by Patricia Fry
“S’mores,” Peter called out.
Everyone laughed.
“Popsicles,” Lily chirped, “and cookies.”
“Got it,” Savannah said.
“So what else do we have to do?” Adam asked.
“Here, you boys look over this list and tell me which tasks you’d like to help with. We’ll team up—some things you boys can do together, other things you can do with either me or Peter. Sound good?”
“If we hafta,” Simon said.
Adam elbowed his friend, saying, “Hey, you want to go riding don’t you?”
“Oh,” Simon said more excitedly, “yeah, sure. I’ll help.”
Michael smiled. “Okay. Let’s go over the list together.”
****
“Was that so bad?” Peter asked the boys two hours later. He motioned toward the trailer. “The packing’s just about finished, and we still have the rest of the day to do something fun.”
“Like ride the horses?” Simon asked.
“Yeah, good job, boys,” Michael said, raising both hands and inviting a high five from each of them. “All we will have to do tomorrow morning before we leave is load up our overnight bags and the food.”
“That didn’t take as long as I thought,” Adam admitted.
“Well, sure,” Michael said, “because everyone helped.”
Simon was quiet for a moment, then said, “But when we get to the cabin what happens? I mean, now we have to unload it all, right?”
Michael smiled and said in a singsong manner, “That’s right.”
Simon leaned on Adam as if he were exhausted. “This camping thing is starting to sound like a lot of work.”
Peter patted the boy on the back. “Welcome to the real world, kid.”
“Ready?” Savannah asked, joining the others in the kitchen.
“Ready for what?” Adam asked. He slumped. “We don’t have to go grocery shopping with you, do we?”
She chuckled. “No. Rochelle and I took care of that already. Now I’m ready to go riding. Bonnie will be here in a few minutes to pick up Peaches and Gypsy. Why don’t you kids go get ready, then you can help me load the saddles and stuff.”
“More work?” Simon complained.
Peter grinned at the boy and instructed, “Go get ready, will ya?”
“Simon doesn’t have cowboy boots,” Adam announced minutes later.
“I don’t need them,” Simon insisted.
“Well, Simon,” Savannah said, “Western boots are made to be worn when riding a Western saddle, and I’m pretty sure we can borrow some boots if you’d like to.”
“Where?” Adam asked.
“Bonnie keeps a supply of boots in all sizes for her students. It’s likely she has Simon’s size.”
Simon wrinkled his nose. “Who’s Bonnie?”
“You’ll meet her in a few minutes,” Savannah said. She flicked the brim of his straw hat. “I like your hat.”
Peter grinned. “Yeah, we found it at an outlet store. Simon liked it and it fit, so…”
“Good choice,” Savannah said. She added, “Here’s the deal, guys, Bonnie’s coming to get the horses in her trailer and we’ll follow her over and ride at the Teague Ranch.”
“Awww,” Adam complained. “In the corral? Can’t we go on a trail?”
“Yeah, probably,” Savannah assured him. “But we only have enough horses here for two of us.”
“You can walk,” Adam said straight-faced.
When the others laughed, Savannah said, “Thanks a lot, buddy.”
He hastily tried to backtrack. “Well, um…I mean…”
“I know what you mean. No, I’m not walking. No one’s walking, unless they want to. But there are five of us going, so we need more than just my two horses. Bonnie has horses we can use, including Wilson, who I think would be a good horse for Simon, don’t you, Adam?”
The boy nodded. “Yeah, I used to ride Wilson a lot. He’s a rad horse.”
“Does he go fast like the horses in the movies?” Simon asked.
“Sure he does,” Savannah said. “All healthy horses can run, but I don’t think we’ll do any horse racing today. We’re just going to take a nice trail ride, that is as long as everyone seems comfortable on their horses.” She turned to Simon. “You’ve seen cowboys riding horses nice and slowly along the trail in movies, haven’t you?”
He nodded. “But it looks like a lot more fun when they’re running really fast to catch an outlaw.”
“So who’s going?” Adam asked.
Savannah poked him playfully in the chest. “You, Simon, me, Lily, and Rochelle. Lily will ride with me.”
“Can Rags go?” Adam asked eagerly.
“A cat on a horse?” Simon said, laughing.
More seriously, Adam said, “Yeah, Rags can ride a horse, can’t he, Savannah?”
She nodded. “He can, but no, Rags is not going today. We’ll have enough to do without having to deal with him and his shenanigans.”
Simon giggled and repeated, “Shenanigans.”
When Michael came into the room with Lily, Rochelle said, “Well, look at the cowgirl. You’re so cute in your little pink boots and fringy shirt.”
Lily hid behind Michael’s leg and stared out at the others.
“You are a big cowgirl, aren’t you, punkin?” Savannah said.
“Can I ride Peaches, Mommy?” the child asked, approaching her.
“Yes, you can ride Peaches with Mommy.”
“I’m riding Wilson,” Simon announced when Peter walked into the room.
“Cool,” Peter said. He asked Savannah, “Is Wilson safe?”
Savannah nodded. “We started Adam out on Wilson.”
“Who are you riding?” Peter asked, slipping his arm around Rochelle.
She smiled. “I haven’t been given my assignment yet.”
“I think you’ll like Gypsy,” Savannah said. “If Adam wants to ride Gypsy, you can ride…”
Adam interrupted with a guffaw, “Beulah.” He doubled over laughing.
“What’s wrong with Beulah?” Rochelle asked, wide-eyed.
Adam couldn’t speak for giggling, so Savannah explained, “Absolutely nothing. She’s a really nice mare. It’s just that her name tickles Adam’s funny bone.”
“Funny bone,” Simon said, also laughing.
Soon the two boys were both caught up in giggles and the others couldn’t contain their laughter either.
“Bonnie’s here,” Savannah announced, when she saw a truck and horse trailer rig pull into their yard. “I’m so glad the weather’s cooperating. It looks like it’ll be a nice day for riding. Do you kids have your cameras?”
“Oh, my camera!” Simon said, running down the hallway.
“Get mine, too!” Adam called.
“How do you work these?” Simon asked, when he returned.
“That’s a disposable camera,” Peter said. He demonstrated how to take a picture and advance the film. “When the film is spent,” he said, “you take the whole thing to the drug store and they’ll develop your pictures.”
“Well, that’s kind of a slow way to see your pictures, isn’t it?” Simon said.
Peter handed him the camera. Here, want to take a picture of all the cowboys and cowgirls?”
“Sure.”
“Let’s go out and load the horses and equipment,” Savannah said after posing with the others for Simon.
****
The riders were on their way to the Teague Stables in Savannah’s car when Adam said, “I wonder what will happen today.”
“What will happen?” Rochelle questioned.
“Yeah, something always happens when we go riding, right, Savannah?”
“Well…” she stalled.
“Like when we found that little boy who was lost,” Adam said, “and the time Rags followed us and…”
“No,” Savannah asserted, “something doesn’t happen every time we go riding, just once in a while. Not today. Today, we’ll have
a lovely and uneventful ride.”
“That would be rad to find a lost kid or maybe a car over the side of the mountain or a dead guy…” Simon said. “I hope we find something interesting like that, don’t you, Rochelle?”
“No,” she said.
Savannah frowned. “Me neither.” When she realized the boys were sulking, she said, “Come on guys, what’s more fun than a pleasant ride together in the wilderness? No, let’s not have any problems—no falling off horses, no Rags, no lost children…”
“Amen,” Rochelle said.
“Do you know how to ride, Rochelle?” Adam asked. “I’ve never seen you ride a horse.”
“I know a little about horses,” she explained. “I rode when I was younger, but not on trails or anything like that—it was arena riding. There was a time when I thought I’d like to be a rodeo star.”
Simon laughed. “Really? You wanted to ride bucking broncos?”
“Oh, no. I dreamed of being part of a drill team, maybe ride into the rodeo carrying the flag.”
“Barrel racing?” Savannah asked.
Rochelle shook her head. “I was never good with speed. I’m more the cheerleader type.”
Savannah smiled at her friend, then announced, “Here we are. Is everyone ready?” She turned to face the children in the backseat and said calmly, “A nice pleasant, gentle ride, right?”
Adam laughed. “Exciting! Exciting!”
Simon also began chanting, “Exciting! Exciting!”
When Lily joined in, Savannah grinned and shook her head.
Chapter Four
The group had been riding along on a trail behind the Teague Ranch for about fifteen minutes when Simon asked, “Is this right, Savannah? Am I holding these strings—I mean, the reins—right?”
She smiled. “You’re doing great, Simon. You look like a real Old West cowboy. Want me to take your picture with your camera?”
“Yeah,” he said enthusiastically. “Me and Adam.”
Adam rode up next to Simon for the picture. When Savannah saw him glancing back down the trail, she asked, “Looking for something?”
Adam hesitated, then said, “I guess there’s no way Rags can find us up here, right?”
“Absolutely not,” Savannah insisted. “Rags won’t be following us today.”
“I’d sure like to see a cat ride a horse,” Simon said. “You don’t see that in cowboy movies. I saw a cowboy carry a dog on his horse and once a baby cow, but never a cat or a bird.” He turned in his saddle to look at Rochelle. “Hey, I wonder if Clayton…I mean Thor, would like to ride a horse. He could sit on the round thing here…”
Adam said, “That’s the horn.”
“Yeah,” Simon said, “or on my shoulder.”
Rochelle shook her head at the ideas her foster son was coming up with.
“Are you comfortable in the saddle, Simon?” Savannah asked a little while later. “How do you like Wilson?”
“I like him! He’s a fast walker. I like going fast. But he kind of bounces me around a little.”
“Yeah,” Savannah chuckled, “horses can give you a bumpy ride. It helps if you put some weight in your stirrups. Like we practiced in the workout ring before we started our ride.”
“Oh yeah,” Simon said, “stand in the stirrups.”
“Well, you probably don’t want to stand up for the whole ride, but yes, put a little weight in the stirrups, and that will help you to go with the flow of the horse more. Less bouncing.”
“Hey, that works pretty good,” he announced minutes later.
“That’s how I used to get sore from riding,” Rochelle said. “I’d try to distribute my weight like that and the muscles in my legs would be sore for days. Doesn’t that happen to you?”
Savannah shook her head. “Not if I ride often enough. But yeah, a long ride after not riding for a while does attack my thigh muscles.”
“That was fun!” Simon said over an hour later after following the other riders up an incline. “Wilson sort of leaped up the hill a couple of times.” He grinned from ear to ear. “Now we’ve had some excitement.”
Everyone laughed.
Adam agreed. “Going uphill is fun. I don’t like going downhill, though.” He turned in order to speak to Simon. “Once we went down a hill and the horse stumbled. Remember that, Savannah? I was riding Peaches and I almost flew off right over her head, but she jumped up real fast and I got my balance back.”
Rochelle smiled. “I’m glad you boys had some excitement.”
“Is anyone hungry?” Savannah asked. “Maybe we should take a break.” She gestured. “There’s a nice little area up here a ways where we can let the horses rest and we can eat our lunch.”
“Great!” Simon said. “What are we having?”
“Ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit, and oatmeal-raisin cookies.”
“Sounds good to me,” Adam agreed.
“Here it is,” Savannah said, moments later. She led the group into a meadow. “You stay put,” she said to Lily, as she slipped down from the saddle. “Hold on in case Peaches shakes or something.”
The child clutched the saddle. “Like this, Mommy?”
Savannah nodded. She removed the mare’s bridle and hung it on the saddle horn, then tied the lead rope to a section of fence that once marked a property boundary. She lifted Lily off the horse and pointed. “You sit over there on that log while I take the saddle off Peaches, okay, punkin?” She watched as the child did as she was told. “Good girl. Now you wait there. You can watch Mommy take off the saddle.” She glanced at the boys. “You two just stay put for a second, okay?”
Once Savannah had removed her mare’s saddle and pad, she glanced to make sure Lily was still a safe distance away from the horses and she approached the two boys. “Want to hop down?” she asked. She watched as Adam dismounted, then Simon.
“Hey, Simon, what are you doing?” Adam asked, watching him skitter away.
“I’m going to get some food,” he said.
“Uh-uh,” Rochelle said, removing Beulah’s bridle. “Not until you take care of your horse.”
Simon looked at her. “Huh? But I’m hungry now.”
Savannah chuckled. “I guess there’s something we forgot to explain to him during our lesson this morning.”
Rochelle nodded and started to lead Beulah to where Peaches was tied.
“Here,” Savannah said, reaching out to Rochelle, “I’ll take your mare if you want to help Simon.”
“Sure.”
When she saw that Adam had removed Gypsy’s bridle, Savannah instructed, “Here, hold Beulah and I’ll pull off Gypsy’s saddle. Do you think you can hold both horses?”
He nodded and noticed, “Beulah’s kinda sweaty under her saddle.”
“Yeah, she’s probably a little out of shape,” Savannah suggested. “This type of ride is good for her—well, for all of the horses.”
“And for us,” Rochelle said. She carried Simon’s saddle to where the others were resting and took her mare from Adam.
“Lily, come walk with Mommy,” Savannah invited. “Stay right next to Mommy. We’re going to let the horses get a drink of water.”
“Hey, aren’t you guys hungry?” Simon called. He asked Rochelle, “Where are they going? Where’s our food, anyway, in those saddle bags?”
“Yes, but right now we’re going to let the horses drink. Come on,” she urged. “Hold tight to Wilson’s lead rope and he’ll follow us to the river.”
“Now?” he asked. “When are we going to eat?”
“Simon,” Rochelle explained quietly as they walked together, “the animals always come first. These horses have been good enough to give us a ride all the way up here. Now they’re thirsty. They can’t go get water or food on their own. Just like our little parrots, horses depend on people for their care and when they’re in our care we need to treat them well.” When she realized that Simon seemed to be losing patience, she asked, “Simon, are you thirsty?”
“Ye
ah, sorta, but not very. I was real thirsty earlier, but then I drank some of my water.”
“Did your horse get a drink of water?”
“Uh, no.”
“Don’t you think he might be thirsty? He did all the work carrying you up here.”
“Oh, I guess maybe he could be thirsty, then.”
“Well, let’s walk him down to the river and let him drink if he wants to.”
Simon looked in the direction Savannah and Adam had walked with their horses and began to follow along.
“Good job,” Rochelle said. “Once the horses have had their fill of water, we’ll find a safe place to tie them then we’ll enjoy our lunch, okay? Simon, are you listening to me?” she asked. “You seem to be ignoring me.”
“Oh. That’s because I thought I heard something.”
Savannah nodded. “I did too.”
“I think it’s a bird,” Simon said. “Maybe a hurt bird. It sounds like it’s on the ground.” He looked wide-eyed at Rochelle. “Do you think Thor followed us here?”
She rolled her eyes. “I doubt that.” She looked around. “Where’s the sound coming from? We don’t want the horses to step on an injured bird.”
“I don’t think it’s a bird,” Savannah said, tilting her head and pointing. “There. I think it’s coming from that area back up there. Don’t let your horses walk over that way.”
Simon dropped the lead rope and started to run in the direction Savannah indicated.
“Simon!” Rochelle called, picking up the rope. She said more sternly, “Simon, come hold onto your horse.”
“But I want to see what it is.”
“Animals first,” she recited.
“What if that’s an animal?” he complained.
“Simon, come get your horse. You can check that out once your horse is taken care of.”
“Okay,” he carped, taking the lead rope from Rochelle. When Simon started to lead his horse away from the river, she scolded, “Simon, let him drink.”
“I don’t think he wants any,” the boy remarked.
Savannah chuckled. “Turn him around and let him see the water. Give him a few minutes. Sometimes it takes a horse a little time before he’ll start drinking.”
“Yeah,” Adam said, “sometimes all they want to do is play in the water.”