Chapter Sixteen

Kate and Tori sprinted after Carissa, weaving their way around the corner of the outdoor arena and jumping over a couple of poles that rolled away from the stack.

“Rocket sure lived up to his name when he jumped that fence,” Kate told Tori as they ran. “I hope Carissa can catch him before he gets to the road.”

“Yeah, me too.” Tori slowed to a jog when they reached the end of the barn.

Kate pointed. “Look, he’s coming this way.” The big gray had circled the barn and slowed from a gallop to a fast trot, his head lifted and nostrils flaring as he moved toward them.

Tori shrank against the barn wall. “What should we do? We can’t catch him, and I don’t want to get trampled.”

Kate didn’t move. She lifted her arms out to the side. “It’s okay, Rocket. Calm down, boy.”

Carissa skidded to a halt behind the horse. “Good job, Kate. Stand there and don’t move, and keep your hands out like that.” She moved toward the gelding, her voice low and soothing. “Come on, Rocket. Here’s an apple treat.” The halter and lead were still slung over her arm, but her other hand was extended with a treat on her palm.

Rocket snorted and sidestepped as she approached, then took off again, tossing his head. He trotted toward the large outdoor arena, each step a thing of beauty as he arched his neck and pranced. Kate was so taken with how pretty he was, she almost forgot to worry about the horse.

Mrs. Wilder ran from the barn with Mrs. Sorenson and Colt right behind her. Colt, eyes wide, drew to a stop only feet from Kate and Tori. “What happened? How did Rocket get loose?”

Kate swung her gaze to his. “You should have seen him. It was awesome! Carissa called the horses in, and Rocket came at a full gallop. He jumped the pasture fence like it wasn’t even there.”

“Nice! I wish I would’ve been there.” Colt rubbed his hands together and grinned. “I’ve never jumped a horse and don’t want to learn, but it’s still fun to see them do it.”

Tori groaned. “It wasn’t fun at all. I thought he was going to run into the fence where we were standing and kill us, and then he sailed over close to our heads. I’m never learning to jump.”

“I want to.” Kate breathed the words almost like a prayer. “I can’t think of anything that would be more fun.”

Rocket acted as though he were playing a game as he evaded the women’s attempts to catch him, and once again he headed toward the barn at a fast trot.

Colt jerked his head. “Come on! We’ll go around the other way and see if we can head him off. The driveway leading to the road is just past the barn, and he could get hit.”

All three of them took off at a run, and Kate caught sight of the adults headed the other direction. Maybe they could stop him with their combined efforts.

But when Kate, Tori, and Colt rounded the far corner, Kate sucked in a hard breath. “Oh no!”

Rocket was headed toward the road, and a pickup was traveling toward them too fast to stop! If Rocket tried to run across, he could get killed and possibly cause a horrible accident.

Colt kicked into high gear and tore out ahead of the girls, down the short gravel driveway. He ran to Rocket’s left, waving his arms and shouting. The horse skidded to a stop in the loose gravel and snorted, his neck arched and ears pricked forward. Kate and Tori moved up beside Colt, their arms extended to the side, and the three slowly moved forward as one unit.

Kate dropped her voice to a low croon. “Easy, Rocket. You don’t want to go out in the road. Come on, boy. Easy now.” The pickup zipped past, and Kate almost cried with relief. Now if someone could catch Rocket before any other cars came.

Carissa stopped a few feet away. “Good job, guys. I think he’s done running now, aren’t you, boy?” She held her hand out, again offering the apple treat. Rocket sniffed the air, then moved forward, his lips working. Carissa pulled her hand a little closer to her side but kept the treat visible. As the horse took another step and reached for the treat, she slipped the end of the rope around his neck. “Gotcha! You’ve had your fun, you rascal. Time to go back inside.”

Kate, Tori, and Colt held still until Carissa had the halter secured. Then they relaxed.

As Carissa headed back to the barn with the gelding, Mrs. Wilder’s worried expression disappeared behind a wide smile. “Thank you, kids. I’m not sure we’d have caught him if it hadn’t been for your quick thinking. I definitely made the right decision when I hired you three. You can hang around if you want to or head home. I need to get back inside, but I’ll see you next Tuesday.”

Kate glanced at Tori. Her friend was shaking so hard, it looked like she might fall over. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Tori took two steps and sank onto a large rock positioned on the side of the driveway. “I can’t believe we did that.”

“Did what?” Kate stopped beside Tori and glanced at Colt, who shrugged.

“Stood in the path of that horse. He could have run over the top of us.”

Colt grinned. “Yeah, pretty exciting, huh?”

Tori glared. “No! It was scary, not exciting.”

“Well, we lived through it, and Rocket didn’t get hurt. I’d say that’s what matters, right?” Colt’s smile faded, and his voice softened. “Were you really scared?”

Tori heaved a sigh. “I guess not when it was happening. It was kind of exciting knowing I helped keep him safe. It hit me after Carissa caught him and Mrs. Wilder thanked us.”

“See?” Colt spread his arms wide. “You’re going to make a first-rate horsewoman. You did the right thing when you were needed. Doesn’t matter that you got shook up later. That’s normal.”

Kate grabbed Tori’s hand and tugged her to her feet. “Colt is right. It might be a good idea if you don’t say too much to your mom about what happened today—or maybe don’t tell her you were scared. She might worry.”

Tori nodded. “Right. I guess no one got hurt. But I think I’m ready to be done with the barn and head home.”