The Long Ride Read Online Free PDF Page A

stride, settled into new homes easily, adjusted to a variety of riders, and did their best for each one. Nothing that Carole had learned so far about Fez made her think he was that kind of horse.
    While she finished checking the paperwork, Ben stepped up to give the van driver a hand. It was almost like opening a Christmas present—one that really wanted to get out of the box.
    First the outer doors were unlatched and swung open. Then the driver lowered the ramp. Next came the inner door, the stall enclosure inside the van. And there was Fez—or at least Fez’s rump. His tail switched agitatedly.
    Ben hopped up into the van and clipped a lead rope onto the Arabian’s halter.
    â€œYou’re going to have to mask him,” the driver said. “It took that, and more, to get him on. Lord knows what it’ll take to get him off.”
    Carole and Ben each took one side of Fez, guiding him every step of the way, and every step was painful—at least for Carole. With Fez’s first step, he managed to give Carole a solid kick in her thigh. She could feel her flesh welting up into a swollen mass and knew it would be a beauty of a bruise.
    â€œThanks, boy,” she said gently. It wasn’t what she really wanted to say, but losing her temper with a horse had never done any good. She patted Fez on the neck, hoping to soothe him. He eyed her warily, and then Ben slipped a hood over his head.
    The theory was that if a horse couldn’t see where he was going, he would follow a lead willingly, since it was probably more reliable than information he was getting with his eyes. Fez apparently wasn’t confident about Carole’s and Ben’s ability to lead him, so he remained almost as balky with the mask as he had been without it.
    â€œTime for a bribe,” Carole said. She pulled a carrot out of her pocket and held it in front of his nose. Fez sniffed and then took it up in his teeth, nipping Carole’s hand as he did so. Carole suspected he’d done it on purpose, but she still didn’t lose her temper. She had a bruised leg and a sore hand and all they’d managed to do was to get the horse to the top of the ramp.
    It took another half hour before the job was done. Step by step, carrot by carrot, sore finger by swollen toe, Carole and Ben finally had Fez on the ground and removed his mask. He thanked them by rearing. Carole wasn’t sorry when she could finally ask Ben to take the horse to his stall while she finished up the paperwork. Ben said nothing as he led the balky gelding into the stable. A lot of horses were difficult to get into and out of vans. Few remained cranky when they were on solid ground. Fez appeared to be an exception to that rule. Ben patted him and spoke to him, but Fez’s ears remained pinned to his head. Still, he followed Ben.
    â€œWhew, he’s a handful,” Carole said. “I guess it’ll take a few days for him to settle in.”
    â€œDon’t count on it,” said the driver. He took his own copy of the documentation and left Carole wondering what he knew that she didn’t.
    She could have checked to see if Ben needed a hand, but she headed straight back to the office. Callie was bound to show up in a few minutes, and Carole wanted to be sure her file was complete and all the stable’s records were properly prepared. She didn’t want to disappoint the congressman’s daughter. Each of Pine Hollow’s boarders had a notebook in which all the paperwork was kept—everything from transport records to immunizations to feeding schedules to exercise records. There was a lot of information to enter already. She sat down at her desk and took out a new notebook, plus dividers, labels, and forms. She had barely begun to type up the labels before her first interruption.
    â€œGuess what I got!”
    It was Stevie, running into the office breathless with excitement. It could only mean one thing.
    â€œYou