Samantha's Talent (34 page)

"No, sir. He stays close to me. He won't stray."

"Unless he sees a rabbit or some kind of varmint."

"No, sir. I've taught him not to do things like that without permission."

He raised his brows but said nothing about how dogs always chased varmints. Instead, he said, "Ray, You can ride until noon then come back and make us some lunch. Hear? And you give her the old mare so she don't get hurt."

"Yes, sir," Ray said, then abruptly disclosed that Samantha had said she could ride Thunder, his horse.

"Don't you try any such fool stunt, girl. That's a mean horse with anybody but Ray. I can't even ride him myself."

"I'm good with animals, Mr. Zimmerman. They usually like me."

"That horse don't even like himself. Ray broke him 'cause I'm too old and had too many busted bones already, but it took a long time and he still bucks occasionally. You listen to me, now. Don't you do nothing foolish."

"Yes, sir," Samantha said, but he had already turned his back on the teenagers. He climbed on his already saddled horse and rode away on some errand. He leaned from his mount and opened the far corral gate on his way out in order to loose the horses into a new pasture.

Samantha had never even been on a horse. She watched Ray closely to see how he put the saddle on so she could do it the next time. Once the mare was saddled and the reins loosely attached to a hitching post, Ray let go a loud whistle, shrill enough to make Shufus' sensitive ears flinch at the noise.

From out of a patch of nearby woods a magnificent blood-red stallion with a white diamond patch on the top of his muzzle came toward them at a gallop. Each of the horse's legs were white to the first joint, causing him to look as if he were wearing stockings. He was half again as large as some of the other full-grown horses she'd seen in the corral. He was also apparently skittish around strangers and strange animals. He reared up and whinnied a warning to Samantha and Shufus to keep their distance.

Samantha ignored it. "Wow, aren't you a big beautiful horse. Why is your name Thunder?"

***

What Samantha heard was
B'Red,
a slurred rendition of Big Red
.

"
Big Red. That's a good name for a big beauty like you. This is my dog, Shufus. He wants to be friends with you. Touch noses with him, please." The horse didn't hear
Please
nor most of the rest of the words. He heard a polite request about noses and the dog. Once Samantha repeated herself, he understood completely. He lowered his head until he and Shufus were able to touch noses.

Ray was watching and hardly daring to breathe. He had once seen Thunder bite a yapping mongrel dog in the neck hard enough to kill it, and he had nipped or kicked quite a few others that got too close. The big German Shepherd appeared to be immune to his horse's animosity, though. That was amazing enough, but listening to Samantha and then to his horse making noises in response to her words was simply astounding. Thunder had never responded to anyone but him.

Samantha reached a hand up to rub his muzzle and caress his ears and pat his neck, acts Thunder had never allowed anyone but Ray to perform. He was getting ready to compliment her when she asked, "Big Red, would you mind if I rode you for a few minutes? Just to the barn and back? I won't need a saddle if you'll go slow."

Again she had to repeat herself but Thunder was beginning to understand more as she spoke to him in a gentle, pleasant voice. It was different from the voice of his master but more intelligible once he discerned the similarity.

When he gave his assent Samantha held her snack bag down for Shufus to hold for her and said, "Come over by the hitching post and I'll get on your back from there. Remember, go slow, please."

The big red horse took several steps and sidled up next to the mare while Samantha climbed onto the top horizontal rail of the hitching post.

Ray could see what was happening but he was unable to utter a single word of protest. He didn't know what to say or do because Samantha seemed so sure of herself and Thunder was acting so unusually friendly. Just before she threw her leg over his back he finally got his voice back. "Sammie, you'd better not--". It was already too late. Her leg slid across Thunder's back and she settled herself on the big stallion. "Just to the barn and back, Big Red. Let's go."

Obediently the horse trotted slowly toward the barn then turned and trotted back at a slightly faster pace. Samantha had to lean forward and grab his neck at the turn to keep from slipping off but that was the only mishap. Thunder returned her to the exact spot where she had mounted. She slid off and reached up to hug the horse's neck. "Thank you. Thank you, Big Red. That was fun! You're a good horse. A really good horse. Let me see if I have something for you." She had brought several apples after reading that horses liked them, and she always carried dog biscuits. She took the bag from Shufus who had been patiently holding it and removed an apple and a biscuit and gave each animal the appropriate gift.

Just then Mr. Zimmerman came riding up. He had stopped when he heard his son's whistle, the kind that summed Thunder. He had sat on his horse and seen the whole episode from a distance. He hadn't been able to understand what the girl was saying from that far away but he had heard her speaking to Thunder the same way his son did and the same way he spoke to other horses when he broke them for market. He was still not quite believing what he had seen with his own eyes. Thunder had thrown many a bronco buster before Ray gentled him, but no one else had ever ridden him. He decided he'd better speak to the girl before she got into trouble or worse, got hurt. Somehow, he doubted she would, though.

"Girl, you said you'd never ridden a horse before. How did you get that brute to let you on him?"

"Mr. Zimmerman, my name isn't 'Girl'. It's Samantha. Or Sammie to my friends. I talked to Thunder and he let me get on him." She shrugged, as if it was an everyday occurrence.

"Ray talks to the horses, too. That's how we make money, him breaking them to the saddle and getting them ready for sale. I didn't know anyone else could do it like him, though."

"I didn't either," Samantha said with a nervous laugh, a small but necessary falsehood.

For the first time the old rancher smiled just a tiny bit. "Well, so long as you're sure. Now I really got to go. Don't let me come back and find our horses dancing a jig or making friends with wolves, you hear me, Ray? Samantha?"

"Yes, sir," she said and returned his smile.

Once they were alone, Ray eyed her suspiciously. "Did Thunder really understand you when you talked to him?"

"I guess so. He let me ride him anyway."

"I saw it. You can have something besides the mare to ride if you want to."

"The mare will be fine, Ray. We're already friends so lead the way."

"Okay, I'll be back in a minute." He returned with a rifle slung over his shoulder.

"What's the gun for?" she asked.

"Rifle, not gun. It's just in case we run into a grizzly with cubs or a mountain lion. Not likely, though." He retreated a few steps then took a running leap and was atop his horse, riding bareback, just as Samantha had, although she was on the saddled mare now. By coincidence they had both dressed alike in jeans and a white shirt. She thought he looked handsome. She also noticed how often he glanced at her and smiled inside.

Ray led them onto a trail wide enough for the horses to move along side by side. He said little at first but gradually opened up. He told her how he and his Dad bought wild horses that were rounded up when they became too prolific for their range and then Ray talked them into accepting a saddle, one by one. He could average one horse a day, he said.

"But you probably have to go back to them and reinforce your training before you sell them, don't you?"

He looked askance at her. "How did you know?"

"When I'm helping Whit treat an animal I have to repeat my instructions several times to be sure they've got it. I just supposed horses must be the same way."

"Yep, they are."

It was only afterward that she remembered she wasn't supposed to let on that most animals understood her. It was so natural for her that she occasionally had trouble recalling that other people couldn't do what she could. But Ray had seemed to know she was different. For that matter, he was apparently different himself, at least so far as horses went. He was different from her, too, in that his speech to horses was more like pidgin whereas she had talked plainly to the mare and to Thunder. Another oddity was that apparently he had never asked Thunder what his real name was but simply gave him a name he thought of, Thunder. However, it was no wonder the others at school thought he was weird for talking to his horse the way he did. She wondered suddenly if he could talk to other animals like he could to horses. She started to ask but stopped herself in time because she had another thought. Carrying his rifle made her decide he must not be adept with animals other than horses. Otherwise he could just talk to them and be safe the same way she managed. She had been hoping he might have a talent like her, but it seemed he didn't. But what if he carried the rifle only because his father wanted him to? That might explain it.

They rode and enjoyed the mild weather despite a stiff breeze. Once in a while she glanced over at him when he was preoccupied with guiding Thunder past an obstacle or pointing out something of interest.

"You like it here, don't you?" she asked, just to have something to say. It was hard conversing with him when it appeared he had little interest in anything but horses--or possibly her.

"Uh huh. Mainly because I don't have to go to school five days a week. I get bored with school."

"Really? I love to learn new things."

"Like what?"

"Oh, about different kinds of animals, how math is used in so many di... disciplines, how computers work, the--"

"What did you say? Di-ci-plines?"

She grinned. "That's my new word for the day. It just means a branch of learning."

He nodded but didn't comment. Instead he glanced at his watch. "We'd better start back. I have to get Dad's lunch ready and I reckon you're getting hungry, too."

"Just a little, she said.

"I hope you like leftover chicken pot pie. I always make enough to last us for two days."

"That's a good idea and yes, I do like it. In fact, it's one of my favorites." Samantha had been looking around while he got the pot pie out to warm and began the other simple preparations for a noon meal. The inside of the house wasn't quite as neat as the exterior but it was more clutter than lack of cleanliness. Many novels she'd read described bachelors as living like pigs but that wasn't the case here. She offered to help but was refused. Instead, spotting a room with numerous bookshelves down the hallway from the kitchen, she asked, "Are the books I see in that room with the door open yours or your father's?"

"They're kind of mixed in together. Go take a look if you want to while I finish up here."

"Thanks." Wandering around the room and reading the book covers it appeared to her that one or possibly both had rather eclectic reading habits, although not to the extent she did. There was a mix of non-fiction, biographies and autobiographies and several genres of fiction, mostly western, adventure and historical. She smiled as she saw a well-used set of the Harry Potter novels. Sometimes she thought everyone in the world knew of those books, even though they had been written before she was even born.

"I reckon you like to read, too, huh?" She had been so absorbed that Mr. Zimmerman's gravelly voice came to her like words from far away. It took her a moment to turn around and answer.

"Yes, sir. When we lived in Alaska that was about all there was to do during the winter. We didn't have the internet there and just a local phone company."

"I reckon you must have felt real deprived."

"Not really, because I didn't realize what I was missing until we moved to Texas."

He nodded then said, "Ray has lunch ready. Come on."

When they were finished and she was helping Ray with what few dishes there were, his father said, "You'll have to come again, Samantha. We don't get many visitors living this far out."

That much was true. It had been a long drive for her mother. "I'd like to come back and learn more about horses but maybe Ray could come to my house. I've got a tame bobcat and a crow. They came to live with us after I helped Whit with the surgery."

He eyed her speculatively. "I've heard he had a helper now, a real young girl. I reckoned that must be you."

"Yes sir. I love animals." She patted Shufus on the head.

He nodded but only said, "I need to get back to the fencing."

"I'll start early in the morning to make up for what I didn't do today, Dad."

"Don't worry about it. I'll probably finish by supper time. You're going to get a new batch of horses tomorrow so you can get ready for them if you want something to do." The elder Zimmerman brushed his hand through his gray-shot hair and left without another word.

"Do you want to ride some more, Sammie?" Ray asked after his father was gone.

"I'd really like to see some more of the horses if you don't mind."

"Sure. Come on." As they left he again picked up his rifle. Seeing her questioning look he said, "When you have horses corralled this far from anyone else a cougar or wolves or even a bear might show up. We lost a horse that way and Dad got real mad about it."

As they advanced toward the corral, Samantha said impulsively, "I think I'd like to learn to shoot."

He glanced at her then quickly looked away. Exasperated that he hadn't picked up on the hint, she tried again. "Would you teach me?"

"We couldn't do it now. Dad would hear the shots and get worried."

"Maybe another time?"

He nodded but took it no further. It made her wonder whether he really liked her or not, but thinking about it, decided it was just his basic shyness and having not been around girls very much by himself.

Samantha called out to several horses and got acquainted with them while he watched, almost jealousy, she thought, like he'd never considered the concept that other people might have the same talent as he did with horses. Or maybe he thought she was better at it than he was. That could be it, too. Truthfully, she
was
better. She had already realized that.