His hand held out, the man said, “Pony Bob Haslam. Who are you?”
“Abby Weston,” I said.
“Where's your pa?” he asked.
“Sick,” I said. “But he'll ride again, see if he doesn't.” Stomping over to Blaze, I stroked his mane. “Don't worry, you're not in trouble,” I whispered. “That man didn't know how I teach you to help The Pony Express. You won't hold it against him, will you?”
He nickered and nuzzled my palm. His gentle touch reawakened the feelings I had for him. I began to understand why Pa had never let us name a horse, and Adam's determination to make me keep Blaze, but nothing would change my mind.
This horse belonged with The Pony. He had the endurance and speed they needed. As I stepped away, Adam snatched me up and carried me out of the corral over a shoulder.
“I told you to keep your mouth closed,” he scolded. “Now everyone knows you're a girl.”
“Wait up.” Pony Bob trotted over to us. “It wasn't her fault. I hurt the animal.”
“Why?” I asked as Adam set me down.
An adult defending me caused admiration to ooze from every pore. Maybe Pony Bob wasn't so bad after all, especially if he kept me out of a peck of trouble when I got home.
“It's how I know a horse won't quit on me. If I punch one, and he tries to bite me, I'll ride him. A horse with that kind of spirit will run his heart out for the company.”
“Come here,” I said.
After taking him back to Blaze, I held his hand up.
“This man wants you to help him deliver the mail,” I said. “He needs you to do your best. Can you do that for me?”
Blaze nodded. The man stared in amazement from the horse to me.
“Durn, Abby, you can talk to horses. I can't. They ignore what I tell them and do their own thing. Gal, you have a great career with The Pony.”
“No she doesn't,” Adam said.
I winced and sidled behind Pony Bob. He seemed like a nice man.
“Son, don't take away something like that.” He walked with us back inside the station. “Your little sister's special. Keep her working with horses because we need what she does. Those animals you provide always give me a good ride. A couple a times, they've even let me sleep for a while.”
Mrs. Carson bustled into the room with platters of sausages and scrambled eggs. Her husband followed with biscuits heaped high in a basket. I dug into the best breakfast since leaving home. Pony Bob kept filling my plate and urging me to eat.
“Don't want my favorite trainer riding home on an empty stomach,” he said.
Finally, I had to stop when my stomach threatened to burst. We all left the table and hurried outside. It was time to go home.
“You gave me something to think about, but I probably won't change my ways,” he said as my brothers saddled our horses. “I have to know a horse has some spirit before I get on his back.”
“Look in his eyes,” I said. “You can see his spirit there.”
“Rider in!”
The shout turned all attention to a dust cloud, this time rising from the east. Pony Bob hotfooted it back inside the bunkhouse and returned with his gear over a shoulder and two Colt's strapped across his chest. Mark and Charles helped the stationmaster saddle Blaze.
“Make me proud,” I whispered. “Show them what we did together.”
When the new rider raced into view, Pony Bob positioned himself for the pass off.
“See you next time, Abby!” he yelled as the other rider tossed the mochilla containing the mailbag.
“You bet,” I hollered
He raced for the mountains in the distance. I wished I could go with him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Pony Bob continued toward mountains so far away they looked tiny. I held my hand high, hoping he would look back and return my wave. He kept on riding until he became a speck against the cactus dotted desert, but he never looked back.
“Goodbye, Pony Bob,” I whispered. “I hope we meet again.”
“Which may never happen,” Adam said. “How could you, Abby? Ma and I both warned you to keep your mouth shut.”
My happiness fizzled. I should have let the others deal with Pony Bob.
Holy heck! Ma will rip away my backside.
“It's over and done,” Mark said. “Be best if we head home before the runt really gets into trouble.”
My brothers scowled at me as I scuffed a boot back and forth.
“I didn't mean to do it,” I said.
They turned their backs.
“Please don't tell Ma. Anything but that,” I begged. “He was hurting a horse. You know I can't stand that.”
Mrs. Carson bustled over to us with a bulging saddlebag.
“I slid leftover sausages between the biscuits. They'll taste good later.” She passed the package to Charles. “Return it when you come back.”
“Daylight's wastin'.” Mark gathered our horses. “Been good staying with you, Mrs. Carson.”
She scurried away when someone shouted, “Rider in!”
“Darn it, Abby,” he said after we rode away from the station. “You want everyone to talk about you for the rest of your life?”
I ignored his anger, Adam's stiff back, and Charles' snickers, focusing on the west and the image of an ocean. What was it like there? I'd never seen a large body of water.
Our well would never go dry. I bet it rains so much the vegetables are never runty. Living near an ocean sounds like paradise!
“Stay safe, Pony Bob,” I whispered.
“Ah, look at our baby sister,” Mark teased. “She fell for a rider.” His smile vanished.
“Forget about Pony Bob. He's more than twice your age, and we don't know much about him.”
“Abby, that was the most foolish thing you could have done,” Adam scolded. “I don't know what Ma and Pa will say.”
Panic settled into my bones. I had broken my promise to keep my mouth shut and obey my brothers.
“Ah, lay off,” Charles commented. “Mrs. Carson won't let any of those men pester her when we come back.” He grinned. “Hey, Adam, you've always wanted to talk to Pony Bob, but he never had the time. Maybe if Abby speaks to him nicely, you and he can make arrangements for you to join The Pony.”
Shock turned into hurt. I knew Adam dreamed of leaving the ranch and seeing some of the world, even get on The Pony. Tears pricked at my eyes.
“I gave up that dream when Pa got sick.” He glanced at me. “Hey, short stuff, I never really meant it. Ma and Pa need me around the ranch too much. Don't do that.”
I rubbed the tears away and stared off to the side, away from my brothers. He couldn't leave the ranch. He just couldn't. When would we ever get to see him?
Pony riders worked seven days a week in all kinds of weather and dangerous conditions. Adam might never come home again if he joined The Pony. I snuffled and swiped a sleeve under my nose as I thought about him living such a life.
By the time we stopped for the night, I wanted nothing more than my nice, safe home, one of Ma's suppers, the rest of my family around, and my soft, warm bed. Since I had another day before that happened, I kicked away all the rocks and curled up in my blankets, staring at the stars in the sky while my brothers sat around the fire.
“We should have taken the time to find the sheriff or gone to the Army garrison before we left,” Charles said.
He peered at me. I pretended I had already fallen asleep.
“Won't do any good,” Adam said. “No one will admit seeing what Mr. Johnson put in Pa's coffee, and the monsters won't fess up as to what Daniel gave them. They called it candy.”
“It sure seems strange that all three took sick right after the Johnsons met up with them,” Mark said.
My eyes slid closed against my will. Dreams claimed me.
The next morning, I took off the kerchief and let my braids hang down. Adam kept sending me irritated looks, but I ignored him while I handed out the last of the sausage biscuits. After washin
g them down with water, we rode toward our ranch, but no one said much. Near noon, I scanned the horizon for any sign of the building. A finger of smoke rose into the sky.
I lifted myself in the stirrups. Paiute never lit a fire in the open.
“That's our place,” Adam gasped.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Whipping the horse with my hat, I lay flat across its neck as the animal streaked for the barn. A hot wind blasted my face, and I stared intently as I rode toward home. Was that the kitchen stovepipe rising over the roof? Had Peter just scampered from the garden with vegetables in his hands?
“Abby, wait for us!” Adam shouted.
Hooves pounded behind me, but I never slowed my pace.
“Darn it, Abby,” Mark hollered. “Slow down before you get tossed.”
No horse would throw me, unless someone made them do it.
“Abby!” Charles bellowed.
Their futile yelling faded away as we rode pell-mell into the yard. Charred beams pointed at the sky, those not smoldering on the ground. Uncle Andy stood in front of what used to be the wash shack, cradling one arm with a hand. Smoke floated around Paul as I skidded my horse to a halt and threw myself off.
“Where are they?” I screamed as I scanned the area.
Paul pointed at the house. There was no sign of Ma, Pa, Bart, or Peter anywhere in the ruins.
“What do you mean in there?” Adam demanded. “What happened?”
“It was ... it was.” Tears dripped through the soot on Paul's face.
“Michael took sick again. Louisa was tending him,” Uncle Andy said. “She kept Peter at the house to help. Bart, Paul, and I were in the corral.” He sounded strange, like he had shut off his feelings. “The Johnsons rolled up tumbleweeds and set them on fire. The whole house went up in seconds. We tried. Lord knows, we tried. It was too hot to get close.”
“Where are they?” I yelled.
Ma and Pa couldn't be gone.
They're in the barn. That's it.
I took off at a run, determined to prove my parents and brothers had escaped.
“Abby, they're gone.” Uncle Andy grabbed my arm when I darted past him. “Honey, they couldn't get out of the house.”
“No!” I squalled. “Tell me it's not true!”
As Adam, Charles, Mark, and Paul dropped to the ground while tears streamed down their faces, I realized the truth. Ma, Pa, and Peter were gone. But what about Bart? Where was he?
I have to find Bart. The others are still alive if I do!
After yanking free of Uncle Andy, I dashed past the chicken coop and darted through the doors. Cats hissed and whizzed into the corners when I startled them. Their tails fluffed into huge brushes, and they snarled at me from behind hay bales.
“Where are you, Bart?” I cried.
Cows mooed, the pig grunted, and horses nickered while I searched every inch of the massive building, except the loft. A promise to Ma, and the thought she might find out, kept me off the ladder. Hay drifted in the air when I burst outside. Maybe Bart was in the chicken coop. It would be just like him to scare me.
“Ma's gonna burn your britches for scaring me. Holy heck, this isn't right. Don't tease me, Bart.”
Squawking loudly, chickens scattered in all directions. After another desperate but thorough search, I failed to find him.
“Abby, get over here!”
The harshness of Adam's voice made me stare at where the house had been. Mark took off his shirt and wrapped it around Uncle Andy's arm. Charles knelt beside Paul and hugged him. Adam hitched our horses to the corral fence.
“Where's Bart?” I screamed.
My voice came out scratchy, and my throat hurt. When no one answered, I scampered back to the barn and searched the loft.
That'll bring Ma back! Sure as shootin', it will. If I have to endure her hand against my backside, so be it!
I found nothing and went back outside.
“We have to deliver the next group of horses,” Adam said.
His insensitive comment drove through me like a knife. No one seemed to care we were orphans. A hiccup tore through me as I tried to hold in the pain ripping me apart.
“Don't go running off, Abby,” Uncle Andy called. “We don't know for sure if the Johnsons are gone.”
So what?
My errant thought drove me forward, until Mark spoke.
“Where is Bart?”
“Gone for the sheriff,” Paul said. “We can't let them get away with this. It's murder.”
A low snigger came from behind the barn. I grabbed a couple of rocks. A girl I might be, but I could throw as well as any of my brothers, maybe better.
“Show your ugly face,” I whispered. “I'll teach you a thing or two.”
Gabriel strolled out from behind the barn.
“Take that!” I pelted a rock at him, hitting his nose.
He yelped and ran. Adam and Mark tackled Gabriel.
“Are you hassling my sister again?” Mark demanded as they hauled him to his feet.
“She threw a rock at me,” Gabriel wailed.
“Hit you, too,” Adam commented. “And improved your looks. Did you do this?”
He pointed at the remains of our house.
“Looks like you can't finish your contract. Russell, Waddel, & Majors will have to deal with my family now.”
Gabriel's assessment brought out the anger I had squashed. I ran toward him, picking up a stick on my way.
He'll learn. No one, but no one messes with a Weston!
“Drop that right now, or I'll tan your hide!”
Bart's shout brought me up short. I spun around as he and a stranger wearing a tin badge on his shirt trotted into the corral.
“You aren't hurt, Bart,” I cried. “They didn't lie!”
He dismounted and put his horse into the corral. After latching the gate, he glanced at the rest of us.
“Sheriff Cove wants to know what you saw.”
The lawman pointed at the stick in my hand.
“Son, you weren't going to dispense justice, were you?” He walked over to me. “Did you see what happened?”
“That's my baby sister,” Bart said. “She wasn't here when it happened. Adam, Charles, Mark, and Abby took a herd to the Pony Express station.”
“Miss Weston, will you please drop your weapon?” Sheriff Cove asked. “It'll make me feel much better.”
The stick fell from my nerveless fingers.
“He didn't say he did it, but the Johnsons, especially Gabriel, have given us problems for a long time. Can you make them pay for what they did?” I asked.
He knelt in front of me. “Did he admit to starting the fire?”
“He said we couldn't make our contract anymore, but we can! You tell the stationmaster Bart will bring the rest, just like we promised. Won't you?”
“Oh, Abby,” Uncle Andy said. “Things will work out. We won't break your pa's word.”
“But what about ... about...”
Suddenly, it was all too real. I hiccupped as my heart tore in half.
“Come back, Ma,” I whispered. “I didn't mean to talk to Pony Bob, but he punched Blaze. Please, Ma, don't leave me.”
When I wailed, Charles grabbed me into a hug.
“We aren't mad at you,” he said. “Don't cry, honey. We'll make it right.”
None of my brothers could ever understand. Only one person could help me feel better, only one person had the power to prove I wasn't living through the nightmare of losing part of my family a second time.
“You can't!” I howled. “Only Ma knows how to do that. Where is she? I need her!”
Chapter Twenty-Three
I threw my arms around Bart's neck and hung on tight. My big brother was with me, and I wouldn't let him out of my sight. That meant only one thing. Everyone had just been teasing me. Ma, Pa, and Peter were hiding nearby. The other, awful thing just couldn't have happened.
“Tell me they'll come back. Ma, Pa, and Peter went with you to find
the sheriff, right?”
Bart lowered me to the ground and stroked hair off my forehead.
“Oh, Abby, I can't lie no matter how much I want to make you feel better. I'm sorry, baby, they didn't make it out of the house,” he said.
The hole in my heart chasmed into a monstrous gorge and all my feelings fell into it. Numbness started at my toes and spread through every inch of my body. Live without Ma, Pa, and Peter? That was unthinkable.
“You made good time,” Paul said. “I thought it would take almost a week to return with the sheriff.”
Sheriff Cove finished tying up Gabriel and walked over to us. The sheriff swatted his hat against his leg.
“I was headed out here. There were rumors up in Carson City about Horace pouring something into Michael's coffee,” he said. “I wanted to speak to your pa about it. Did he take sick after he came back?”
“Yes, sir,” Adam said. “Peter and Paul, too. That's why Abby joined us on the last delivery.”
I gulped when they stared at me, trying to hold back my grief but shivers hit me hard, and I started crying again. It isn't true. It just can't be.
“It was my fault. If I hadn't talked to Pony Bob and disobeyed Ma, this wouldn't have happened.” A single tear landed on my lip. I swiped at it. “Adam, you can find Ma and Pa, can't you? I'm awful lonely without them.”
“Oh, short stuff,” Adam said. “I wish I could, but they won't come back.”
Gabriel struggled to a standing position. At least, he tried to, but the sheriff had tied him to one of the fence posts, and he only managed a squat.
“You got that straight.” He glared at me. “That contract will be ours now. Your pa signed it, and you cain't stop us from takin' it now that he's dead.”
Adam restrained Mark and Paul while the sheriff held onto Bart and Charles. All of my brothers glared at Gabriel, but he just kept hollering.
“Not a one of ya can prove nuthin'. We weren't nowhere near this place when the house burned.” He snickered. “I'll call ya liars if you say we done it. Didn't nobody see us.”
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