The Green Lace Corset, стр. 56
That night after supper, to implement part two of her plan, she started in on Cliff. “Will you teach me to ride?”
He looked at her as if she was daft. “No.”
“Why not? I promise I won’t run away. What if you’re out hunting, or whatever you do when you’re gone, and another feral man or Indians come and I need to get away? Or there’s a forest fire? Or you get sick and I need to get a doctor? Or—”
“Stop.” He held up his hand. “I’ll think about it.”
After breakfast the next morning, he said, “Okay, girl. Let’s do it.”
“You mean you’re gonna teach me to ride? You’re just the most wonderful man in the whole world.” Did she really just say that?
He grinned. “I think you’re pretty wonderful too.”
She blushed.
Even though Sally Sue’s body was still a bit sore, her heart felt light when she stepped outside, in her men’s clothes and sunbonnet, and Cliff led the pinto from the pasture to the round pen. She leaned on the fence railing.
Cliff whispered in the pinto’s ear and let him loose. “Hey! Hey!” Cliff called, then chased the horse in a circle, gently slapping its flanks with a small crop.
Clouds blew in off the peaks and gathered overhead. With his strong body, he continued to urge the horse clockwise and counterclockwise around the pen. She hadn’t believed he’d ever really teach her to ride, and now that it was going to happen, her hands began to shake. The pinto wasn’t as big as other horses, but even so, he seemed like a giant to her. What if he didn’t like her and bucked her off, or, worse yet, escaped from the pen and shot off like a bullet from her gun?
Clouds above Cliff parted, and a shimmering ray of sunlight hit his frame, magnifying his strong, graceful motions. He appeared to be wading through water, like Poseidon, ruler of the sea and horses. She should be ashamed of comparing him to a Greek god and reminded herself that, like Zeus, Cliff also could stir up fury at any time.
Cliff stopped, walked to his canteen on the post beside her, and took a swig. The pinto continued to jog around the pen.
“Do you think he has a name?” Sally Sue asked.
“Name? I don’t know. Maybe he had one before.”
“Shouldn’t we give him one? Your horse also?”
“I don’t see why not. How about Murgatroyd and Matilda?” Cliff wiped sweat from his brow with his kerchief and tied it back around his neck.
“How about Petey and Sweetie?”
“Too girlie. Let’s name the red one Roan.”
Sally Sue admired the white diamond design on the horse’s head.
“Okay. And this fellow is Scout.” She hoped this one would be able to scout his way off the ranch with her on his back. If only Cliff knew what she was thinking. “Can we get started now?”
“Sure.” He got a saddle from the barn. Sally Sue followed him through the open gate, making sure to close it securely behind her. He harnessed Scout and saddled him up.
“First, pet him like this.” Cliff stroked Scout’s neck.
Sally Sue reached out to tickle Scout’s nose, trying to keep her hands from shaking noticeably. He turned his head and snipped at her fingers. She jumped back.
“Horses see from the side, so stand there and keep your hand open. Try again, with a strong caress.” Cliff showed her. “Good boy, Scout.”
“Good boy.” Sally Sue rubbed Scout’s neck.
“Try his ears. Let him get to know you.”
She stroked his ears.
“Hop up on the railing like this.” Cliff demonstrated. “Lift your leg up here, like this, and you’re on.” Cliff slid onto Scout’s back and sat erect, then slid off again.
That looked easy enough. Sally Sue climbed the railing, held on to a post, and lifted her right leg, but no matter how hard she tried, Scout slid away from her. “Darn it all.”
“I guess you’re kinda puny.” Cliff grinned.
She tried not to let that remark get to her.
“Try this.” He hopped on the fence again. “Put your belly here, and glide your leg over him like this.”
She put her stomach on Scout, but he darted away, and Sally Sue flew off him to the other side and fell on her behind with a thump.
Obviously holding in a laugh, Cliff took her elbow and helped her up. “Darlin’, you’re gonna have some bruises tomorrow. Let’s give it a go another day.”
“I’m doing it today if it kills me.” She paused and looked at him, but the meaning of those words was lost on him.
“You’re as stubborn as a mare in heat.”
“What?” she asked.
“Never mind.”
She climbed the fence again and this time succeeded.
Cliff readjusted the stirrups to fit her feet, clucked his tongue, and walked Scout around the pen.
Heart racing, hunched over, Sally Sue hung on for dear life.
“Now, sit up straight and use your legs to hug his flanks.”
She sat up and tried to keep her balance. “Like this?”
“You’ve got it.” Cliff led them around the pen. “That’s good. Now, firmly stroke his neck and say, ‘Good boy.’”
Sally Sue reached out her hand and petted below Scout’s mane. “Good boy.”
The gait bumpy, she didn’t like it much, but if she was ever going to get away, she’d better master this. She held her balance, listened to Cliff’s advice, and kept at it.
“You’re a natural. Tomorrow I’ll teach you to lope, as long as the weather holds.”
She climbed down off the railing with a laugh, even though the clouds above had darkened.
38
Cliff had been right. That evening, a cold mist blew in over the meadow. He led the horses to the barn and stocked the firewood. Shivering at bedtime, Sally Sue laid another blanket on the bed and curled up with Socks. A raucous rumbling, followed by