Rodeo Rocky by Jenny Oldfield Page B

Forced to lie in bed while her mom showed the doctor downstairs, Kirstie dismissed the minor injuries she’d sustained when Rodeo Rocky threw her and fled up the mountain. What mattered was the damage to her dream that one day soon he would join the team of horses at Half Moon Ranch. She stared out of the open window at distant Eagle’s Peak, nursing her shattered pride and hope.
    “It could’ve been worse, I guess.” Lisa slid quietly into the room while the grown-ups talked over the accident in the ranch-house kitchen. “No broken bones.”
    “Have they found Rocky?” Kirstie demanded.
    “Your mom sent Hadley and Charlie out to look.” Gazing awkwardly at the floor, Lisa found it hard to meet her friend’s intense gaze.
    “But they didn’t find him yet?” She realized the runaway stallion could have traveled miles off the trails and beaten tracks into thick pine forests, or even above the snowline into the icy wastes of the high peaks of the Meltwater Range.
    “Nope. They took a two-way radio, so they’ll call as soon as they’ve got news.” Lisa glanced up and tried to smile. “How are you doing?”
    “Fine.” Kirstie stared hard at Lisa’s flushed face.
    “I heard the doc tell your mom you had to stay in bed in case you got a concussion.”
    “I’m fine! It’s Rocky I’m worried about.” Kirstie felt a long, embarrassed pause develop between them. “Do you know something you’re not telling me?”
    “Nope.” Lisa’s coloring was pale and freckled. When she lied, her face flushed bright red.
    Kirstie sat up in bed, trying to catch snatches of conversation from downstairs. “What’s going on down there? What are they saying?”
    “I dunno. Grandpa’s telling your mom about the accident. He reckons Rocky went kind of crazy back there and you’re lucky you weren’t hurt real bad.”
    “Is that right?” She was all for getting straight out of bed and running down to the kitchen to put them right until Lisa put out a hand to stop her.
    “Wait till they’ve calmed down. Arguing won’t do any good right now.”
    So Kirstie sat on the edge of the bed and gave her friend a rough time instead. “It’s not Rocky who was crazy; it’s that dumb driver! What on earth was he thinking, driving a giant truck at a horse like that? Doesn’t he
know
that’s the best way to spook any horse on this planet? Let alone one that’s been through what Rodeo Rocky’s been through!”
    “You don’t need to tell me!” Lisa pointed out when Kirstie at last paused for breath.
    “Look, how can they blame Rocky? To him that motor home sure as hell looked like the truck they used to drive him down from Wyoming! Big steel fenders, wide, flashing windscreen, loud engine…” To Kirstie it was obvious. “Rocky sees this monster machine coming down the track toward him, and he thinks, no way! Once was enough. He’s not gonna stick around until men with ropes come and grab him again. He’s been there before!”
    “Sure, Kirstie, I hear what you’re saying.” Going to look out of the window at the doctor’s car driving out under the Half Moon Ranch sign, Lisa tried once more to get a word in. “And maybe you’re right about Rocky having a good reason not to like these giant trucks, but …”
    “
But
, nothing!” She felt her heart pounding with a fierce desire to defend the horse. “Rocky was only doing what any horse in his right mind would have done!”
    Lisa sighed, opened her mouth to speak, then changed her mind.
    “Go ahead!” Nursing one elbow in the palm of her hand to ease the pain in her shoulder, Kirstie joined her at the window. She winced and frowned to see the very motor home they’d been talking about parked on a flat piece of land beyond the bridge over the creek. It looked like the Santos family had arrived for their week’s stay at the ranch. The sight of it made her stomach churn. “OK, Lisa, give it to me straight.”
    Lisa turned her gray eyes to meet Kirstie’s blue