The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey Read Online Free PDF

and cheese should
do fine. I can fix that myself before we leave out. No need to
trouble yourself.”
    “Horse, not a pony,” Jala objected once
again. A pony was short and stubby, and while Blackjack was
smaller, he certainly wasn’t stubby.
    Both of her parents once again ignored the
objection, and she sighed. She slipped another piece of bacon to
Cap and watched her mother wipe Jacob’s face free of the newest
batch of slobber.
    “Jala, that’s the third piece of bacon I’ve
seen you feed that dog. One more and he will be banned from the
house.” Her mother didn’t even look up from the baby as she spoke
and Jala froze.
    Her father gave a chuckle and pushed his
chair out. “Com’on, Curly, let’s get that pony saddled.” Jala
hopped out of her chair quickly and raced out the door before her
mother could voice another objection. Cap ran lazily along beside
her, nearly tripping her twice. She could hear her parents still
talking behind her, but didn’t pay attention to the words. Just as
he said he would, her father had handled Mother’s objections
nicely. He always did as he said he would. She wasn’t too sure
about his arguments, though. She couldn’t imagine ever being the
girl he described. How could dresses ever be better than trousers?
You couldn’t climb in dresses.
    “Now I told your mother you wouldn’t go past
the brook until you were with me,” her father said as he sat her
carefully into the saddle. Buck stood saddled and waiting
restlessly nearby, and she could see the boys on the road riding
toward the house. She wouldn’t have long to wait before he was
ready to go and she tried hard to hide her excitement. This would
be the first time she had gone out with him on her own horse.
    “I won’t,” she agreed, readily taking the
reins up in her hands. On a normal day, she would object to not
being able to leave the yard, but she wasn’t about to do anything
wrong this morning. Her being able to ride all day, well away from
the house, more than made up for not being able to leave the yard
for the short while she had to wait.
    “Shouldn’t take me more than an hour to get
them started and then we will be off. Keep yourself out of trouble
till then and don’t go past the brook,” he repeated with a
smile.
    She smiled back at him and nodded, watching
him swing onto Buck and ride off to meet the boys. She gave a sharp
whistle to Cap and turned her horse toward the yard. She had no
interest in seeing the Walker boys or Becka. The boys tended to
tease her, and Becka never had anything important to say.
    Mother was just setting Jacob down near the
garden patch as she rounded the house. Smiling she waved happily to
her.
    “Not past the brook, young lady,” her mother
called out. Jala nodded back in response. She eased Blackjack into
a trot and took a few turns around the yard, occasionally glancing
up to watch either her mother talking with Becka or her father
hitching the huge team of draft horses. She was getting bored
quickly, and father hadn’t even taken the team up to the field yet.
She looked around the yard trying to devise some game to keep
herself busy and out of trouble and her gaze stopped on the large
tree near the brook. It wasn’t past the brook; it was right at the
edge. Her eyes climbed the branches and landed solidly on the
thick, dark fruits hanging heavily on the branches.
    With a gentle nudge, she urged Blackjack
beneath the tree. She could smell the scent of the fruit now, rich
and sweet, and too good to ignore. She judged the distance to the
lowest branch carefully. If she stood in the saddle, she could
reach it and then pull herself up. It was still early spring, but
there was a chance a few of the Jimpa would be ripe enough to pick.
The peaches and plums were still a good month away from harvest,
but Jimpa ripened fast and was nearly as sweet as candy.
    The thought of finding enough to take with
them, spurred her on, and she stood carefully in the saddle