Pony Dreams Read Free Page B

they tried to
brush away while also tucking their shirttails into their pants.
Both looked like she had jolted them awake from a wonderful dream
and thrust them into a nightmare. Rubbing their eyes, they ran into
the corral and shoved bits into the horses' mouths. The animals set
up a ruckus from the treatment.
    “Don't ruin those ponies. And you'd better
hurry it up. But don't you short those horses their training,” Ma
said, “and don't you dare sneak off again. You'll miss your dinner
if you do.”
    Her reminder that the time for our dinner was
approaching pushed me to working faster shoving beans, salt, and
water into jars. I put a lid on each one before placing the
containers into the pots. After I had three of the pots bubbling
away, I made cornbread, slid the pan into the oven, and pulled out
a smaller pot to boil up a mess of beans. For flavor, I added bacon
grease from a jar beside the stove and chopped up a couple of
potatoes. It was a busy day lunch, and one we had quite often when
Pa and my older brothers were away. By the time Ma checked on me, I
had made sure the canning pots hadn't overflowed, the pan with our
midday meal simmered on the back of the stove, and picked up the
bucket of potato peels and bean ends.
    “I need to take this to the pig,” I said.
    “What do you have left to finish?” she
asked.
    “Take the canning pots off the stove and set
the jars out to dry,” I said. “Dinner's cooking. I'll take out the
cornbread when I get back.” I glanced at her. “I'll do up the peas
after dinner.”
    “Good job.” She peered into the bubbling pot
of our meal. “Did you season these?”
    Fiery heat that didn't come from spending the
morning cooking lit up my cheeks. “I'm sorry.”
    “It's not too late.” She added salt and
pepper to the meal. “Go on, Abigail. It'll be dinnertime soon
enough. Tell your lazy brothers to wash up on your way to the
pigpen.” Ma shook her head after looking at the peas. “We'll do
those together after supper.”
    The offer was far too good to speak about,
even to say thank you, lest she change her mind. I hurried to the
corral, grateful for a respite from my duties. Peter and Paul
grinned at me when I stopped.
    “Feeding the pig, Abby?” Peter hollered at
the top of his lungs.
    “Ma says it's time to clean up for dinner,” I
said. “You'd best hop to it. She's downright upset about you
sleeping away half the morning.”
    They jumped off the horses but left the bits
in the animals' mouths. Those lazy boys ran toward the house
without even offering to help me, or caring about how uncomfortable
the animals were. I shook my head, set down the pail, and climbed
under the railing. The Mustangs shied from me at first, but I held
out a hand until they came over and then removed the bits.
    “That hurts, doesn't it?” I asked.
    One nodded and stood in front of the others.
He had the most beautiful white blaze on his forehead. The marking
stood out like a bright star on a dark night against his deep brown
hair. I stroked the blaze until he nudged the side of my face.
    “That tickles!” I giggled and cast a guilty
look at the house.
    Peter and Paul were busy tossing water at
each other instead of washing up at the shed where Ma did laundry.
She puttered around the kitchen, but unlike me, she never took the
time to look out the window. No one would notice if I took a minute
or two with the mustangs. I returned my attention to the
horses.
    “No one's explained what an important a job
you have,” I whispered. “You'll deliver the mail, so people all
over the United States can write to each other. Isn't that
wonderful?”
    The mustang bobbed his head up and down. A
thrill ran through me, as it did every time I knew the horses
understood me.
    “Before you can do that, you have to learn
how important it is to have someone riding you, but Peter and Paul
just want to play.” I checked the house again and looked back at
the horse when I discovered no one watching me.