Read Online Willow King by Chris Platt - Free Book Online Page B

knew that Cindy didn’t want her help, but she also knew that Mr. Ellis expected her to make an improvement in his daughter’s riding ability. Nothing like asking for the impossible, Katie thought. But anything would be an improvement over what Cindy was doing now. If she could just get Cindy to listen to her, she knew she could help. And she knew she had to try for Jester’s sake.
    â€œI guess I better get on my horse and make it look like we’re doing something,” Cindy said as she gathered her reins and inserted her left foot into the stirrup of the English saddle. She put all her weight into the iron, preparing to swing up, when the saddle slipped, ending sideways on Jester’s rib cage.
    Katie sucked in her breath as she watched the girl fall to the ground beneath the horse’s feet, her foot still caught in the stirrup. Cindy shrieked like a banshee and thrashed about, trying to free herself. Katie came to her senses and quickly stepped forward calling, “Whoa, whoa,” to Jester as she approached.
    Fortunately, Jester was a fairly calm horse, and all he did was side pass, crossing one leg over the other, traveling sideways to try to escape his squawking rider.
    â€œCindy, be quiet!” Katie hissed under her breath as she reached out for the horse’s rein. Jester stood quietly for her while a furious, sand-covered Cindy freed her foot from the iron.
    Cindy got to her feet, brushing the sand from her clothing in quick, angry strokes, then reached up to tuck the loose ends of hair back into her French braid. “I suppose you think this is hilarious?” She glared at Katie. “If you tell anyone at school about this, you’ll be sorry.”
    If it wasn’t such a dangerous situation, Katie might have laughed to see the high and mighty Cindy Ellis brought down a peg or two, but it wasn’t a laughing matter. Katie undid the girth and let the saddle fall to the ground. It landed with a thump.
    â€œI didn’t think it was funny at all. You could have been seriously hurt.” She turned to Cindy as she shook the sand from the saddle blanket. “That’s why you should never ride when you’re upset. Riding requires a person’s full attention. When you’ve got other stuff on your mind, you forget to do important things like check your equipment, and you can end up hurt.”
    Sparks flew from Cindy’s green eyes as she stared at Katie, but this time Katie stood her ground. In the next instant the fire went out, and Cindy hung her head and started to shake. It seemed that the realization of what could have happened just hit her.
    â€œIt’s okay.” Katie stepped forward and awkwardly patted Cindy’s shoulder. She felt funny seeing the snobbish Miss Ellis caught in a vulnerable moment. “We all make mistakes. As long as you’re not hurt and you learn from it, you’ll be okay.”
    Cindy’s blond head snapped up and her proud manner returned. “That’s easy for you to say. You weren’t the one being trampled beneath the hooves of a crazed animal.”
    Katie looked at Jester as he stood patiently waiting for them to resaddle him. He was a little wary, but he didn’t look like a dangerous beast. She replaced the saddle blanket, then settled the saddle back into place, taking care to ensure the girth was properly tightened.
    Katie ran a hand over the spur marks Cindy had caused. They had stopped bleeding and weren’t as bad as she had originally thought, but they would need medication. She would drop by Jester’s stall after Cindy was gone and tend to the wounds. She turned her attention back to Cindy.
    â€œOh, I’ve been dumped plenty of times,” Katie assured the shaken girl. “I’ve been bucked off, knocked off, just plain fallen off, and pushed down when I wasn’t even intending to ride the horse. You have to remember what you did wrong and learn from your