Grandma made herself comfortable in a lawn chair. “Let me see. Have I ever told you about the time I met an angel on the trail?”
The kids looked at each other wide-eyed and shook their heads.
Carrie loved hearing Grandma’s stories. She stared at the campfire and listened.
“Kristy and I were on a trail ride with a horse club I belonged to. Kristy was about nine, and riding Ebony— Scamper’s grandmother. I was on Ginger, a Missouri Fox Trotter mare I had at the time. Everything was fine at first. Ebony was a scrappy little pony who didn’t just keep up with the bigger horses, she usually tried to get ahead of them.”
Carrie smiled. She hadn’t known Ebony, but she’d been around Scamper enough to know that he had inherited some of his grandmother’s personality.
“The trails turned out to be very rocky,” Grandma continued. “Ebony and Ginger didn’t have shoes on. After several miles, their feet began to get a little sore, and they had a hard time keeping up with the other horses. I felt bad for Ginger and Ebony—and for the rest of the group. We had to go so slow that we were holding everyone back. I told them to go on without us. That way we could take our time getting back to camp. There was one problem with my plan though—I had never ridden those trails before, and they were poorly marked.
“We continued in the direction the group had gone, but they were soon out of sight, and we were on our own. As we rode on and on, I began to worry. It was getting late, and I didn’t know how much farther it was to camp—or even if we were headed in the right direction.”
Carrie glanced at Rosie’s mother. It was hard to imagine her as a kid and Grandma as her mom. Cousins Camp was fun, but at the same time, being around Rosie’s family caused a strange pain deep inside her. It made her wonder what her mom and grandmother were like. Would she ever know?
“We came to a fork in the trail and stopped. We’d been riding for so long; I thought we had to be getting close to camp. I pulled out my map but couldn’t tell where we were. No matter which way I turned, it looked the same. All I saw were trees, trees, and more trees. I was tired and trying hard not to let Kristy see the panic I was beginning to feel.”
“You did a good job, because I never noticed anything was wrong,” Kristy said. “It just seemed like any other trail ride we’d been on.”
“I’m glad. I didn’t want to frighten you,” Grandma said, then continued with her story. “We sat there for quite some time while I tried to figure out which way to turn. I had just decided to take the right fork of the trail when I heard a rider coming up behind us.
“It was a man on a large sandy-colored mule. He must have noticed that I had my map out. ‘Need any help?’ he asked kindly. I explained that we were trying to get back to the campground. ‘That’s where I’m heading. Follow me.’ He rode past, and we started after him. When I saw him turn to the left, my heart gave a thud, and I whispered a prayer of thanks.” Grandma grew quiet and stared at the fire.
Carrie wondered what Grandma’s story meant. Was she saying the man on the mule was an angel? Didn’t angels glow and have large wings? It seemed that you’d know right away if you had seen an angel.
“Aw, Grandma. That’s it? That’s the end of the story? You think that guy was an angel?” Jessie poked at the fire with a long stick, sending sparks flying up into the dark sky.
“Jessie, put the stick down,” Eric said.
Jessie reluctantly tossed the stick into the fire. “An angel wouldn’t ride a mule. They’d ride a dazzling white stallion!”
“Maybe he was—maybe he wasn’t,” Grandma said. “All I know is that he came along at exactly the moment we needed him. The Bible says we can ‘entertain angels unawares,’ (1) meaning that sometimes angels are around us, and we don’t even know it. If we had turned to the right as I had decided, who knows where Kristy and I would have ended up? With darkness approaching and two footsore horses, we probably would have had to spend the night alone in the forest.”
Eric threw another log on the fire. “That reminds me of the verse that says, ‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.’” (2)
Rosie jerked her head toward her father. “Are you saying Mom and Grandma might have died out there?”
“No.” Eric shook his head. “Just that when we follow our own way, it doesn’t turn out well. It’s much better to follow God’s way.”
Grandma nodded in agreement. “Does anyone else have a story?”
Rosie walked over and whispered something to her Uncle Robert.
He looked puzzled. “Lisa, I don’t have any idea what she’s talking about, but Rosie wants me to ask you whether you ever found your swimming suit.”
Rosie grinned and ran back to sit beside her mother.
“Oh, not that story again,” Lisa groaned. “Yes, I did find my swimming suit, Rosie. But I have to confess I never learned to dive into the pool.”
Robert seemed more confused. “Pool? What are you talking about?”
Lisa waved away his question. “I’ll explain it some other time. I have a better story. This was on our first ride at Alum Creek State Park. Julie was five, and she was riding with Mom on Ginger. Kristy and I were behind them on my horse, Maggie. We were surprised by how steep some of the ravines were on the trail. Mom and Julie made it down the first hill, but when Maggie started down, her saddle slid way forward, and I ended up on her neck. Kristy and I yelled, but Mom didn’t stop.”
“It sounded like you two were laughing,” Grandma replied. “I thought you were just having fun.”
“When Mom noticed we weren’t following her any more, she turned around. She and Julie both laughed at the sight of me perched on Maggie’s neck with Kristy hanging on for dear life to my waist.”
Carrie watched Rosie laugh at her aunt’s story. She was happy for her but envious at the same time. Normally she didn’t allow herself to think about her parents, but now she couldn’t push back the painful feelings. It made her feel sad even though everyone surrounding her was happy. How was it possible to miss someone so much, that she had never really known?
“Mom thought the saddle was loose,” Kristy went on, “so we got off while she tightened it. Then we all got back on.”
“The next time we went down a hill, the same thing happened,” Lisa said, “but this time Mom was watching.”
“What did you do, Aunt Lisa?” Jamie asked.
“For the rest of that trail ride, we stopped when we reached the top of each hill. Kristy and I would jump off and lead Maggie down, then we’d stop at the bottom to get back on. Mom’s horse, Ginger, learned to stop when she reached the bottom of a hill. She would look back toward us to see whether we were on Maggie before she started walking again.”
“We got nearly as much exercise as Maggie did that day,” Kristy added. “After that trip, Mom bought a breeching to keep the saddle from sliding forward on hilly rides. Maggie hated that thing. I think she was embarrassed to wear it. Someone must have told her that breechings are usually used on mules.”
Carrie leaned toward Rosie and whispered, “What’s a breeching?”
Rosie whispered back, “A leather strap that goes around their hindquarters and attaches to the saddle.”
They all sat quietly for a few minutes, then Grandma thought of another story. “Lisa, remember when you and I were riding the Maple Glen trail? It was an out-and-back trail, and we’d never ridden all the way to the end before. We were within a half-mile of our goal one day when Maggie began to limp.”
“Yeah,” Lisa said. “We both got off, and you checked her hoof. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong, but Maggie refused to put any weight on that leg.”
“I was disappointed that, once again, we weren’t going to reach the end of the trail,” Grandma said, “but even worse, I had no idea how to get a lame horse five miles back to the trailer.”
“We turned around, and Maggie almost immediately began to perk up,” Lisa said. “Five minutes later, I had a hard time keeping her from trotting. She showed no signs of being lame at all.”
Grandma nodded. “I’m still convinced that sneaky horse faked the whole thing, so we would go back to the trailer.”
Lisa laughed. “Since it got her out of work that time, Maggie tried the limping routine again on the next ride, but we were onto her trick after that.”
Rosie looked around. “What about you, Aunt Julie? Do you have a horse story?”
“All I know is that I was the only one to fall off any of our horses. I must have fallen off Ebony a dozen times, but fortunately, it wasn’t far to the ground. I guess I shouldn’t have tried riding her bareback—with no bridle or halter.”
As they all laughed, Kristy leaned back in her chair. “Carrie?”
Carrie sat staring at the fire and didn’t respond.
Rosie waved her hand in front of Carrie’s face. “Anybody in there?”
“What?” Carrie turned suddenly toward Rosie as if coming out of a trance.
“You’ve been awfully quiet,” Kristy said. “Of course, with this noisy bunch, it’s hard to get a word in edgewise. Would you like to share those deep thoughts with us?”
“Umm,” Carrie hesitated. Rosie is so lucky to have a family like this. I don’t even know who my parents are. Why does Grandma have angels helping her and I don’t? And why can’t I ever seem to say what it is I’m feeling?
Carrie could sense everyone staring at her. All she could think of to say was, “You have a nice family.”
Kristy put her arm around Carrie. “Since you’re an honorary cousin now, I guess that makes you an official member of this big, crazy family.”
Hebrews 13:2
Proverbs 14:12 NKJV