Nickel-Bred Read Free Page A

did this on purpose after the
divorce, so he could be near the two things he loves most: his
practice and me. He was making baked macaroni and cheese, with tons
of cheddar on top. It was ooey-gooey, and both of our favorite
dinner.
    “Can I have some of that? There’s only frozen
pizza for me at Mom’s.”
    “Where’d your mom go?”
    “She’s having dinner with Sam Applegate,” I
said.
    “Really?” said Dad, filling a plate for me.
“Interesting.”
    After I ate a few bites of cheesey yumminess,
I got down to business.
    “Hey, Dad. Can I talk to you about
horses?
    “What about them? Is Dotty all right?”
    “Yeah, she’s great. I’ve been riding her
almost every day.”
    “That’s good. That’s what she needed, along
with some decent feed.”
    “Yeah, but see, it’s a problem because Adds
and I can never go riding together.” I didn’t want to tell him that
Addie was scared to ride Dotty-- I would have to explain why and
then he would know that she bucked. “So I was thinking, if we could
find another horse, a nice, gentle one, then we could both ride
together and it would be more fun.”
    “True. It’s fun to go on trail rides with
other people. But I know Sandy Davis pretty well, and I can’t see
her shelling out the money for a horse.”
    I thought about this. Addie’s mom and dad
were divorced, like mine. That was one reason we’d gotten to be
such good friends. Addie’s dad lived in Wisconsin and she didn’t
see him much. She only had one parent to convince.
    “But what if we knew of a horse that was
free? What if someone wanted to give it away?”
    “Piper, there are no free horses.”
    “Duh! Yes, there are, Dad! I found an ad for
one yesterday!”
    “What I mean is, honey, you end up paying for
feed, for training, for saddles and bridles, maybe even for more
fences and gates. Every horse costs money, even if you don’t have
to pay money up front for it.”
    “But it could go in the paddock with Dotty
and eat the grass there. We can use my babysitting money for its
feed, if you won’t pay for it. I’ll advertise and babysit more.”
Was he going to start being a tightwad now? He hadn’t mentioned the
cost of feed before, and we went together every couple of weeks to
buy her oats at the feed store.
    “Where is this horse and who is giving it
away? Before you get all excited about it, I think I should look at
it and make sure it’s sound.”
    This sounded promising, like maybe I was
halfway there with my argument. But Dad’s phone jingled his
business ringtone, “On the Road Again”.
    “Dr. Jones. Yes, hello, Jerry. Have you got
her in where I can look at her? Okay, I’ll be right out.” Dad hung
up and stood. “Gotta go. Cow having trouble calving. Look, Piper,
let me think about the horse and I’ll call you later when I get
done with this farm call.”
    “Okay, Dad, talk to you later.” I let myself
out and walked home in the warm summer evening. Honeysuckle scented
the air and I smiled to myself. Life was good.
     

Chapter Five
    ~ Crooks in Town ~
     
    I got back to
Mom’s and put the pizza back in the fridge because I wasn’t hungry
after Dad’s mac and cheese. I curled up on the couch and turned on
the TV, looking for something to watch, but it was the same old,
same old. We didn’t even have any movies worth watching. I flipped
around the channels for a while and was turning it off when my mom
walked in the door.
    “Hey, Mom,” I called so she would know I was
here. “How was it? Did you have a good time? What did you have to
eat?”
    “Oh...yes, sweetie, I had a really good time.
Sam is a great guy. We both had beef filets and we split a bread
pudding for dessert. It was delicious. I shouldn’t eat again for a
week,” Mom sighed as she came in the family room and sat down in
our old green recliner. “He asked me to go out again next weekend,
maybe Saturday.”
    “You’re going, aren’t you?”
    “I said I would, but I don’t want to rush
things.