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turned back to the lesson, still listening to their conversation as she watched the activity in the arena.
    â€œDo you think Renate will ever figure out where her heels are?”
    â€œShe has all those stupid curls sticking out under her helmet.”
    â€œLook at Dodo’s braids flapping all over the place.”
    â€œThen there’s poor Sophie’s complexion. She must have a million freckles.”
    â€œThat’s what happens when you stay out in the sun too long, and you have carrot-red hair and pasty skin.”
    â€œYeah. Or else you get a really dark tan.”
    Their remarks degenerated into giggles. Felicia stood like a soldier, her back rigid with contempt. If only she could think of some witty, scathing remark, put them in their place, let them feel what it’s like to be hurt. But she remained silent.
    The lesson ended, and the riders led their horses back into the barn.
    Ashley said to Felicia, “Are you helping out today?”
    â€œNo, just watching.”
    â€œYou should stick around, see some real riding.”
    This girl was too much. “But that would be really boring.”
    Ashley glared at Felicia, “You don’t know…”
    Francine interrupted. “Ashley! Cynthia! What are you doing just standing around? Why aren’t your horses tacked up? I’ve got things to do if you don’t.”
    Felicia was glad to see the two girls herded back into the barn by their instructor, who continued to chastise them the whole way.

CHAPTER 11
    Flower
    THE LITTLE RAFT scraped the bottom of the river when the men stepped aboard. Eldon hopped
off, pushed the craft into deeper water, and climbed back on. It briefly sank
sideways with the additional weight but stayed afloat. Water swirled across the
surface. Cleo and Flower knelt in the middle, Gabriel shrieking between them.
Eldon and Samuel stood at opposite corners, using their long poles to push
farther out into the middle of the river.
    The two men struggled to maintain their balance as
the raft dipped and bobbed and turned in circles. Cleo gripped her infant and
held fast to the wood beneath her with her other hand. Flower wanted to cling to
her mother, but instead dug her fingers deep between two lengths of log.
    Cleo said, “Hold on, daughter, hold on! Don’t let
go!”
    The two men tried to time the plunge of the poles
into the water, saying “heave!” with each attempt.
    Now they could hear triumphant shouts. Three men on
horseback called out across the water. “Come back in the name of the law!” A
pack of hounds bayed and barked, running back and forth along the shore. Some
plunged into the water.
    â€œHa! Will you look at that? A whole bunch of
them.”
    â€œThe more the merrier. More money for us.”
    â€œCome back here! Don’t make us come and get you.
You’ll regret it.”
    Eldon tried to override the threats with his own
voice of encouragement. “Keep going! Keep trying—we must keep trying!”
    They had almost managed to reach the middle of the
river. The water was deeper; their poles no longer touched bottom but moved
uselessly, banging against the little craft. Samuel tried to plunge his pole
down to the river bottom, lost his balance, and dropped the pole into the river.
He watched it float away, then crumpled in a heap of despair.
    â€œWe’re done for.”
    Eldon tried to use his pole as a paddle, but it was
too thin. He groaned with the effort of directing the raft. They had reached a
bend in the river where the current slowed, delaying their progress and sending
them back in the wrong direction.
    The men on shore yelled, “Try and get away, will
you? Think you know how to make a boat? Hah!”
    â€œWe can just set ourselves down here real
comfortable and wait for them to wash back up on shore.”
    The dogs barked with increasing hysteria. A few of
them started swimming out to the raft. The men laughed harder.