Storm Chaser (11 page)

Jessica pursed her lips and tried to ignore her uncertainty. Maybe her father's ban on horse training did include ground work, but he hadn't specifically mentioned it. If she stayed off Chase's back, she was fairly sure she could stay out of trouble with her dad.

It would probably be Duncan, Wyatt, or Gator who would be the first to ride Storm Chaser. Another flare of jealousy bloomed inside Jessica, but again she tamped it down. Her brother and his friends would be good to Chase and they'd do it right. It was the best she could hope for.

Chase walked calmly beside Jessica, and the two of them circled the ring several times. Jessica slowed and gave a slight downward tug on the lead rope, asking the filly to stand still. Chase halted, but stepped to the side, eyeing her with unease. “It's okay,” Jess said, offering her hand, palm up, to the filly.

Chase extended her nose, and Jessica felt the tickle of the paint's whiskers on her fingers. “That's my girl,” she said softly, then carefully placed her hand on the filly's jaw, rubbing in a slow circle. Chase stiffened at first, then relaxed under the touch. She actually seemed to enjoy it.

Jessica smiled and moved her hand to the paint's neck, working her way to the horse's shoulder and midsection. She tried to keep her actions slow and steady and her voice low and gentle so as not to startle the filly and cause her to lose trust. When she worked her way down one side and the filly seemed at ease, she went to the offside and started again.

This side wasn't as easy, but Jessica took her time, just the way she'd seen her father and brother do. After a few extra minutes, Chase relaxed and allowed Jessica to move around her quietly without flinching.

“Thank you,” Jessica whispered and smiled as Storm Chaser's ears pricked forward, trying to catch the sound of her voice. “You are wonderful!”

Jessica made one more trip around the pen and then walked the filly toward the gate. Did she dare return Chase to Rusty's corral by herself? What if something startled the young horse and she pulled back and got loose? She put her hand on Chase's neck. “Can I trust you to behave yourself if I promise not to make any fast moves?”

Chase just stared blankly at her.

“Okay, here we go,” Jessica said feeling a lump of apprehension rise up in her throat. She opened the gate slowly and sighed with relief when the young paint didn't shy away but followed her through and continued in the direction of Rusty's corral.

Jessica smiled. “You know exactly where we're going, don't you, girl?” She laid her hand softly on Chase's neck again. “And I bet you know there's food waiting for you when we get there, huh? I'll be sure you get an extra snack tonight for being so good.”

When Jessica and Chase reached the pen, Rusty belted out a greeting, his sides shaking with the force of his whinny. Jessica walked through the gate, shut it, and gently removed the halter from Chase's head. The filly immediately took her place beside Rusty at the feeder.

Jessica stepped back in satisfaction. She had actually helped train a horse today. She couldn't wait until tomorrow to try it again!

ELEVEN

“You are so lucky,” Marybeth said with a sigh as Jessica put on her helmet and placed her boot into the stirrup to climb up behind her. Daisy, the Appaloosa pony, flicked her tail in annoyance at the added weight, but did as she was asked and walked off at a brisk pace. “I wish I could learn how to train horses.” Marybeth turned in the saddle. “Hey, do you think when I'm a little older, your brother will teach me, too?”

Jessica chuckled. “You never know with Dunce. I'm his sister and I'm never sure when he's going to work with me.”

“What about Wyatt?” Marybeth said. “I bet he'd help if you asked him. And he's kinda cute.”

Jessica shrugged. “I never thought about it.” But her heart thumped a little harder at the mention of the Paiute boy's name.

Marybeth looked over her shoulder. “That's such a fib. You always get all embarrassed when he talks to you.”

Jessica gave her friend a playful slug in the shoulder, then grabbed the back of the saddle as the startled pony broke into a canter. The girls both laughed and held on tight until Marybeth had Daisy back under control.

“What do you know about boys?” Jessica said.

Marybeth shrugged. “I may not know all that much about boys, but I know you get all freaked out whenever Wyatt's around.”

“I do not.” Jessica tweaked her friend's ponytail.

“Whatever,” Marybeth said.

For the rest of the ride around the ranch, Jessica filled Marybeth in on the details of the activities her parents had planned for the vacationers.

“A cattle drive!” Marybeth exclaimed. “That would be so awesome! I've always wanted to go on one. I'll ask my parents as soon as I get home.”

“I still need to ask my parents and make sure it's okay, but I'm sure they'll be cool with it. You worked as hard as we did,” Jessica said. “You deserve to go.”

Marybeth reined her pony around a clump of sage brush and headed back toward the house. “Just think, Jess, we're going to meet a whole bunch of kids with this guest ranch thing.”

“I hope so,” Jessica said. “We don't have any control over who signs up. But my mom said there were definitely girls in this first group.”

“Good,” Marybeth said. “It's about time we got some girls around here.”

Marybeth dropped Jessica off at the front door, waved a quick goodbye, and trotted off toward home.

The next week passed in a flurry of activity as everyone continued to work hard to finish the preparations for the vacationers. Jessica worked with Storm Chaser some nights after dinner when the chores were done. She half-expected her mom or dad to see her and say something. She still harbored a suspicion that her father wouldn't be pleased to find out how much she was doing with Chase. But the part of her that really loved working with the filly overruled her sense of responsibility.

Chase was smart and picked things up quickly. Duncan showed Jessica how to “sack out” a new horse by taking a soft gunny sack and rubbing it over every inch of the horse's body, then flapping it around so the horse would get used to scary, floppy things.

Next came lunging, where Chase learned to walk, trot, and canter in a circle around Jessica at the end of a long lunge line. When the filly settled into that, Duncan stepped in and showed Jessica how to ground-drive a horse with a pair of long lead lines attached to the halter. Chase needed to be taught to steer, stop, and back up without carrying a rider.

“It makes things a whole lot easier when it's time to mount up,” Duncan said. “There's nothing I hate worse than getting dropped in the dirt.”

“Do you think it's time to put a saddle on Chase?” Jessica asked. “It's only been a week since we started working with her.”

Duncan reached out to scratch Storm Chaser's neck. “She's really smart, Jess. She's picked everything up really quickly so far…a lot quicker than the colts I'm working with. Wyatt kind of took a liking to this filly when she was young and worked with her a lot. I guess Chase remembers it and she's tamed right down.”

“Does that mean we could start riding her soon?”

“Who's
we?”
Duncan asked. “You know Dad would ground us both for life if I let you up on this filly before she's safe. He probably won't be too happy with what I've already let you do.”

Jessica sighed. “I know he'd be really mad, but it would be so cool to ride her. It might even be worth getting in trouble for.”

Three days later, Jessica hadn't even put a foot in Chase's stirrup, but she got in trouble anyway.

“What do you mean ‘she's only doing ground work'?” Mr. Warner's voice echoed across the stable yard as he confronted Duncan. “I thought I made it perfectly clear that your sister is too young to start training horses.”

Duncan hung his head and scuffed at the dirt beneath his boots. “I'm sorry, Dad. I thought you were talking about
riding
the horses. I wasn't going to let Jess up on Storm Chaser until the filly was safe and you said okay.”

“Well, it isn't
safe
for her to be doing ground work with that filly either,” Mr. Warner went on. “You know how easy it is to get hurt when working with young stock.”

Jessica stood in the round pen, resting the long lines in her hands as her brother and father argued.

“But she's doing really well,” Duncan said, leading their father to the round pen. “Jess, show Dad what you've taught Chase.”

Jessica's heart hammered in her chest when she saw the unhappy look on her father's face. She and Duncan were in major trouble. Her father hadn't specifically forbidden her from doing ground work with Chase, but she knew she'd cheated by going around his authority. Her hands shook on the long lines as she moved the filly in a circle around her. She ran her through her paces, asking for a walk, trot, and canter, as well as turns and stops.

Chase performed admirably. Jessica patted her and gave her a treat when they were finished.

Mr. Warner tipped his hat back and sighed. “I've got to admit, Jess, you've done a good job with this filly.”

Jessica felt herself swell with pride. Her father had praised her for training Storm Chaser!

“Unfortunately, however, you both disobeyed my orders,” Mr. Warner continued. “Maybe I could have been a little more specific, but I think you both knew what I was talking about.”

He turned to Duncan. “Your punishment is going to be added chores, and no riding out with the Lightfoot boys for the next couple days.”

Duncan frowned heavily. Jessica felt badly for her brother. She knew how much he enjoyed the wild rides across the desert with his friends. He'd only been trying to help her, and now he was in trouble for it.

Mr. Warner spoke to Jessica. “And you, young lady, will have extra chores, too. But right now, I would like you to take the tack off of that filly, brush her down, and return her to the pen with the rest of the new stock. She'll be under your brother's care and you are not to do anything with this horse until I say so.”

He looked at both of them. “Am I perfectly understood?”

Duncan nodded.

“Yes, sir,” Jessica said, feeling miserable. She patted Chase and walked her over to the hitching post to remove her equipment and brush her. Then she took her to Rusty's corral so Chase could say goodbye.

“I'm sorry, ol' boy,” she said as she watched the horses touch noses. “I got us all into trouble, so now you're going to lose your stable buddy for a while.”

Rusty nickered and nudged Chase with his muzzle. Jessica wanted to cry. She'd grown close to the paint filly over the past week. And spending time apart was going to hurt both her and Rusty. Maybe she'd be able to talk Duncan into bringing Chase over to visit the old horse when he'd finished working with her for the day. Just because she was being punished was no reason to punish Rusty.

Duncan stood at the stock pen gate and opened it for Jessica when she arrived. “I'm really sorry, Dunce,” Jessica said. She unbuckled the halter from Chase's finely shaped head and watched the paint walk into the herd of geldings, swishing her tail and pinning her ears at the ones who got too close. “This wasn't your fault. I know you were just trying to help me, and now I've gotten you into trouble.”

Duncan shrugged. “Hey, it's only for a while. I'll be so busy, it'll fly by.” He smiled and walked off.

Jessica breathed a small sigh of relief. At least her brother wasn't upset with her. She turned and followed him up to the house. The guests would be arriving soon. She might as well get started on the million things they had left to do. Maybe it would take her mind off of not being able to see Chase.

Jessica unfolded the new bed sheet and shook it out, tossing one side of it to Marybeth. Her friend giggled when it landed on her head and she blindly walked into the bed, bumping her knee on the post.

Mrs. Warner laughed. “By the time you girls finish making all these beds, our guests will be here.”

Still grinning, Jessica pulled the sheet from Marybeth's head and centered it on the twin-sized bed, tucking the excess under the mattress. “Just think of all the new friends we'll have to hang out with.”

Mrs. Warner brought over an armful of blankets and put one on each of the eight beds in the bunkhouse. “I know you girls are getting excited about meeting the visitors, but just keep in mind that it isn't always easy to make friends right off the bat.”

Jessica furrowed her brow. She hadn't thought about that.

“As owners of this ranch and the hosts for our guests,” Mrs. Warner continued, “we need to be aware of their needs. Sometimes people want to socialize and sometimes they just want to be left alone.” She smiled at Jessica. “As a representative of this ranch, you will be expected to abide by the guests' wishes in that department. Understood?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

Mrs. Warner brushed a lock of Jessica's hair behind her ears. “I'm sure they'll be a friendly bunch,” she reassured her. “I know how much you girls are looking forward to having some other gals your age to hang out with. I just want to make sure you understand that you should be friendly and accommodating to all the guests, but it will be up to them how much contact they want to have with us ranch hands.”

She looked out the bunkhouse window. “Oh, my, Jess, I think there's something out there you might want to see,” she said.

Jessica and Marybeth crowded to the window. A movement in the training pen caught Jessica's eye and her mouth dropped open.

Duncan sat astride Chase, and the filly trotted around the pen as if she'd been doing it forever. Storm Chaser was being trained to ride!

TWELVE

Jessica bolted for the door with Marybeth right on her heels. She stopped about a hundred yards from the round pen where Duncan worked Chase. She knew she wasn't allowed to be near the filly right now. No sense taking the risk of angering her father again.