Pony Dreams Read Free Page A

this chore. If I was
very lucky, I might finish in time to fix supper and clean up
afterward.
    “It isn't fair.” I poured some of the now
boiling water into the sink and swished until bubbles formed, and
then I started washing the jars and lids. “Boys get to have all the
fun.”
    The kitchen window offered the only escape I
had from my boring existence. I stared out at the desert landscape
while cleaning every inch of the jars. If I missed one single spot,
the food inside them would go bad, and we might not have enough to
eat. Despite that, I couldn't help looking at the only thing in the
world I wanted to do, and fume about how Peter and Paul ignored the
horses.
    “Pa'll land on them like a duck on a June
bug,” I said. “He'll want those horses trained when he gets back,
but Peter and Paul won't work unless he's out there with them.”
    Mustangs capered around the corral, testing
the fence's strength and rearing up. I lost myself in memories
about the two children, and the day I received the scar on my neck.
Trapper Andy's broken voice came back to me, only it was stronger,
happier. He sounded like a man satisfied with his life, a man with
nothing to lose. There was a woman beside him, next to Ma and Pa on
the porch. They smiled at us as we scampered around in the yard.
Warnings came when we moved too close to the corral.
    “Don't upset those horses,” Pa had called. “I
have to start working with them in the morning. A couple of
ranchers offered me a good price.”
    “Mayhaps I should join you,” Trapper Andy
said. “Sure don't have much else to do these days. Everyone in
these parts is far too healthy.”
    It almost sounded as if he was a doctor. Now
if that wasn't ridiculous, I had no idea what was. Shaking off my
dreamy attitude, I dried the jars and set them on a clean cloth.
One look at the beans reminded me of my chores, and I sighed.
    “Nothing stops those darned beans from
sprouting more and more. It's like they hate me.”
    I cleaned out the sink and pumped cold water
into it. After scrubbing dirt and grit from the beans, I started
snapping off the ends and tossing them into a bucket at my feet.
The chore occupied my hands, but it left my mind free to drift to
another day, one where all I had to worry about was playing. The
woman with Trapper Andy had come off the porch to adjust the hair
ribbons on the girl with us. The other child was a boy.
    “Don't mess up your Sunday dress, Grace,” the
woman had said. “Your pa and I bought it special for you.”
    The little girl was Grace, and she wore a
store bought dress. I'd never had a store bought dress in my whole
life. Ma said they were too expensive, but this daydream was so
real I took in every detail of that store bought dress Grace wore,
the bright blue satin, shining white lace, and buttons in the shape
of little flowers.
    Thinking about that brought great pain in my
head and neck. I shook off the remembrance and stared at the pile
of snapped beans. It didn't seem like I had taken that long
dreaming, but sure enough the worst part of the chore was over.
    “Well, if that don't beat all,” I said with a
smile. “I'll have to remember that from now on. Work sure doesn't
seem hard when my mind is occupied.”
    As I reached for a pot, the sound of laughter
outside distracted me. Jealousy rose in my heart along with black
hatred for Peter and Paul. They were having fun while I sweated
buckets canning food they'd gobble down without tasting.
     

Chapter Three
     
    I looked out the
window as I pumped water into the canning pots and giggled. Visions
of my lazy twin brothers getting their just desserts ran through my
mind at the sight I saw.
    Ma marched toward the clothesline beside the
barn. She stopped, cocked her head, and faced the corral.
    “Peter and Paul,” she hollered. “You aren't
doing as your pa told you to do. Do I have to hunt up my
broom?”
    They dashed out from behind the barn. Hay
stuck out from their hair in all directions, which