Pony Dreams (12 page)

“I'll do it.” Gabriel's surly voice startled
us.

My brothers circled me and glared at him.

“Get out of here,” Adam growled.

“You're disgustin'.” Gabriel swung a finger
at me. “Women don't wear pants, and they certainly don't do men's
work.”

Adam snarled. Bart and Charles snorted. Mark
surprised me by snapping, “It's none of your business what our
sister wears.”

Pride at his defense drove away my fear,
until Gabriel grabbed a handful of rocks. Bart and Charles took off
after Gabriel. They rounded the barn, and then he raced toward a
hillock. Seconds before they caught him, Gabriel reappeared on the
back of a horse, whipping the animal with the reins and riding
toward his place.

I groaned. With this problem, Ma would never
let me out of the house again.

Chapter Fifteen

While my brothers
escorted me to the house, Mark's favorite expression zoomed through
my mind.

Sure as shootin', they'll bust their
britches telling Ma all about Gabriel's latest visit as soon as
they close the door. Holy heck! Being the only girl in such a big
family is the worst thing in creation.

“You can't go outside unless one of us is
with you,” Bart said.

I opened my mouth to argue. He glared at
me.

“Those Johnsons are bad, but Gabriel's the
worst,” he said. “He'll do anything to get the contract. Look at
what happened to you. Do you want someone else hurt if they decide
to throw rocks at you again?”

“What if they use rifles next time?” Mark
asked.

Ice gripped my legs, making it downright
impossible to keep walking. I stopped halfway to the house. No way
would I let anything happen to one of my brothers, but I had to
trick them into changing their minds.

A cow mooed. I grinned in anticipation of
distracting them.

“Ma's gonna skin the lot of you if you don't
milk them.” I pointed at the barn, where the complaints had become
very loud.

“You're with me, short stuff,” Adam said.
“Bart, Charles, take care of the chickens. Mark, go on inside and
soften up Ma. Grab some vegetables on your way.”

He dealt with the cows while I sat on a stool
beside him. Creamy milk, dusty hay, and sweaty cowhide lulled me
into drowsiness. When a cat wound around my legs, purring loudly, I
almost fell asleep.

“Abby?”

“Hmmm?”

“Consider Bart's order as coming from me, or
Pa when he's back on his feet.” Adam handed me one of the pails.
“If I catch you outside alone, I won't let you ride another
horse.”

That was about the worst punishment I could
think of. He nodded when I stared at him openmouthed, and I
realized he was very serious. We started back toward the house, and
my mind whirled with ways to get around his order.

Adam's easy. All I have to do is smile at
him, and he'll let me do whatever I want, but only if I wait a
couple of days before trying.

Unfortunately, I had five other brothers.

Sure as shootin', as soon as Peter and Paul
catch wind of this, they'll trot around on my heels. I'll never get
anything done with them pestering me.

“If you say so,” I said, crossing my fingers
over the wire handle.

“I do, and you can uncross those fingers,
Abigail Grace Weston. Don't mess around with this, someone can get
hurt or worse.”

“What's worse?” I asked.

As soon as the words left my mouth, I wished
them back. Adam threw me a disgusted look, and then he shooed me
into the house. When we reached the kitchen, Mark churned the milk
while Ma pushed me onto a chair.

“Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on her?”
she exclaimed. “Look at how peaked she is! I don't need someone
else sickening up.” She looked me over. “Why don't you sit with
your pa until supper's ready? He was asking about you earlier.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

The thought of seeing Pa lying down with
everyone else working scared me, and I couldn't get over it as I
walked along the hallway. I had never seen him slow down, even when
he had a cold or a horse had thrown him.

I knocked on the door to his bedroom.

“Come on in,” he called.

As I did, Pa smiled at me. Coming up with a
smile of my own was as impossible as changing Adam's mind right
now. Seeing my pa with most of his tan faded to pasty white, and
his skin stretched tight across his bones made my stomach turn
topsy-turvy.

“Hello, baby,” he said. “Sure is good seeing
you.” Pa stared at me. “Your ma tells me you remembered what
happened ten years ago.”

“Oh, Pa!” I knelt beside the bed. “I tried to
do something, but it happened so fast.” I buried my face against
the coverlet. “Then everybody hid it from me.”

“We just wanted to protect you.” He stroked
my hair with a shaky hand.

Even though everyone else had told me pretty
much the same thing, hearing it from him reassured me. I lost the
sense of deception I'd felt when the others talked to me.

“Abby,” Pa said.

I looked up.

“Your ma never hated you.” His face took on a
very stern expression. “I know you must have felt very hurt by what
we did, but it wasn't her choice. Louisa never wanted to keep that
from you. She thought you could handle it, but Andy and I convinced
her otherwise.”

“Why didn't she tell me that?” I asked.

“Because she loves you so much she didn't
want to hurt you, or make you angry at us,” he said. “You're our
last child, the daughter she always wanted. Your ma would do
anything to protect you.”

My mouth hung open. Ma really loved me that
much?

Images of things I cherished about her
blossomed: her rarer than gold smiles, unexpected hugs, how she
gave in when I really wanted something. She had always shown her
love, but I had never seen it, even letting me train the horses
when she wanted me to stay away from the corral.

“Oh!” I clapped my hands over my mouth.

“I see you understand.” He cupped my cheeks
with his hands. “Tell me about the horses.”

All my troubles vanished in an instant. I
spilled out everything I had done whenever Ma let me ride. Well,
almost everything; I sure didn't tell Pa about naming Blaze, and I
refused to mention Gabriel. Bringing up either would upset him, and
I would never do that.

“It sure sounds like you love those horses
better than people,” he said when I took a break.

“People ... strangers scare me,” I admitted.
“Horses don't.” I stood, pulling away from his comforting touch.
“Do I have to go to the dance at the Hadley's next month?”

“Don't you want to look over the eligible
young men?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I ... they ... Ma ...
I just don't feel right thinking about that. Pa, I don't want a
husband yet.”

“Yet.” He tapped his chin with a finger.
“That means you'll consider it later.”

“But not next month,” I said. “Why do I have
to think about a husband? Shouldn't my brothers find wives
first?”

My next thought, one I kept to myself, was
all my brothers, including Peter and Paul, should get married
before anyone decided that I needed a husband.

“Boys are different, slower. They take a lot
longer to settle with a wife,” Pa said. “But don't you worry. I'll
tell your ma we'll hold off until your next birthday before we take
you around to find a husband.” He nodded at the door. “Wait for me
in the hall. We'll surprise your ma.”

* * * *

I went into the hallway and waited. The rest
of my family had already gathered in the kitchen. My mouth watered
as I smelled beef roast with pan-roasted potatoes and carrots,
buttery peas, and biscuits.

Pa joined me and held out his arm. I slipped
my hand around his elbow as we walked slowly into the kitchen.

“Supper smells wonderful, Louisa.” He eased
into his chair. “Andy, do you mind carving that mouth-watering
roast? I'm starving.”

I washed up and took my seat.

“Thank you, Michael,” Uncle Andy said. “Your
confidence in my cutting skills affirms my decision to stay a
while.”

“Nice to have you back,” Pa said. “It was
good timing when you decided to visit.”

Uncle Andy sliced the roast. Ma piled food
onto our plates, and then she passed them around the table. After
Pa said the prayer, we began eating. A few minutes later, Adam and
Mark looked up, glanced at each other, and shrugged. I opened my
mouth to ask what, but Charles nudged me with a knee.

“We need more horses,” Adam said. “About two
dozen will do for this delivery. How about if you join me and Bart
tomorrow, Pa?”

“Can't,” he said. “I'm still having problems
with my arms.”

Everyone stopped eating. When Ma cleared her
throat, the boys dove into their food and kept their eyes on their
plates, but I stared openmouthed at Pa.

“Eat up, short stuff,” Adam said.

After all I had done, even helping when they
came back with Pa, Peter, and Paul, Adam still called me short
stuff. When would he let me grow up?

“I'm not a baby. Quit calling me short
stuff.”

A tap on the back of my hand from Ma's fork
forestalled the rest of my irate response.

“Eat, Abigail, there's still evening chores
to take care of,” Pa said.

His reprimand hurt. I concentrated on my
plate and forced myself to eat the meal. No one said much for the
rest of supper, even dessert passed without the happy give and take
I'd grown used to since Uncle Andy arrived. When everyone stood to
deal with their work, Mark nodded at Adam.

“Gabriel showed up this afternoon and shouted
at Abigail,” Mark said. “We should track down the sheriff and speak
to him about her accident.”

A gulp from Ma echoed around the suddenly
quiet room.

“What accident?” Pa asked.

“A horse threw her the day before we brought
you home,” Adam said.

“She wasn't hurt too badly,” Ma said. “Andy
checked her over after he had you, Peter, and Paul settled. Just
bruises and injured pride, she's even back on a horse.”

“Weren't you paying attention?” Pa asked
me.

“It was more than that,” Bart said. “The
horse she was riding had an injury on his rear flank. We didn't see
anyone, but we were more concerned about the kid.”

“I'm not a kid,” I shouted.

The men stared at me in amazement. Ma covered
her mouth. Dimples decorated each of her cheeks.

“Looks like my baby's growing up,” Pa
commented, and then he shook his head in resignation. “All right,
we'll tell the sheriff about the problems we're having.”

Everyone except Mark walked outside when we
finished. He helped me clear the table. Ma, Pa, and Uncle Andy
spoke near the kitchen, but Mark made too much noise for me to hear
much. Uncle Andy spoke as the room quieted. His words froze me as I
lifted a pot to put in the dishpan.

“I suspect someone sweetened your coffee with
that junk from the sinkhole, Michael. Those aches might never leave
you.” He sighed. “I don't know much about alkaline poisoning.”

I hurried through the dishes, prompting Mark
to put several back into the water.

“Ma'll skin you alive if you put a dirty dish
on the shelf,” he said.

No protest came from me. I was too concerned
about what I'd heard.

“I don't know if I should keep the contract
in all good conscience,” Pa said.

Mark froze in the act of hanging the roasting
pan on a hook over the stove.

“Patience, Michael. You too, Louisa,” Uncle
Andy said. “Never can tell with this kind of thing. You might wake
up one day and have no problems at all.”

“What did he mean?” Mark asked.

“It sounds like Pa might never get
better.”

“I thought so.”

“He will.” I hugged him. “Promise me that Pa
will get better.”

“I want to more than anything in the world,
but I won't lie. Before he quit, Uncle Andy was a right good
doctor,” he said. “If he says the pains won't go away, believe
it.”

“Holy heck!” I shouted and then remembered
who stood just outside the door.

“Abigail Grace Weston! Get your backside out
here,” Ma shouted.

Feet dragging, I headed for the door.

Lye soap after pear and apple pie. Yuck!

“Don't take too long,” Mark said. “Just
tastes worse.”

I stuck out my tongue.

“I saw that,” she said.

Shaking with laughter, he handed me the soap.
I trudged out the door and passed it to her. Opening my mouth was
the hardest thing I had done all year. It was awful, just as I had
expected.

As soon as she finished scrubbing my mouth, I
raced back into the kitchen. Rinsing and spitting were no help; I
couldn't get rid of the taste. Mark's laughter, and my other
brothers when they came in from their chores, only made me
madder.

“I'll get even.”

My threat brought more laughter when a soap
bubble leaked from between my lips.

Chapter Sixteen

The next morning, my
eyes popped open long before the sun rose. No matter what I did, I
couldn't go back to sleep. I pulled on a dress and braided my hair
before creeping into the hallway.

The second I stepped out the door, I stopped
and stared at the room at the far end of the hallway. Since I had
so many brothers, my parents had built an extended bedroom we
called a bunkhouse on the north end of our home. All of my brothers
slept out there along with Uncle Andy. To get to Adam, to keep the
promise I made the day he caught me riding Blaze, I had to sneak
past everyone else. Then I had to wake him up without disturbing
the others.

My gaze moved from the bunkhouse to the front
door. I had snuck out without disturbing anyone a lot. If I kept
track of time, no one would know I had broken the rules.

David broke the rules. No one would know in
time if another coyote snuck into the corral. It might even attack
Blaze.