ranger. I want to have a word with him."
15
We found Ranger Upchurch talking to Hamp out by the horse barn. Misty, looking cute as a basket of kittens, in jeans and cowboy boots, was saddling a horse. I went over to talk to her.
"Goin' for a ride?" My mouth was full of cotton, and I couldn't think of another thing to say.
She smiled at me. "Uh-huh. Want to come along? I can saddle Blade for you. He's real gentle."
I looked at that saddle. "I, um… I don't know. I may have to be getting back to town."
She must have read my mind. "I could put a western saddle on him."
"I'll see," I said, and headed back to where Biggie was standing beside the ranger.
"Go," she said when I asked her. "Just be back in an hour."
We walked the horses past the corral and the riding ring and across the pasture until we came to a grove of trees.
"Watch your head and legs," Misty said. "Old Blade will try to knock you off. He'll either cut too close to a fence post, or sometimes he'll head for a low limb and try to scrape you off that way."
"I thought you said he was gentle," I said.
Misty laughed. "You always have to be smarter than the horse. They're just like people; they have their little quirks."
I ducked as we passed under an oak tree and followed Misty through the woods into a wide clearing bordered on both sides by planted pines.
"This is a pipeline right-of-way," she said. "They keep it mowed, so it's a perfect place to run the horses. Come on!"
She nudged her horse with her heels and cantered away. I gave Blade a nudge, but all he did was speed up to a trot, all the time trying to get his head down to the green grass below. Finally, I gave him a good kick and held on to the saddle horn as he galloped after Misty. We must have ridden a half mile when we came in sight of a blacktop road up ahead. Misty reined in her horse and waited for Blade to catch up.
"This is the end of the trail," she said. "I know a good place to rest and let the horses drink. Follow me."
We turned the horses left and entered an even denser wood than before. Grapevines trailed from the trees and ran along the ground, causing the horses to step high to avoid them. I could hear gurgling water, and soon we broke into a clearing beside a creek bank. Misty jumped from her horse and led it to the water. I followed suit. After the horses had a drink, we tied them to a low-hanging branch and sat down on the mossy ground.
"I didn't know you rode," Misty said, smiling.
"Oh, sure." I didn't tell her that the only riding I'd ever done, except for the ponies at the county fair, was on Mr. Sontag's old mule.
"You should come out and ride often." She leaned back on her hands and looked sideways at me. "That is, if we're staying here, me and Daddy, I mean."
I sat up straight. "Why shouldn't you?"
"I heard them talking, Abner and Daddy. Abner was saying they might have to sell the ranch. He said Rex had already settled a bunch of cash on Laura, and he wasn't leaving her anything in his will."
"That's awful." I watched two beetles crawling across the green moss pushing a ball of dung. "What will y'all do?"
"Daddy'll move on to another job, I guess. He's a wonderful trainer. Before we came here, he trained quarter horses, you know, for racing. That's big business, and good trainers get paid a lot. Actually, what Daddy really wants to do is settle down with his own stables, but you have to have lots of money for that."
"Where's your mom?"
"She's married again and living in Arizona. I've got a little brother there, but I've never even seen him. When she and Daddy divorced, she gave me to Daddy. I guess she didn't want me." Misty didn't look sad, just matter of fact.
"Cool— I didn't mean that. It's not cool when your mom doesn't want you around. What I meant to say is, my mom didn't want me either. I guess we have something in common. Does it bother you her not wanting you?"
"Uh-uh." Misty waved away a gnat that was buzzing around her face. "I'd lots rather live with Dad."
"Me, too— I mean, I'd rather live here in