Midnight Lady Read Online Free PDF Page B

sound of her voice.
    “Take it easy,” Lisa whispered when she saw how close Kirstie had got. “Watch out she doesn’t bite!”
    “You won’t bite me, will you?” Kirstie moved in and slid her hand gently down Midnight Lady’s neck. The gray coat was clammy, the muscles still quivering. But Kirstie’s touch seemed to soothe her and she turned her head.
    “Honest to goodness, Kirstie, you gotta go easy.” Concerned for her safety, Lisa advised her to back off. “That horse could turn mean any second!”
    “No, you won’t. Show Lisa you’re no mankiller, whatever they say about you.” Slowly, slowly, she eased her hand up and down the horse’s neck, across her shoulder, along the curve of her back.
    Midnight Lady shifted her weight. Her quivering muscles began to relax.
    Look softly, smile, show her what it means to be her friend.
Kirstie moved in even closer, rubbing her coat with both hands, stroking her cheek, scratching her nose.
    “Hey.” Lisa’s frown melted, her voice was breathy with disbelief. “Can you believe it? You two are bonding!”
    Kirstie nodded. Her words, her body language had managed to convince Midnight Lady that she meant no harm.
    The beautiful, forgiving mare pushed her head against Kirstie’s shoulder and nudged her.
    “Yeah!” She leaned her face against the soft, warm neck. “I want you to know: you and me, we’re definitely on the same side!”

4
    On the right day, in the right frame of mind, Half Moon Ranch was heaven on earth.
    The soaring, swooping horizon of Eagle’s Peak and other distant mountains of America’s Great Divide could whisk away all troubled thoughts. Green meadows were dotted with blue columbines, forested slopes gave shade to calypso orchids, the banks of clear streams glowed with golden marsh marigolds.
    Lisa’s two summer days at the ranch took the girls out at dawn, when the sky was eggshell blue, before the sun touched Hummingbird Rock. With fingers still slow with sleep and heads dozy from the warmth of their beds, they fumbled with buckles to get saddles on Lucky and Cadillac. The horses nudged at them for a handful of special oat feed from the tub inside the barn door, which Kirstie would bring in two big handfuls. Crested jays perched on the corral fence would watch greedily for spilled crumbs, then, with a flash of vivid blue wings, dart to the ground to pick up seeds.
    Then, with the horses’ cinches tightened and bridles on, the girls would head out along Five Mile Creek, past the jeep road. They would choose the climb up Bear Hunt Trail, through the tall ponderosa pines to Red Eagle Lodge, where they could turn and look down on Half Moon Ranch in miniature. It was fun to spot the red roofs of the log cabins, the handkerchief-sized square of green lawn, the long barn and tack room, and the bunkhouse where Hadley and Charlie slept.
    Or they might take a different route, the favorite Meltwater Trail, which took them through the narrow pass called Fat Man’s Squeeze, where granite rocks formed a tall ravine then opened out onto Dead Man’s Canyon and, towering above that, the sheer gray cliff of Miners’ Ridge.
    Whatever they decided, Lucky and Cadillac bore them steadily. No track was too steep to climb, no creek flowed too fast for them to cross. Kirstie’s palomino led the way, while sturdy, stately Cadillac followed. Stopping to rest in the midday sun, coming home in the cool of the evening, Lucky’s almost golden coat shone like silk. Beside him, passing quietly through the shadow of an overhanging rock or under the thick branches of dark pine trees, Cadillac’s cream color made him seem ghostly and strange.
    “It’s hard to believe Cadillac was ever like Midnight Lady,” Lisa murmured. It was Tuesday evening; her visit was almost over. Tomorrow she must go back to town.
    “Huh?” Kirstie closed the gate of Red Fox Meadow and leaned on the fence to watch Lucky and Cadillac lower their heads to graze quietly. Working out the