Scarecrow on Horseback (4 page)

“How am I going to get in trouble? Horses
like me, and I like them.” Anger made Mel's heart thump as fast as
a running rabbit. She looked around the corral at the horses
standing in companionable groups. She'd begun to recognize some of
them—Zorro and Stilts and the two handsome bays that Jeb and Sally
had test ridden. She felt comfortable amidst the horses, as if she
were somehow related to them, physically different, but with the
same emotions. She could get close enough to a horse so they could
read each other's mind the way human friends could. Until she had
tried to ride him, she'd certainly been able to read Wonder Boy's
mind.

* * * *

The second morning that Mel had come to
clean out Wonder Boy's stall in the little barn that had been built
for him, the palomino had raised his head and studied her. He'd
taken a few steps toward her and stopped to chew at something
beside him, but one eye stayed on her. He'd looked a little goofy,
as goofy as an animal as golden as he could look, with his jaw
moving from side to side and hay sticking out of both sides of his
mouth.

“Hi,” she'd said, keeping her throaty voice
low and soft. “If you're looking for something better to eat, I
can't help you. I'm just here to do Lisa's chores so she can sleep
in. I'm going to clean up your poop and put in some fresh straw in
case you want to lie down.”

He'd bumped her leg lightly with his
head.

“Do horses like to be petted?” she'd asked
him in surprise. “Like dogs? She'd reached out and stroked his
neck. He stood still as if he liked it.

She'd brought him an apple the next morning
and she made up lines in a two-way conversation for him like,
“What's new with you?” Her question.

“Same old. Same old thing. Chomp my feed and
hang out waiting for Lisa to ride me.

How about you?” His answer.

“Well,” she'd told him. “School's okay. I
sit with Lisa's friends at lunch. They talk so much, all I have to
do is listen and smile. They all like boys. Me, I prefer
horses.”

He bumped her chest with his nose. “I like
you.”

“Must be you think I smell good,” she'd
said. “Maybe you like the soap I use, huh?” And she'd told him he
was a good boy, and she scratched under his chin and around his
ears, which he seemed to like.

All Lisa's free time went in training Wonder
Boy. There never was an hour to spare for Mel to ride him. “Why
don't you bug my father about leasing a horse for you, Mel?” Lisa
had asked her. Mel didn't have the nerve. She'd already been given
so much—her own room after having slept on a folding cot or in the
same bed as her mother for years, not to mention the luxury of
calling Max's spacious house home. Just the year before in fifth
grade, a girl had asked Mel why she kept wearing the same shirt so
often. And in fourth grade in a different school in Arizona, Mel
had been the only one not to go on the field trip to Sea World in
San Diego because she hadn't asked Dawn to sign the slip and give
her the money when she saw how expensive it was going to be. To
have so much and to have Wonder Boy like her was enough to make Mel
happy even if she didn't have a horse to ride.

* * * *

“What happened, Mel?” Sally broke into her
thoughts to ask. His voice was buttery. “You have a bad fall?”

“Sure,” she said to put him off. “Once I fell
off a horse and banged my butt and got scraped up.”

Sally shook his head. “No, uh uh. That
wouldn't keep you from riding. You got more guts than that.”

His faith in her pleased her. “Look,” she
said. “You're right. Something happened, but I don't want to talk
about it. Really. I don't.”

“All right. I'll stop bugging you. Only I got
to say this. Jeb can be pretty hard- nosed, and if you won't ride
like he wants, he just might bar you from the corral to show you
who's boss.”

“But I need to be here with you and the
horses, Sally. Can't you talk to him?”

“Jeb don't take much advice from me. You
think it over. Maybe you should talk to him yourself. ” Sally
turned to go and then looked back at her to say, “If you change
your mind about riding, Lily, I'll meet you in the big barn when
I'm done work. That'll be about four. I'll stay right with you,
Mel.” And he added, “Because I'd hate to lose my new assistant when
I just got such a good one.” His grin spread his potato face even
wider. His eyes above the grin shone with kindness. Before she
could react though, he'd gone off to work on another horse.

Mel stood riveted in place while Lily buried
her nose in the feed bucket and munched noisily. The pointy- headed
mountains peering down at the ranch below the sun-washed sky seemed
to mock Mel as she laid her cheek against Lily's neck. She didn't
doubt that Sally would have something to teach her about riding if
she showed up at the ring at 4:00 p.m. She and Lily would do okay
together maybe, as long as Sally was with them. But then what? She
imagined Jeb's disgust when he saw her flopping in the saddle.

“You're the worst rider I ever saw,” Lisa had
screamed at her. “You even made Wonder Boy look bad. He would have
won if it hadn't been for you. Scarecrow! You ruined him.”

Scarecrow, too tall, too thin, awkwardly
doing everything wrong. It really had been her fault that Wonder
Boy hadn't won. Mel shuddered. If only Lisa hadn't broken her arm.
If only winning hadn't meant so much to her.

* * * *

One of Lily's hooves still needed to be
picked clean. Mel bent and gently pinched Lily above her fetlock.
“Jeb won't bar me from the corral. Will he, Lily?” she asked the
horse. Surely, he wouldn't.

Lily snuffled contentedly as Mel got the
brush from her jeans pocket and massaged Lily's smooth neck with
it. Telling Jeb she was sorry might not be that hard. She was sort
of sorry. But Sally would be waiting for her in the big barn at
4:00 p.m. Mel had no doubt he would wait for her as he had
promised. What she didn't know was what she would do about it.

Chapter
Four

By late afternoon, the fat golden sun had
begun retreating behind the snow-streaked mountains to the west.
What was left of its heat felt good in the big barn. Veils of
sunshine slanted all the way from the rafters to the dirt floor,
and the air smelled sweetly of hay and horses. Sally waited beside
Lily. He had the delicate Arabian already tacked up and ready as if
he'd been sure she'd come.

“Come on,” Sally said when he saw Mel
standing in the doorway, “I'll give you a boost up.”

Mel had saved part of an apple from her
lunch. She offered it to Lily, who sniffed it, licked it, then
moved her head aside without taking it into her mouth. “Doesn't she
like apples?”

“Horses got their preferences just like
people.”

“Just like people,” Mel repeated in
agreement, as she winged the half apple out the barn door for a
lucky ground squirrel or chipmunk to find.

Lily tossed her head at Mel's sudden
movement, and Mel reached out to calm her, stroking her neck and
whispering to her that everything was all right. “I don't weigh
that much even though I'm tall,” she told Lily. “I won't hurt
you.”

“Ready?” Sally asked.

“Ready,” Mel said, although she could hear
her own heart beating a warning. She was about to risk Sally's good
opinion of her by making a fool of herself. Still, she followed his
directions and put her right foot in his cupped hands. Up she went,
managing to swing her other leg over the saddle without hitting
anything. And there she sat, mounted with the reins held properly
for riding English style, but she was on a western saddle with a
leather horn in front of her. Instinctively, she grabbed it.

“No need to hold the horn. It's just there
for emergencies.” Sally gently corrected her hands on the reins.
The horse stood as statue-still as Mel could want. “Feel
comfortable?”

“No.”

“Come on. You're doing fine. Just touch her
with your heels to start her walking. I'll stay with you. I
promise.”

“Why do I have to walk?”

“You won't have much fun standing still.”

“I'd have more fun with both my feet on the
ground.”

“Don't be ornery, Mel. This isn't about fun,
is it?”

She thought of Jeb. “I'm sorry about how I
acted in the barn yesterday,” she'd told him when she'd followed
him into the tack room and found him alone there.

“Okay, no big deal,” Jeb had said. “But when
you got a job to do, you got to do it all the way.”

“I know. I'm sorry.”

“Okay,” he'd said and offered her a quick
smile of forgiveness.

Riding Lily was harder than making apologies.
Mel felt awkward with her long legs pushed wide by Lily's broad
chest, and her shoulders pushed back in an attempt to sit straight.
“Am I sitting right?” she asked Sally.

“Sure.” Just relax. No need to grip her with
your knees, but you might tighten up on the reins a little. She
needs to know you're in charge.”

“You lead her for me, Sally.”

“Hey, aren't you too old for a pony ride?” He
shambled off to the railing on the opposite side of the barn,
leaned back, and folded his arms. “Tug your reins to the right a
bit. Walk Lily over here. Come on. You can do it.”

“You said you'd stay with me,” Mel grumbled.
She remembered how helpless she'd felt on Wonder Boy, unable to
make him do anything he didn't chose to do.

“Nudge her with your heels now,” Sally
said.

No way could Mel nudge Lily to get her
started. No way could she move. She hated riding. She hated sitting
on a horse's back and pretending she could control a big powerful
animal by the touch of a heel or the movement of her hands.

“Come on, Mel. Try it. I'm only four horse
steps away. Walk her over here.” He crossed one boot over the
other. Now he was tied hand and foot to himself.

Fury melted the fear in Mel. Sally was
forcing her to choose—roll off Lily and give up her chance to be
with the horses on the ranch, or try to regain control of her
muscles and make Lily walk toward him. She glanced down. She could
just flop onto the dirt, get up and crawl out of the barn, and
never speak to Sally again. But he was her friend, the only
possible human one she'd found here. And Lily was waiting calmly,
as if she wanted to be guided.

Mel swallowed hard and quavered, “Come on,
Lily. Go.” She pushed her heels up and back against the mare's
side. Lily took a couple of steps forward and stopped.

“You're holding the reins too tight,” Sally
said. “She thinks you want her to stop.”

“Come on, Lily, go,” Mel said, annoyed now.
She released the reins slightly and nudged harder. Slowly, Lily
walked across the barn. Mel steered her more to the left toward
Sally, who was grinning triumphantly. Mel stuck her tongue out at
him.

“I suppose I look ridiculous up here. Why
aren't you laughing?” Mel asked.

“What do you mean? You look fine. Like you'd
ridden all your life. You and Lily look good together.”

“Oh sure.” She didn't believe him, but at
least he wasn't making fun of her.

“How about taking a tour of the ring?” Sally
asked. “See if you can walk her around in a circle. You could even
lope if you've a mind to.”

“I don't have a mind to,” she said crossly.
“Come on, Lily.” She laid the reins over Lily's neck, and the horse
turned obligingly. A gentle nudge of the heels and Lily ambled away
from Sally toward the far end of the barn.

“She's easy to control,” Mel admitted to
Sally when they'd arrived back where he was examining his nails and
resting comfortably against the railing.

His answer was to teach her to stop and to
back up and even to trot a few steps. “I don't like trotting,” Mel
grumbled as Sally helped her off the horse half an hour later.

“Yeah, well Lily's got a bumpy trot. Loping's
smoother. You can try that next time.”

“I thought Jeb said some little kid was due
to ride her.”

“Not tomorrow. I'm leading a family ride
tomorrow. You can ride tail for me on Lily. We'll be walking the
whole way on a level trail. Nothing to it.”

He made it sound so tame that Mel was
tempted. “Would Jeb let me ride tail?” she asked.

“I expect so. There's no one else around to
do it. Like I said we're short-handed. Will be even after the
college kids show up.”

“I don't like Jeb,” Mel said.

“Jeb's not a bad feller, just kind of full of
himself.”

“You like everybody, don't you, Sally?”

“What? You mean because I like you?” he
teased, and Mel jabbed his arm when he chuckled.

* * * *

That night when they were in their own cabin
and her mother asked her what she'd been doing all day, Mel told
her mother about her riding experience.

“That's good, Mel. You might as well take
advantage of all the free riding now you're here.”

“I told you, Mom. It's not riding I like. Its
horses. You don't like horseback riding, do you?”

“Me? No. I'd rather use four wheels to get
where I want to go, but I like looking at horses—from a distance.
That head wrangler's not bad to look at either.”

“You mean Jeb?” Mel asked in alarm.

“Umm. He's a hunk. Too bad he's just a
kid.”

“Do you think he's nice?” Mel persisted.

“I guess. Of course, I've barely talked to
him. He seems kind of shy, although I hear he's got a
girlfriend.”

“She got mad at him and left. He's not nice,
Mama. He puts Sally down in front of people, and he orders
everybody around.”

Her mother laughed. “Sally, your idol! Well,
Jeb's the man in charge. So ordering everybody around is his job,
Mel. As to how he treats Sally, that's between Sally and him, isn't
it?”

“Umm,” Mel said, but she knew how devastating
mockery was and how hard it was to defend yourself against it.