The Horseman (5 page)

Gunner’s smile reappeared, and he said,
“Well, good. Because I will admit that I don’t have too much
experience in matchin’ up horses with nuns.” He chuckled, adding,
“No experience come to think of it.”

The horse named Sassafras nuzzled Briney’s
arm once more, and she giggled. “This horse certainly seems to have
a sweet character,” she said.

“Oh, she does,” Gunner assured her. “Here,
take off them gloves you’re wearin’ and really give her some
attention. Let’s see how you two get along here for a minute or
two, all right?”

“Well, if you’re sure I should,” Briney
paused.

“I’m sure,” Gunner assured her.

Briney stripped off her kid gloves, handing
them to Gunner when he offered a hand in which to hold them.

The moment Briney touched Sassafras’s velvet
nose with her bare hands, she began to silently pray that the
Horseman would allow her to choose this horse as hers.

“She likes you,” Gunner said. “And you should
be flattered because ol’ Sassy…well, she’s pretty picky about who
she likes.”

“Really? But she seems so sweet,” Briney
commented.

“Oh, she is,” Gunner affirmed. “Just shy
sometimes is all.” Gunner reached up, combing his fingers through
Sassafras’s mane. “She’s a very special horse, and I’ve been
waitin’ for just the right person to take her.” He looked down at
Briney a moment, his eyes narrowing as he studied her. “Maybe
you’ll be that right person, hmmm?”

“Oh, I hope so!” Briney couldn’t keep from
admitting. “She’s so sweet! It’s almost like she…well, like she
likes me or something. Though I know that sounds like
nonsense.”

“Not at all,” Gunner said. “I think horses
are like people. They know when they’ve found someone who’ll care
for them as much as they care for the person. As I said, Sassy is
usually pretty shy. The fact that she came right to you like she
seems to have done…that says a lot.” He paused and actually winked
at Briney, adding, “It says a lot about you, Miss Thress.” He
stroked Sassy’s jaw a moment and, speaking to the horse, said, “Me
and Sassy, we go way back. I was there waitin’ for her when she was
foaled.”

“Oh! Then she’s
your
horse?” Briney
asked, hoping the disappointment wasn’t too obvious in her voice.
She could see that the horse was special to Gunner, and she feared
he wouldn’t want to part with it.

“Nope,” he said. “She was my mother’s. Mama
rode her up until the very day she passed.”

“Oh, I see,” Briney mumbled, stepping back
from Sassafras. “I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t realize that…”

But Gunner shook his head, saying, “Please
don’t misunderstand me, Miss Thress. It’s not that I’m not willin’
to sell Sassy. It’s just that I’ve been waitin’ for the right
person to sell her to.”

“Yes, but if she belonged to your mother…”
Briney began.

Gunner leaned down so that his face was
almost level with Briney’s. “She was my mother’s, but I think she’s
tryin’ to tell us that she’d like to be yours now, don’t you?”

Sassafras whinnied—nodded as if she agreed
with what Gunner had said.

“You see?” he chuckled. “Sassy knows exactly
what I’m sayin’.”

Tentatively reaching out—for the truth was,
Briney had already decided she wanted Sassafras and was so afraid
something would keep them apart that she was afraid to hope too
much—Briney stroked the horse’s velvety nose.

Sassafras nuzzled Briney’s shoulder and then
touched her nose to Briney’s cheek.

“She doesn’t seem averse to me, at least,”
Briney commented.

“Nope. I’d say she’s already chosen you, Miss
Thress,” Gunner said. “And if you decide to take her…why, this’ll
be the easiest sale I ever made.”

Briney smiled up at Gunner Cole. He wasn’t
going to refuse to sell her Sassafras. In fact, it appeared as if
he’d already made up his mind that Briney could, indeed, purchase
the horse.

“Hey there, boss,” Charlie called, appearing
at the opposite end of the stable. Hurrying toward Briney and
Gunner, he pulled up short when he reached them. “Here’s you a
clean shirt,” he said, handing a rather faded red shirt to Gunner.
He looked to Briney then, asking, “Have you taken a likin’ to Sassy
here then, Miss Thress?”

“Oh, definitely,” Briney admitted.

“Good…good,” Charlie said, obviously out of
breath. “Ike said he’ll take over breakin’ that chestnut mustang,
boss.”

“Thanks, Charlie,” Gunner said, slipping his
muscular arms into the arms of the shirt Charlie had given him.
“Why don’t you go on over and pull out Sassy’s old saddle? Let’s
see if it’ll work for Miss Thress here.”

Briney bit her lip with secreted delight when
Gunner neglected to button up the front of his shirt before
reaching for the bridle hanging beside Sassafras’s stall.

“Let’s saddle up Sassy and let you ride her a
bit, Miss Thress,” he said.

“Oh! But…but I’m not prepared. I didn’t come
dressed for…” Briney stammered. Oh, how she regretted not wearing
the split skirt Bethanne had offered.

“Oh, that’s all right, Miss Thress,” Gunner
assured her as he slipped the bridle over Sassafras’s ears. He
studied Briney up and down a moment and then asked, “You got your
bloomers and what not under there, don’t ya?”

“Well, y-yes, of course,” Briney answered,
blushing to the tips of her toes.

Gunner nodded. “Well, that’s good enough for
me and Sassy. We’ll get her saddled up and send you two out for a
bit. You did say you’ve ridden plenty?”

“Yes,” Briney answered. “I’ve just never
ridden astride.”

Gunner chuckled and exchanged amused glances
with Charlie as he returned carrying a saddle.

“Well, you don’t worry a bit about that, Miss
Thress,” Gunner said. “Ridin’ astride is as easy as spreadin’
butter on warm bread. You mark my words—in twenty years or so,
there won’t be a woman in this country still ridin’
sidesaddle.”

Briney watched as Gunner opened the bottom
door to Sassy’s stall and led her out of her stall and into the
stable.

He clicked his tongue and said, “Charlie here
will saddle Sassy up for you today, but if you decide to take her
for your own, we’ll teach you how to do everything—saddle her up,
brush her, and rub her down when you’re through ridin’.”

Gunner looked directly into Briney’s eyes
then. “Of course, I’d like nothin’ more than to board her for you,
Miss Thress,” he said. “I won’t charge you for keepin’ her here. I
just would kind of like to have her around, you understand.”

There was emotion gleaming in his gorgeous
blue eyes, and Briney suddenly understood that, although Gunner
Cole wanted his mother’s horse to be loved, to be ridden, he wasn’t
quite convinced he could completely give her away.

“I think that would be perfect, Mr. Cole,”
Briney said. “I don’t know where else I’d keep her anyway. I’ve
only got a room at the boardinghouse, and it wouldn’t make sense to
board her at the livery when this is her home.” She reached out,
placing a hand on Gunner’s arm. “Are you sure you’re even wanting
to sell her to me, Mr. Cole?”

Gunner smiled. “I’m still workin’ on that,
Miss Thress,” he answered honestly. “But I’ll tell you this.” He
reached up, putting the bit in Sassy’s mouth. “I haven’t seen Sassy
this excited about goin’ for a ride in years. She likes you, and I
want her to be happy. So you take her out for a ride—take your time
too—and then we’ll talk about whether you want to buy her.” He
winked at Briney again, adding, “And whether I’m ready to sell her,
all right?”

“Of course,” Briney said. She wasn’t
disappointed, however, for she could see that, even though Gunner
truly wasn’t wanting to sell Sassafras, he would if he thought it
would make the horse happy.

Once Charlie had secured the cinch around
Sassafras’s belly, ensuring that the saddle was secure, Gunner
nodded and asked Briney, “Are ya ready, Miss Thress?”

“More than ready, Mr. Cole,” Briney assured
her. Her heart was racing with the anticipation of riding
Sassy.

“Do you want me to get a mounting block, or…”
Gunner began.

“No. If-if you don’t mind,” Briney
interrupted, “I’d rather you just taught me to mount her
myself.”

Gunner smiled with approval, and Briney’s
heart leapt in her bosom with pride in knowing she had pleased
him.

“All right then,” he said. Taking hold of the
reins, Gunner lifted them over Sassy’s head. “It’s easy enough.
Take the reins and a bit of her mane in your left hand, and hold
onto them while you take hold of the saddle pommel on the right
side there.”

Briney did as instructed.

“Then turn the stirrup toward you like this.”
Gunner held the stirrup for her. “Put your left foot in the
stirrup, and just sorta stand up in that stirrup until you feel
like your weight is centered there. Then gently swing your right
leg over the saddle, slide your foot into the other stirrup, and
there you have it,” he explained.

Briney did exactly what Gunner told her to
do, and soon she found she had mounted Sassy quite easily.

“Perfect!” Gunner exclaimed. “Now wiggle your
fanny a bit, and square that saddle up on her back so she’s
comfortable.”

Although Briney did blush at Gunner’s
referring to her “fanny,” she did as he said and could feel the
saddle settle perfectly onto Sassy’s back.

“Well done, Miss Thress!” Charlie said,
clapping his hands several times.

“Thank you, Charlie,” Briney giggled.

The desire to simply send Sassy racing from
the stables was nearly overwhelming to Briney. But she knew she
needed more instruction first. After all, Sassafras wasn’t her
horse yet.

“Now, you said you have a great deal of
ridin’ experience?” Gunner asked.

“Yes, sir,” she answered. “My guardian made
sure I was well trained in riding. But as I said, only in
sidesaddle.”

Gunner and Charlie again exchanged amused
glances. “Well, I suspect it’s much more difficult to ride
sidesaddle. So you shouldn’t have any problems at all, Miss Thress.
And if for some reason you should lose your way on the road, Sassy
knows her way back to the stable. So just tell her to come home and
she will, all right?”

“Do you mean to say you’re going to let me
ride her…right now?” Briney asked. “By myself?”

Gunner smiled and laughed. “Of course!”
Reaching behind him, he pulled Briney’s kid gloves from his
pockets. “Did you want your gloves while you ride?”

All at once, pure elation in feeling free
exploded inside Briney’s bosom, stomach, arms, and legs.

“No, thank you, Mr. Cole,” she said. Then,
reaching up and pulling her hat from her hair, hatpin and all,
Briney offered it to Gunner. “And I won’t be needing this
either.”

Gunner, eyebrows arched in admiration,
accepted the hat, and Briney patted Sassy’s neck and asked her,
“Are you ready, Sassafras?”

The horse whinnied with impatience.

Looking to Gunner and trying not to be so
thoroughly aware of how handsome that man was, Briney asked, “What
is it you say out here? Giddyup?”

“Yep,” Gunner answered.

“Then giddyup, Sassafras!” Briney giggled as
she gently nudged the sides of the horse’s belly with her
heels.

Briney heard the laughter of approval of both
Gunner and Charlie as Sassafras eased into a soft trot and then
lurched into a gallop.

And, oh, it was more invigorating even than
Briney had dreamed! As the speed of the horse caused the wind to
tug and pull at Briney’s perfectly coifed hair, she didn’t give one
whit if she returned to the Horseman’s stable looking like a feral
child—for this was freedom profound, and she meant to relish
it!

“Well now,” Charlie began, “I can’t say that
I’ve ever seen the likes of that in my lifetime before. You,
boss?”

Gunner smiled, shook his head, and said, “You
mean a beautiful young woman from the city, all gussied up in some
slick, expensive dress, riding off astride my mother’s horse with
her petticoats flappin’ in the breeze? Nope. Can’t say I have.”

Charlie chuckled and then asked, “How long
you think she’ll be gone?”

“Hours, more’n likely,” Gunner answered.
“That there’s a woman who’s never known freedom, I expect. And now
that she’s got a taste of it…we’ll probably have to ride out and
haul her on home by the hair of her head.”

Charlie nodded. “Ol’ Sassy sure did take to
her, didn’t she?”

“Yep,” Gunner mumbled. “And she ain’t the
only one.”

“What was that, boss?” Charlie asked.

“Nothin’,” Gunner said.

“Well, I best be gettin’ back to help Ike,”
Charlie said as he sauntered off.

But Gunner stood for a few long moments
watching Sassy and her rider until they were only a bay and purple
mirage on the horizon.

“I sure am glad she’s not a nun,” he said to
himself as he turned and headed toward the corrals where the new
herd of mustangs he and the boys had wrangled waited to be sorted
out.

Exhilaration—pure, thoroughgoing
exhilaration! That was what Briney was feeling. As she rode farther
and farther away from the Horseman’s ranch and stables, a sense of
being rejuvenated, invigorated—of having new life breathed into
body and mind—restored and strengthened her. She couldn’t keep from
laughing out loud, occasionally squealing with delight as she rode,
for she’d never felt so happy before—never.

Not wanting to fatigue Sassafras too much,
Briney slowed the horse to a comfortable walk. After all, the
simple rhythmic clip-clop of the horse’s slow-paced walk was as
soothing to Briney’s soul as the gallop was vitalizing. Briney
closed her eyes and tipped her head back so that the sun shone
directly on her face. Oh, it felt so good! The bright warmth rained
down on her cheeks, drizzling a sort of tranquil calm throughout
her being.