On the Victory Trail (2 page)

A week later at the Chambers' home, Skye sat at the dining table with Mr. and Mrs. Chambers, Sooze, and Mrs. Bodmer. Morgan, another foster child, worked dili-gently in the adjoining kitchen, wheeling around in her wheelchair.

“Now, Mrs. Bodmer — ” began Mr. Chambers.

“When do I get to ride?” Sooze directed her question to Skye.

“Susan, let the man talk!” Mrs. Bodmer snapped. “Be polite for once in your life.”

“It's Sooze — S-o-o-z-e — if you don't mind!” she snapped back.

“And what's wrong with your God-given name? You were named after your dear Aunt Susan.” Mrs. Bodmer angrily twisted the rings on her fingers. “You just don't like Susan because I do. Plain and simple!”

“I'd rather be named after a circus elephant,” Sooze said. She slumped abruptly and stared at the table. “Susan. How
boring
!”

“How did you get the name Sooze?” Mr. Chambers asked in an effort to bring things under control.

“This is
sooo
funny!” Skye giggled and glanced at Sooze. “Go on. Tell him.”

Sooze hesitated for a moment, glared at her mother, but finally began to speak. “Chuck, you know my older brother who lives in Kentucky now? He used to let me play in the ashes from our coal furnace when I was real little. He'd laugh his head off and sing, ‘Snoozy Sooze, needs a Jacooze.' He'd make me laugh even though I was covered in soot from the top of my head to my little toes. Pretty soon everyone started calling me ‘Sooze.' So here I am — Sooze,
not
Susan.”

Skye studied Mrs. Bodmer, whose looks soured the room.
And the judge says Sooze is the one who needs
help!
Skye thought.

“That's a great story.” Mr. Chambers laughed, brushing his straight brown hair back off his forehead. He drew his fingers down both sides of his tidy mustache while he looked first at his wife then at Mrs. Bodmer. “Now, we have some important issues to discuss.

“I've asked Eileen, Skye, and Morgan to meet with us because we have no secrets here.” He turned toward the kitchen where the wheelchair-bound girl with long, kinky red hair worked at the sink. “Morgan, would you please join us for a family conference?”

“Coming, Mr. C.,” Morgan answered. She closed the dishwasher door before motoring to the gap between Mr. Chambers and Sooze's mother.

“Mrs. Bodmer, this is Morgan Hendricks. She's been with us almost four years now.”

“Hi,” Morgan said, her freckles dancing with her smile.

“Are you a foster kid too?” Mrs. Bodmer asked.

“Yep,” Morgan replied. “And I love it here. This place was made for kids like me. There are ramps and special equipment all over the place. It's so cool.”

“Okay — Sooze, we want you to understand exactly why you are here,” Mr. Chambers said, folding his hands and looking directly at Sooze. “As you know, your mother feels she is no longer able to control your behavior. She has asked the court to place you in our care. The court ordered that you are to live here as our foster child while you attend the Maranatha Treatment Center program.”

“When do I get to ride?” Sooze asked again.

“Susan, will you — ” Mrs. Bodmer started sharply.

“Tom,” Mrs. Chambers interjected as she stood, “I'll make a pot of coffee. Mrs. Bodmer, would you like some?”

“Yeah,” Sooze's mother said, her tone much lighter.

“Girls, how about some iced tea?” Mrs. Chambers asked.

“Sure,” Skye and Morgan answered at the same time.

Sooze simply nodded.

Mr. Chambers opened a file and shuffled papers, spreading them out before him. “Mrs. Bodmer, according to this court order, Sooze will be with us for at least a year in both the foster home and at Maranatha. We noticed her list of offenses . . . were you aware of her
extracurricular
activities?”

“What do you expect me to do about it!” Mrs. Bodmer said. “It's not like she listens to anything I say.”

Everyone expected Sooze to respond to her mother's comment; instead, she leaned forward and placed her hands on each side of her head.

“What's wrong?” Skye whispered. “Another head­ache?” Sooze nodded.

Mr. Chambers hesitated for a moment as his wife, Eileen, served iced tea to the girls. “Coffee will be ready in a minute,” she said.

Mr. Chambers picked up another paper. “Sooze will have counseling at Maranatha three times a week, along with group therapy. Eileen will see that she gets there in the summer. When school starts, Sooze will ride a van with the other clients to the treatment center at three o'clock every afternoon. Then she'll come home with my wife and Skye. Although she won't be living with you for a year, Mrs. Bodmer, we want you to know you are welcome here anytime. Just call before you plan to visit to be sure we're home. Any questions so far?” He put the paper down and folded his hands.

“How much is this going to cost me?” Mrs. Bodmer grumbled.

“Nothing,” Mrs. Chambers answered as she placed three cups of coffee on the table. “When a child is court ordered into our program, the expenses are covered by state grants and private donations.”

“Good!” Mrs. Bodmer wiped her forehead. “I can't afford anything like this place. I barely make ends meet now, you know, with the house and car payments and all.”

“Yeah, and manicures and cigarettes,” Sooze threw in.

“Cool it!” Skye jabbed Sooze in the ribs.

As if not hearing Sooze's remark, Mr. Chambers said to her, “Now concerning your responsibilities here. You'll be helping with barn chores, housecleaning, cooking, lawn work — all the skills you will need to manage your own home someday. You'll have your own bedroom. Skye will show it to you in a few minutes. Later, Eileen and I will give you a tour of the barn and introduce you to the horses. From what I've heard, we won't have to hogtie you to get you on a horse. If you're like Skye, I'm sure you'd rather sleep in the barn than in a bed. Anyhow, I would say in about two weeks, you should be adjusted to the daily regimen.”

“But it's not all hard work,” Morgan added. “We have lots of fun here. It didn't take me long to find out that after the work, there's always time for other things. And we do get five megabucks a week for our chores. Then there's the basement loaded with a pool table, Ping-Pong, and all those video games. And don't forget about the horses!”

“Megabucks — great! And when do I get to ride?” Sooze's words slid out quickly.

Mrs. Bodmer scowled at her daughter. “Susan, you sound like your brain's stuck on
horse, horse, horse
. Can't you get that horse business out of your head? These ­people are sick of hearing that. Mind your manners, and hush up!”

Skye studied Mrs. Bodmer.
She is so lame.

“Sooze,” Mrs. Chambers said softly, “you'll find out about megabucks soon enough, and you'll get to ride after you've settled in here. We've been discussing which horse would be best for you since you're a beginner, and Skye had a great idea. Tell her, Honey.”

“We have six horses, and I figured Stormy, the Tennessee Walker, is one of the gentlest,” Skye began.

“Stormy?” Sooze's confusion was apparent. “You have a gentle horse named Stormy?”

“His name matches his color — not the way he acts,” Skye said. “His color reminds everyone of a storm cloud. I think he's the one for you.”

A smile spread across Sooze's face. “It's no big deal if he's wild or tame. I can ride any kind of horse. Just get me on one, and I'll show you.”

Skye rolled her eyes and thought,
Yeah, right!

“All in good time,” Mrs. Chambers said.

“Sooze, you don't just hop on a horse and take off,” Morgan added. “Can you believe that I ride even though I can't walk? This cerebral palsy didn't keep me from learning to ride. But it doesn't happen by waving a magic wand. It takes tons of practice.”

“You ride horses?” Mrs. Bodmer asked, scratching her head. “How do you get on?”

Mr. Chambers chuckled. “We lift her on, but after that, she's a riding maniac! You should see all her blue ribbons.”

“Skye and Champ already have a blue ribbon too!” Morgan said.

“But I practiced a zillion hours before even thinking about a horse show,” Skye added.

“Well, sign me up for a blue ribbon,” Sooze said. “I can ride too! Just wait and see.”

“Susan!” Mrs. Bodmer bellowed. “What am I going to do with her? She never did listen, and it doesn't sound like she's going to start now.”

chapter two

S
ooze sat cross-legged on her bed with her arms wrapped around Tippy and Tyler, the Chambers' West Highland terriers. “I love horses, I love dogs, and I love this place, Skye.”

Skye had plopped onto the same bed with Sooze and now studied the glow on her friend's face.

“This is so cool, Sooze. I mean, you could have been sent to Chesterfield with your record. I think the Chambers put in a good word for you. Even though some of their rules seem stupid, they really do care about us.”

“Ever since you invited me to that party a while back, I've been scoping out this place. It is
too
sweet, even with all the rules. I can't wait to get on that horse.” Sooze stared, deep in thought. “On the other hand, living here will make it harder until school starts, but I, the Great Sooze, will manage. They do let us out of the cage once in a while, don't they? You know, like, to the mall, or movies, or the store. I have friends all over the place.”

Change the subject,
Skye told herself.
Get her mind
off her old friends.
“We do go to the mall and for groceries every week. You've already seen what that's like when you and Mrs. C. bought stuff for this room.” Skye scanned the four walls. “Horse pictures, horse curtains, horse bedspread, horses everywhere! Something tells me you're into horses big time. So you already know we go to the mall. Then there's church.”

“Church?” Sooze groaned. ”I thought I'd croak when Mr. Chambers mentioned that the other day!”

“I thought no way at first too, but it's really not so bad,” Skye said as she leaned against the headboard and clasped her hands behind her head. “The youth-group leader talks about all kinds of neat stuff. Last week he talked about dating. And about how we're not old enough yet.”

Skye's thoughts drifted into space as she thought about Chad, who was in the Youth for Truth group, and then she refocused on Sooze. “Besides, Judge Mitchell said you've got to go to church. It won't kill you.”

“That's a joke, Skye. I don't need church.”

“Hey, I've learned an awful lot living here. One thing I've learned is that I don't need to get in trouble to have a good time. I also don't like to lose control of this.” Skye tapped her head. “The last time I did, Mr. C. landed in the hospital. He fell off Chief trying to stop me from taking Champ over a wall jump. If Mr. C. had died, I — I don't know what I'd have done.” Skye sighed. “And let me tell you something else. I've been thinking about God.”

“I don't want to hear it.”

“No — wait! Listen, I used to think God didn't exist until he healed Mr. C. from that head injury. At least I think he did. Now I'm thinking twice about this God stuff. Sooze, he
might
be real!”

“Yeah, and turtles
might
do back flips. What's going on with you? You used to be so much fun, but I've seen you change in the last few months. Are they getting to you?”

“Nobody's
getting
to me, Sooze. I've just been trying to
get
my act together. I used to be so mad at my parents, whoever and wherever they are, that I was always angry. Maybe that's part of your problem too. You're mad at the whole world.”

“Don't put your stuff off on me, Skye.” Sooze scrunched up her face. “The only ­people I'm mad at are my so-called mother and those know-it-all teachers at school. Truth is, I don't care about nothing anymore. But this idea of yours — it sounded like fun, so I figured why not? And then the way it turned out — living here — that's even better. Why not be as close to the horses — and dogs — as possible?” She kissed the dogs and hugged them tighter.

“You don't know the Chambers like I do,” Skye said. “They have eyes in the back of their heads. You are
not
going to get away with anything here. Trust me on this one.”

“Watch me!” Sooze hissed.

“Yeah, I'll watch you being grounded like I was for breaking the rules. Then there's the biggest pain of all — no horse, no barn, nothing. It stinks. Believe me, I know!”

“What about all our barn chores that we absolutely have to do every day? Huh? What then? Huh? You can touch the horses then, can't you?” Sooze raised her eyebrows.

“Somebody else does your chores, even if it means Mr. or Mrs. C. They will
not
let you near that barn if you get grounded. You might as well be in jail.”

“I guess I'll have to make sure I don't get caught,” Sooze said, her face beaming with a devilish smile.

“Can I join the party?” Morgan said, as she motored up to the doorway. “Mrs. C. wants to feed Tip and Ty. Okay, guys. Lunch is served!”

As the dogs jumped from the bed and made a hasty exit, Skye looked Morgan's way and smiled.
Whew, am I
glad you're here,
her face said.

Sooze's eyes lit up with surprise. “Hey, how did the dogs know their food was ready?”

“Those dogs listen better than we do,” Skye said.

“All you have to do is say the word
lunch
, and they're history,” Morgan said as she moved next to the bed.

“Hey, Morgan, get this,” Skye said. “Sooze thinks she's going to run her own show here. Want to tell her different?”