Katie and the Mustang, Book 2 by Kathleen Duey Read Free Book Online

sale, Hiram,” I said flatly, starting to feel angry with him. If anyone should understand how much the Mustang meant to me, it was Hiram.
    Hiram turned to face the road. “All right, Katie,” he said over his shoulder. “All right, then.”

CHAPTER SIX

    The sky was open and wide, and the grass
was growing and endless. Somewhere under this sky
there were forests and meadows and the grasslands
I remembered. Not close, but... somewhere.
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    L ate one afternoon, we saw Council Bluff for the first time. Hiram reined in and got down off the wagon to look down at the Missouri River and the town of Kanesville.
    Mr. Kyler pointed. “Trader’s Point is down that way. Colonel Sarpy’s new ferry is running a gold mine business, we were told. Best get there early.”
    We made our camp. I did my chores, then led the Mustang closer to the edge of the bluff and stood in the twilight watching the light change the color of the river below.
    The Missouri ran between huge bluffs, and there were camps and settlements on both sides. The river was swift, muddy, and wider than I could have imagined. The sunset turned it the color of old copper.
    The next morning, we all drove the wagons down the steep road into the town of Kanesville, the men pulling on the brake handles all the way down to keep the wagons from rolling too fast. The river seemed bigger with every step we took.
    Hiram glanced back at the Kyler’s first wagon. The oxen were plodding steadily toward us. “What do you think? You want to travel with them to Oregon?”
    I nodded. I had thought about it. “I like them.”
    Hiram nodded. “So be it, then. We’ll need more, of course. Barrett said any party under thirty wagons was too small.”
    â€œThirty,” I echoed, tightening my hand on the Mustang’s lead rope. “How will we meet that many people?”
    Hiram gestured at the sea of wagons and settlements below. “How can we avoid it?”
    I bit at my lip.
    â€œThe Mustang will be all right,” Hiram said. “He’s smart, and he isn’t as wild as you think he is anymore. If you’d let people come closer—”
    â€œI just don’t want anyone to get hurt,” I interrupted, surprised at how angry I felt at his telling me how to handle the Mustang.
    Hiram reached out and brushed the top of my head with the palm of his hand the way he had done now and then when Mrs. Stevens had scolded me. “Are you sure it’s the horse that’s afraid?”
    I looked at him. “What do you mean?”
    Before he could answer, two of the Kyler girls came running up the road toward us. It was the one with dark braids and the taller, thin girl who was usually with her. They were both around my age, I was pretty sure.
    Watching them, I realized that I didn’t know their names. I walked the Mustang off to one side, then looked back. They told Hiram something, then ran back toward the Kylers’ wagons.
    â€œWhat are their names?” I asked Hiram once they were too far away to hear.
    He nodded. “Julia with the braids. The other one is Polly. I’m not quite sure who their parents are yet. I think Julia belongs to Ralph and Ellen. Ralph’s the tall man with the black hat.” He shrugged. “Benton sent them. He wants to go straight on downriver now, and get in line at the ferry landing. I expect he’s right.”
    Hiram got the mares moving, and I led the Mustang back onto the road. The Kylers’ wagons made a long line when we all stopped to wait for a turn on the ferry. There were fifteen or twenty wagons lined up in front of us, and the sounds of children and chickens and bawling oxen and voices were scaring the Mustang.
    I kept a tight hold on the lead rope and walked him back and forth and up and down, then around and back around.... He was so fidgety. I knew that if I tried to make him