The Black Stallion and the Girl Read Free Page B

balance. She had to decide what he was about to do before he did it, and use her weight and strength as a counter-balance.
    Henry had thrown the colt several times in an attempt to break him of rearing, but he’d never thought of keeping him up, reaching for the sky, until the colt was grateful to come down and, perhaps, stay down.
    Pam straightened in her saddle, gripping the colt with her legs and holding him upright. His hocks trembled severely. She released him the moment he could not stand the strain any longer. She slackened the reins, loosened her knees, and hurled her weight forward.
    “Go!” she called. In a mighty leap Black Sand had his forelegs down and was galloping.
    His strides lengthened until he was approaching full speed, much too fast for so short and narrow a paddock. Alec expected him to run full tilt into the fence, if she didn’t slow him down. It was much too high to jump.
    Pam wasn’t able to slow him down but, at the last moment, she swung hard in her saddle, laying her whole body against the colt’s inner side. Then, with knees and hands, she turned him. His hurtling body was only inches from the fence, so that her outside leg was brushing against it. He flew along the fence and came racing back, the hammering of his hoofs shaking the earth.
    She managed to stop his headlong rush not far from Alec. “He’s marvelous!” she called, breathing heavily. “What’s his name?”
    “Black Sand,” Alec replied, his eyes never leaving her. He realized what she had accomplished and shared her joy. She had a better seat and hands than anyone he’d had around the farm before—and, more important, a better mind.
    “Black Sand,” she repeated, while the colt danced beneath her. “I like it. We have black sand on our beach at home. Let me take him outside,” she added eagerly. “He’s so full of run; it will do him a lot of good.”
    Alec opened the gate. She was right, and she might as well start working at once. Although she didn’t know it, she already had the job.
    “You’ll find a well-traveled path beyond the barns,” he said. “Keep to it. It’ll take you along the edge of the fields.” He was no longer concerned about her safety. One could not ride as she did without knowing hermount. Black Sand was impatient but standing still. He did not feel the weight of her body so much as he did the weight of her knowledge and understanding.
    Pam took Black Sand through the gate at a slow walk, restraint evident in his every stride.
    Alec said, “You’ll go through a bit of woods. It’ll be a good change of scenery for him, but watch out there.” He knew that she was as eager as the colt to be off again.
    She leaned over the colt’s withers and whispered into his ear, “Go!” Black Sand leaped forward in a furious bound, and she was ready for it.
    Alec watched them go, then headed for his jeep. By driving to the far end of the field, he would be able to see the greater part of her ride. Not that he believed he’d change his mind about hiring her; it was more to confirm what he already knew.

J OY TO THE W ORLD!
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    The girl and her horse sped across the meadow. A red cardinal flew from the heart of a thicket, frightened by their charge. Its clear, loud whistle rose above the sound of the colt’s hoofs. From somewhere above, too, came the caws of crows and the scream of a broad-winged hawk, all of them angry with this girl and her horse for disrupting the peace and stillness of the meadow.
    Nearing the wooded ridge, Pam slowed the colt to almost a walk and followed a hoof-trampled path into the woods. She stroked Black Sand’s lathered neck, and at her touch he sought to bound forward again. She laughed silently and gave into him, letting him lengthen his strides through the woods. The way was clear and the footing good; there was no need to walk when his heart was so full of run.
    A wild carpet of moss glided beneath the colt’s flying feet. Squirrels, terrified by the thunder