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all registered horses, but Emma’s father
didn’t want to have to deliver colts in winter weather and thought
they did better if they didn’t arrive until the grass began to
green up.
    Emma cleaned Ditto up and threw her saddle on
him. He was in the mood for adventure, too, and started down the
pickup trail to the front pasture, nodding his head in rhythm with
his swinging walk. They crossed the long front pasture to the far
tank and rode along the edge of the water, making the bullfrogs
jump in with loud splashes. A few wild ducks had taken off from the
water when they saw her coming, making her glad again that her
parents had decided not to lease their ranch for hunting. She rode
Ditto out into ankle-deep water and loosened the reins so he could
suck the cold fresh water in around his bit. As she sat on his
broad back, she imagined how exciting it would be if Miss Dellfene
won the NCHA Futurity. It would make the front page of the paper in
their small town. Candi Haynes and her carbon-copy friends couldn’t
help noticing that Emma’s parents had won some serious money with
one of their horses. Emma wouldn’t look like such a backwoods
hillbilly then. She couldn’t help grinning at the prospect.
    On the way back, she rode up a dry wash.
Ditto climbed the bank with powerful lunges and then settled into
an easy trot heading for the house. The last half mile she pulled
him back to a walk so he wouldn’t be too warm when they got
back.
    Kyle was scooping out the shed where the
weaned calves were kept. He came over to where Emma was unsaddling
Ditto.
    “Hi, Marilyn. Did you have a nice ride?”
    “Sure did,” Emma replied.
    “I’ve got a question for you.”
    He took the saddle from Emma and tossed it
across the top rail of the pipe fence, while she turned Ditto into
his pen. As soon as she took off his halter, Ditto walked over to
the middle of the pen where the dirt was soft and loose, lay down,
and rolled over on his back, squirming back and forth to get a good
scratch.
    “What’s the question?” Emma asked.
    For once in his life, Kyle seemed
serious.
    “You said your dad was worried about paying
to have the society horse trained, so what do you think he’d say
about this idea? He pays me to work for a few hours four days a
week. Do you think he’d be willing to keep the money he pays me and
let you give me riding lessons instead? I’ve always wanted to learn
to ride, but my parents have never been around horses and they
won’t even discuss getting one. I’d promise to be a good student
and do exactly what you tell me.”
    “I don’t know,” Emma said, an involuntary
grin pulling at the corners of her mouth. “I think it would be fun
to teach you to ride, but I’d have to talk to Mom and Dad about it.
Do you want to go with me to ask them now?”
    “No, I want you to ask them when I’m not
around. That way I won’t have to listen to the screamin’ if they
get upset.”
     

 
    Chapter
Seven
     
    Emma waited for just the right moment to ask
her parents about the riding lessons. Secretly, she liked the idea
of teaching Kyle to ride. He lived in a different school district,
so Emma didn’t see him at school. Although he was older than Emma,
he didn’t treat her like a lesser being as some of the other kids
his age did. She wanted her parents to say “yes.”
    When she finally found the right moment,
there wasn’t any screamin’. Her mom just said, “Oh, that’s
sweet!”
    Her dad asked a question.
    “Do you want to do it?”
    “Sure,” Emma answered casually. “Do you think
I could start him out with Rosie?”
    “I think she’d be the best choice for a
beginner,” her dad replied. “We didn’t breed her this year so you
won’t have to worry about a colt following her around later this
spring.”
    Rosie was an older bay mare that Emma had
ridden before she got Ditto. Now she stood under the trees in the
pasture most of the time, in semi-retirement. She was quiet and not
too fast, and