil. Liam swears to Max that he didn't break it, and Max sends both the boys away. Red sticks up for Liam, saying Liam's not the type of kid to break something and not own up to it. Right. Max points out that's not really Phil's M.O. either, but Red states that he doesn't know Phil well, but he does know his cousin. Max tells him to keep a closer eye on Liam, to which Red takes a weird level of offence.
Lisa is heading out to exercise Prancer. Carole tells Lisa that if she waits, she can go with her, but Lisa says she has to study right after, and that this is the only fun thing she'll get to do today. Lisa canters through the woods with Prancer and is having a grand old time when her stomach starts hurting again. Lisa tells Prancer they should head back home.
At Pine Hollow, Max picks up a call for Red. It's Liam's parents. They have no idea where he is. Red also finds Liam's glasses on Max's desk. Red realises that Liam's been lying about his parents giving him permission to come and visit, and that Liam faked the phone call to his mother. Liam's chatting with Carole, and apparently tells her about going to riding camp in Hawaii. He talks about living in Bermuda as well. Carole's sympathetic because she relates, since she moved around a lot because her dad's in the military. Liam tells her that Red emailed him a lot about Pine Hollow, so he felt like he was already a part of the stables.
Stevie rips into Phil because she thinks he's lying about Liam breaking the trophy. Liam's bragging about riding a horse across the Great Wall of China when Red comes in. He says that Liam's been lying to everyone since he arrived at Pine Hollow. Liam's never been to China, and his parents have been worried sick ever since he ran away, that he can't be buying a horse because he lives in a condo, and that he knows Liam broke the trophy. Red apologises to Phil, and tells Liam to pack his bags.
Lisa is riding Prancer, and her stomach is hurting more and more. Liam sneaks out of the stables - you'd think, given he has a history of doing a runner, Red would keep a closer eye on him, but I guess not. Lisa falls off Prancer and is in so much pain she can't get up. Liam comes across Prancer, who, like Lassie, has run in search of help. Prancer leads him back to Lisa. She tells him she's in too much pain to move, and Liam has to get help for her. Liam's response is initially, 'Sorry, can't help, I've got my own problems.' Lisa asks him again to help her, and Liam decides to do the right thing and go back to Pine Hollow. Only when Liam gets back to the stables, nobody believes him.
Liam runs back to Lisa, and helps pull her to her feet. He says she has to get on Prancer. Prancer apparently realises what's up and lies down so that Lisa's able to get into the saddle - why didn't she just do this in the first place? Lisa tells Prancer to take her home, which Prancer does. What I'm taking away from all of this is that Prancer completely saved the day, and Liam's help wasn't really necessary for any of this.
Liam arrives back at the stables with Prancer and Lisa, and an ambulance is called. Later, Mrs. Reg tells Carole and Stevie that Lisa is going to be fine - she had appendicitis, but the doctors were able to operate just in the nick of time. Stevie and Carole feel guilty for not believing Liam the one time he was telling the truth. Liam comes in to say his goodbyes, and they ask if he'll come back to visit in the future. Liam says he assumed he wouldn't be welcomed back, but they say that, since he saved Lisa, he's welcome to visit any time. The three all hug. Liam also makes up with Red.
Carole apologises to Phil on her and Stevie's behalf for being wrong about Liam. Phil's impressed that Stevie Lake has admitted to being wrong. Stevie clarifies that she said she was sorry - she didn't say she was wrong.
Times a Child Almost Died While in Pine Hollow's Care: One count of Lisa very nearly dying from appendicitis. I primarily blame Red for this, since it does seem that Max left him in charge of the stables while he was out. I don't care what kind of track record Liam had when it came to being honest - if there was even the smallest chance that he was telling the truth, and that Lisa was in need of urgent medical attention, Red should've gone and investigated!!
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