Pony Dreams (13 page)

Duty pressed against my desire to go to the
corral and spend time with Blaze. My chances of doing that would
disappear tomorrow, since Adam would take him and the rest of the
horses we'd trained to The Pony. If I wanted a chance to say
goodbye, I had to keep my promise.

Holy heck! Promises sure bother a person's
conscience.

Left with no other choice, since I had to
spend time with Blaze before he left, I crept into the bunkhouse.
Uncle Andy snorted and rolled over as soon as I walked in. He slept
beside Mark and across from Peter and Paul. Taking care not to
disturb anyone, I tiptoed past Charles and Bart, and then knelt
beside Adam's bed and put a hand over his mouth.

His eyes flew open. I felt his lips moving
into a smile. He moved my hand.

“Meet me on the front porch,” he
whispered.

I made it outside without rousing anyone else
and leaned against the railing. He eased out the door a few minutes
later.

“I figured you'd come get me a lot sooner
than this,” he said.

“You're taking this bunch to a station soon.”
I moved toward the corral. “Right?”

“Tomorrow or the day after.” He walked beside
me. “It depends on how Bart and I do hunting up more ponies
today.”

“Well, I figured it was time to tell Blaze
goodbye,” I said as we stopped outside the corral. “I don't need to
ride him, just explain how he won't see me anymore.”

My heart cracking, I climbed onto the bottom
rail, leaned forward, and held out my hand. Blaze trotted over and
nuzzled my fingers.

“Remember how I told you that you had a very
important job?” I asked.

He nodded, and then he shook his head,
causing his mane to fly in the breeze.

“Well, you have to do that tomorrow or the
day after.” My voice cracked as tears threatened to spill down my
cheeks. “I don't want you to miss me 'cause those riders really
need your help delivering the mail.”

Before I made a total fool of myself, I
climbed off the fence and walked toward the house. Adam jerked me
around before I had taken ten steps.

“Say the word, and I'll tell Pa we're keeping
Blaze,” he said. “Abby, you love that horse. Don't give him
up.”

“I made a promise.”

“It was a stupid promise.” He picked me up
and walked into the corral. “At least let him give you one more
ride before he leaves.”

His whistle brought Blaze in seconds. Adam
put me on the horse. I held onto the mane while Blaze trotted
around the corral. The cool air dried my tears. A smile raised my
spirits as I rode him. Just as light broke through the eastern sky,
I slid off his back and ran to the house.

Hearing his whinnies only made me run faster.
By the time I reached the kitchen, I had to gulp back tears so I
could start breakfast. I had coffee perking and biscuits baking
when Adam came in with milk and eggs. He set the egg basket on the
counter and poured milk into pitchers as I put sausage patties in a
skillet.

“I don't know who's more upset, you or the
horse,” he said. “Will you please stop being so stubborn?”

I shook my head and cracked eggs into a large
bowl.

“All right, have it your way,” he said. “Can
you put some food on the table for Bart and me? We have to leave
soon.”

“Yes.” I glanced at him. “I couldn't keep
Blaze even if I wanted to.”

“Why not?”

“You once told me breaking a promise is like
telling a lie,” I said. “I promised he'd help The Pony.”

“I give up.” Adam stormed out of the kitchen,
almost knocking into Ma as she came in. “Maybe you can talk some
sense into her. I sure can't.”

While I put the eggs into a second skillet
and stirred them, she pulled out the biscuits and turned the
sausages.

“Did Adam catch you in the corral?” she
asked.

“No, ma'am,” I said while fixing plates for
Bart and Adam. “He just doesn't understand how I feel about
something. It's not important.”

I would never tell anyone how important it
was. Blaze had to go to The Pony, just like I had to accept my
family had lied because they loved me. When Adam and Bart came into
the room, they ate at the counter while the rest of the family
began our morning routine.

As we sat at the table, they gulped one more
cup of coffee and then left. To keep everyone else from suspecting
how I felt, I dug into my food. The sound of horses' hooves had
barely faded when Pa glanced at the rest of us. I squirmed in my
seat as his mouth twitched after his gaze settled on me.

“Boys, you'll spend most of the day in the
training ring, but I'm not sure about your sister. Charles, keep an
eye on her when she's out there later,” he said.

Relief ran through me. I would get a chance
to train the horses.

“If I think she's ready to return to training
horses.” Pa pinned me in place with a steely gaze. “Don't daydream
again. I won't tolerate it. Now, get about your chores and take
care of the animals.”

“Yes, sir,” I said.

He walked out of the room with an unsteady
gait. As I cleaned the kitchen, worry ran through me. It felt wrong
to see Pa sitting on the sofa, talking to Uncle Andy, while
everyone else worked. My pa was always the first out the door in
the morning and the last one into his bed at night. Whatever
happened in Carson City had the strangest effect on him. Every time
he walked, it looked like someone had attached strings to his legs
and arms, making them move with a jerking motion.

I washed the dishes while the worries ran in
circles through my mind. Mark dried them, and put them on the
shelves behind the table. When more tears ran down my face, I
ducked my head.

“It'll turn out right.” He rubbed my
shoulders. “Just you wait. In a few weeks, Pa will be out there
with the rest of us. Now, hurry up. We still have to take care of
the horses.”

“Not today,” Ma said from the doorway. “Your
pa and I decided that since Peter and Paul are able to work with
the mustangs, Abigail will take care of the chickens and
garden.”

“It's not fair!” I shouted.

The stern look on her face stayed the rest of
my comment. I threw the dishtowel on the counter and stomped out of
the house. Inside the coop, I fed the birds, replaced their water,
and swept the floor while dreaming about having my own mustang
ranch.

“Just all of you wait,” I muttered. “No one
will tell me I can't work with horses. I'll make all of you look
like idiots when The Pony Express gives me their contract.”

A shout from the corral distracted me.

“You sure looked right funny turning head
over heels, Peter,” Mark hollered. “Get back on that horse.”

I spun around in time to catch a glimpse of
Peter dusting his britches with his hat before remounting. The
others laughed and kidded him until he had his seat again.

Slamming the tin pan into the feed trough, I
stomped to the gate.

Holy heck! It just isn't fair. I had to stay
in bed for two whole days while everyone teased me, but Peter gets
to keep riding.

Downcast, I walked to the garden. The whole
time I kept my eyes on the ground, so I wouldn't have to look at my
brothers, but their gleeful shouts made me even more angry. I knelt
in front of a row of carrots and pulled weeds. It was dry, making
the bits of grass hard to jerk out. After yanking out a couple of
stunted carrots, I threw them at the nearby cows.

“Come on, Charles,” Mark hollered. “You don't
have all day to get on his back.”

“I'm trying, but Abby's way doesn't
work.”

Charles' answer infuriated me even more. What
were they doing wrong?

As I stood to wander in that direction, Ma
shouted, “Abigail, where are you? I need help with the
washing.”

“Daggum,” I swore under my breath. “Can't a
girl catch a break?”

Glancing over both shoulders, I made certain
no one had heard me use the forbidden word. I could make trouble
for Mark by reporting how much he used it when milking, or Charles
when splitting wood infuriated him. Adam sure used it a lot when he
checked for sidewinders or scorpions near the animals. Even Peter
and Paul swore quite a bit when our parents weren't around.

A smile crept across my face as I skipped
back to the house. I had discovered a way to trick them into
letting me have my way.

Nah. They'd just laugh and tattle to Ma.

She shoved a basket containing pants and
shirts into my arms. I lugged it over to the rope strung between
two tall posts, and then I hung up the clothing. With sweat rolling
down my face, I went from boring chore to boring chore.

A day had never taken so long to end. Even
Adam and Bart's reappearance before supper, dirty and sweaty,
failed to cheer me. Here I was, stuck with all the chores and no
chance to have any fun, and they had spent the whole day in the
saddle.

The evening meal passed in an almost
unnatural silence. Even the usual noises from outside seemed muted
inside the house. The scrape of flatware against plates sounded
strangely out of place as everyone made short work of the simple
supper of beet soup, cornbread, and sausages. Ma hadn't even made
much of a dessert, just boiled fruit with sugar.

I rose to clear the table. Pa shook his
head.

“Sit down, Abby. Boys, stay here. We need to
talk.”

Ma and Uncle Andy cleared away the remains of
the meal and washed up. Pa cleared his throat a couple of times and
stared at his hands.

“I won't be working with the horses for a
while, if ever,” he said. “Whatever made me sick damaged my arms
and legs. Andy wants to see if he can figure it out, but the plain
truth is that I can't walk without help.”

“I'm sure Uncle Andy will find a way to make
you better,” Adam said.

Pa held up his hand. “I can't ignore it too
long, not with our obligation to The Pony Express.”

“What will we do?” Peter asked. “We have to
deliver the horses.”

“You boys are doing a wonderful job training
them. Even Abigail helped when we needed it. So ... I think this is
the best solution.”

My feet bounced under the table. What was he
planning? Would he let me back on a horse, or would he condemn me
to a lifetime of listening to my brothers having fun while doing
their work?

“Adam you're in charge of the contract,” Pa
said. “Bart's your assistant. The rest of you will work in groups
under either Adam or Bart's direction.”

Does Pa mean me?

The thought made me happy as I glanced at my
brothers. Why did they look like someone had cancelled their
birthdays? This was good news.

Chapter
Seventeen

From one end of the
table to the other, my brothers stared at the polished surface with
gloomy expressions.

“It's not the end of the world,” Pa said.

Adam raised his head. The sorrow in his eyes
nearly made me run out of the room, so I wouldn't hear what he
said.

“It's not right. You love working with the
horses,” he said.

It finally dawned on me what had them so
worried. Pa would break ponies again. My brothers were such silly
fools.

“This is the only way I know how to keep my
promise,” he said.

“Enough of this gloom.” Ma bustled around the
table, swiping away crumbs. “There's no use worrying about what
might be.”

“Yes, ma'am,” I said.

When no one else responded, I kicked Charles.
He jumped and added his reply. One by one, the others gave sad
sounding responses.

“Louisa, I don't know about you, but I think
I'll step outside for a breath of fresh air,” Uncle Andy said.
“It's a right purty night. If you don't watch out, winter will
catch you soon.”

Pa laughed. Although not as robust as he
usually sounded, the merriment lifted my nervousness, and my
earlier happiness returned.

“Absolutely right, Andy,” he said. “Louisa
and I don't take enough time to enjoy a starry night. Go on, I'll
join you in a few minutes.”

He nodded at the porch, and Ma walked out
with Uncle Andy. After they closed the door, Pa gazed at my
brothers and me.

“It's about time I confronted Horace
Johnson,” he said. “He's got a few things to explain about this
sickness.”

“Wait for the sheriff to stop by, or we can
talk to Captain Smith at the Army post when we deliver the next
batch of horses,” Mark said. “They might be able to do
something.”

Bart leaned forward on his elbows. “Maybe if
a couple of us rode over there and explained how they should stay
at their place, he would ... I don't know, but maybe Mr. Johnson
would keep his boys close to home.”

Horror seeped through me. None of the
Johnsons cared about what anyone else thought. What if they came
over more often? What if they stole me away from my family?

“That sounds like a good idea,” Pa said.
“Sure is tiring how the Johnsons always show up whenever they feel
like it.”

Peter and Paul opened their mouths at the
same time. I shook my head. With evil grins announcing their
intent, they turned away from me.

Holy heck! How did the troublemakers learn
about what happened at the corral?

Just when I began to believe Pa would have a
reason to go after the Johnsons, Adam tapped their hands.

“I was just gonna say how the runt shouldn't
go on a long ride yet,” Paul said.

“Yeah, after she got thrown and all. She
might get hurt on the trail,” Peter commented.

“Maybe the two of you should stay at home
until you learn you don't take food from someone you don't trust,”
Pa said.

Their gleeful expressions faded. The
troublemakers muttered they had already learned their lesson.

“Sure sounds like they've changed their
minds,” Bart said.

“Apologize.” Charles glared at Peter and
Paul.

“We're sorry,” they chorused.