Pony Dreams (14 page)

I heaved a huge sigh of relief, but it caught
in my chest when Adam glanced at me. Misery and guilt radiated from
him.

Oh, holy heck! Don't let him confess.
Please, God, don't let Adam tell Pa!

Next to Pa, Adam's suggestions were the
hardest law around our ranch.

“I don't think Abby should spend much time
outside alone,” he said.

How dare he? This was beyond humiliating. I
glared at him. Before I could scoot down in my chair and kick him,
Uncle Andy and Ma strolled through the back door.

“Those pots won't wait all night,” she said.
“Adam, was there a problem you didn't mention?”

Oh! No! No! No! I screamed silently. Don't
ruin my only chance to visit a station. Please, Adam, don't do
it.

As if he had heard my silent plea, he said,
“No, ma'am, but the kid doesn't always pay attention when she's
around the horses.”

“Abigail was right earlier. She's not a baby
anymore,” Pa said. “If she and your ma are willing, I won't
object.”

Ma smiled at me, and Uncle Andy winked.
Whatever Pa had planned, they agreed. I released a breath I had
held since Adam glanced at me.

“Adam, I want you to work with Charles, Mark,
and Abby. Make sure your sister doesn't take on too much trying to
prove she's as good as the rest of you. Abigail, your mother wants
to have a long discussion with you about what we expect.”

“Yes, Pa,” I said.

He had finally made it official. I get to
train the horses for The Pony Express!

Lowering my eyes, I peeked at Ma through my
lashes. She and Uncle Andy talked in furious whispers as they dried
the pots.

“Bart, I realize you have Peter and Paul to
oversee, but it's no more than Adam will be taking on with Abigail.
You two.” Pa's finger pointing at them speared Peter and Paul in
place when they squirmed with pleasure. “I don't want to hear about
you pushing your chores off on your sister again. She isn't your
servant. You'll do what I tell you, or I'll take care of you. I'm
not so sick that I can't discipline a wayward child.”

Their excited wiggling disappeared as they
straightened. I resisted the urge to stick out my tongue. It would
only get me in trouble, and I had just decided to do everything
anyone asked of me, so Adam would never have a reason to ban me
from the corral.

“Now, for the most important part of this
announcement,” Pa said.

Everyone leaned forward. Ma and Uncle Andy
stood behind me and grasped the back of my chair.

“Each team will search out their own mustangs
and train them. Adam, your group will deliver what we've already
broken tomorrow,” Pa said. “Bart, your group will train the ones
you boys brought back today. That way, we can provide what The Pony
Express wants, and the ranch will always have someone on hand to
take care of our needs.”

I hardly dared to breathe. Pa hadn't said I
wasn't going on the deliveries. Did that mean I would have the
chance to see The Pony Express riders in action? Would I actually
meet one of them? What would those men say when they discovered a
girl had trained their mounts? Would they even have time to talk to
me?

“It's time to finish your chores. Mark,
continue working with Abigail. We've put quite a bit on your
sister, and I mean to see it stop,” Ma said. “Adam, if you'll
oversee Peter and Paul in the chicken coop, I'd appreciate it. Bart
and Charles, we need more wood in the lean to.”

“Yes, Ma,” everyone said.

“Adam, see me in the gun room when you're
finished,” Pa said.

After Mark and I finished cleaning the
kitchen, Ma took me into her bedroom and closed the door.

“Most girls don't ever get to do anything
like this.” She pointed at two pairs of pants on the bed. “Those
are what you'll wear when you're working with the horses.”

“Yes, ma'am,” I said, figuring she meant for
me to wear one of the plain blouses I had for when I put on a
skirt.

“There's no place for a girl to stay apart
from the men at the stations, and that worries me. Your pa will
talk to Adam about taking care of you while you're on the trail,
but I'm here to tell you how to keep anyone from noticing you're a
girl.”

Heat fired up my cheeks. I didn't look like a
girl when I wore pants. Why did she have to bring this up now? In
spite of not understanding, I listened carefully as she spoke about
keeping my hat on and my mouth closed.

“From what your pa says, The Pony riders are
respectful, but I don't want you taking any chances. Don't make
them notice you, or you'll never ride off this ranch again. Do you
understand?” she asked.

“Yes, ma'am,” I answered.

Inside, I leapt and cavorted around the room.
How much better could this get? I couldn't wait for the excitement
of the long ride.

“Just a couple of more things.” She cleared
her throat. “You're smaller than most girls your age, but a man
will know you aren't a boy once he looks at you ... your
chest.”

“Ma!” I looked down at the thing I ignored
whenever I dressed. “I can wear a bigger shirt. They won't show
then.”

“Good idea.” She smiled. “I do believe you've
figured out a much better way to cover the problem than what I had
in mind. I'll have Mark leave one of his shirts in your room later.
Another thing, I'll relax my rule about using your nickname. Your
pa, Andy, and the boys seem to be using it all the time, so I don't
see any reason to keep calling you Abigail.”

Hope rose within me. She had made a decision
I never thought I would hear.

She knelt on the floor and pulled out a cedar
box she kept under her bed. I crouched beside her as she opened it.
For years, I had wondered what she kept in there.

Ma touched a few things, like tiny dresses
and locks of hair.

“My ma gave me a very special gift when your
pa and I left Kentucky.” She pulled out a square locket on a gold
chain. “My great-great grandmother brought it over from her home in
Scotland many years ago.” She dropped the locket over my head.
“It's tradition to pass it to the oldest daughter when her ma feels
she's a woman.”

I touched the cool metal, confused by her
words.

“You told me I'd become a woman when I found
a husband,” I said.

“That's true for most women.” She hugged me
tight. “I believe you became a woman the day you snuck out before
dawn to make sure someone trained the horses after your pa and
older brothers rode out the last time.”

“You knew?” I leaned back, afraid she would
stop me from leaving in the morning.

“I know every sound this house makes at every
hour of the day and night.” She smiled. “You took responsibility
for helping your family, even though you knew what might happen if
I caught you. I kept an eye on you, so I could help if you needed
it.”

Her simple statement brought understanding.
She had given me the chance to do the right thing, but she had also
made sure I had someone watching out for me. I now knew what it
meant to grow up.

“Thank you.”

“No need to say thank you.” She closed the
box and shoved it back under the bed. “Just you make sure you do as
Adam tells you tomorrow.”

“I will.” I dropped the locket inside my
dress and vowed that I would never take it off.

Chapter
Eighteen

I curled my arms
around my pillow and smiled as I experienced the most wonderful
dream in the world.

Everyone at The Pony Express station stood
in a straight line. I marched up and down in front of them. Not a
one of them made a comment about my britches and well-fitted
shirt.

“I spent a lot of time convincing my ponies
to do this,” I said. “You have to treat them nice.”

“Yes, ma'am,” the riders said.

“You'll have to be real nice to them, or
they'll buck you.” I glanced at the herd of ponies behind me. “Now,
all of you get them horses into the corral.”

They led the ponies into the corral one by
one. I glowed with pleasure.

Tarnation! This is the best feeling in the
whole world.

A booming sound made me open my eyes.
Sunlight streamed through my window. I untangled my legs from the
sheets and sat up.

“Time to get up, Abby,” Adam shouted. “Did
you make up your blanket roll last night?”

“I have it,” Uncle Andy yelled from the front
of the house.

I took the time to make sure the pants and
shirt fit right before opening my door. My brothers going with me
smiled as I stepped into the hallway. Adam flipped my braids.

“Great look, short stuff,” he said. “But
you'll keep your mouth closed when we reach the stations. I don't
want any man eyeing my sister like those stationmaster's do to
grown women.”

A red flush crept over his tanned cheekbones,
leaving me to wonder what the men did when they stared at women.
Why did my brothers act so strange when they talked about men
looking at me? I was just a girl, nothing special.

Then an attack of nerves hit me. This was the
first time I'd leave my home without Ma and Pa. It was downright
frightening.

He walked out of his bedroom while I went
toward the kitchen. It was still strange seeing him moving as if
someone had put sand into his joints. The winces on his face made
it hard not to offer him an arm to lean on, as if my strong and
capable pa would ever accept help walking.

“Ready, sweetie?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.” I kept my voice low in an effort
not to hide my anxiety.

Why was I so nervous? This is what I had
wanted since discovering I couldn't sneak onto The Pony as one of
the riders.

“Not nervous, are you?” Peter yelled as he
scrambled into the kitchen.

“Are you?” I called in response.

“Get in here,” Ma said. “You haven't got all
day.”

She served boiled oats and sausages. The food
sat in my stomach like a rock. Adam speared one of the patties.

“I'll eat these if you won't.”

Although he sounded serious, his wink
lightened my mood. I began eating as if I wouldn't have another
good meal for days.

“Adam and I got the horses ready last night,”
Mark said.

“Good,” Pa said. “Bart, we can get to the
breaking as soon as the rest of you take care of your chores. I'll
be out there to make sure no one messes up.”

Groans came from Peter and Paul. Pa fixed a
steely gaze on them.

“If either of you even thinks about goofing
around, I'll tan your hides,” he said.

“Yes, sir,” they said.

“Are you thinking about goofing around?” Bart
asked.

“No,” Peter said.

“We weren't,” Paul claimed.

Their vehement protests brought smiles.

“Michael, we need to dig a new well,” Uncle
Andy said. “I believe the one we have now will run dry soon.
Wouldn't want that happening with Louisa getting ready to finish
putting up her vegetables, would you?”

“Oh no.” Pa glanced at Ma. “I'd never let the
well run dry when my wife has so much to do.”

Adam and Bart joined Pa and Uncle Andy on the
porch. Ma drew me to one side.

“You remember what I told you last night,”
she said. “Don't you dare disobey Adam, or it'll be the last time
you go on one of these rides. And, Abby, don't you even think of
riding wild like your brothers do. It's not fitting for a gal, even
if she's helping her family.”

“Yes, ma'am,” I said.

Pa stuck his head inside. “Everyone leaving
with Adam get to the corral. The rest of you, there are still
chores to do. Peter and Paul, work with your uncle on the new
well.”

“Ah!” the troublemaking twins groaned. “It's
not fair.”

My thought exactly, every time they got to
train the ponies, and I was stuck with boring chores. After making
sure no one else was looking, I stuck out my tongue at their backs
and then dashed out to the corral.

The half-broke mustangs provided some
excitement when Adam released them from the corral. I worked
alongside my brothers and soon brought them under control. We had a
lot of help from Blaze. Whenever one of the other horses tried to
run off, he would stomp a hoof and whinny. The animal would come
back and stay with the herd.

“Are you sure you want to take him with us?”
Adam looked at me. “He loves you, Abby.”

“A promise is a promise,” I said.

As we rode away from our home, I looked back.
The large house shrank as my horse, in reality Paul's since I
didn't have one to call my own and never would, carried me further
and further from everything I had ever known.

“Come on, short stuff,” Adam teased. “We'll
be back in less than a week.”

After all I had experienced in the last few
months, it was boring riding alongside the herd during the trip
north. Nothing broke the monotony until Mark scouted out a hollow
where we could rest for the night. While I stirred up bacon and
biscuits and reheated a pot of beans Ma had packed, a rattler
darted out from under a rock. Adam, Mark, and Charles shot at the
poor thing while it wove back and forth. I laughed at their puny
efforts.

“Golly gee,” I exclaimed. “You'd starve if
you had to make your living as gunslingers.”

“Hush and get supper served,” Mark commented.
“I still have to figure who sleeps when.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Guard duty,” Adam said. “We don't want
anyone stealing our horses.”

It had never occurred to me that we might
face danger on the trail. Would rustlers really try to steal what
The Pony needed so desperately? Could my brothers protect the
horses?

We cleaned up, and I vowed to scrub every
single dish with hot water and soap as soon as we returned home.
Sand might take off the food bits, but everything still looked
dirty to me. As soon as we repacked what we'd taken out, Adam
pointed at a spot near the fire.