Wild Fire by Linda I. Shands Read Free Book Online Page A

right?”
    â€œStar’s fine. Lily doesn’t look too bad either. The first aid supplies are in that locker.” He nodded to a wooden chest wedged between the tack room and the stalls.
    â€œWhen you’re done here, have Anne put the coffee on. Those horses that were in the corral could be scattered from here to Rock Springs.” He sighed. “It’s going to be a long night.”
    She nodded, then went to get some salve for Lily’s wound. She tried to concentrate on what she was doing, but her mind kept going back to Colin.
    He was seventeen, closer to Greg’s age than hers. Besides, he could be a real goof sometimes with that phony accent and comedy routine. He talked too much, and flirted with every girl he met.
    â€œHe could charm the scales off a rattlesnake,” Greg had said once. But she was the boss’s daughter. Colin had to think of her as just a friend. That’s what he is, Wakara Sheridan. Colin Jones is just a friend .
    She turned her attention back to Lily, examining her sides and back, feeling her legs, looking for breaks or scrapes. Colin was right; except for the cut on her rump, the mare was sound.
    Kara talked softly to the horse, using singsong sounds to calm her as she cleaned the wound with Betadine. Then she slipped on a rubber glove and coated the gash with ointment .
    â€œThere, that should do it. See?” She held out the jar of ointment. Lily sniffed it, giving her approval. “Leave it alone now, and it will heal in a day or two.”
    She led Lily back to her stall, took off the halter, and shut the door. In the next stall, Dakota thumped the floor with his foot. “What’s the matter, boy? You jealous? I know Colin already checked you out.”
    She decided to check him anyway. Sure enough there was a rock embedded in his back foot. She picked it out, gave the big animal a rub on the neck, then went in to examine Star. The pony was standing like a statue, one back foot cocked, head drooping, eyes half closed.
    Kara chuckled. “You don’t let anything bother you for long, do you, old boy?” Dad had already looked him over. She backed off and let him sleep.
    After giving Lily and Dakota an apple treat, she stored away the first aid kit, picked up the lantern her dad had left, and headed back to the house.
    Smoke billowed from the chimney, and she could smell the coffee halfway to the lodge. As usual Anne was way ahead of her.
    A sleepy-eyed Ryan met her at the door. “Is Star okay? Did Daddy shoot a cougar?”
    She laughed and pulled him in for a hug. “Star is fine. It was a bear, not a cougar, and it ran away.”
    Anne’s eyes questioned her over Ryan’s shoulder.
    â€œIt was after the grain,” Kara assured her, “but the other horses broke out of the corral, and the guys have to round them up.”
    Ryan pushed back and grinned up at her. “We knew they’d be okay ’cause we asked God to take care of them.” His face grew sober. “I couldn’t come to the barn because I had the most important job of all.”
    â€œOh?” Kara wiggled her eyebrows. “And just what was the most important job of all?”
    The little boy laughed, “To pray, silly. Anne and I prayed for the horses, and Dad and Greg, and Colin and you.”
    Kara glanced at Anne. Why should she be surprised? That’s just what Mom would have done.
    The cook returned her puzzled gaze with a smile. “A boy should be asleep at 3 A.M. ”
    Ryan let Kara lead him back to bed. As she tucked the covers up under his chin, she heard him mumble, “Please don’t let the bear come back.”
    â€œDon’t worry, Ry.” She remembered Colin’s words and smiled. “That ol’ bear is clear to Mexico by now.”
    Ryan giggled, then frowned. “You sound like Colin. Anyway, I wasn’t talking to you.”
    â€œOh.” Kara blinked. “Then who were you