Mountain Mare (7 page)

Even though she wasn't, it was cool that Brynna had said it.

“Diana had an accident this morning,” Brynna began.

“And your mom was nice enough to give me a ride here.” Diana shrunk from the probing over her ear. “They didn't think I should drive, but I really don't want to leave my car—ouch!”

“You took a pretty good knock to the head,” the doctor was saying, checking her eyes once more. “Driving might have been a mistake.”

“And your car's fine,” Lynn said. “If it's the yellow Scout, that is.” Diana nodded and Lynn hurried on, “The sheriff had it towed to his office in Darton, but he said there was hardly a scratch on it.”

“Oh, thanks,” Diana said questioningly.

“I'm Lynn Cooper. I was called out to the scene of the accident to do a news story, but don't worry—” She held up a hand when Diana shrunk away from her. “I'm not working now. I was just being Samantha's guide.”

“Uh, but you're doing a story about the accident?” Diana wet her lips. Her face was suddenly red and perspiration dotted her upper lip.

Diana wasn't as untouched by the crash as she thought. Sam recognized shock when she saw it.

“It's her dad's truck and trailer,” Brynna explained.

“Ah,” Lynn said, nodding. “Well, I'm pretty sure cows stampeding through the streets of town will be a bigger story than your accident.”

When Diana didn't smile, Lynn added, “I'm also sure your father would be more concerned about you, wouldn't he?”

“I guess,” the girl said on a sigh.

“You're getting the care you need—”

“I'm fine,” the girl protested. “I just need to call Kevin.”

“—the truck's fine,” Lynn went on, “and there was no horse in the trailer, right?”

“No!” Diana's eyes widened and their hazel shade turned almost green. “Of course not.” Diana swayed, then purposely straightened her shoulders.

“There wasn't a horse,” Diana repeated, as if they hadn't heard her. “I was going to pick up my horse.”

Dr. Yung made a “settle down” sound in his throat and glanced toward Brynna. Sam knew that look. It meant the two adults had decided Diana wasn't going anywhere soon.

“Does your Dad live nearby?” Lynn asked.

“He has a horse farm near Phoenix,” Diana said, wearily. “Arizona.”

Looking worn out, she leaned her palms on her knees and stared at the floor.

“No problem,” Lynn said. “This is a small local station. He won't hear about it from me.”

Sam watched Diana—and not just because she was afraid she'd pass out and fall forward.

Sam told herself she was suspicious for no reason. She'd had a troubling day, that's all. But if Diana's family farm was in Phoenix and she'd been going to pick up her horse, why had she been driving north, away from Phoenix, with an empty horse trailer?

Sam knew she might have her geography wrong. She wished Jen were here listening, too.

Brynna glanced at her watch.
She should be at work,
Sam thought,
but she didn't seem to be in a hurry.

“Any excitement on the cattle drive?” Brynna asked.

Sam told her stepmother about seeing Tinkerbell and Teddy Bear, Katie Sterling, Mr. Martinez, and Duke Fairchild.

“What about that wild horse?” Lynn asked.

“Wild horse?” Brynna asked. Her tone sharpened a bit, since the welfare of wild horses was her business.

Sam blinked. She and Jen had ridden out alone this morning when they saw the Phantom.

“You know,” Lynn said, sounding frustrated. “The blond one?”

“Oh! The mare that followed us in!” Sam said. “She's not wild.”

“Well, she wasn't wearing any kind of”—Lynn's hands gestured around her own head—“leather getup for riding.”

Sam laughed. “She's a stray,” she told Brynna. “A really beautiful—”

“I'm going to be sick,” Diana blurted.

Her face had gone milk white, and she weaving, trying to keep her balance.

Dr. Yung was simultaneously steadying her, reaching for a plastic basin and saying, “We're going to need a little privacy here…and Brynna? Could you do me a favor and phone for an ambulance?”

L
inc Slocum crowded to the front of those gathered outside the first aid station as Diana was loaded into the back of the ambulance.

Sam figured it was paranoid to think he was glaring at her. Still, she wished he'd been someplace else as Brynna snatched her keys out of her pocket and rattled off instructions.

“I'm sure I'll talk with Wyatt before you do, but if by some chance I can't reach him before he picks you up, tell him why I was so late to work and where I'm going, okay?”

“I will,” Sam said. She hesitated before she added, “I was going to try to call him and tell him not to come until later. Do you think he'd mind? Mr. Ryden
wants us—me and Jen—to be his guests at the first performance of the rodeo tonight.”

“Wow,” Brynna said. She frowned after the ambulance as it drove off. “You ask, and if he hesitates, just tell him I'll come back into town for you.”

“Okay,” Sam said slowly, but she was pretty sure the rodeo ended late.

After all, there'd be fireworks, courtesy of Linc Slocum.

Sam tried not to glance at him. She would have been successful, too, if he hadn't given a snort. She and Brynna both looked, and caught him glaring after Lynn Cooper as she waved good-bye and hustled off to work.

It figured that Linc Slocum wouldn't like reporters,
Sam thought. Rumor said Linc Slocum had a shady past. He probably wouldn't like seeing the truth in print.

“I'd really better get going if I'm going to be there to help her check into the hospital,” Brynna said. “She won't feel like filling out all those forms.”

When Brynna covered her mouth against a yawn, Sam couldn't help admiring her stepmother. Tired as she was, Brynna had not only found medical care for a reluctant stranger; now she wanted to be beside her to help her with paperwork.

Sam knew she shouldn't force Brynna to make two round trips between the ranch and Darton in one day. In the last few weeks, she'd bet her stepmother
had taken a hundred naps. Every time she sat still, her eyelids drooped and she fell asleep.

“Do you have to go with her?” Sam asked. Surely there were people at the hospital to help Diana McKenzie.

“I think I should,” Brynna said, shifting her keys in her hand. “I'm trying to get her to call her parents, but she's not going for it.”

“Just do it,” Sam said. Brynna rarely had qualms about getting involved when the welfare of kids was concerned. “It's for her own good.”

Sam bit her lip after the words escaped. She sounded like Gram!

Brynna smiled. “I would, but Diana's over eighteen years old. That makes her a legal adult and in charge of her own medical decisions.”

“I bet you'll talk her into it,” Sam said. Brynna could be pretty convincing.

“I'll try,” Brynna said. “And don't worry about wearing me out,” she added. “Tomorrow's Saturday and I can sleep in. I wouldn't want you to miss this rodeo.”

Brynna kissed Sam on the cheek and left.

When Sam looked around for Linc, he was gone and she was glad.

She shouldn't be surprised, Sam told herself as she walked in what she hoped was the direction of the barn. Linc didn't like to be thought a bully, so he rarely said anything to her in front of other adults.

He'd slipped up once today. When Linc had grumbled that remark about her being unwelcome, he hadn't expected Hal Ryden to hear. Whatever was bothering him, Linc wasn't likely to blame it on her again. At least not in front of Brynna.

If she knew Linc, he'd gone home. The fairgrounds baked under the late-afternoon sun, and though there was an atmosphere of excitement preceding this first rodeo performance, he'd be happier in his air-conditioned mansion.

With the barns in sight, Sam took a shortcut between two high-sided corrals. She had to hurry. She'd been gone so long that she wouldn't blame Jen for leaving without her. After all, they were both curious to learn more about the beautiful chocolate mare.

Sam caught a whiff of cigarette smoke. She'd seen signs warning against smoking in the barn or grandstand areas. She couldn't imagine the rules would be much different over here, where the bucking cattle were confined with bales of flammable hay.

People who had permission to be here, behind the scenes, probably wouldn't be so careless. The smoke must have blown to her from the carnival area.

Despite her hurry, Sam paused to stare at a pen of Brahma bulls. Three clustered around a plastic water bucket hanging on the side of their corral, while others dozed.

“Well if it's not Miss Stick-her-nose-in-where-it-don't-belong.” Linc Slocum stepped into her path, holding a cigarette. “I think I'll walk with you a piece and give you a little friendly advice.”

“Thanks, but I'm in kind of a hurry,” Sam said as she kept walking.

“Oh now, don't tell me you have something better to do than spy on people,” he sneered.

She could sprint away from him,
Sam thought. Linc's pumpkin-shaped body looked unsteady in his stylish boots.

Sam didn't run. She couldn't let him think he'd scared her off, but he must have seen her consider the idea.

“I was just joshin',” he said in a too-sweet tone. “But I did see the way you were sizing up that girl they put into the ambulance.”

“What are you talking about? I was not,” Sam snapped.

“'Course you were. It's a hobby with you, girl. You've just gotta know other folks' business.”

Sam shook her head, focused on the barns, and Ace's bay head hanging over one of the stall doors.

Linc was nuts. She didn't spy on people. She never had, except maybe on Dad and Brynna before they got married, but she'd been younger then.

Sam took a quick turn between two corrals. One held two big Brangus-looking cows and calves and had a sign that read,
BORN TO BUCK
.

She heard Linc's boots scuff on the dirt. He was still behind her.

Where was everyone else? Shouldn't someone be getting the animals ready for the show?

“I kinda understood you diggin' into my background so I couldn't have that mustang stallion, but then you cozied up to old lady Allen and talked her into opening that wild horse sanctuary by telling her all about my plans for building a resort on her cattle ranch.”

“She'd already made up her mind,” Sam said. “Besides, I was only telling her the truth.”

“I'm sure that truth's gonna be a real comfort to her. She could have been a millionaire if she'd sold that ranch, instead of worrying over a bunch of useless animals, wasting money that could keep her safe and comfortable in her old age.”

This was no lie,
Sam thought. Mrs. Allen's ranch land bordered some of Slocum's and he would have paid plenty for it.

Taking her silence as victory, Slocum quit pretending he was actually concerned. “You won't feel like such hot stuff when that old lady's in the poorhouse,” he called after her.

She should have kept walking, but she didn't. Sam stopped, hands on hips, and turned to face him.

“Mr. Slocum, don't talk to me anymore, please. I don't know why you're so mad, but—”

She'd given him time to catch up. He was only a few feet away when he said, “Aren't you listenin', girl? You're ruining my reputation. I want to be on the board of the rodeo association, and reputation counts.”

Linc slammed his fist into his opposite palm and the action must have shown him how crazy he was acting, because his expression turned sad.

“Look at what you've done to Ryan,” Linc said sorrowfully. “Caused him three brushes with the police.”

“What?” Sam's voice soared.

Ryan Slocum, Linc's son, had only been in Nevada a few months since leaving England, where he'd lived with his mother.

“First you told the sheriff about the Kenworthy palomino,” Linc said quietly. “Then there was that hermit on the mountain you got Ryan involved with, and that whole uproar over our colt.”

Our colt
. Sam didn't remind Linc he'd promised Shy Boots, the colt his Appaloosa mare Hotspot had foaled, to her. And she'd had nothing to do with Ryan arranging Shy Boots' disappearance. Ryan had done it because he thought Linc was going to have the colt destroyed.

Linc could blame himself for forming such bad relationships with his children. She didn't feel a bit sorry for him, but she couldn't imagine how to put
her feelings into words that were even half polite.

Luckily, she didn't have to do it.

“Sam!” Jen shouted as she jogged toward Sam. Jen's face was flushed from the heat and her blond braids bounced.

Jen to the rescue,
Sam thought. She laughed out loud in relief. Leaving Linc Slocum behind, Sam walked determinedly toward her friend.

“W
hat did
he
want?” Jen asked. As they jogged side by side toward the arena, Jen held up crossed fingers. “Maybe he was the reason you had to go to the first aid station? I hope.”

Sometimes Sam scolded Jen for her sarcasm. Not today.

“No such luck,” Sam said. “He wanted to tell me I was giving him a bad reputation.”

Jen stopped so suddenly that Sam jogged on past her.

“What?” Jen yelped. “
You're
giving
him
—” Jen beat the air with both hands, as if the air were full of bees, and her cheeks turned red. “Is he insane? Oh yeah, I forgot. Of course he is, but I can't
believe he actually convinced someone to call you on the loudspeaker for that slice of baloney!”

Sam laughed until Jen's anger faded into a smile.

“You are the best friend,” Sam said, and as she did, she realized she really should talk with Jen about the offer to buy Ace.

“Yes, I am
the
best friend. One of a kind, thank goodness,” Jen bragged. “If there were two of us, we'd take that jerk down for you.”

“Someday,” Sam promised, and then she gave Jen a good-natured shove to keep moving. There was no time to talk seriously right now. “But it wasn't him paging me. It was Brynna. She's the one who picked up the girl who rolled her truck.”

“Wow,” Jen said. “Living proof a biologist can be brave. I guess I'll have to be a mathematician.”

“Jen! You're brave. You were just offering to beat up Linc.”

“Only if I had a clone.”

They were almost to the arena when Hal Ryden came striding toward them.

On the trail, he'd seemed mostly cowboy. Now he had the manner of the businessman he was.

“Girls, the rodeo vet's willing to take a look at that mare, but he's on a dead run. The standards are tight for watching over the stock and he's not quite sure when he'll get to the arena to check her over. Since my guys need to get ready for the show—”

“We can hang out with the mare until the vet gets there,” Sam finished.

She couldn't wait to get a closer look at the mare and try to start unraveling her mystery.

“Atta girl,” Hal said. He gave her a pat on the back that was more suitable for a horse, but Sam stayed on her feet as Hal continued. “Feel free to stick her in one of my stalls. That's if he gives her a clean bill of health.”

“I guess no one's reported her missing?” Jen asked.

“Haven't had a chance to check. If I were missing a horse, though, I'm not sure I'd call the rodeo grounds.”

“Maybe the sheriff,” Sam mused.

“Might be the vet can help you puzzle that out,” Hal said. “As for me, I've got flag girls to line up, pickup men to check with, and a whole load of broncs and bulls to pamper.” He'd taken two steps away before he turned back. “Almost forgot,” he said, pulling two tickets from his pocket. “These are for you. Best seats in the house. You'll be right over the chutes, so you can watch the riders mount up.”

“Thank you so much,” Sam said, then she elbowed Jen, who was staring at Hal with something like hero worship.

“Thank you,” Jen said.

Hal Ryden touched the brim of his hat in farewell.

 

The mare wore a borrowed rope halter and she was tied just outside the arena where a dozen furled and colorful flags leaned against a fence, waiting to be carried in during the grand entry.

Ears pricked to catch the sounds of activity all around her, the mare looked curious but not nervous. She stretched toward the knot in the lead rope, tying her to a ring, and lipped it experimentally.

“Hey, beauty, you're not going anywhere,” Jen said as they approached.

The mare switched her white-gold tail and stamped, seeming only a little disappointed that her escape plan had failed.

“She really is pretty,” Sam said.

“Not a bit spooky, either,” Jen added.

The mare's wide, gentle eyes and nicker said she thought they'd brought treats.

“What have I got for you, pretty girl?” Jen mused, digging into her pocket. “Just crumbs from the bribe I had to give to my own horse. That's despicable, isn't it?”

Together Sam and Jen studied the mare, then skimmed their hands over her coat.

“Dusty, but not dirty,” Sam observed. “And I only see one knot in her mane.”

“She hasn't been on the run for long,” Jen said. “And since she jilted the great Phantom, she can't be very lonely.”

Jen's teasing had a little too much bite to it to be funny,
Sam thought. Or maybe she was just feeling sensitive because of Linc's accusations.

“Am I nosy?” Sam asked suddenly.

Jen drew a long breath. Her hands paused on the mare and she regarded Sam with an analytical look. “Define ‘nosy.'”

“I guess that answers my question,” Sam said in a joking tone. She wove her fingers through the mare's mane and worked to undo that single knot, trying not to pout over Linc being right.

“I'd say you're curious,” Jen said, “but most intelligent people are, and you're sure not one of those girls who listens to every conversation, ready to memorize any gossip she can recycle for an audience. Like, when my parents were having problems, you didn't pump me for details—”

“Of course not!” Sam said.

“See? And the HARP girls, well, because they're ‘at risk,' there's lots of rumors you could spread about them, but you're uncomfortable knowing what you're supposed to know about them. You don't go digging for more. I don't call that nosy. Who said you were?”

“Nobody,” Sam said, but she didn't expect Jen to believe her for an instant.

“Slocum, right?” Jen guessed.

Sam was nodding when the vet arrived.

“Is this our runaway?” A short, fit man in a white straw hat and jeans bustled up, hands outstretched to
examine the mare even before the rest of his body caught up.

His conversation seemed to be aimed more at soothing the horse than drawing information from Sam and Jen.

“Haven't finished looking at the stock just in from the drive,” he said, coaxing the mare's mouth open. “Usually it's easier on them than trucking, though. With trucks, sometimes you'll be driving along and a car pulls in front of you and wham! You've gotta slam on the brakes. Teeth okay,” he said and began lifting the mare's feet for inspection. “Then, what happens when you get mothers and calves in two different trucks?”

Sam was wondering if the vet expected an answer, when he went on.

“You finally arrive at your destination, the pairs don't ‘mother up,' that's what, and bingo! You got a leppy calf on your hands.”

“Right,” Jen began.

The vet looked up from the hoof he was examining and frowned at her, so she didn't finish.

“Hal tells me you were with the drive. No accidents you saw? Hello?” He'd released the last hoof and stood looking at them, arms folded over his belt.

“No,” Sam blurted. “Nothing went wrong with the cattle that I saw.”

“I—” Jen started to say something, but the vet
held up an index finger, then put one arm over the mare's back and bent with the stethoscope to listen to her heart.

“Okay, sounds good,” he murmured. Then, with his eyes unfocused, he began feeling the mare's skin for lumps and bumps.

“Took a tumble, did you, girl?”

Sam and Jen looked at each other, but this time they had to answer.

“It must have happened before she joined up with us,” Sam said, but the vet didn't seem to hear.

“Want to trot her away from me?” The vet jerked the lead rope loose and handed it to Jen. She jogged the mare and the vet watched. “No stiffness or lameness. That's good. And the shape she's in, I'll bet she's had her vaccinations.”

“She fell?” Jen asked once she'd brought the mare back to him.

“Yeah, whether you saw it or not, she's got some bumps and scuffs consistent with a pretty good fall. Nothing that needs treatment, really, beyond washing up. You'll take care of that, won't you?”

“Sure,” Sam said, but her mind raced ahead. They'd be watching the rodeo and then they'd be leaving. She'd have to ask Hal who should care for the horse. But he was already doing the mare a favor, giving her a place to stay. Sam sawed her teeth over her bottom lip. What became of lost
horses? Did Sheriff Ballard have a place to board them temporarily?

“Got a saddle bronc mare—Dixie Chick, know her?—that got her head through a fence reaching for who knows what and laid her neck wide open. Since she'd already been drawn for the event, Hal's gotta—”

The vet broke off as the mare nuzzled his pocket. “Nothing for you, girl,” he said kindly.

That was twice she'd gone looking for treats,
Sam thought. Maybe she was hungry.

“No one's turned up claiming this horse, am I right?” the vet said, giving her a clap on the shoulder as if he really had to be going.

“Right,” Jen said. She looked a little dizzy from keeping up with the vet's talk.

“They will,” he said, shoving his stethoscope farther down into his medical bag.

What if there's a reward offered for her?
Sam's mind spun with possibilities. Of course she couldn't collect all of it, but maybe she, Jen, and Hal could share the reward. Maybe a little extra cash would ease her guilt over not selling Ace.

“She's gentle and sweet,” the vet said as he buckled his bag closed, gaze still on the mare. “Easy to handle and she's got a chip. I'd say she's been in competition—this wide-open arena and all the activity doesn't bother her. She's no youngster,
though. Twelve to fourteen, I'd say. Maybe somebody's broodmare.”

“What is she?” Jen asked.

“Which breed, you mean? I was afraid you'd ask.” The vet blew through his lips. “I'm really more of a cattle specialist. Give me a rank bull out of Nobody, by WhotheHeckKnows, and I can figure out his great auntie, but this mare…,” he said, shaking his head. “I'll tell you, the only horse I've seen that reminds me of this one was ridden by an old-time movie star. Can't remember his name, but the horse was called Coco. Darned if I can remember its bloodlines. If I ever knew.”

With a final pat, the vet stepped away. Sam thought he already had one boot pointed toward his next assignment when he said, “I'd like to take another look at her eyes when I have time. It's no emergency, no injury, but something's not quite right. Tell Hal she's got as clean a bill of health as I can give her without running blood work. He can put her in with his stock without a second thought, I'd say.”

For the first time it occurred to Sam that Hal Ryden had risked a lot by being neighborly and allowing them to stable their horses with his. Horses carried all kinds of equine illnesses.

Silly, Ace, or this stray mare could endanger the livestock that earned Hal's living. A contagious disease, even if it wasn't serious, could cost him a performance
or even an entire rodeo season, and that would mean the loss of thousands of dollars.

Once the vet had vanished, the girls took turns leading the mare to the barn. As showtime drew near, the rodeo grounds were an obstacle course. The bulls that had been eating alfalfa or resting on the ground with folded legs, stood up. They ignored their salt licks and flapped their ears at the music from the arena.

The chocolate mare noticed the little tractors rolling from place to place carrying people in a hurry or towing trailers full of cedar shavings for clean bedding. She noticed, but didn't seem to care.

“She's bomb-proof,” Jen said when a girl leading four sheep—for the mutton-busting competition, Jen explained—darted in front of them. “Too bad she's not a mustang. HARP could use a horse like this.”

HARP—
or a therapy horse program
, Sam thought suddenly. That would be even better than earning a reward.

Sam's heart thudded so hard, she was amazed Jen didn't hear it.

What if no owner surfaced for this horse? She'd been wandering in the mountains, after all. It would be a mercy to take her in and use her with disabled riders, wouldn't it?

Buying her might be a problem, except…

If she had no owner, maybe the sheriff would
just say she was free to a good home. Wasn't that possible?

Suddenly Sam realized Jen's fingers were snapping in front of her face.

“Huh?”

“That's not exactly the articulate response I've come to expect from my friend who gets A's in English and journalism,” Jen told her. “What I was saying was, once we clean her up, let's take a quick run through the events center. Last year they had everything a cowgirl could want.”

Sam and Jen found a stock-washing stall near the barns. Since it was almost time for the rodeo to begin, it was vacant.

“Who's getting wet?” Jen asked playfully, lifting the hand shower off its hook and squirting it toward Sam.

She danced out of the way. If they were staying at the rodeo until long after dark, she didn't want soggy boots.

“How about if we just tie her in there?” Sam asked, but just then the mare gave her back pocket a nudge. “Hey!”

The mare was probably still looking for treats, but her exploration forced Sam to step in a puddle of standing water that had been left over from the last shower.

“Good choice, girl,” Jen told the horse.

So, since Sam was already wet, she stood in the washing stall, formed of two cinder-block walls that made a corner, and let Jen spray the mare clean.

Delighted by the cooling spray, the mare wiggled her ears, then shook like a big dog. Soaked, Sam still couldn't get mad at the horse.

Back in the barn, Jen borrowed grooming tools without a qualm, and they set to work. They were burnishing the mare's chocolate coat when Lynn Cooper came back with her cameraman.