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Show MY1; FRIEND (mWZ xh maryWra mBmm I THE STORY SO FAR: Ten-year-old Ken McLaughlin can ride any horse on his family's Wyoming ranch, bat he wants a colt of his own. His father, a retired army officer, refuses to give him one when he learns that Ken has not been promoted. But his mother convinces con-vinces Captain McLaughlin that tlie colt may be Just what Ken needs. He has a hard time choosing his colt untli he sees the yearling filly of a "loco" mare named Rocket. Loco is the horse breeder's name for a no-good, untamable horse. Now Ken has come to the breakfast table ta-ble beaming with Joy and simply dying to tell someone of his discovery of Rocket and her colt. Now continue with the story. CHAPTER VII If you can raise good calves and colts on it, I guess you can raist boys, Nell reasoned. And McLaughlin, McLaugh-lin, with a long line of oat-eating Scotch ancestors behind his brawn and toughness, agreed. With the oatmeal there was always al-ways a big pitcher of yellow Guernsey Guern-sey cream and a bowl of brown sugar. Nell, smiling, pushed them toward Ken, noticing the unusual color in his face. The boy flashed a glance at his mother; his eyes were dark with excitement. His whole face was lit up transfigured really and she felt a slight sense of shock. What had happened? He had been different all week, more sure of himself, more alert and happy, but this Rob McLaughlin was looking at Ken too, not missing a thing. Something Some-thing had happened that morning on the range "What horse did you ride?" asked he. "Lady." "And where is she now? On her way to the border?" jocularly. "I put her in the Home Pasture. She's out there at the fountain now." . "Was she hot?" "No, sir, I cooled her off coming home." There was a little smile of pride on Ken's face, and Nell thought, all the right answers, so far. The examination went on. "Did you give her a good workout?" "Yes, sir." "Then don't ride her again today. Take Baldy if you want a horse." "Yes, sir." "Break anything? Lose anything?" any-thing?" "No, sir." Rob laughed. He leaned over and patted Ken on the head. "Good work, young man coming along!" Ken burst out laughing. He was so excited it was hard to sit still and answer properly. He wasn't going to tell about his colt yet not till tomorrow when the week was up. But it was hard to hold it in, Jiard not to jump up and run around the kitchen, shouting and crowing. Anyway he could tell about Rocket Rock-et "I didn't lose anything, I found something!" He boasted, shoveling in big spoonfuls of oatmeal. "I found Rocket She's back." When Ken went to bed that night, he kissed his mother, and then threw his arms around her and held her hard for a moment. Smiling, she put her hand on his head. "Well, Kennie " her violet eyes were soft and understanding. He went upstairs, smiling back at her over his shoulder, having a secret se-cret with her. He knew that she knew. He lit the candle in his room and stood staring at the flickering light. This was like a last day. The last day before school is out, or before Christmas, or before his mother came back after a visit in the East. Tomorrow was the day when, really, his life would begin. He would get his colt. He couldn't quite remember the color of her. Orange pink tangerine tanger-ine color tail and mane white, like the hair of an Albino boy at school. Albino of course, her grandsire was the Albino the famous Albino stud. He felt a little uneasiness at this; the Albino blood wasn't safe blood for a filly to have. But perhaps per-haps she hadn't much of it. Perhaps Per-haps the cream tail and mane came from Banner, her sire. Banner had a cream tail and mane too when he was a colt; lots of sorrel colts had. He hoped she would be docile and good not like Rocket. Which would she take after? Rocket? Or Banner? He hadn't had time to get a good look into her eyes. Ken began to undress. Walking around his room, his eyes caught sight of the pictures on the wall they didn't interest him. The speed of her! She had run away from Banner. He kept thinking think-ing about that. It hardly seemed possible. His father always said Rocket was the fastest horse on the ranch, and now Rocket's filly had run away from Banner. Riding down the mountain that day Ken had traced back all his recollections of her. The summer before, when he and Howard had seen the spring colts, he hadn't especially noticed her. He remembered remem-bered that he had seen her even before be-fore that, soon after she was born. He had been out with Gus. one day, in the meadow, during the spring holiday. They were clearing clear-ing some driftwood out of the irrigation irri-gation ditch, and they had seen Rocket standing in a gully on the hillside, quiet for once, and eyeing them cautiously. "Ay bet she got a colt," said Gus; and they walked carefully up the draw. Rocket gave a wild snort, thrust her feet out, shook her head wickedly, then fled away. And as they reached the spot, they saw standing there the wavering, pinkish pink-ish colt, barely able to keep its feet. It gave a little squeak and started after its mother on crooked, wobbling wob-bling legs. "Yee whiz! Luk at de little flicka!" said Gus. "What does flicka mean, Gus?" "Swedish for little gurl, Ken " He had seen the filly again late in the fall. She was half pink, half yellow with streaked untidy looking hair. She was awkward and ungainly, ungain-ly, with legs too long, haunches a little too high. And then he had gone away to school and hadn't seen her again until now she ran away from Banner Ban-ner Her eyes they had looked like balls of fire this morning. What color were they? Banner's were brown with flecks of gold, or gold with flecks of brown Her speed and her delicate curving lines made him think of a greyhound he had seen running once, but really she was more like just a little girl than anything any-thing the way her face looked, and the way her blonde hair blew a little lit-tle girl-Ken girl-Ken blew out the light and got into bed, and before the smile had faded fad-ed from his face, he was asleep "I'll take that sorrel filly of Rocket's; Rock-et's; the one with the cream tail and mane." Ken made his announcement at the breakfast table. After he spoke there was a moment's mo-ment's astonished silence. Nell "Yee whiz! Luk at de little flicka!" said Gus. groped for recollection, and said, "A sorrel filly? I can't seem to remember remem-ber that one at all what's her name?" But Rob remembered. The smile faded from his face as he looked at Ken. "Rocket's filly. Ken?" "Yes, sir." Ken's face changed too. There was no mistaking his father's displeasure. "I was hoping you'd make a wise choice. You know what I think of Rocket that whole line of horses " Ken looked down; the color ebbed from his cheeks. "She's fast, Dad, and Rocket's fast " "It's the worst line of horses I've got. There's never one amongst them wth real sense. The mares are hellions and the stallions outlaws; out-laws; they're untamable." "I'll tame her." Rob guffawed. "Not I, nor anyone, any-one, has ever been able to really tame any one of them." Kennie's chest heaved. "Better change your mind, Ken. You want a horse that'll be a real friend to you, don't you?" "Yes " Kennie's voice was unsteady. un-steady. "Well, you'll never make a friend of that filly. Last fall after all the colts had been' weaned and separated separat-ed from their dams, she and Rocket got back together no fence'll hold 'em she's all out and scarred up already from tearing through barbed wire after that wild mother of hers." Kennie looked stubbornly at his plate. "Change your mind?" asked Howard How-ard briskly. "No." "I don't remember seeing her this year." said Nell. "No." said Rob. "When I drove you up a couple of months ago to i look them over and name them and write down their descriptions, there I was a bunch missing, don't you re- member?" "Oh, yes then she's never been named " "I've named her," said Ken. "Her name is Flicka." "Flicka," said Nell cheerfully "That's a pretty name." But McLaughlin made no comment, com-ment, and there was a painful silence. si-lence. Ken felt he ought to look at his father, but he was afraid to. Everything Every-thing was changed again, they weren't friends any more. He forced himself to look up, met his father's angry eyes for a moment, then quickly looked down again. "Well," McLaughlin barked. "It's your funeral or hers. Remember one thing. I'm not going to be out of pocket on account of this every time you turn around you cost me money " Ken looked up, wonderingly, and shook his head. "Time's money, remember," said his father. "I had planned to give you a reasonable amount of help in breaking and taming your colt. Just enough. But there's no such thing as enough with those horses." Gus appeared at the door and said, "What's today. Boss?" McLaughlin shouted, "We're going out on the range to bring in the yearlings. Saddle Taggert, Lady and Shorty." Gus disappeared, and McLaughlin McLaugh-lin pushed his chair back. "First thing to do is get her in. Do you know where the yearlings are?" "They were on the far side of the Saddle Back late yesterday afternoon after-noon the west end, down by Dale's ranch." "Well, you're the Boss on tkis round-up you can ride Shorty." McLaughlin and Gus and Ken went out to bring the yearlings in. Howard stood at the County gate to open and close it. They found the yearlings easily. When they saw that they were being be-ing pursued, they took to their heels. Ken was entranced to watch Flicka the speed of her, the power, the wildness she led the band. He sat motionless, just watching and holding Shorty in when his father fa-ther thundered past on Taggert and shouted, "Well, what's the matter? Why didn't you turn 'em?" Ken woke up and galloped after them. Shorty brought in the whole band. The corral gates were closed, and an hour was spent shunting the ponies po-nies in and out and through the chutes until Flicka was left alone in the small round branding corral. Gus mounted Shorty and drove the others away, through the gate, and up the Saddle Back. But Flicka did not intend to be left. She hurled herself against the poles which walled the corral. She tried to jump them. They were seven feet high. She caught her front feet over the top rung, clung, scrambled, while Kennie held his breath for fear the slender legs would be caught between the bars and snapped. Her hold broke, she fell over backwards, rolled, screamed, tore around the corral. One of the bars broke. She hurled herself again. Another went. She saw the opening, and as neatly as a dog crawls through a fence, inserted insert-ed her head and forefeet, scrambled scram-bled through and fled away, bleeding bleed-ing in a dozen places. As Gus was coming back, just about to close the gate to the County Coun-ty Road, the sorrel whipped through it, sailed across the road and ditch with her inimitable floating leap, and went up the side of the Saddle Back like a jack rabbit From way up the mountain, Gus heard excited whinnies, as she joined the band he had just driven up, and the last he saw of them they were strung out along the cresi running like deer. "Yee whiz!" said Gus, and stood motionless and staring until the ponies po-nies had disappeared over the ridge Then he closed the gate, remounted remount-ed Shorty, and rode back to the corrals. Walking down from the corrals. Rob McLaughlin gave Kennie one more chance to change his mind "Better pick a horse that you have some hope of riding one day. I'd have got rid of this whole line of stock if they weren't so damned fast that I've had the fool idea that someday there might turn out one gentle one in the lot, and I'd have a race horse. But there's never been one so far, and it's not going to be Flicka." "It's not going to be Flicka," chanted Howard. "Maybe she might be gentled," said Ken; and although his lips trembled, there was fanatical de termination in his eye. "Ken," said McLaughlin, "it's up to you. If you say you want her, we'll get her. But she wouldn't be the first of that line to die rather than give in. They're beautiful and they're fast, but let me tell you this, young man, they're loco!" Ken flinched under his father's direct glance. "If I go after her again, I'll not give up whatever comes, understand what I mean by that?" m "Yes." "What do you say?" "I want her." "That's settled then," and suddenly sudden-ly Rob seemed calm and indifferent "We'll bring her in again tomor row or next day I've got other work for this afternoon." (TO BE CONTINUED) |