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Show MYFRIEND AgrR&ZZT THE STORY SO FAR: Ten-year-old Ken McLaughlin can ride any horse on his family's Wyoming ranch, but he wants a colt of his own. His father, a retired army officer, refuses to give him one nntil his school grades Improve and he learns to take responsibility. Ken's mother tries to protect him from the stern discipline of his father and the youthful bullying of his older brother, Howard, who always manages to do things right, Nell convinces her husband hus-band that the colt may be Just what Ken needs, in spite of the fact that he has not been promoted. Days pass, and Ken has not chosen his colt. But he is a changed boy. Now continue with the story. CHAPTER VI Ken wakened one morning in thi dark and turned to face the window, win-dow, and when it showed faintly gray outside, he got up and stood watching the dawn brighten in the east. There wasn't enough light yet for him to see anything clearly. It seemed a world of near-darkness, in which vague outlines appeared and vanished, floating and shadowy. His thoughts were like that, too. He groped for familiar footing in his mind, but everything was changed. Something new had come into him so that he was different. Even Tim said that he had grown an inch since his father promised him the colt, and Howard treated him as if he was important. But something had gone out of him, too; and sometimes he wanted it so that he was in a panic. But now he was outside. The door was shut. It was windy and dangerous dan-gerous outside The colt he began to dress hurriedly. Today or tomorrow to-morrow he must choose his colt He would ride up now onto the range and look at the yearlings again. It was still dark when he stole out the front door and felt the terrace grass under his feet No one had heard him. That was good. He didn't want Howard along. Going out in the early morning was almost like going into the underwater world, or the world of a picture, or in a dream. Not quite so safe as a dream because he did have to watch his horse, or, if he was climbing climb-ing on Castle Rock, he had to be careful of his footing, buUstill nothing noth-ing like the ordinary world of the daytime. He walked softly across the Green to the Calf Pasture to get his horse. Ken had been a night wanderer ever since he had learned to walk alone and to climb over the edge of his crib. Nell would wake, hearing a sound in the hall or living room, would find the baby's crib empty and go searching for him. She'd find him somewhere in the dark, crawling or standing unsteadily unsteadi-ly on the tail of his nightgown and would pick him up and carry him back to bed. She tried tying the bottom of his nightgown in a knot with his feet inside, but he merely became more expert at balancing. Then she hob- Diea mm witn a son diaper, Dut ne learned to swing both feet together over the side of his crib, hang with little monkey hands, drop down, and shuffle instead of walk. When he was older, sometimes he'd go outdoors in the night. Often Nell did that herself. Restless Rest-less or unable to sleep, she would slip from her bed, tie a robe around her, take pillow and blanket and go down to her hammock, and lie with her face to the sky, watching the stars. Ken found Lady just inside the fence of the Calf Pasture, and when he held out his hand and spoke to her, she didn't move away but let him take hold of her halter and lead her out. He had been riding Lady all week when he was exercising the geldings geld-ings and looking for Rocket and inspecting in-specting the yearlings. He had gone to look at the yearlings every day, and yesterday his mother had ridden rid-den out with him. They hadn't been able to find them anywhere, until suddenly, from a high place, they heard the thunder of hoofs. "They sounded like a regiment' said Nell, telling about it at supper. 'And we looked down and saw them, a stream of color flying down tile draw. It was beautiful to watch them! They shone in the sun sorrel sor-rel and black and bay and roan the flowing movement so gay, so free, so frolicsome!" And then they had ridden down to the yearlings and dismounted amongst them, and Nell exclaimed upon the way their first year of life changed their appearance dark chestnuts turned to sorrels, a pink roan changed to a blue, blacks lightened light-ened to brown, odd spots and markings mark-ings vanished completely; and conformation con-formation altered almost beyond recognition. "They look stunning." she told Rob. "Smooth and sleek and glossy, their little hides so full and taut they look as if they would burst" Ken himself had been dazed by the beauty of them. The rich feeling feel-ing one of them his own. but which? He wanted them all, and until he chose, in a way, they were U his. Ken led Lady up the little path through the Gorge, into the corrals, and then into the dark stable, put the catch on her halter, poured a measure of oats in the feed box in tlie manger before her. and began to groom her. Dad said use saddles can't sc why better do it anyway Lady was a big red roan with a black tail and mane. She moved quickly; her head had a proud, high carriage; her dark eyes were full and intelligent. Ken slid around her, close to her haunches, one hand on her tail, and then gave her a whack and said, "Get over!" The mare moved over with her quick strong step and Ken rubbed down her other side. He put on the saddle blanket, then the saddle, and cinched it as tight as he could, remembering re-membering the blanket he had lost; lastly the bridle she had finished her oats. He led her out of the corral and shut the gate. There was a rock there upon which he often stood to mount the tallest horses. He led Lady up to it. First he tried the cinch again. Loose! She always blew herself up when she was being saddled. That was what he had forgotten to do the other day with Cigarette. He took the cinch up three more holes, mounted, mount-ed, and moved off. The four broncs that Ross was breaking were grazing in the Stable Sta-ble Pasture close by the corrals, and when they saw him, they trotted over to him, arid Ken drew rein and stood there, letting them come up and sniff and nicker at Lady; and she nickered back. When he went on they followed for a little while, and then turned back to the corrals waiting for their oats, he thought. Ross always gave each one a measure meas-ure of oats before he worked them. "Might's well keep him going and git it outen his system." Their names were Gangway, Don, Rumba and Blazes. Sometimes, Ken thought, as he cantered toward the County Road gate, the names his mother gave the colts in their first summer didn't stick, because the colts changed so. There had been Irish Elegance, so smooth and classy-looking the first summer that Nell said she was. naming nam-ing him after a beautiful, copper-colored California rose. But the second sec-ond summer he had turned into a little mick, so they dropped the Elegance Ele-gance and just call him Irish. Ross was having a tough time breaking Gangway, a big blood bay out of Taggert, the tallest and handsomest hand-somest of the four. Yesterday Ken and Howard had sat on the corral fence watching Ross working with him. Gangway was bucking, and Ross had called to Howard to open the corral gate and let him out. The horse bucked out the gate with him, and Ross swung his quirt and spurred him, and Gangway sun-fished sun-fished and cork-screwed and jack-knifed. jack-knifed. Ross sat with a little grin and his quirt going all the time, and when he came past Ken, exploding ex-ploding in great grass-hopper leaps, he said, "Might's well keep him goin and git it outen his system." When it was over and he had ridden rid-den Gangway back into the corral and dismounted, Ross went over to the fence and stood hanging on to it. vomiting. Ken had to dismount to open the gate to the County Road. He was careful to hold the rein tight as he led Lady through and closed the gate behind him. He found another rock to mount by and started up the Saddle Back. All the clouds had turned pink, and behind them the sky was a faraway, far-away, fiery blue. The higher he climbed the wider the sky was. and the farther stretched the fleet of tattered clouds. They were getting more color every ev-ery minute, some of them blazed crimson. All the stars had disappeared dis-appeared except one. which shone between two clouds, bright geld. Lady wanted her head. There was a strong current of sympathy between the boy and the mare. When he wanted to stop and look around she understood perfectly perfect-ly and stood with ears pricked and head turning, absorbed in contem- plation just as he was. And at exactly ex-actly the moment when he had had enough, she knew it, and would move forward without the signal. Today she was excited by the color col-or and the electric quality of the air and the feeling of movement in the grass and the sky, and she kept asking for a free rein. When Ken gave it to her, she stretched out her nose and went up the steepest part of the Saddle Back at a gallop. Ken looked for the yearlings where they had been yesterday but there was no sign of them. He rode around for an hour, thinking that Shorty would have taken him right to them, but Lady didn't have that much sense, she was just excited ex-cited and wanting to run in any ' direction. All the sunrise colors had gone now, and the torn shreds of clouds were purple and gray and stormy looking. Ken rode up to the highest peak of the Saddle Back so that he could look all around for dozens of miles; but the range was empty; not a head of stock anywhere. Still, he knew they could be hidden in the folds of the hills and never show an ear but which fold? Which hill? He rode on, and suddenly, coming com-ing around a curve, he saw Banner standing out in front of the brood mares, intent and alert gathered for action. Ken had barely time to turn his head when he saw Rocket and a sorrel sor-rel filly cantering toward the bunch, and then he saw Banner trnt nnt tn meet them with lowered head and an expression of irresistible intention inten-tion in his whole body. Rocket and the young sorrel halted halt-ed together. Rocket whinnied. Banner Ban-ner screamed. His head snaked along the grass. He reached them and circled around them both. Rocket began to gallop away. Banner Ban-ner pursued, first on one side of her then on the other. The sorrel colt clung close to its mother's side, whinnying nervously. She got in Banner's way. He gave a vicious, snarling neigh, plunged at the til-tie til-tie one and bit it in the ribs. It screamed and fled, Banner pursuing. pursu-ing. Lady was taut and trembling with excitement, as Ken was himself. The brood mares, too, were motionless, motion-less, watching he chase. The filly showed Banner a clean pair of heels. How she could run! Rocket trotted nervously up and down near the brood mares. The filly made a big circle, with Banner Ban-ner thundering after her. She came back to the mares, and as she passed them Banner swerved and went for Rocket. The filly fled past Ken. He saw frightened eyes in a tangle of streaming hair and slim legs, and a pang went through him. For a fraction of a second she had looked at him, and it was like an appeal. He wheeled his mount and followed her, turning in the saddle to look back at Rocket. Rocket was cantering away again with Banner close beside her and before the curve of a hill shut them from view, Ken saw her come to a stop, and the great body of the stallion stal-lion rear over her. For a moment the two of them, twisted into one shape, were sculptured against the stormy sky. When Ken turned and looked again for the filly she was nowhere in sight. He pulled Lady up short. The range was empty, with no movement but the clouds and the grass, and no sound but the panting pant-ing of the mare he rode and the thud of his own heart beating. Rocket's colt a yearling, a filly and his own. He hadn't had to choose one after all. She had just come to him. His own because of that second's cry for help that had come from her eyes to his; his own because of her wild beauty and speed, his own because his heart burned within him at the sight and thought of her; his own because well, just his own. Then, from far ahead of him came an excited whinny another and another. an-other. The filly appeared from nowhere, no-where, a tiny shape, running on a ridge in front of him, tail streaming against the dark tattered clouds, she plunged over the ridge, he heard more whinnies, he kicked Lady in the ribs and gave her her bead, and in a few moments stood on the ridge, looking down, and saw the beautiful filly rejoining the band of yearlings, who welcomed her with excited chatterings as school-children welcome each other at reunion in the fall. Ken rode down the mountain in a daze of happiness. No dream he had ever had, no imagination of adventure or triumph could touch this moment He felt as if he had burst out of his old self and was something entirely new and that the world had burst into something new too. So this was it this was what being alive meant Oh, my filly, fil-ly, my filly, my beautiful "For once you're back to breakfast break-fast on time." said Rob, as Ken took his seat at the table. Ever since she had read in the Government bulletins that all prize stock was raised on elaborate formulas for-mulas of mixed grains or ground oats and had noticed that the dogs, when they were hungry, squirmed through the wire fence into the calves' corral and ate the ground oats from the feed boxes, oatmeal had a place on her breakfast table. (TO BE COTlMED) |