Mountain Moonlight Read Online Free Page B

"Have you ever been on a horse before?"
    "No. And it won't do any good for you to tell me how to dismount because I hurt too much to try."
    He scowled at her. "If you got on, you can get off. Listen up. Keep hold of the reins while you put your left hand on Susie Q's neck. Now put your right hand on the saddle horn. Good. Lean slightly forward and shift your weight to the left stirrup."
    Vala groaned as she obeyed. When he told her to swing her right leg over the saddle, it took her two tries and a few more groans before she managed it. She was certain she'd never be able to step straight down and free her left foot from the stirrup as she did so and she was right. If Bram hadn't caught her, extricating her from the stirrup at the same time, she would have sprawled onto the ground with her left foot still caught in the damn stirrup.
    She clung to Bram, hurting all over, not sure she could stand by herself, in too much pain to feel humiliated. Susie Q snorted and, when Vala involuntarily glanced at her, she found the mare had turned her head and was staring, quite possibly in disgust, at this tenderfoot rider who couldn't even dismount properly.
    With Bram's help, she hobbled a few steps but, when she tried to ease down so she could stretch out on the ground, he wouldn't let her, saying, "You won't be able to get up if you do."
    "I don't care," she mumbled.
    "I do." His voice was hard and cold. "We're not going to camp early just for your convenience. You lied to me and you're going to suffer the consequences. We'll rest for a bit, then either we go on or we turn around and give up any idea of camping in the Superstitions."
    Vala wanted nothing more than to get back to the motel as fast as possible and fall onto the bed but one look at Davis's apprehensive face and she gave up the idea. She didn't know how she'd manage it, but go on she would. Even if it killed her.
    "You may have to lift me onto the horse," she told Bram, "but I'm not giving up."
    "Way to go, Mom," Davis said.
    "You may think so," Bram growled, "but by the time we camp this afternoon, your mother is going to be extremely sorry she didn't choose the other alternative."
    "I think she was afraid you wouldn't guide us if she told you she couldn't ride," Davis said.
    She was right, Bram thought. He wouldn't have. His annoyance with her was mixed with reluctant admiration for her tenacity. Vala just wasn't the kind who gave up, even when the odds were against her.
    "We'll walk the horses for the next stretch and give them a rest," he said, aware he was doing it for Vala's sake. The horses weren't anywhere near ridden out but neither she nor Davis would know that. While she'd find walking painful, it wouldn't hurt as much as getting back into the saddle. They went on, Vala hobbling gamely along, leading Susie Q. Bram decided that Mac must have had a sixth sense about Vala's non-existent riding skills because the mare was the most amiable and tractable horse in his corral. Susie Q would never take advantage of her rider.
    Near noon he called a halt for lunch and they ate the cheese sandwiches put up for them at Brenden's, Vala leaning against a rocky outcropping rather than trying to sit. When they were ready to go on, he hoisted her into the saddle, watching her bite her lip rather than moan as her aching muscles protested.
    When they finally reached the spot where, revising his original plans, he'd decided to camp for the night it was only three in the afternoon but he knew she couldn't go on much longer. He'd originally figured three days in and three days out but now he added two additional days to his estimate. Food wouldn't be a problem because he always brought more than he expected to need.
    After Davis helped Bram with the horses, they put up the tent where the boy and his mother would sleep. "It sure goes faster with four hands than it does with two," Bram told him when they finished. "Thanks."
    Davis nodded, flushing with pleasure, then turned to look at