alwaystalked about the ranch, your dad, the horses and stuff, but now you actually live there. I canât picture it.â
âYou donât have to. You can come over and see it with your own eyes,â Sam said.
âThat would be cool,â Pam said, and even though she nodded, Sam caught Pamâs eyes darting toward Ace. âMaybe Mom can drive me over while sheâs doing her research.â
âWe could ride double on Ace,â Sam teased.
âPamela, you really should take this opportunity to learn to ride, if Samâs willing to teach you,â Dr. Mora said.
âSure,â Sam began. Sheâd already begun wondering which horse Pam should use when her friend interrupted.
âWe wonât have time. Samâs in school until three?â She looked at Sam for a nod. âWhat we need is to catch up on each otherâs lives, Mom. You canât do that on a horse.â Sam didnât have time to point out they could talk and ride at the same time, before Pam went on.
âNot when Sam would have to be giving me remedial lessons so I wouldnât fall off. But we could shoot a few baskets and talk at the same time.â
âCan you believe we donât have a basketball hoop at the ranch? I didnât have anyone to play with, so I justââ Sam shrugged.
Basketball had been such a big part of her life in San Francisco, it was hard to believe sheâd abandoned the sport. In San Francisco, sheâd persuadedAunt Sue to let her and Pam mount a basketball hoop on her narrow garage, even though her short driveways led over a sidewalk and into the city street.
âNo big deal,â Pam said. She looked up at the soaring rock walls, then down at War Drum Flats before gazing at the endless blue sky. âYou really live in this place.â
This magical place, Sam thought as she looked up, too. For a minute, she felt as if sheâd been towed aloft by a balloon. She was floating, sighing with pride at the beauty surrounding them.
âThereâs nothing out here,â Pam went on.
Sam felt as if someone had shot the balloon sheâd clung to, and she hit the ground with a bump. She almost launched into a lecture about the wildlife and plants Pam was too blind to see, but then she stopped.
âI love it,â Sam said.
âAnd so do I.â
Sam smiled gratefully at Pamâs mother, whom sheâd always called Dr. Mora, instead of Dr. OâMalley.
âItâs beautiful country,â Dr. Mora said with a slightly reproachful glance at her daughter. âAn oasis for the soul.â
Pamâs eyelashes lowered. She jammed her hands into her pockets, then looked bashfully at Sam.
âI guess it does take some getting used to,â Sam said.
âWell if you love it, I bet I will, too.â Pam slippedher arm through Samâs. âIn fact, itâs already coming to me.â
Sam gave a skeptical smile.
âNo, really. Itâs pretty, but in a bleak kind of way,â Pam insisted. âWide open, and so big, itâs kind of overwhelming and scary.â
âNot as scary as some things ,â Sam said. One city experience had become the yardstick by which they measured fright. She wondered if Pam remembered.
âLike Chinese New Year?â Pam asked.
âExactly,â Sam said.
Their eyes met in the memory of a night when theyâd gotten separated from Aunt Sue and Pamâs mom. Squealing in mock terror at a line of dragon dancers, theyâd wiggled through the crowd watching the parade, darted by a vendor selling savory pork buns, and jogged past dozens of incense-scented shops. By the time they ended up in an alley where teenage guys were competing to see who could throw lighted firecrackers highest into the night sky, Sam and Pam were no longer pretending to be scared. They were lost and terrified.
After thirty minutes of searching, they followed directions from two little girls in
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