Crow Mountain by Lucy Inglis Read Free Book Online

lifted the reins a notch. The horse began to walk backwards towards them. ‘He’s just stiff, nothing a stretch won’t cure.’
    â€˜Speaking of which, we’d like to take a walk too,’ Meredith said. ‘Is there a particular direction we should go?’
    â€˜Well, you can go in any direction you like, for a long time, but if you head on up there’ – he pointed to the trees – ‘you’ll hit a forest trail. Your feet might not be up to going too far in those shoes though, Miss Hope.’ He looked at her Toms.
    â€˜Hope should eat something,’ Meredith said. ‘Before we go anywhere.’
    â€˜Cal!’
    â€˜Yeah?’
    â€˜The little lady’s hungry.’
    â€˜No problem.’ He jumped down and drew the reins over the horse’s head.
    â€˜Please, it’s fine, really,’ Hope said quickly.
    Cal halted, glove on the bridle. ‘You want something or not?’ His tone was blunt, but not unfriendly.
    â€˜Can’t we just go for a walk, please, Mum?’ Hope pleaded.
    Meredith’s lips thinned. She stalked out of the barn, up towards the forest between the stable barn and the house. Hope followed, ducking past Cal, who was still holding on to the black horse’s bridle, watching her.
    As soon as they entered the cool green of the forest, her mother slowed. ‘I’m going to pretend I didn’t see what I saw in the house. He seems a nice young man and I must admit he’s remarkably handsome, but—’
    â€˜Nothing happened! I was standing on the landing six metres away from him.’
    â€˜Barely covered. Why?’
    â€˜New craze. Shower burlesque.’
    â€˜Don’t be smart. As much as you don’t want to hear it, I’ve experienced sexual attraction too.’
    Oh. My. God . Hope wrapped her hands in her hair. Please, please stop talking .
    â€˜Just because I’m your mother doesn’t mean I’ve never had a sex life.’
    â€˜In the car you told me to try harder,’ Hope said, her feet crunching on the pine needles.
    â€˜Trying harder doesn’t mean parading around their house in a towel!’
    â€˜I wasn’t parading .’
    â€˜I’ve raised you to make good, sensible choices, Hope, and that wasn’t one of them.’
    Hope said nothing. Above them, the forest was alive with birdsong and the occasional flutter of wings. As sunlight shot through the canopy, softening in the late afternoon, it lit up insects and the odd butterfly. The trail turned back towards the ranch and suddenly spilt them out on to the meadow at the back of the house.
    â€˜I have some work I should get on with,’ her mother said, suddenly seeming weary, as they headed into the kitchen through open sliding-glass doors. ‘What are you going to do?’
    â€˜Check my emails, maybe.’
    â€˜Do it sitting in a chair so you don’t fall asleep. We need to make it through until at least ten tonight. Try that chemistry project.’
    Back in her bedroom, Hope unpacked her laptop and put it next to the router, taking the password from the sticker on top of the blue plastic. Her emails downloaded and she sent a message to her friend Lauren to let her know they had arrived. It was after midnight back at home. Clicking through Facebook, she hesitated, before updating her status with, ‘In Montana’. Because of the travelling and being so shy, her social life wasn’t exactly anything to shout about. At least on Facebook she didn’t get tongue-tied.
    Curious, she searched for Cal’s unusual name, but with noluck. Then she felt weird and stalky, and blinked, tired. Putting the computer to sleep, she got to her feet and stretched. Heading down the stairs, she crossed to the front door and went back out into the sunshine.
    The horses had shifted further away now, tails swishing as they lazed. The pick-up had moved over to a cluster of buildings to her