Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 04 - Saddle Up Read Online Free PDF Page B

usual attire.
    “Oh, I stopped dressing her a few months ago. She looked ridiculous and she’s much happier now, too. Those clothes made her hot and gave her a heat rash.”
    “Damn,” I told her. “What have you done with my sister, Jordan?”
    “I know I was a pain in the ass, Sis.”
    I blew out a long exasperated breath, letting go of all the pent up anger and emotion I felt toward my sister for so many years. “Well, it seems you are better now.”
    “How about a game?” Dad suggested.
    “I’ve got UNO,” I said.
    Jordan squealed, Dad laughed and we went into the house. We grew up with a game night each week. We would take out all of our board and card games and start playing. We always started with UNO. Whoever won got to choose the next game. The rule was whenever you got a “bad” card, like reverse, draw two, or draw four, you could tell your opponents something they did or said that bothered you, and they weren’t allowed to comment. It was a great way to get things off your chest.
    The first four cards that Jordan and I sent Dad’s way, we said, “I didn’t like it when you disappeared and let me believe that you were dead.”
    As I was getting ready to play the fifth – a draw four, Dad held up his hand and said, “Come on girls, I’m sure there are some things you’d like to say to each other.”
    Jordan and I looked at each other. I reshuffled my cards.
    The next draw two card I got, I sent Jordan’s way and said, “I don’t like the way you waltz in after six hours on a plane and look like you could stroll down a New York runway.”
    Jordan nodded but didn’t say a word.
    My turn came a few cards later.
    She threw down a Reverse to me and said, “I don’t like the way you are always perfect, your behavior and everything. You never got in trouble as a kid and never did anything wrong. You’re Mary Poppins.”
    “She was only practically perfect in every way,” I muttered.
    “Liza,” Dad scolded.
    I sighed and looked back at my cards.
    On my next opportunity, I looked my sister in the eyes and spoke from my heart, “Jordan, it scares me that you’re back with Sam. His temper is so explosive and I’m afraid you’ll get hurt.”
    Jordan’s eyes watered but she didn’t make a comment.
    The game continued.
    We were each down to a couple of ca rds, when Jordan played a draw f our card to me. She said, “And it scares me that you’re in love with a cop who might arrest Dad and then they’ll take him away from us again.”
    My gut clenched as she verbalized my own fears. No matter what, I wouldn’t be an orphan again!
    In the end, I won, so I picked the next game – Clue. I hoped my last three adventures might help me win the game. Jordan always knew the murderer, room, and weapon within a few moves. Maybe it was her job, but she never missed. This time I knew both the killer and room before she announced the right sequence.
    Since she won, she chose backgammon and played with my dad. I watched because I could never get the hang of that game. The way you roll the dice and then choose which checker or checkers to move was just too complicated for me.
    Jordan won and she chose Battleship with me as her opponent.
    We’ve played this game many times and she’s never come close to beating me. She either sets all her ships around the outside perimeter of her grid or she puts them in a clump. Within four moves I knew she had clumped them into the right quadrant of her grid. After that, I sank all of her ships.
    I choose checkers and Dad.
    “Oh, Liza,” Jordan moaned. “You never win against Dad. He’ll have four kings before you even have one and then he’ll wipe you out.”
    “We’ll see,” I said, setting up the board. Actually, I might have a chance this time. Last month my class played the game with their “buddy class” of second grade students. Their job was to teach my kids the game. I must have watched fifty games being played and some of the second graders were