Pony Dreams (7 page)

“Goodness!” Ma gasped. “There's no need to
rush around so much. Set the basket in the pantry and then put
bowls and spoons on the table.”

My brothers showed up as I finished laying
out the dishes. Neither Adam nor Bart said a word about the
Johnsons, but I noticed how they shot me the most unusual stares,
as if they knew what I had done to Gabriel. I kept quiet out of
fear of causing trouble. An hour later, with Blaze watching me, I
climbed onto one of the bit-trained mustangs and concentrated on
controlling him, but my thoughts kept drifting. The way the
Johnsons had snuck up on me, and how I hadn't said a word about it,
bothered my conscience.

“Pay attention, Abby,” Adam called.

I waved in reply, but the feeling I should
confess what the Johnsons had done distracted me.

They wouldn't really make me go to their
place. Pa and Adam would know right off where they'd taken me. Even
Gabriel isn't stupid enough to try something like that.

“Abby!”

Adam's sharp tone jerked me back to my
job.

“That horse will buck you off if he thinks
you aren't in control,” he said. “Keep the reins tight. Make your
horse realize you're controlling him, not the other way
around.”

“Sorry,” I called.

As I forced myself to concentrate, I saw
movement near the barn. None of my family was anywhere near it, and
I looked hard to figure out who it was. A head came into
view—Gabriel's head. He swung his arm back and flung something in
my direction.

The horse tossed his head. A crawly feeling
wiggled across my skin, and then a whistle whizzed past me. Two wet
sounding thwacks smacked the horse, and he bucked.

“Get off!” Adam jumped off his horse.

“Do it now!” Bart shouted.

My hat flew off as the mustang dashed for the
open gate. Bart closed it before the animal escaped into the
desert. The horse reared. My feet kicking in all directions, I
sawed the reins as hard as my sore muscles allowed. Using words Ma
would wash out of my mouth with lye soap, I thought I had the
situation under control when the horse settled.

Thank goodness.

In a second, the horse went from settled to
bunched muscles beneath my legs. He slammed me against the corral
rails, and I flew off. My brothers’ horrified faces flashed past,
and then Gabriel's victorious grin. I spun end over end. When I
landed, the air whooshed out of my body. I lay there, trying with
all my might to take a breath, but everything felt like it was on
fire.

“Get Ma!” Adam leaned over me, gently moving
my arms and legs. “Abby, talk to me.”

“Ugh, urg, oooooo.”

The sounds coming out of my mouth didn't
sound at all normal. I would have laughed, if it hadn't hurt so
much.

“I can't pick you up unless you tell me where
it hurts, or if it doesn't,” he begged. “Please, honey, say
something.”

I wanted to let the blackness at the edges of
my vision take me away from the pain. If I did, Adam looked like he
might cry. He never cried, crying was for babies and girls. He had
told me so many times, when he pulled a splinter from my finger or
cleaned up my scrapes.

“Hurts,” I finally said. “Everywhere.”

“Oh, honey, those are the best words I've
ever heard. Let's get you off the ground.”

He supported my back with one hand while
using the other to help me stand. As I straightened, everything
spun in circles. Ma raced toward me, looking a bit like a drunk I
once saw walking across the desert. I took a step but the spinning
intensified, and I stumbled forward.

“Damn!” He swept me into his arms and walked
over to Ma. “She's shaken up,” he said.

“In the house,” she said in a sharp tone.
“Set her on her bed and take off her shoes. You're sure about
nothing worse?”

“Yes, ma'am,” he said, and then he glanced at
the corral. “Bart, take care of the horses.”

Tears flowed down my face. It was a stupid
accident, and now I would never have another chance to ride a
mustang. Pa would throw a fit when he heard about this, and it was
my fault.

Lying against my oldest brother's
double-breasted shirt, I tried hard to stop crying but listening to
his heart thump-a-bumping sure didn't help.

Holy heck! Adam's panting like he ran all
the way from Carson City.

Chapter Ten

The terror etched
into Adam's sun-browned skin frightened me even more. He never,
ever let his fear show, so I didn't get scared.

He looks just plain petrified. How bad is
this?

Adam booted the door open and carried me to
my bedroom.

“I can't tell you enough to pay attention
when you're on a half-broke horse. What were you thinking?” he
asked.

“I'm sorry,” I sobbed. “Two things hit the
horse and another whizzed past my ear. Please, don't hate me.”

He unlaced my boots. After he eased them off,
he rotated my ankles and ran his hands along my legs again.
Standing, he pulled off his hat and swiped a hand through his hair.
The longish brown mass clumped together from the sweat on his
head.

“You scared me out of a year's growth.” He
plopped the hat back on his head. “I don't know how I would have
explained to Pa if something had happened to you.”

I burrowed into my pillow right as Ma bustled
through the door. She carried a pot of steaming water in one hand
and soft rags in the other

“Check the chicken I've got boiling,” she
said. “Tell Bart I'll need carrots from the garden. One of you will
have to gather eggs and milk before supper.”

“Yes, ma'am.” Adam bolted through the
door.

The door slammed behind him, and I began to
worry. I was alone with Ma, and she didn't look at all happy.

“You weren't paying attention, were you?” she
asked.

“No, ma'am,” I said.

“I heard Adam tell you to do that. Why didn't
you?”

“I tried to. Honest, Ma.”

My lie, the one I told by not saying
something about the Johnsons, rose up. The end over end tumble
through the air slowed in my memory, until I saw Gabriel smiling
near the barn.

“I didn't mean to lie,” I cried. “But I
didn't want to get into trouble.”

“If you mean not telling me about Horace and
his no-good sons showing up, I already know. I saw them run off,”
she said. “What does it have to do with not paying attention on a
horse?”

“I think I saw Gabriel near the barn before
the horse threw me.”

“We'll check later,” she said. “Lie
still.”

For an hour, she poked and prodded. She held
onto my chin and stared into my eyes, and then she asked me to say
how many fingers she held up. Finally, she held me upright on the
bed and stripped me down to my chemise and drawers. After a light
washing, Ma lowered a flannel nightgown over my head and assisted
me under the blankets.

“You'll be fine, but you'll stay in this bed
until I tell you otherwise,” she said. “Do you know how lucky you
are?”

I nodded.

“Abby, I've never heard of a gal breaking
horses. I didn't think you should, but your pa, he thinks you're
like my grandfather. Now, Gramps, he talked to horses. Made them do
what he wanted, but he did take a fall or two when he didn't pay
attention.”

My eyes drifted closed, and she shook me
awake.

“No you don't, young lady. I want to make
certain you didn't scramble your brains.” She raised her voice.
“Adam, scoop some of that broth into a bowl and bring it here with
a spoon.”

He appeared with the bowl in one hand and a
spoon in the other. She settled on the bed and spooned the watery
broth into my mouth. It took nearly the whole bowl before I
realized she had called me by my nickname. I sputtered.

“Are you sick to your stomach?” she
asked.

“No, ma'am,” I said. “You called me
Abby.”

“Why, I did, didn't I? See what you did? You
scared me so much I forgot my own rules.” She set the bowl on the
floor and stood. After picking up the bowl, she looked me over
again. “Now lie back. Adam will read from the Bible until you drift
off.”

He settled me into the crook of his shoulder
and read a few verses. The last thing I remembered was a gentle
kiss on my forehead as he lowered me to the pillow.

* * * *

The night lasted ten times longer than I ever
imagined it could, what with half-waking in pain every time I
moved. My dreams alternated between the horse tossing me and
playing with Grace. In the last one, she and David had snuck into
the corral. I started to follow them, but I stopped and looked for
an adult when a coyote slipped under the fence.

The pretty lady with Trapper Andy was the
only adult on the porch.

“Coyote,” I said, pointing at the corral.
“David and Grace are in there.”

Then I ran after the creature. Coyotes never
came close to humans unless they were very hungry. I had once heard
Pa and Adam talking about sick ones, with a disease that would hurt
people. They explained how I could never go near a coyote because
might bite me, and then I'd have the sickness.

Keeping away from the animal didn't matter. I
had to help Grace and David stay out of trouble. One other problem
prodded me to break Pa's most stringent rule and go into the
corral. The coyote might attack one of the horses.

The dream exploded into steel clad hooves
kicking at me, and terrified screams. Sweat soaked my skin. A cool
hand brushed hair back from my face.

“It's over, Abby,” Adam whispered. “Just
sleep.”

My eyelids cracked open. He leaned over
me.

“Why did I forget David?” I asked.

“Shhh!” He looked more scared than when I
flew off the horse. “It's just a bad dream. Think about happy
things, sis.”

He hummed until I fell asleep again. This
time, I dreamed of pretty ladies in store bought dresses. While it
wasn't scary, I hated how much I wanted one of those lace-trimmed
dresses. Riding a horse in one of those things was nigh on
impossible!

Sunlight heating my face brought me around,
but I kept my eyes closed. Before I considered opening them, I had
to stop the fierce thumping in my head. It felt like a bunch of
little men was hammering away in there. My stomach flopped
topsy-turvy when I smelled sausage and eggs. The sound of someone
snoring close to me made me want to scream.

Holy heck! I'm not a baby. I'm fine.

At least I thought I was, until I sat up and
every single bone and muscle protested.

“Yikes!”

My exclamation startled Bart. He fell out of
a chair beside my bed.

“You're awake! Ma, she's awake.”

Adam made it through the door before Ma. She
shoved him aside and examined my arms, legs, and back before
helping me sit up.

“You're staying in bed today, but I think you
can get up tomorrow,” she said. “You boys get about your chores and
I'll help Abigail to the ... the ... the.”

Oh, golly gee, Ma. Everyone goes to the
outhouse first thing in the morning.

Ma, who never faltered at anything, blushed
deep red. My brothers scooted from the room and left the house.

“Time to get you to the comfort house,” she
said.

The trip to the outhouse was pure murder.
Every step I took jarred my bones and made the bruises flare with
pain. Settling on the wooden perch intensified the misery. I took
care of my business and with her help, returned to the house. When
my stomach growled, she smiled.

“I guess you want something more filling than
broth?” she asked.

“I ... I ... um, I'm not sure,” I said. “I'm
real hungry, but I'm not sure if I want to try anything more than
the broth.”

“Let's get you back in bed, and I'll bring
you something light.”

After eating on my own for the first time
since breakfast yesterday, I laid back and closed my eyes. I didn't
mean to go to sleep, it just happened. The rest of the day went
much the same. Some broth and then sleep every two to three hours.
Adam sat with me during the afternoon, telling jokes and drilling
me on math until Ma caught him.

“I didn't tell you Abigail could think,” she
scolded. “She might have hurt her brain. You can't be pushing her
too much.”

“She's doing better today than last week,” he
said. “It's like the accident made her brain move faster.”

“Oh, well.” She tsked. “You keep an eye on
her. If she looks tired, you're to stop. Read Bible verses or sing
a song.”

After she left, he looked at me. “I guess I
can tell you a story.” He grimaced. “Sure don't want Ma after me
'cause you don't get better when she thinks you should.”

“I'm too old for stories,” I said. “Can't we
just pretend you didn't give me any more math problems?”

“Nope.” He shook his head. “You're old enough
to know Ma won't tolerate any of us making someone sicker.”

Adam held me against his shoulder and rocked
me back and forth.

“There once was an Indian squaw who wanted to
fly to the moon,” he said. “She tried to jump from the ground, but
it didn't work so she climbed up on a rock.”

The story brought back the strange memories.
I caught glimpses of Grace and David listening with me. We sat on
the parlor floor with my other brothers. Mark was really close to
the David, and they kept talking in whispers. Adam had made noises
and pretended to try all the ways the Indian maiden used to fly to
the moon.

“Who are Grace and David?” I asked.

“No one.” Adam pulled me closer. “The Indian
maiden climbed a teepee. She jumped toward the moon, but she just
fell faster to the ground.”

Even though I asked about David and Grace a
couple of more times, Adam kept telling the story. After a while,
his quiet voice made me fall asleep again. This time, I had the
scariest dream. It was about Pa, Charles, Mark, Peter, and Paul.
They were in trouble but not from Indians. They had gotten lost and
couldn't find their way home. I yelled at them, to show them the
way. After I did, someone called my name.