The Horseman by Marcia Lynn McClure Read Free Book Online

myself?”
    Gunner smiled and laughed. “Of course!”
Reaching behind him, he pulled Briney’s kid gloves from his
pockets. “Did you want your gloves while you ride?”
    All at once, pure elation in feeling free
exploded inside Briney’s bosom, stomach, arms, and legs.
    “No, thank you, Mr. Cole,” she said. Then,
reaching up and pulling her hat from her hair, hatpin and all,
Briney offered it to Gunner. “And I won’t be needing this
either.”
    Gunner, eyebrows arched in admiration,
accepted the hat, and Briney patted Sassy’s neck and asked her,
“Are you ready, Sassafras?”
    The horse whinnied with impatience.
    Looking to Gunner and trying not to be so
thoroughly aware of how handsome that man was, Briney asked, “What
is it you say out here? Giddyup?”
    “Yep,” Gunner answered.
    “Then giddyup, Sassafras!” Briney giggled as
she gently nudged the sides of the horse’s belly with her
heels.
    Briney heard the laughter of approval of both
Gunner and Charlie as Sassafras eased into a soft trot and then
lurched into a gallop.
    And, oh, it was more invigorating even than
Briney had dreamed! As the speed of the horse caused the wind to
tug and pull at Briney’s perfectly coifed hair, she didn’t give one
whit if she returned to the Horseman’s stable looking like a feral
child—for this was freedom profound, and she meant to relish
it!
     
    “Well now,” Charlie began, “I can’t say that
I’ve ever seen the likes of that in my lifetime before. You,
boss?”
    Gunner smiled, shook his head, and said, “You
mean a beautiful young woman from the city, all gussied up in some
slick, expensive dress, riding off astride my mother’s horse with
her petticoats flappin’ in the breeze? Nope. Can’t say I have.”
    Charlie chuckled and then asked, “How long
you think she’ll be gone?”
    “Hours, more’n likely,” Gunner answered.
“That there’s a woman who’s never known freedom, I expect. And now
that she’s got a taste of it…we’ll probably have to ride out and
haul her on home by the hair of her head.”
    Charlie nodded. “Ol’ Sassy sure did take to
her, didn’t she?”
    “Yep,” Gunner mumbled. “And she ain’t the
only one.”
    “What was that, boss?” Charlie asked.
    “Nothin’,” Gunner said.
    “Well, I best be gettin’ back to help Ike,”
Charlie said as he sauntered off.
    But Gunner stood for a few long moments
watching Sassy and her rider until they were only a bay and purple
mirage on the horizon.
    “I sure am glad she’s not a nun,” he said to
himself as he turned and headed toward the corrals where the new
herd of mustangs he and the boys had wrangled waited to be sorted
out.
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
    Exhilaration—pure, thoroughgoing
exhilaration! That was what Briney was feeling. As she rode farther
and farther away from the Horseman’s ranch and stables, a sense of
being rejuvenated, invigorated—of having new life breathed into
body and mind—restored and strengthened her. She couldn’t keep from
laughing out loud, occasionally squealing with delight as she rode,
for she’d never felt so happy before—never.
    Not wanting to fatigue Sassafras too much,
Briney slowed the horse to a comfortable walk. After all, the
simple rhythmic clip-clop of the horse’s slow-paced walk was as
soothing to Briney’s soul as the gallop was vitalizing. Briney
closed her eyes and tipped her head back so that the sun shone
directly on her face. Oh, it felt so good! The bright warmth rained
down on her cheeks, drizzling a sort of tranquil calm throughout
her being.
    Then, all at once and very unexpectedly, an
overpowering wave of mingled emotions began to well up in Briney’s
bosom. Tears filled her eyes, and they were tears not only for the
joy she was experiencing in riding Sassafras but also of mourning
for the loss of Mrs. Fletcher. Tears of sadness for her younger
self—the Briney Thress that had been orphaned at the age of three,
left to neglect and misery in the