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

circled each other. The crowd stared.
    Then Mr. Le Croix drew back a fist—and the motion seemed to lift him off his own feet and set him spinning. The crowd inhaled, then I heard chuckling from a few of the men.
    Mr. Swann came running to help, lifting his knees high and flailing his arms. He reached out to grab Mr. Le Croix by his shoulders and stopped the spin. Mr. Le Croix doffed his hat as though he was thanking him, then ceremoniously reached out to shake his hand. The instant Mr. Swann took it, Mr. Le Croix stepped forward and somehow lifted the much-bigger Mr. Swann off the ground and flipped him over his shoulder.
    The crowd roared as Mr. Swann stood up, dusting his clothes and glowering. The mock fight went on, with both men using exaggerated gestures and pretending that gentle taps sent them flying. The crowd’s laughter brought more and more people to watch.
    Mr. Le Croix ran at Mr.Dillard like a furious bull. At the last instant, Mr. Dillard bent forward, and Mr. LeCroix jumped to his shoulders. Mr. Le Croix raised one finger to his lips, warning the crowd not to give him away. Mr. Dillard pretended to be confused, peering in all directions to see where Mr. Le Croix had gone. The crowd laughed so long and so hard that I thought they might never stop.
    Finally, the sunset pinked the sky, and Liddy and her companions lined up to bow. Before the applause died down, they walked forward into the crowd, each one carrying his hat out upside down for people to put coins into.
    As I walked back to Mrs. Kyler I could hear people joking and talking. Miss Liddy and her friends had changed a glum, weary crowd into a happy one.
    Once I was back at the Kylers’ wagon, I let Mrs. Kyler know I was there, then I ran to the herd and found the Mustang on the edge as usual, standing quietly with Delia and Midnight. I kissed him on the forehead, then told him about riding Genevieve.
    â€œDid you hear people cheering? The first time?” I asked him. “That was for me.”
    â€œKatie?”
    Grover’s voice startled me. I turned, wondering if he was going to tease me about talking to the Mustang. He hadn’t for a long time, but it probably did sound pretty funny to hear me talking to him like he was a person.
    â€œKatie, do you think they would teach me?”
    I looked at him. “To trick ride?”
    He nodded. “Anything. I just wish I could go with them.”
    It took me a few seconds to understand what he was saying. “But your family—” I began.
    â€œI know.” He nodded. “My mother is sick a lot now. She needs my help.” He looked up at me. “And my father would never let me go, anyway,” he said. “Never.”
    I had no idea what to say, but he sounded so sad that I touched his arm. “I will ask Miss Liddy.”
    He looked so grateful that I felt awkward.“Grover, I don’t know what they’ll say, but I will ask, I promise.” He thanked me, then ran off. I stood a long time next to the Mustang wishing things were not so hard for Grover or me, or anyone else.
    The next day, I asked Miss Liddy what she thought about the men teaching Grover like she was teaching me.
    â€œHe can ask them himself, Katie,” she said quietly. “I can’t say what they would do. I won’t put him up on Genevieve. Tell him I am sorry, but one student is all the mare and I can handle.”
    I told Grover that night, and he hung his head. “She didn’t say they wouldn’t,” I repeated, “just that you should ask the men yourself.”
    He nodded, and I wondered if he would. He was shy, especially with adults. I had seen him taking to Mrs. Kyler a few times, but to almost no one else.
    We were back in salt-dry sage country right after we left Fort Hall. The ground was rockier than anywhere we had crossed yet, dark, jagged rocks that cut my feet. I started wearing the leather Indian slippers Mrs. Kyler had bought