Katie and the Mustang, Book 4 Read Online Free PDF

went to watch them.
    Mr. Swann shouted a warning and threw Mr. Le Croix a club. In an eyeblink, the men were standing in a triangle, the clubs going round from one to the next. They each did tricks of their own, spinning, catching the clubs behind their backs, all without missing, even once.
    I exhaled, feeling something I had never felt before. I didn’t just want to watch all the amazing things Miss Liddy and her friends could do, I wanted to learn how .
    I began to time my chores, rushing through supper cleanup, doing more than my usual share, just to be sure to be finished by the time Miss Liddy and the others began their evening practice. I wasn’t the only one. By the second week, most of the party was hurrying through their evening work. On days when the road was rough or the weather turned bad and Miss Liddy and her friends decided not to practice, there was a dimming of spirits in every camp.
    One morning, just before we reached Fort Bridger, I took the Mustang out to graze early, as usual. Without thinking much about it, my sleepy thoughts still circling aimlessly, I led him toward the rear of the wagon line. I had seen patches of good grass a ways back up the trail. I knew I would have time to let him graze before the Kylers were packed and ready to leave.
    As we passed the last wagon, Miss Liddy’s big mare whickered, and the Mustang answered her. His whinny brought answering nickers from Delia and Midnight, too. I smiled and patted his neck. “You’re so handsome that all the lady horses think you’re grand,” I told him. He tossed his head and pranced a few paces.
    â€œMorning!” Miss Liddy called. “Off to find grass for him?”
    â€œI am,” I called back without moving any closer. Then I realized that I was standing fifty feet from her for no good reason. There hadn’t been fever among her party or ours for all this time, and I was still acting as though I had to stay clear of her.
    Then I realized something else. No one else was. I was the only one still behaving as though it was dangerous to be around Liddy and her friends.
    Mrs. Craggett and Mrs. Taylor and the younger Kyler wives still barely spoke to them—not even Polly’s mother. The rest of them had given her heck for speaking up that first day. But it had nothing to do with being afraid of fever.
    I walked forward a few steps, and the Mustang moved with me. “It’s so wonderful, the way you can ride,” I called.
    Miss Liddy smiled so broadly that it was as though the whole morning had brightened, ahead of sunrise. “Thank you, Katie!”
    â€œIs it hard? It looks impossible.” I walked a little closer so she could lower her voice.
    â€œI remember the first time I saw someone trick ride,” she said. “I was as amazed as you are.” She pushed her hair back from her face. “I can tell you this. The only thing better than seeing it is doing it.”
    â€œWould you teach me?” The words were out of my mouth before I knew I was going to ask.
    Miss Liddy frowned, and my heart sank.
    â€œI know it would be an imposition,” I said quickly. “None of us has but barely enough time to sleep as it is, and they say the worst part of the journey is ahead of us and—”
    â€œNo, it isn’t any of that,” she interrupted, raising one hand to stop me. “It is just dangerous, and I can’t think why you would want to risk it. You are almost certainly going to end up with your uncle or the Kylers on a farm, and trick riding will be the last thing you need to know.”
    I had no answer for that, even though I searched hard inside myself to find one. “I don’t care,” I finally said. “I just want to learn.”
    She digested that for a long moment, then pointed at the Mustang. “On him?”
    I was stunned to silence; I hadn’t for one second thought about riding the Mustang. “No,” I said