Page 35 of What Remains True
“Yes.” Her shoulders relaxed a bit, and her heart slowed to the point that at least it wasn’t deafening her any longer. She blew out a breath. “Okay, this is much better. I’m new at this, so you’re going to have to be patient with me.”
“You’re doing great.”
They rode quietly for about ten minutes, staying close to what was familiar to her, thank goodness. She could see the bunkhouse from here. Right now, if the horse went completely nutso, she could jump off and run back home. She wasn’t quite sure why that was comforting, but it was.
“Ready to go up the trail?”
“I think so.” Both nervous and excited, she copied Adam’s actions, lifting her legs and giving the horse a little kick, and darn if it didn’t work. Chips picked up the pace, his strength beneath her undeniable and his breaths loud as he hoofed it up the path.
Every once in a while, her horse would do something that sounded like a combination of a snort and a sneeze, and it startled her every time, rocking her back in the saddle.
“He’s okay, right?” she asked, laughing.
Adam twisted in his saddle to face her, placing one hand on the top of Ricochet’s rump for balance. “Oh yeah. That’s just what they do.”
“Turn around!” she cried. “You’re going to walk right into something.”
“One thing you need to know about horses is they don’t want to walk into anything or off anything. So, yeah, you have to be careful of low-hanging branches, but other than that, your horse is looking out for himself as much as he is you.”
“That is a good point.” She’d never really thought of it that way. Now that they were walking up a narrower path, it was nice to know that the horse was probably less worried about the weight of her on his back than about concentrating on being sure-footed so as not to slip down the side himself.
She took her eyes off the path and tried to take joy in the beauty around her.
Cicadas made an electric vibe that seemed to push the birds from one limb to another. Nearby, a squirrel scampered off into the brush, flipping his tail like he was giving her what for, and that tickled her.
They rode to the comfortable melody of the twigs and brush beneath the horses’ feet.
Becoming more confident in the saddle, she bravely reached to touch a huge white magnolia flower. Her fingers just grazed its soft petals as Chips walked by, but the sweet fragrance hung in the air around her. So many textures and smells gave her a fresh sense of renewal.
A bright-red bird flew in front of Adam. “Did you see that?” she called out. “That was the reddest bird I’ve ever seen. Redder than a cardinal.”
He slowed, letting her horse catch up to him there where the path was wide. “That was a scarlet tanager, one of the most beautiful songbirds in our woods. My grandma used to say if you saw one that it meant joy and peace would follow as long as you followed your right path.” He scratched his head. “Don’t know if it’s really true or she was trying to trick me out of getting into trouble, but it’s a nice thought. Always makes me feel good when I see them.”
“Made my day.”
“You’re doing good,” he commented. “You’re a natural.”
“I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on this my whole life. It’s so freeing out here.”
“Yeah, I haven’t been getting as much riding in for pleasure. All my horses need to be ridden. Most of the time, I’m playing catch-up, so I just ride them in the ring or right around there in the barn to get it done quickly so they all get a chance. The 4-H kids come out and practice tacking them up and riding in the ring too. That helps.”
“You can probably twist my arm into this again.”
“You like it! That’s great!” His head bobbed, making her like him even more since he was so happy just to share something he loved. “I hoped you would.”
“I do.” She wasn’t sure if it was the company or thehorseback riding, but it was a day she wouldn’t soon forget. “Thank you. I’m so glad you offered to take me.”
“Sounds like you’re kind of done for the day. I guess it was a long ride for your first time on a horse. I hoped you might want to stick around and let me fix you a real cowboy meal. I have all my cast-iron stuff set up at camp, where I park my horse trailer. It’s not much farther.”
“Where they put the cast iron down on the coals and then coals on top of it?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“I’ve always wondered how that was done. Does it really taste different?”
“You can be the judge of that. Up to you. We can either turn back or go on down to camp. I could make us an early dinner. Riding always makes me hungry. What do you think?”
Trying new things was a little nerve-racking, but so far everything she’d tried had turned out well. “Don’t know how much help I’ll be.”
