Saddle Sore Read Online Free PDF Page B

away.”
    Kate shook her head. “No, I think asking her was okay. I don’t think we said or did anything wrong.” She fiddled with the end of her reins. “I’m just not sure anything we could have said would have been right. This is so hard.”
    In somewhat depressed silence, they took their horses back to the stable and began to unsaddle.Before they were finished, the dinner bell rang for lunch.
    “Already!” Stevie said. “No wonder we’re so hungry! It’s later than I thought.”
    “No wonder I’m so sore,” Emily said, as she hung Spot’s bridle in the tack room. “We rode a long time.”
    The others looked at her with concern. “You’re sore?” Carole asked.
    “Sure. Aren’t you?”
    Carole thought about it. “I guess so. But just a little, in my legs and seat. Everyday ride-a-lot sore.”
    Emily shook her head playfully. “Me too. Did you think maybe I had some kind of special soreness?”
    Stevie snorted and Carole rolled her eyes. “You could have, for all I know,” Carole said. “You have to tell us if we’re pushing you too hard, Emily. We don’t forget that you haven’t done anything like this before.”
    “I know,” Emily said, as they began to walk toward the ranch house. “But you don’t remember it every single second of the day, either, and I appreciate that. Don’t worry. I’m just regular old saddle sore, and I’m glad of it. It means I’m gettingsome good exercise, and, more importantly, it means I spent the entire morning on a horse!”
    “Hear, hear!” cried Stevie. “Hooray for horses! Hooray for saddles! Hooray for being saddle sore!”
    “I wouldn’t go that far,” protested Lisa.
    “Oh, come now,” said Stevie. “Surely, for the glory of spending a morning amidst the hills and scrubs, amidst the open prairie—”
    “Amidst the amber waves of grain—” Carole teased.
    Kate began to hum “God Bless America.”
    Stevie continued, ignoring them. “—surely, for the delight of being one in spirit with these wonderful four-footed creatures here on this glorious ranch—”
    “Are you talking about the horses?” Lisa asked.
    “Surely,” Stevie said loudly, “a little momentary discomfort to the posterior regions is something we can all willingly endure!”
    “Well, of course,” Emily said. “I said so all along.”
    They went into the ranch house and sat down. “Neither of the honeymoon couples has come for breakfast yet,” Mrs. Devine informed them, as she set a plate of barbecue sandwiches in front ofthem. “Kate, after lunch I want you to take some baskets of food to their bunkhouses. Just leave them on the porches for them. After I run you into town, I have some errands to do, so I won’t be around to feed them until dinnertime.”
    Kate’s mouth dropped open. “How could I forget!”
    “Forget what?” Carole asked.
    “Christine’s dog show! I mean,” Kate amended, “I didn’t forget I had to help her, I just forgot to tell you guys about it. I’ve had so many things to tell you!”
    “Christine is another one of our friends out here,” Lisa explained to Emily. “She lives just on the other side of the ranch, and she usually rides with us a lot. She’s got a horse named Arrow and a dog named Dude.”
    “She’s been training Dude for dog obedience trials,” Kate said. “Have you seen those? They’re miniature obstacle courses, with jumps and ramps and all sorts of things. The fastest dog wins.”
    “I saw some once at a fair,” Emily said. “It was hilarious.”
    “So I’ve been helping Christine with Dude, and I promised I’d come to the trials, to assisther—sort of like being a groom at a horse show. This is just a little event, like a practice. I know Christine would love to have you come, but I don’t think she’ll care if you don’t. I mean, if you come you wouldn’t be able to ride this afternoon.”
    “Not ride!” Emily spooned some coleslaw onto her plate. “I thought you guys rode all the time!”