Squire's Quest Read Online Free PDF Page A

strapped on. "Oh, for the love of God!" When the animal tried to sidle away, he
wondered if the hostler had lied about her being saddle broke.
    Eventually all three animals were ready. He'd double-checked the packs Cap carried,
and showed Cal how to use the bridle. The molly stood relaxed, her head down, and one rear foot
cocked, but Cal sat stiff as a board in the saddle. Holding both leadlines, Merlin mounted,
clumsily. Trouble with using a pad instead of a saddle was there was no place to tie stuff. Good
thing his rifle had a sling. "Let's go."
    The look on Cal's face was almost enough to make him bust out laughing. The girl
who'd hopped freights, who'd walked a couple hundred miles, was scared to death of a scrawny
molly. He waited until they were clear of town before he rode up beside her and said, "What are
you going to name her?"
    Callie's head didn't turn at all. She licked her lips, and her voice was squeaky when she
said, on her third try, "Name? Who?"
    "Your molly. Seems a shame not to give her a name."
    This time her head turned a little bit. He caught a brief glimpse of green in the corner of
her eye. "I thought it was Molly."
    "Nope. She's a molly. That's M-O-L-L-Y. Female mule." Merlin's brother-in-law, who
bred mules, was real particularly about what his stock was called. Cap--short for Captain--was a
john, also the offspring of a jackass and a mare. Luke didn't hold with breeding stallions to asses,
because too many of the births were complicated.
    "Oh." Cal didn't say anything for a while. "Ruth."
    "Huh?"
    "That's what her name is. Ma used to tell me a story about a woman named Ruth. She
went somewheres and settled down."
    There was longing in her voice, like settling down was what she wanted more than
anything.
    * * * *
    By the time Merlin called a rest stop, Callie's bottom was sore as the time Pa had
whipped her for swimming in the creek after he'd told her it was running too high. She couldn't
even get her leg over the saddle, so she sat there, like a lump, until Merlin came and lifted her
down.
    "Walk around a bit. You'll feel better."
    If he'd laughed at her, she might have killed him. She hobbled past Ruth's head, toward
the line of willows off to the side. By the time she finished her business, her legs were working a
little better. "How much farther today?"
    "Another ten miles. We'll take it easy until you're accustomed to riding."
    She couldn't hold back the groan.
    "Don't worry, We'll walk after we've been here long enough for the stock to graze. The
grass is about done for, and I want to use it where I can." He untied his bedroll from behind the
saddle and tossed it to the ground. "Rest yourself. Sleep if you want."
    Tears threatened to clog her throat. Pa wouldn't have been so kind. He'd always been
real strict about not giving in to the body's weakness. She opened the bedroll halfway and sank
onto it gratefully. "I'm obliged," she said, and hoped he hadn't heard the sob she near choked
on.
    This is plumb crazy. Nothin' that's happened to me up 'til now made me cry. He's
bein' nice, and I want to howl like a cranky babe.
    She woke up when he nudged her with his foot.
    "Time to go."
    The sun was halfway down the sky, a bright shape behind thin clouds. Back home she'd
be thinking snow was on its way. A shiver made its way down her backbone. What was it going
to be like when it did snow, with no roof over them? I could've stayed with Uncle Walt and
Aunt Sadie. They would have worked her hard for her keep, but wasn't walkin' miles and
miles a day work? Wasn't sittin' on a horse until your backside hurt so bad you wanted to
cry?
    She helped him load their gear. When he took hold of his horse's halter and started
walking, she fell in behind him. What a strange man. So far he hadn't asked anything of her but
that she tell him the truth.
    They camped that night in a willow thicket beside a narrow creek. Merlin had been
picking up wood as they walked, loading it into a gunnysack attached to Cap's