(copyright 2002 Camille LaGuire, all rights reserved)
Momma pulled up beside her after an hour.
"How's it going?"
"Fine," said Lysette. "It's hot, but we're okay."
"I'll go scout ahead for a good place to rest."
Momma's little blue car pulled away, and King took advantage of the distraction to snatch a bit of grass from the roadside. Then they rode on.
After another hour, her shirt was like an electric blanket in the hot sun. It was a good thing her mother made her wear her straw garden hat. Her head would have been baked done by now, with her dark hair. She'd probably be loopy from the heat.
King was amazing. He must have been miserable, but he kept going. Every now and then, as if he could tell her attention was wandering, he'd pull the reins out of her hands, and drop his nose to graze a quick few more bits of grass. She let him chomp a little, but she didn't want to stay in the sun. They had a long way to go.
Up ahead she saw Momma coming back.
"There's a stream up ahead, in the shade," she said, shading her eyes as she leaned out the window of the car. "We should stop there and let him cool off."
The stream was down in the ditch, but there was a place for them to sit, while King could nibble weeds in the shade. She dismounted and led King the last dozen yards, leading him down the ditch to the spring. It probably was not always a stream, but there had been a lot of rain lately. Just now, it was flowing fast enough to have clean water. King dipped his lips and started sucking up a drink.
Lysette wondered what the stream would be like when the rain from the storm hit it. Would it rise up and flood over the road? She could hardly imagine that much water.
Momma had a huge sponge in her hand, and was soaking it in the stream. She slapped the water onto King's neck, and he did not even flinch. Of course, it was not that cold, but it must have seemed that way compared to how hot he was.
"Get the saddle off him," said Momma. Lysette jumped to get the gear off. She should have thought of that, but her brain was probably addled by the sun. The saddle pad was sticky with sweat.
"It's too bad we don't have a washer and dryer," said Lysette. "This pad'll be all scratchy by the time it dries out."
"Got that covered," said Momma, in triumph. She handed the sponge to Lysette, and dashed up to the car. Lysette stroked water across his hot back. The fur had caked with sweat, and she had to squeeze a flood of water out of the sponge to get through it. Momma came back with a big plush bath rug, and an armload of velour towels.
"I didn't know if this would fit under the saddle, so I brought the towels, just in case."
"Momma, I feel so dumb," said Lysette. "I didn't even think of him needing a change of blanket. I didn't think of anything."
"Well, of course you didn't, honey. You've got your hands full just riding him. I was the one doing all the packing." She paused and gave Lysette a shy grin. "To tell you the truth, I didn't think of it either. I kinda got in a panic when I was packing, and I started grabbing everything in sight. I felt so stupid when I noticed I'd saved a silly bath rug!"
"Well, I'm glad you did."
"And so is King."
The two of them poured water over the horse and used the sweat scraper to squeegee it off again. King let his head droop, and rested one back foot at a time. They gave him a little hay and ate barbeque sandwiches. Momma made her eat a lot of celery too, because digesting the sandwiches would heat her up.
"I remember in Iowa," said Momma, munching on a piece of celery, "we could let the livestock out to pasture when there was a tornado. We didn't have to worry about flying trees or buildings so much."
"I thought you had a bunch of cows killed by lightning under a tree once."
"Oh, yeah. After that, Dad built a fence around the three big trees in the pasture, and whenever there was a weather watch, we had to go out and shoo the cows out, and close the gates." Momma sat back and picked out pieces of barbeque from the sandwich. She smiled mischievously. "I remember one time the storm came up fast, and Mom didn't want any of us to go out. But King's dam, Sweet Cherry, was out there, and I ran out anyway. It turned out that she was way out, under the farthest tree, of course."
"Where else would a horse be when you want it?" said Lysette.
"So I ran out there, soaking wet, rain and the wind whipping all around. Just as I got there, I saw a huge bolt of lightning, and the thunder was so loud, I could feel it against my chest. It made me stop for a second, but it also scared Cherry right out from under that tree. She came tearing out, and I was able to shut the gate behind her. Mom was so mad, I was grounded for a week."
"Would you ground me?"
"You bet I would, sweetie. Two weeks at least."
Suddenly there was a sound up on the road, and a harsh voice.
"What're you doin'?"
Lysette looked up to see a man. The sun was behind him, and she couldn't see much but an outline. He stood there, his feet set wide apart, his hands on his hips.
"We're just resting a minute."
"Not here, you're not. This is private property."
Lysette got up quickly and got King, while Momma picked up their lunch. The guy stood there and watched them, not saying anything more, just looking mean. Momma helped her up on King's back, and the man stepped aside to make room for her to ride out.
"And there's no point in coming back," he said. "I'm staying right here. Right through the hurricane, and I'll shoot anybody comes and tries to loot my property."
Momma wheeled around, all angry, and put her own hands on her hips.
"What makes you think...." She suddenly clamped her mouth shut and turned to Lysette. "Come on, Lysette, let's move on out of here."
Lysette looked at the guy's truck, and realized what made Momma shut her mouth. The guy must have had ten guns on the gun rack. What if he was some kind of nut? She reined King onto the road, but she did not move along too fast until she saw Momma get into her car and move. The guy got into his pickup truck and rolled along real slow. Momma pulled up beside Lysette.
"Pick up the pace a little, honey," she said. "I think he'll go away as soon as we get away from his property."
Lysette did not need any further urging. She pushed King to a gallop. Momma's car kept right behind her, and the pickup followed a little faster. Then it stopped and turned around and went away. Lysette slowed to a trot, but she kept going for another half mile or so.
When she stopped, both she and King were breathing hard.
"People get crazy when they feel threatened," said Momma.
"They sure do," agreed Lysette. Was this what it was going to be like for the rest of the trip? Were people going to act like dogs over a supper dish? Of course not, yet Lysette was uneasy about finding a place to camp. She could tell Momma was too.
The day cooled off some in the later afternoon. Lysette spent some time walking, to give King a break, but also to stretch her legs. It was amazing how numb her seat could get. Toward dusk, she mounted up and pushed King to a jog. It was cooler, and they could cover a little more ground before nightfall. Momma drove ahead to look for a place to camp.
"Be careful!" Lysette called to her as she pulled away. She thought she heard Momma's voice from in the car.
"You be careful!"
The sky was beautiful. It was still hard to believe that a huge storm was coming. There were some clouds on the southeastern horizon, but the sunset was clear and golden pink.
It was pretty dark by the time she caught up with Momma. She looked tired and discouraged. She'd seen a few good places to camp, but she hadn't been able to find the owners of the property. After their run in with the guy with the guns, they didn't want to camp without permission.
"That place looks okay," said Lysette, pointing ahead at a small farm. It didn't look too well kept up, but there was a lot of space in front. There was a light burning in the house, so there was somebody home to ask.
"We might as well give it a try."
Lysette and her mother trudged up to the house, King in tow. Just as they got close, the door swung open and a huge brown dog came hurtling out, barking loudly.