SECOND CHANCES AT MG RANCH Read Online Free PDF Page A

the excitement in Loren’s voice as she spoke.
    “Probably not, but you never know,” Sam said.   They followed a trail that bordered a small creek, with Loren moving in the lead position.
    They had not ridden very far when they came upon a fallen tree. Loren thought that she could probably ride under it, but it would probably be safer to ride around it.
    She kicked her horse, guiding him to her right, down the creek bank and into the creek to pass around the tree.  With one foot in the water, Dakota suddenly stopped as if he didn’t want to go any further into the water.  He suddenly jerked his head and completely turned himself around, facing back the way they had come.  He made it very clear that he was not interested in moving in any direction but straight back to the barn.  She fought with the reins to keep him from bolting into a run.
    Looking at Sam, she said, “I am sorry, I don’t know what is wrong with him.   He has been very well trained and doesn’t usually act this way.”
    “Maybe he is just a little barn sour,” Sam replied.
    Loren glared at him with eyes full of daggers.  “How dare you say that about my horse when you don’t even know him?  I can promise you that he is not barn sour!  It is obvious that something or someone is spooking him.”
    “ Well, I don’t see anything or anyone, so let me go first and see if that will help,” Sam offered in a softer tone, hoping to smooth her ruffled feathers a bit.
    He urged Kate, his chestnut colored horse around Loren and her horse in an attempt to get them all back in motion.  Maybe Dakota was just a little uneasy being in unfamiliar territory.
    At the water’s edge, even Kate seemed a little spooked at stepping off into the rocky creek bed.   Scanning the bank for snakes, Sam urged his horse to continue on into the water and around the tree.
    “Follow me,” he said , looking back at Loren over his shoulder.
    No matter how hard Loren tried to get Dakota to move forward, he just plain out refused.   Something had him spooked that was for sure.
    “Come on Dakota,” she pleaded, turning his head in the direction of the water again and kicking him for what seemed like the mill ionth time to urge him forward.  “You are embarrassing me,” she hissed between clinched teeth.
    Sam had ridden just a short distance ahead before stopping to look back in an attempt to check on Loren’s progress.   In that moment, he realized what was causing the horses to be unsettled.
    “Loren, come on. I am waiting on you.” Sam called out to her in a voice that he hoped sounded calm.  He didn’t want to cause her to panic.  That would only make matters worse.
    “ Go on ahead, I will catch up,” she called back to him.  The sound of her voice revealed that she was becoming agitated with her horse and his refusal to move forward into the creek and around the tree.
    “ Nonsense, I am going to wait for you,” he insisted.
    It was hard for him to just sit there, trying to remain calm while she worked with her horse, but he knew that if he caused any excitement at all, it could possibly cause the current situation to take a turn for the worst.  And that was not a chance that he was willing to take.
    Sam didn’t pray very often, but at that very moment he asked God to keep her safe.  “Please don’t let this happen; not now; not here with me,” he prayed out loud.
    What would he tell Josh and Amy?   They would never forgive him if something happened to her.  Why hadn’t he thought to carry his rifle?
    Loren’s emotions were running wild, which she knew was not good.    If Dakota picked up on them she would never get him around that tree, and then she would look even more stupid than she already did.
    “Trust me,” she whispered to her horse , and as if he understood he finally moved forward.  Dakota moved cautiously as he made his way around the treetop hanging in the edge of the water.
    His ears were still laid back as they slowly made