Wild Horses (Sadie's Montana #1)(79)

So she stood, her features relaxed.

“They won’t hurt us, Reuben. Just stay calm.”

“But … Sadie! That big black one chased Ezra’s horse.”

“Yes. But we’re not horses. He won’t hurt us. Just stay calm, Reuben.”

“I want to go back.”

“No. Just stay. Watch.”

Bending, she scooped a handful of oats and corn into the palm of her hand. Holding it out, she advanced slowly toward the tree line.

“Come, Paris. Come on. Be a real good girl. You can have these oats if you want. Come here, you big, beautiful, gorgeous horse. I’m going to name you Paris, did you know that?”

Reuben clung to her, too afraid to stay by himself, terrified to go with her.

The sun was turning the lovely day into an evening of burnished copper with streaks of gold where the rays escaped the confines of a few scudding clouds.

At first Sadie thought Paris’ face was a ray of sunlight dancing on the tree trunks. But when the horse flicked her ears, Sadie could see the perfect outline of her eyes all blended into the golden evening.

“Oh, Paris!” she whispered, completely at a loss for any other words.

“Sadie, I want to go home,” Reuben said hoarsely.

“Reuben, trust me, okay? If I thought these horses would harm us, we wouldn’t be here. They won’t hurt us. Paris is the most curious of them all. Now watch.”

She shook the oats in her hand and dribbled some of them on the ground, enticing the horse with the smell of the feed. The molasses made it sticky and gave off a pungent odor, one she never tired of smelling.

Sadie took another step, then stopped. She continued talking in soft, begging tones. She held her breath as Paris stepped out, a vision of beauty to Sadie.

“Come on, girl. Come get your feed.”

She watched in disbelief as Paris lowered her head, snuffled at the blowing grasses, then lifted her head in a graceful motion. Her mane blew as if it was part of the earth itself.

Now she looked at Sadie, really looked at her. Sadie held her gaze steadily, talking in low tones. Reuben stood beside her.

“Sadie!” he whispered, pointing.

Paris snorted, retreated a few steps.

Sadie looked and saw the brown mare stealthily moving out from the trees, followed by the black stallion.

Her heart leaped.

Still she stood steadily.

She began calling to Paris in coaxing tones. The horse’s ears flicked forward, then swiveled back. She threw her head up, only to lower it. She pawed the ground. The brown mare watched from the safety of the edge of the tree line.

Paris had burrs in her mane and forelock. Sadie’s hands ached to feel the sturdy comb raking through that wonderful, thick mane. What would be better in all the world but to stand beside this horse with a bucket of warm water, fragrant with shampoo, and wash that honey-colored coat? To feed her carrots and apples and peppermint candy? Paris always ate peppermint patties. She loved dark chocolate.

Now Sadie was close enough to see the dark veins in the whites of her eyes. She saw the little whirl of lighter hair on the upper part of her chest.

“Paris, you are going to be my horse. You just don’t know it yet. Come on, taste this. It’s really good. It’s corn and molasses. Can you smell it?”

The horse’s hunger overcame her fear then, and she took another step forward. Sadie held out her arm, steadily talking.

When the moment came, it was beyond description. How could a nose feel so much like the nose of her past? It was heavy and soft and velvety all at the same time. It was lighter than the touch of a blue jay’s feather. When Paris moved her mouth to gather up the feed, Sadie felt that funny little pressure horses make against the palm of your hand.

Sadie could not stop the tears of joy that welled up in her eyes.

She would not reach out with her other hand to stroke that wonderful mane. She just let Paris lip all the feed. Then Sadie slowly lifted her hand along the side of Paris’ mouth to see if she would allow her nose to be touched.

The black whinnied a loud nicker, a call to retrieve her. Her ears went back. Then she lifted her head and wheeled, trotting back to the security she knew.

“Good-bye, Paris,” Sadie called.

Then she turned, grabbed Reuben’s hands, and shouted to the golden evening around them, “I have a horse! I have a horse!”

Sadie hugged Reuben and went running down the slope, leaving him to get the backpack, close it, and run down after her.

When she could talk, she solemnly told Reuben that he was the best brother in the whole wide world, and she would give him 10 whole dollars for this evening.

Immediately he calculated his wealth at $20. He was sorry he thought his sister was sort of strange, because she really wasn’t. She was one of the best sisters in the world, which was allowing some, because sisters didn’t rank very high according to Reuben.





Chapter 22




SHE TOLD RICHARD CALDWELL then. She told Dorothy and Jim and anyone who came into the kitchen after that. The ranch was abuzz with the news of these horses and Sadie’s ability to touch one of them.

But she still did not tell her parents and, as far as she knew, none of her sisters suspected anything unusual. They seemed to accept Sadie’s determination to strengthen the muscles in her leg by hiking and Reuben’s sudden interest in accompanying her.