Galloping Gold Read Free

why the woman’s last name had sounded familiar.
    Tyson Mookini was a kid in her class. He had called Darby a “haole crab,” had mocked her for caring about her Hawaiian heritage, had made it clear to everyone at Lehua High School that he couldn’t stand her. This small, chubby-cheeked woman with glossy bowl-cut hair must be his mother.
    â€œI should have put a halter and shank on him,” Ann said.
    A sharp look from her mother hushed Ann, but Darby repeated, “I really am sorry.”
    â€œIt’s okay, you couldn’t see his mood change,” Ann said.
    Darby welcomed her friend’s support, but she could tell Ramona wanted her daughter to quit saying things that were making Mrs. Mookini feel more justified in her anger.
    â€œAnn, go ahead and put Soda in the empty pasture,” Ramona said, then looked down at Mrs. Mookini’s hands. “You can let go now.”
    Mrs. Mookini released her stiff-fingered grip and let Ann take Soda’s reins. A minute later, the horse hadbeen stripped of his tack and released to explore the empty pasture.
    â€œWhat presence of mind you showed—keeping hold of his reins when you fell,” Ramona complimented the other woman.
    â€œI didn’t fall!” Mrs. Mookini shrugged off the arm Ramona tried to drape over her shoulders. “I didn’t ! That horse knocked me off!” She pointed at Sugarfoot, although the gelding hadn’t left his pasture and couldn’t have pushed her off Soda. “And look what he did to her!”
    Me? Darby thought. Is she pointing at me?
    Ann motioned for Darby to wipe her chin. She did, and noticed a smear of blood on her hand.
    â€œIt’s nothing,” Darby said, but the woman didn’t believe her.
    â€œWhy keep a vicious animal like that one here, where you’re supposed to help people?” That demand drained Mrs. Mookini of energy. Her voice faded as she repeated, “Why?”
    â€œHe was just playing,” Ann answered. “I know it didn’t look that way, but Sugarfoot’s like a big, goofy dog. It’s his way of having a good time.”
    Darby admired her friend’s honest reply, and it looked like Mrs. Mookini was thinking it over. Things might have taken a turn for the better if the woman hadn’t wrapped her arms around herself and felt the changed fit of her jacket.
    Frowning, she lifted her shoulders. Then she tookthe jacket off, looked at its ripped leather, and moaned, “It’s ruined.”
    â€œWhat a shame. Of course we’ll replace it,” Ramona said. She reached to take the jacket and examine it, but Mrs. Mookini hugged it closer. “And your entire course of treatment, whatever your doctor advises, will be complimentary.”
    Sugarfoot dawdled on the other side of the fence. Head bobbing, he vied for human attention. He pawed, and then snorted, unable to understand why even Ann ignored him.
    â€œWell then,” Mrs. Mookini said, but it was hard to tell what she was thinking.
    Just then Ann’s father, Ed, came from the house to see what was happening.
    â€œGemma, this is my husband, Ed,” Ramona said, nodding between her husband and their guest, then added, “Gemma handled Soda like a pro when he shied.”
    â€œHow’d that happen?” Ed asked. He turned to Mrs. Mookini. “You fell clean off?”
    He sounded so sympathetic that she nodded.
    â€œSoda’s darn near bomb-proof,” he said in disbelief, and when Mrs. Mookini looked even more alarmed, he went on, “What I mean is: He’s a good horse, usually.”
    â€œIt wasn’t Soda. It was that horse. He—” Mrs. Mookini pointed at Sugarfoot.
    â€œâ€”charged the fence,” Ed finished in a disgusted tone.
    â€œHe charged me !” the woman insisted.
    Ed Potter patted Mrs. Mookini’s shoulder, comforting her as gently as he would have one of his small sons. Something about the