Pony Dreams Read Online Free PDF

from his horse as he slowed to a stop near the kitchen
door.
    “Peach and apple,” I said.
    He leapt from his mustang and landed near the
back porch. He then helped me down. A slap on the horse's flank
with his hat sent the animal racing for the barn.
    “Get inside,” he said and pushed me into the
house.
    “What's wrong?” Ma asked from the stove.
    “Pony's stopped. Stations burned. Horses
stolen,” he said without a greeting or stopping for a breath. “The
Paiute are on the warpath. We need to load the rifles.”
    He stalked through the kitchen and toward
Pa's gunroom without making sure I had obeyed him. There was no way
I could have moved to go outside and protect Blaze or any of the
other horses.
    “Abigail, take over here.” She trotted after
him.
    Worry overwhelmed me. Adam must have made a
mistake. Surely, nothing could stop The Pony Express.
     

Chapter Five
     
    My mouth dropped
open, wider than the kitchen door still letting every fly in the
state into the house. I closed my mouth, grabbed a dishtowel, and
twisted it tight, and then I proceeded to chase the bothersome
creatures outside. Those attempting to light on the pies, I
executed without a second thought.
    “Oh, bother!” I exclaimed after I had the
kitchen free of living flies. “Where's the broom?”
    Ma and I kept a clean house, no matter how
much I hated doing my chores. We did it for our menfolk but mostly
for Pa. While he would never criticize how we did it, seeing all
those flies littering the floor bothered me. He and my brothers
must have had a terrifying ride home, what with wondering if Paiute
had attacked us in addition to what they found at the station. With
all the worries pressing against my family, I wouldn't let them eat
such a delicious meal in a room where the floor looked like the one
in the barn.
    It took me ten minutes to hunt up the broom.
I had to go outside, where I finally spotted it lying in the narrow
space between the wash shed and the house.
    “Do Peter and Paul really believe Ma won't
punish them if she can't find this?” I snatched up the broom. “Why,
she'd chase them clear to Carson City and chew off their ears with
the worst scolding they've ever heard every step of the way.”
    Before going inside, I checked out the
corral. Pa worked to settle the horses with Bart and Charles. I saw
no sign of Mark, Peter, and Paul.
    “Those cows need milking until you empty
their udders,” Mark hollered from the barn. “Not until your fingers
hurt. Grab those pails and get to work.”
    Two loud smacks followed his order. A few
minutes later, he carried two large pails to the corral and filled
a wooden trough beside a massive tin one used to water the
horses.
    “I suppose I'll have to talk to Peter and
Paul again.” Pa shaded his eyes and faced the barn. “Did you see
any other chores they shirked?”
    “Yes, sir,” Mark said. “Weeds are nearly
choking the vegetable garden, and the pig looks a bit peaked. She
squealed quite a bit when I gave her fresh water.”
    “I'll take care of it now.” Pa walked toward
the barn. “Bart, you're in charge.”
    His stiff stance and thumping stride prodded
me into action. I went inside and swept every bit of dirt and all
the flies out the door. The grit and loathsome creatures didn't
stop flying until they landed far from the porch.
    Not long after I finished, Adam and Ma came
back into the kitchen with a rifle under each arm. They left the
weapons beside the door and went back to the gunroom. Bart and
Charles leaned in and grabbed the guns.
    “Looks like you and Ma worked hard on that
spread,” Bart said. “Maybe we'll get a chance to chow down
later.”
    Charles snuck into the room and snatched a
chicken leg. I grabbed the cooking fork, a large, two-pronged
utensil, and chased them out the door. They yelped and ran for the
corral.
    “Good job, short stuff.” Adam chuckled.
    I spun around to find him standing in the
doorway with another rifle tucked into the crook of