15
We found Ranger Upchurch talking to Hamp out by the horse barn. Misty, looking cute as a basket of kittens, in jeans and cowboy boots, was saddling a horse. I went over to talk to her.
"Goin' for a ride?" My mouth was full of cotton, and I couldn't think of another thing to say.
She smiled at me. "Uh-huh. Want to come along? I can saddle Blade for you. He's real gentle."
I looked at that saddle. "I, um… I don't know. I may have to be getting back to town."
She must have read my mind. "I could put a western saddle on him."
"I'll see," I said, and headed back to where Biggie was standing beside the ranger.
"Go," she said when I asked her. "Just be back in an hour."
We walked the horses past the corral and the riding ring and across the pasture until we came to a grove of trees.
"Watch your head and legs," Misty said. "Old Blade will try to knock you off. He'll either cut too close to a fence post, or sometimes he'll head for a low limb and try to scrape you off that way."
"I thought you said he was gentle," I said.
Misty laughed. "You always have to be smarter than the horse. They're just like people; they have their little quirks."
I ducked as we passed under an oak tree and followed Misty through the woods into a wide clearing bordered on both sides by planted pines.
"This is a pipeline right-of-way," she said. "They keep it mowed, so it's a perfect place to run the horses. Come on!"
She nudged her horse with her heels and cantered away. I gave Blade a nudge, but all he did was speed up to a trot, all the time trying to get his head down to the green grass below. Finally, I gave him a good kick and held on to the saddle horn as he galloped after Misty. We must have ridden a half mile when we came in sight of a blacktop road up ahead. Misty reined in her horse and waited for Blade to catch up.
"This is the end of the trail," she said. "I know a good place to rest and let the horses drink. Follow me."
We turned the horses left and entered an even denser wood than before. Grapevines trailed from the trees and ran along the ground, causing the horses to step high to avoid them. I could hear gurgling water, and soon we broke into a clearing beside a creek bank. Misty jumped from her horse and led it to the water. I followed suit. After the horses had a drink, we tied them to a low-hanging branch and sat down on the mossy ground.
"I didn't know you rode," Misty said, smiling.
"Oh, sure." I didn't tell her that the only riding I'd ever done, except for the ponies at the county fair, was on Mr. Sontag's old mule.
"You should come out and ride often." She leaned back on her hands and looked sideways at me. "That is, if we're staying here, me and Daddy, I mean."
I sat up straight. "Why shouldn't you?"
"I heard them talking, Abner and Daddy. Abner was saying they might have to sell the ranch. He said Rex had already settled a bunch of cash on Laura, and he wasn't leaving her anything in his will."
"That's awful." I watched two beetles crawling across the green moss pushing a ball of dung. "What will y'all do?"
"Daddy'll move on to another job, I guess. He's a wonderful trainer. Before we came here, he trained quarter horses, you know, for racing. That's big business, and good trainers get paid a lot. Actually, what Daddy really wants to do is settle down with his own stables, but you have to have lots of money for that."
"Where's your mom?"
"She's married again and living in Arizona. I've got a little brother there, but I've never even seen him. When she and Daddy divorced, she gave me to Daddy. I guess she didn't want me." Misty didn't look sad, just matter of fact.
"Cool— I didn't mean that. It's not cool when your mom doesn't want you around. What I meant to say is, my mom didn't want me either. I guess we have something in common. Does it bother you her not wanting you?"
"Uh-uh." Misty waved away a gnat that was buzzing around her face. "I'd lots rather live with Dad."
"Me, too— I mean, I'd rather live here in Job's Crossing with Biggie."
Misty turned and put her face close to mine. "J.R., I've never met a boy as nice as you. Have you ever heard of soul mates?"
"Huh?" I was having a hard time breathing.
"Soul mates. People who were meant to be together. I was reading this book one time…"
"Would you like to go to the junior high homecoming dance with me?" I knew my face was turning red, but I forced myself to look straight at her. "It's next Friday night, and Rosebud could drive me out to pick you up. We'd bring you home, too."
Misty's face lit up with a big smile. "Sure! You are just the sweetest boy to ask me." With that, she gave me a kiss right on the lips. I hate to admit it, but I was so surprised I fell over backward and rolled down the hill, just barely stopping myself before I fell into the creek. When I looked up, Misty was laughing her head off. I laughed, too, because what else could I do?
* * *
Back at the horse barn, I said good-bye to Misty and went to find Biggie. I found her sitting at a picnic table under some trees talking with Rosebud and the ranger.
"He had a gun," Ranger Upchurch was saying.
"He always kept it in his bureau drawer. Anybody could have gotten their hands on it."
"And in the shape poor Rex was in, he'd never have known." Biggie's lips drew into a thin line.
"The funny thing is," the ranger said, "the gun the kid had— it had been fired. Rex's gun, we're not too sure about."
"Did anybody find a slug?" Rosebud asked. "In the study, I mean."
Ranger Upchurch shook his head. "Not a sign. And Mrs. Barnwell says Stacie never fired the gun."
Biggie opened the car door and got in. Then holding the door open, she said, "Red, I'm worried about the daughter, Babe."
"I am, too," the ranger said. "I plan to have a talk with her before I leave here today. The funeral, such as it is, is tomorrow. Will you be coming out?"
"I haven't been invited," Biggie said. "Still, I believe it's my Christian duty to comfort the grieved, so I might just bring along a casserole for the family."
"That's my girl." The ranger grinned and slammed the door. He stood watching as Rosebud turned the car around and drove away.
* * *
That night at dinner, I told my news. "Misty's going to the dance with me. I asked her, and she said yes. Rosebud, I told her you'd drive me out to pick her up." I spooned gravy on my mashed potatoes. "I might need to borrow some money to buy her a mum. I want Butch to make a big, fancy one with lots of streamers hanging down— and little doodads attached to the streamers, just like the high school girls have. Will you loan me the money, Biggie? I'll rake leaves or chop wood—" Suddenly, I noticed everybody had stopped eating. "What? What's the matter?"
Biggie had been cutting her chicken-fried steak. "J.R., you've already asked Monica to the dance."
I had forgotten. Two weeks ago, Monica and I had gone fishing at Wooten's Creek. I had caught a big catfish. For once Monica had bragged on me a lot, telling me not just anybody could have landed him, that it took a real fisherman to do that. Later, we had fired up Mr. Sontag's outdoor fryer, and we'd cooked my fish and eaten him for supper. After supper, we sat out on Monica's back steps and tried to pick out the constellations in the summer sky. Just when I was getting ready to leave, full of catfish and pride, I had asked Monica to go to the dance with me.
"Well." I thought fast. "I don't… I don't really think Monica's into that kind of thing. She goes to that little country school… she wouldn't know anybody… and besides, she probably doesn't even have a dress to wear." I took a sip of tea. "She'd more than likely be embarrassed when nobody asked her to dance. Isn't that right, Rosebud?" I looked at Rosebud, but he was cutting his meat. "I guess I'll just call her and tell her…" What would I tell her? Suddenly, I wasn't hungry anymore. "May I be excused?"
Biggie nodded. Nobody said a word as I got up from the table and went up the stairs to my room.