The episode opens with Dr. Judy checking Belle over. Judy says that Belle's had a rough time of it, and will need a lot of TLC, but that she's going to be okay. Stevie cuddles Belle, and wonders how anyone could abandon such a beautiful horse.
We then cut to the mysterious lady we met at the end of the last episode. She's reading Deborah's article about Stevie finding Belle. For some reason, she's standing at the end of her driveway, reading aloud to herself, which doesn't seem like a particularly fun or comfortable way to read the paper. (Why not sit down in you kitchen and have a cup of tea?) She reads that finding Belle was a 'dream come true' for Stevie, and snarkily says, 'Wakey wakey Stephanie, have I got a surprise for you!' Geez, what a bitchy thing to say. I get wanting your horse back, but there's no need to shit on the kid who found her!
At the Pine Hollow lounge, Kristi complains to Veronica about how boring things are now that Johnny Brightstar has left. She hopes that he'll write to her, and Veronica snarks that she doubts Johnny can write. (Hah!) The girls proceed to fight like an old married couple - Kristi is upset that Veronica doesn't support her 'boyfriends,' and Veronica says she's had better conversations with her horse than she has with Johnny. (Double hah!) Kristi storms off.
Stevie is with Belle in her stall, when Sam walks by, leading Comanche. Stevie introduces him to Belle, and reminds Sam of Comanche's favourite snacks. Lisa remarks that Stevie misses Comanche, and Stevie says that it's weird to see him with another rider. This seems pretty unlikely, given that Comanche's a school horse - I really doubt Stevie was the only student at Pine Hollow who regularly rode him. Stevie then - completely inexplicably - tries to saddle Belle, despite the fact that Judy just said the mare has a long recovery ahead of her. You shouldn't be trying to ride her right now, Stevie! Time and place!
Veronica tries to patch things up with Kristi by inviting her to an upcoming concert. While chasing after her, she trips and faceplants on the ground. Veronica complains that she tripped because she has to wear her old boots, and she's lost one of her new ones. Her bad luck from the previous episode is continuing, and Kristi's convinced that Veronica is still cursed.
Stevie cuddles Comanche in his stall, and apologises for not spending as much time with him lately. She tells Comanche they'll go for a ride on the beach together, a line which has absolutely bewildered me. Where is this show supposed to be taking place? I thought we were in rural Victoria? How are The Saddle Club able to go riding through the bush and the mountains and also within riding distance of a beach? Carole rushes over and says something's wrong with Belle.
Johnny arrives back at Pine Hollow, but Kristi's excitement at seeing him is quickly cut short. His southern accent and western riding clothes are all gone - he explains to Kristi that those were only part of the show, and she quickly catches the ick.
Carole tells Stevie that Red's trying to bring Belle from her paddock back into the stables, but she's refusing to let him lead her, and keeps running away from him. At the same time, we see a car and trailer pulling in at Pine Hollow. More menacing music is playing, so we already know it's Bitchy McBitchface from earlier. Carole tries to catch Belle, to no avail. Stevie has a go, and Belle calms down enough for Stevie to lead her back to the stables. Deborah notices this, and is impressed by the bond between the two.
Veronica furiously searches for her missing boot, and admits to herself that maybe she is cursed. Mrs. Reg overhears her, and asks what's going on. Veronica admits that she thinks she's cursed, and that she's had a string of bad luck, including losing her boot, falling over, and the poison ivy. Mrs. Reg points out that these are hardly catastrophic events. Mrs. Reg gives one of her inspirational speeches, and tells Veronica she isn't cursed, she's just experiencing life. She tells Veronica that she'll find her boot when she deserves it. (Even though she wouldn't, I like to think that Mrs. Reg purposefully hid it to take the kid down a peg or two.)
Deborah tells Max about how she saw Stevie with Belle, and is impressed with the bond they shared. They're interrupted by the arrival of the mysterious lady, who says she's looking for Stevie. Meanwhile, The Saddle Club are with Belle in her stall, and Stevie happily declares that Belle is 'safe now.' Oh, Stevie, how wrong you are. Max and Deborah arrive with the newcomer, and Max introduces her as Chelsea Owens. She explains that Belle is actually called Blackie, and that she belongs to her. Stevie demands to know how they can be sure Chelsea wasn't the one who abandoned Belle, and Chelsea pulls out the police report she filed when the horse was stolen. Stevie retorts with, 'She's mine now! I found her!' She thinks that, since Belle 'chose' her (deep sigh) she shouldn't have to go back to Chelsea. Max gently explains to her that Belle belongs to Chelsea, and there's nothing they can do about it. Chelsea leaves with Belle as a tearful Stevie watches on.
Back at her farm, Chelsea tries to approach an agitated Belle in her paddock. Belle rears, making no physical contact whatsoever with Chelsea, which somehow causes her to fall over. Belle then gallops off.
Deborah feels guilty about Stevie losing Belle, as she's the one who wrote the article about the two of them. Max tells her not to blame herself, because Chelsea is Belle's legal owner, and had every right to take her back. Deborah agrees, and says that at least Stevie still has Comanche to ride, right? Max looks sheepish, and explains that he's already told Sam that he can ride Comanche in lessons for now on, which means Stevie won't get to ride him as much as she used to. (This seems pretty implausible to me - surely Stevie and Sam aren't taking every single one of their lessons in the same group?) A determined-looking Deborah declares that she has to do something to make things up to Stevie, and that she's going to 'make some phone calls.' You get 'em, Deborah!
Deborah takes Stevie to Chelsea's farm to visit Belle. They find Chelsea, who explains that Belle has broken out of her paddock and run away. She says that she didn't bother going after Belle because the mare's 'crazy' and could've trampled her. Stevie hears Belle neighing in the distance, and runs after her.
Chelsea says that Belle is long gone, but Stevie says she's just hiding because she's scared. Belle gallops over, and Stevie manages to calm her down. Chelsea thanks her for catching Blackie, and Stevie yells at her that's it's an awful name. (I do think Stevie's been pretty unreasonable these two episodes, but I'll give her credit here. It is a pretty shit name.)
Deborah implores Chelsea to give Belle to Stevie, because the two of them belong together. Chelsea threatens to call the police on the two of them, and it's at this point that Deborah absolutely comes in clutch. She proceeds to blackmail Chelsea, pointing out what an awful string of bad luck Chelsea has had, with four horses being stolen lately. Isn't it fortunate, though, that Chelsea's had the good luck of a nice insurance payout with each theft? In fact, Deborah bets that Chelsea's already got paperwork filled out to file a claim for Belle. Deborah then says that if the police aren't interested in hearing this, she's certain that her readers will be. To all of this, I say: ATTA GIRL, DEBORAH!
Veronica's bad luck continues, with her falling into a straw-filled wheelbarrow. She whines to Mrs. Reg about how the how world is against her, and she doesn't deserve this bad luck. Mrs. Reg (who has the patience of a saint) gives an inspirational speech about how the world isn't against Veronica - Veronica is against Veronica. In an absolutely stunning turn of events, Veronica is receptive to this advice, and hugs Mrs. Reg. Immediately afterwards, Veronica spots her lost boot. Seems her luck's changing already!
Max and Deborah are cosying up by the campfire together, and Deborah asks Max about the story he told about Belle. She asks him if he's ever seen Belle himself, and Max says that he has not. Deborah wonders how Max is able to believe in something even though he hasn't seen it with his own eyes. Max tells her that nothing is true if you don't believe in it. (This is all starting to feel like a very heavy-handed metaphor for religion ...) They continue to canoodle by the fire.
The next day, Stevie tells Carole and Lisa how great it was to see Belle one last time. She wonders if Belle will remember her, and Lisa says, 'Why don't you ask her yourself?' We see that Chelsea has arrived back at Pine Hollow with Belle. Turns out Chelsea's had a complete change of heart, and she agrees that a horse has to choose its rider - and Belle has chosen Stevie. Chelsea tells The Saddle Club to go and tell 'that journalist woman' what she's done, because Deborah's opinion is important to her. Maybe Chelsea's hasn't had a change of heart after all, and is just reverse-blackmailing Deborah to stop her reporting on her insurance fraud ...
The episode ends with Stevie formally introducing Belle to Comanche. She tells them that they'll love each other, and the horses nuzzle each other.
Overall, I'd say these two episodes were good, but not great. There was a fair bit going on here - the 'supernatural ghost horse' plot and the 'Stevie comes across a neglected horse and has to convince the owner to let her keep it' plot. I think the episodes would've been stronger if one of these had been chosen, instead of trying to work in both. Not to pull the 'I read the books' card, but from what I remember of the books, Stevie's parents bought Belle for her as a present. Stevie then discovered that Belle was stolen when her old owners come looking for her. That would've been a perfectly interesting premise for these episodes - and much more realistic than what we got here. Then again, I do get the sense that the writers for The Saddle Club weren't interested in it being believable ...
Running Tallies:
Crimes Committed by the Saddle Club: Am I the only one who feels the need to point out that Deborah was totally okay with letting Chelsea continue her insurance fraud scheme, as long as Stevie ended up being allowed to keep Belle? Deborah pretty much straight-up says that she won't snitch on Chelsea if she gives Stevie the horse. Nothing in the episode indicates that Chelsea is going to stop making her fake insurance claims. So I feel I have to give Stevie one point here - she was present when Deborah was blackmailing Chelsea, so she knew what was happening! (The Saddle Club: Totally okay with insurance fraud! Has quite a ring to it, doesn't it?)
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