Horse Whispers by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page A

and into the tack room before the words were out of Walter’s mouth. Frank was inside, dressed for riding. Begging him to wait, Carole reached for a set of tack.
    “Carole, I—”
    “Please, please, I’ll only be two minutes, I promise!”
    Frank frowned. “It’s not that. I don’t mind waiting. It’s just … well, I’m not sure you should go. John and I are all set and we both know this country well. It could be a very long day—cold, exhausting. I don’t know
how
long because I don’t know how far this silly mare has gotten herself.”
    Carole waited in silence, trying not to cry. She
had
to go. It had never entered her mind that she couldn’t. She felt Frank studying her face. A moment later he relented.
    “Well, okay, if it means that much to you—”
    Carole didn’t wait for him to change his mind. She saddled Stewball in seconds flat. “I know, boy, you’re expecting Stevie, but I need your herding and roundup skills out there today. We’ve got to find one of your stablemates who’s lost out there.” Carole took a quick glance out the window. It was partly sunny, but more snow was expected that night. She shivered a little as she tightened Stewball’s cinch and led the pinto outside.
    Lisa, Stevie, Kate, and Phyllis all came out to see themoff. Stevie gave Stewball a pat and told him to take care of Carole. Phyllis gave Frank bottled water, a Thermos of hot coffee, and a backpack of sandwiches, which he tied into his saddlebag.
    “We expect you back by noon,” she said brightly.
    Frank leaned down to kiss his wife. “At the latest,” he promised.
    As the three of them set off, John turned around in his saddle. He smiled and waved good-bye to Lisa. Lisa caught his eye. She blushed. She had been imagining what it would have been like if John had kissed her good-bye—
    “Yee-haw, it’s pie time!” Stevie hollered.
    Lisa gave her a withering glance. “Thanks,” she said. “You really know how to wreck a moment.”
    “A moment? What moment?” Stevie followed Lisa inside, frowning in confusion.
    “Oh, you know,” Lisa murmured, her eyes far away. “It’s so romantic when someone leaves, saying good-bye and everything …” She sighed. They were in the foyer hanging up their coats and trading wet boots for moccasins and slippers.
    Stevie gave her friend a disgusted look. “Have you been watching too many B Westerns, Lisa? Leaving isn’t romantic. What’s romantic about not seeing a person?
Arriving
, on the other hand …”
    I T WAS THE perfect day to make pies: freezing cold! The girls wished Carole, Frank, and John could have been athome with them. But the three were expert riders. They would never do anything unsafe. “Just think of it as a long winter trail ride,” Kate suggested when they were gathered in the warm, brightly lit kitchen.
    “Yeah. With most people I’d laugh, but Carole’s crazy enough to want to go riding on a day like this,” Stevie said.
    Lisa agreed. “If she didn’t have to go find the black mare, she’d be on our cases all day to go for a pleasure ride!”
    As the girls watched, Phyllis set out flour and sugar. She preheated the oven to 350 degrees. “We’ll try apple pie today,” she announced. “As I said before, a good crust is the secret of a good pie. The filling is easy: You just mix up fruit, sugar, and spices—whatever’s in season—”
    “Except for mincemeat pie,” Stevie interrupted. “That’s got real beef in it, doesn’t it?”
    Phyllis laughed. “In the old days it did. And you can probably still find recipes lying around for
real
mincemeat. But when people serve mincemeat at Thanksgiving or Christmas, it’s just nuts, raisins, sugar, and spices. It has a meaty flavor, but there’s no meat in there.”
    Lisa stared at her. “You mean all these years I’ve been refusing my grandmother’s mincemeat for no reason? I always thought it sounded
disgusting
, so I stuck to my mother’s pumpkin and pecan.”
    “You’ll