Read Online All the King's Horses by Lauren Gallagher - Free Book Online

can handle it.”
    “Mm-hmm. How much time do you think he’ll need?”
    I shrugged. “Hard to say.”
    “Are there any others from that farm?” Mom asked.
    I glanced at her. “Do you mean am I going to be bringing any more up from McBride’s?”
    “That’s exactly what I mean,” she said dryly.
    Watching my fingers run through Blue’s black mane, I said, “This is it from that farm.”
    “From that farm,” she said. “Are there others?”
    “Don’t know yet.” I threw her another, briefer glance. “There’s some talk about taking some off one of the big rescue facilities’ hands. They’re badly overloaded, but…I don’t know yet.”
    She sighed. “Dustin—”
    “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m not taking any more in as long as I still have Chip, Star and Blue.”
    “Good.”
    As I unclipped Blue’s cross-ties so I could put him back in his stall, my mother asked, “What about Amy?”
    I eyed Mom. “What about her?”
    “Maybe she could work with—”
    “Uh, no .”
    “Why not?” She shrugged. “From what she told me, she’s got some experience riding. I don’t know how much, but she knows her way around horses.”
    I scowled. “Have you seen the way she looks at them, though?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Mom, she looks right through them.” I shook my head and turned toward Blue again. “That’s the last thing these horses need.”
    “Then maybe for your more experienced horses. The ones who just need a little bit of—”
    “Absolutely not. I’m not putting someone on a horse if she’s the equestrian equivalent of a sociopath.”
    Mom laughed humorlessly. “Oh, come on now. She isn’t that bad.”
    I raised an eyebrow.
    She sighed. “Look, I’m just saying, you need some help here. You’re liable to get in way over your head, Dad and I can’t work with them anymore, and you’ve got someone right here on the property who may be able to help. Okay, maybe she’s not assistant trainer material, but I think it’s a safe bet this isn’t her first rodeo.”
    I threw my Mom a glare.
    She grimaced. “Sorry. I mean, this isn’t her first…” Mom waved a hand. “Look, you know what I mean.”
    “I do, and quite honestly, I don’t give a rat’s ass if she’s got experience.” I glanced down the aisle, checking to make sure Amy hadn’t come back in for some reason. She hadn’t, but I lowered my voice anyway. “Even if I do bring in someone to help me, it sure as hell isn’t going to be someone who looks at a horse no differently than she does a bucket or a tractor.”
    Mom watched me for a moment, probably debating whether or not to argue. Finally, she just sighed and shook her head. “It’s your decision. Just don’t burn out or bankrupt yourself.”
    “I won’t.” I clipped Blue’s lead to his halter. “But I’ll pass on having Amy work with them.”
    “You really don’t like her, do you?”
    “I don’t know what to make of her,” I said over my shoulder on the way to Blue’s stall. “I really don’t.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You’ve talked to her, right?”
    “Some,” Mom said. “Why?”
    “Give me a second.” I put Blue back in his stall and took off his halter. As I came out and slipped the halter on its hook, I said, “She’s just…” My eyes darted down the aisle, making doubly sure Amy wasn’t within earshot. “I can’t figure her out. The way she interacts with the horses. Or doesn’t , I should say.”
    “How so?”
    “I don’t even know.” I shook my head. “I don’t get it. It’s like, she just moves them around like farm equipment, and absolutely nothing registers. She connects with them like I connect with your garden gnomes.”
    Mom rested her elbow on Blue’s door. She didn’t say anything for a little while but then nodded toward him. “What would you think of him if you didn’t know what had happened to him?”
    I furrowed my brow. “Blue? What do you mean?”
    She didn’t look at me. “If he