Katie and the Mustang, Book 4 by Kathleen Duey Read Free Book Online

cheeks flush. “Twice more around, Katie, then I’ll have her halt in front of me.”
    â€œYes,” I called back without turning my head.
    â€œBe ready,” Miss Liddy said. “When I tell her to stop, she’ll turn to come toward the center of the circle, then she will slide to a halt, she won’t drop back to a trot.”
    I steadied myself and concentrated on keeping my posture correct for the next two rounds. Then, when Miss Liddy called the command to Genevieve, I leaned with the turn and curved my back slightly when I felt her stiffen her front legs to stop. I leaned forward just enough to keep my balance as she plunged to a halt. I kept my arms up and my head high, the way I had seen Miss Liddy do it.
    Grover was on his feet instantly, clapping. The boys I didn’t even know shouted and cheered. Mr. Le Croix, Mr. Dillard, and Mr. Swann whooped, all of them grinning. I heard a whistle from the other side of the camp and saw Mrs. Kyler waving; past her, I saw a group of folks from another wagon company. It was obvious that they had been on their way to the fort and had stopped to watch.
    For some reason, all this made me feel strangely wonderful. My eyes flooded with tears and I blushed as I swung my right leg over the mare’s withers and slid down from Genevieve’s wide back the way Miss Liddy sometimes did—facing out, my head high and my arms out for balance.
    Genevieve lowered her head, and I reached as high as I could to pat her broad jaw. Miss Liddy was grinning. “You’re a natural. I thought you might be and you are.” Then she looked over my head at her companions. “If any of you have an ounce of energy, we could use traveling money.” She gestured at the crowd that had gathered to watch Genevieve and me. The men got down from the wagon bench and got out their wooden clubs.
    It was amazing to watch the three men juggle—really juggle, not just their practice routines. The clubs were heavy, and still they threw them high overhead, over and over, their hands flashing too fast to follow.
    They stood in a triangle and tossed the clubs back and forth in an intricate pattern that changed, then changed again. Once Mr. Le Croix ended up with all the clubs, holding them in rows beneath both arms and six in each hand. The crowd laughed when he made a face. Then he tossed the clubs back out one by one. With Mr. Dillard and Mr. Swann catching them neatly, soon they were moving in a rhythmic circle again.
    â€œIt’s like magic,” Grover murmured. I nodded without looking away.
    When they finished juggling, there was more applause, and I turned to see that the crowd had grown—there were at least two hundred people watching.
    Miss Liddy stepped forward with Genevieve at her side. People gasped to see the big mare so obedient, so well trained, without a single strap or rope on her. Miss Liddy vaulted up and sat with her arms extended. Then, moving to music that only she and Genevieve could hear, they began their act. Miss Liddy was as graceful as anything as she rode standing up, with her arms out at shoulder level. Then she dropped down, threw one leg across Genevieve’s withers, and sat sidesaddle at a canter. I stared. How could anyone balance well enough to do that without a saddle?
    Miss Liddy rode backward, hung down to pick up a stone from the ground, then threw it into the air. Mr. Le Croix caught it and tossed it back. She stood up again, the stone in one hand. She vaulted upward suddenly and turned a flip in the air, landing on her feet.
    The people cheered and clapped, making a din that brought even more of a crowd out of the fort to see what was going on.
    As the crowd noise subsided, Mr. Le Croix and Mr. Dillard began shouting at each other, spitting insults back and forth. My stomach tightened until I saw the smile on Miss Liddy’s face. Looking for all the world like two men about to fight, Mr. Dillard and Mr. Le Croix