I nodded in what I hoped was a dignified manner and reminded myself that he couldn’t know how fluttery I felt inside. Oh, how much I longed to speak.
The path was wide enough for several horses, so we could ride side by side. I did not hear the chirp of a bird. I did not hear the chatter of a squirrel. If there had been a Category Five hurricane at that moment, it would have blown right past me. I was on a horse. Noah was on a horse. And we were riding horses together. Well, sort of. But still!
A minute later we caught up with Devin as well. “Hey, Melody,” he hollered. “You are prettier than your horse, and your horse looks good!”
Wait—was that a compliment?
“Man, you are seriously lacking any chill,” Noah joke-dissed him.
But I waved at Devin anyway.
Jeremiah looked me over with a nod of approval. “Hey, Melody, you do look like a pro!”
Then he asked Trinity, “What time does the dance start tomorrow?”
On the outside, I was trying to look chill, no big deal. Inside my head I was silent screaming. A dance? A dance?
“Last year they put up the dance floor during dinner,” Trinity said, “so probably a half hour afterward—give the kids time to change.”
I was sitting there listening to this, so astonished by the idea of a dance that I was speechless. Now that was a good one! But seriously, no one mentioned a dance in that brochure I’d read seventy-four times!
“Okay, thanks,” Jeremiah was saying. “I just needed a ballpark.” Then he added, “Want to ride with us, Melody?”
I managed to make a noise that let him know that absolutely I did want to ride with them.
“We’d love to,” Trinity added, just in case he didn’t get it.
We picked the pace back up to a trot, heading deeper into the woods, Devin on one side of me and Noah on the other, Trinity and I tucked in the middle.
My brain has always been stuffed full of words and thoughts and clever expressions. But at that moment, I was almost grateful for the silence. There was no need to say anything to what was already pretty perfect. Riding! As we rode along, I lifted my face to the dappled sunshine… until I noticed there wasn’t any.
Clouds were gathering. The branches had begun to sway with a wind that abruptly gusted around us.
Trinity must have noticed the same, because she said to Jeremiah, “Looks like we better cut our ride short—we might get some weather.”
Jeremiah looked at the darkening clouds. “Huh. I heard there was a front coming in, but the forecast said this evening. You’re right, though—we’re in for a downpour! I’m gonna get our guys back before that happens.” He gave a turn-around motion to his team.
“We’re right behind you,” Trinity agreed.
CHAPTER 38
Long, low thunder rumbled off in the distance. I felt Trinity’s arm tighten ever so slightly around me as she pressed her heels into Jolie’s sides, and the horse picked up speed.
“Melody, I’m having Jolie hurry up a bit—we’re cantering. We might just beat the rain!”
I looked again at the dark, dark sky and got goose bumps. The colors of the ferns and vines shifted. Yeah, it was a little spooky. Even Jolie seemed uneasy—more thunder rumbled and her ears flattened back.
“Well, looks like we won’t be having our bonfire tonight. Every camp week has to have one rainy day,” Trinity said in an overly cheery, keep-Melody-from-freaking-out voice. I could tell. I was also wishing I could tell her that I loved… cantering. Was that what she called it? I had that “in a movie” feeling again…. Jolie was going so fast, yet so smoothly. Kids who love sneakers are sneakerheads, ballet girls are called bunheads. What was the word for loving horses? A horsehead? Nah, too weird, but whatever it was, I could see myself turning into one.
I also wondered if getting off the horse would be as easy as getting on. Probably easier because of gravity, I decided. My calves and thighs were tingling—just not used to the stretch of being on horseback. My physical therapist was always wanting me to stretch more. Maybe I could get her to prescribe daily riding lessons. Aha—a plan!
And that got me wondering if they had stables with specially trained horses like these at home. Well, I for sure was gonna find out.
I patted Jolie’s mane, giving her a silent thank-you for allowing me to have such a smooth and easy ride. And I made a mental note to tell Mom and Dad that they should definitely send Penny to camp when she was old enough—she would love it!
A few fat plops of rain landed on my arms just as we reached the stables. The other Falcons had arrived moments earlier. Oh no—Athena was crying! “I’m scared of thunder! I’m scared of thunder!” she insisted. Sage assured her it was miles away still, and that we’d be back in our cabins soon.
As if to prove her wrong, the sky gave another long, low rumble. If I could talk, I would have told Sage that it was clear the storm was going to win this race.
Trinity looked from me, to the sky, to me again. That’s when the clouds opened. And the rain. Came. Down. I was getting soaked, but I didn’t mind—it was totally worth it for being able to have my first-ever, never-could-have-imagined-in-a-zillion-years, ride on a horse.
Karyn was waiting for her turn at the harness. Noah was in front of her, and as he was being lifted off his horse, he hollered, “My name might be Noah, but I’m not taking the blame for this flood!” Yeah, he was pretty funny.
But Trinity wasn’t laughing. She was looking around, frowning. “We’re gonna be just fine, Melody,” she suddenly declared. “I’m going to get off and slide you down myself, okay? Your chair is right over there!”
I gave her a hesitant head nod, but Trinity was strong—she could totally do this. She could probably carry me and the wheelchair if she had to. Thunder continued to rumble.
I grabbed for the reins as Trinity let them go, worried they would fall away. My fingers don’t always cooperate, but somehow they hooked the leather straps and I clutched them tight.