Read Online Affair of the Heart by Joan Wolf - Free Book Online Page B

out behind his high-held head.
    Suddenly he broke away from the fence, veering sharply across the pasture. The man on his back spurred hard and jerked his head around. The stallion galloped a few more paces, stopped, and leaped into the air, corkscrewing. He came down with feet like four steel pistons, and Jim came off, making a beautiful arc through the air onto the lush green grass.
    “Well, that’s the third time for Jim,” one of the men said glumly.
    Mahogany raced around the pasture a little and then, knowing himself the victor, bent his head and began to graze. Jim got up and started once more toward the horse.
    “I’ve never seen him before,” Caroline said reverently. “Does he belong to the ranch?”
    “Sure he belongs to the ranch,” one of the men said a little impatiently. “We just brought him in from the range this morning.”
    Caroline stared at the stallion. He was quite obviously a thoroughbred. “You put a horse like that out on the range?” Her voice was indicative of her incredulity.
    “He’s our stud. All the Double Diamond horses are bred right here on the ranch. Ma’am.”
    “I see,” said Caroline quietly. She had been very impressed by the quality of the ranch horses, and now she understood why they all looked so well-bred.
    “Hi, Caroline!” It was Gary Rogers running along the fence toward her. “Did you come to watch Mahogany?”
    Caroline smiled warmly at the little boy. “Well, I was just on my way home when I saw the crowd. I thought I’d come over to see what was going on.”
    “We’re going to put Mahogany in the big race down in Utah,” Gary volunteered. “Jay said we could, if we can get him to behave.”
    “What race is that?” Caroline asked.
    “At Owen Macdonald’s place,” one of the men volunteered. “Every year he has a race for the local ranch horses.”
    Caroline nodded and looked out at the field again. Mahogany was obviously not pleased with the man on his back and kept cutting away from the fence where the cowboy was trying to hold him. Every time he cut in, the cowboy gave him a jab with his spur. The horse did not appreciate this and would rear or buck.
    “Jim’s got to get that horse to run straight or there won’t be no race,” one of the men muttered. As he spoke the horse swerved in again and the whole episode with the spur was repeated. Once again the horse bucked his rider onto the turf.
    “Well, he’s not going to succeed the way he’s going,” Caroline said tartly. “He’s only making the stallion lose his temper.”
    There was a silence as the men on the fence exchanged glances. “You got any suggestions, ma’am?” one man asked then.
    “Well, he could stop spurring him for starters,” said Caroline.
    “Maybe you’d like to ride the horse?” Frank Adams asked ingenuously.
    Caroline stared at him. The men’s attitude was putting her as out of temper as the stallion. “I couldn’t do a worse job,” she said deliberately.
    Once again the men exchanged a conspiratorial glance. Then Frank stood up and waved his hand. “Hi, Jim!” he shouted. “Come on over here!”
    Caroline watched as the stallion approached their side of the field. He was sweating and throwing his head around, trying to fight the harsh Western bit. Caroline dismounted from Dusty, unceremoniously handed his reins to one of the men, and began to unbuckle her girth.
    “You going to change saddles?” the man asked in astonishment.
    “Yes.” Caroline pulled her saddle off the gray. She gave the men a cool, appraising gray-green stare. “You’re much closer to the horse with this saddle,” she said and climbed into the corral.
    “I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” the man called Jim said nervously. “He’s awfully strong, ma’am.”
    Caroline shrugged. “The ground looks fairly soft. I’ll give it a try.” She began to buckle her girth on the stallion.
    Caroline knew she would never stay in the saddle if Mahogany started to buck,