One Unhappy Horse Read Online Free PDF

couldn't think of a polite way out of it.
    "Good," Mattie said enthusiastically. "Come on, then." She took Jan's arm as if it belonged to her now. Her small hand went tap-tap, tap-tap against Jan's lean, tanned forearm as they walked through the dry weeds toward the back of the main house.
    A wall had been constructed around the patio, which had been lined with a neat row of desert cactus and succulents. A small square of grass had been planted outside the brick patio area. A wide-bodied, white-haired lady sat slumped in a plastic garden chair in the sun there. At her knees was a metal framework with wheels and handles that Jan guessed was to help her walk.
    "Hi, there, sugar. You ought to get yourself into the shade before you get heatstroke," Mattie told the lady, who looked up with a vague smile.
    Apprehension made Jan's heart pound loudly in her ears when she suddenly found herself in her old house. The sun porch, where she had done her homework sprawled on a daybed, was now neatly decked out as a dining room with handsome carved-wood tables and chairs—two sets of them.
    "Here's where we eat," Mattie said unnecessarily. "And this is Stella. She's the manager. She takes the
best
care of us."
    Stella was setting the tables. Dressed in a white uniform and sensible white shoes, with her hair slicked back in a ponytail, she looked about Jan's mother's age. It pleased Jan to see Stella reach out and hug Mattie. She wasn't the only one to find the curly-haired lady lovable, it seemed.
    "So you finally corralled your young friend, Mattie," Stella said. "I figured you'd persuade her once you put your mind to it."
    "She and her family used to own this house," Mattie said.
    "You told me. Well, you better show her around and see if she approves of how we fixed it up," Stella said amiably. "Nice to meet you—"
    "Jan," Jan provided, since Mattie hadn't introduced her by name.
    "Nice to meet you, Jan. Don't you be a stranger, now."
    Mattie continued towing Jan into the living room. Jan stiffened herself for the shock of change in what had been so comfortably familiar. The stone fireplace wall was still the same, but the tacky odds and ends of furniture were gone. Instead, there were matching couches and chairs upholstered in a pale gray Southwestern design set soothingly against white-painted walls.
    "This room looks a whole lot better than when we lived here," Jan said honestly.
    "Oh, now, you don't have to say that." Mattie looked around appreciatively. "But I must say it does look nice.
When my daughter first talked about me moving in here, I didn't like it. I'd lived in my own home my whole life, and sharing a room, well—But since the car accident, my head's not right and I get these spells. My daughter says she's afraid to leave me by my lonesome for long. So—" Mattie shrugged and continued cheerily, "Do you have your own room, honey?"
    Jan shook her head. "I share with my mother. I had my own room when we lived here."
    "Then you know how it is. But you get used to having someone around, don't you? And it's nice to have company." Mattie nodded as if to convince herself. Then she said, "I'd better go see if Amelia's decent before I march you into our bedroom. You wait here a second. Sit down anywhere you like. You can watch TV."
    Jan sat on one of the two big sofas across from the giant TV in the corner. It was running without sound, although no one was in the room to watch it besides her. In the casita, Mom often fell asleep watching TV late at night. Then it would sometimes be left on for days until one or the other of them thought to turn it off.
    Mattie was back in a minute with a framed picture in her hands. "I'd like you to see what's become of your old bedroom, but Amelia's napping. She spends as much time as she can asleep. Says that's when she's best off. Anyway, we won't bother her. Here." She handed over what was obviously her prize possession, an eight-by-ten picture of a
handsome brown quarter horse