The Renegade Read Online Free Page B

family. Only Popcorn matched her explosive energy as she ran laps around the ten-are corral, and she always outlasted the albino, showing how much she missed the open range.
    To help calm her, Sam made time every day after school to pony the mare. She trotted alongside as Sam rode Ace, happy to stretch her legs.
    Dad and Dallas were pretty sure Dark Sunshine was in foal to the Phantom, so it was important that she exercise and become gradually more accustomed to people.
    Everyone understood this--except Ace.
    The bay gelding paced along the barn corral fence. Every so often he halted, pawed impatiently, and aimed a summoning snort toward Sam.
    “If I believed in such things, I’d say that gelding of yours is psychic,” Gram said as she walked toward them from turning Sweetheart into the pen with Ace. “He started fussing about five minutes before Blaze barked to tell us Linc’s car was coming.”
    Sam smooched toward the corral. Ace stopped. He tossed his head so that his forelock flipped away from the white star on his forehead.
    “Quit embarrassing him,” Jake said. “No working cow pony likes to be treated like a pet.”
    “Shows how much you know,” Sam said.
    She would have gone to Ace right away if Jakehadn’t disappeared into the barn just as everyone else asked For details about the search for Rachel.
    “Found her okay, I guess,” said Dallas. The gray-haired foreman sat on the front step. He looked tired.
    That morning, Dad had confided to Gram that Dallas’s arthritis was acting up. Though Dallas would resist, Dad planned to ask him to do work that would keep him around the ranch.
    Sam sat down beside him on the step. She tried not to be judgmental in telling how they’d found Rachel, but she couldn’t resist adding a few sentences about the surprising treatment Rachel had received when she reached home.
    Dad, Gram, and Dallas all shook their heads.
    Gram said, “In rough country like this, someone needs to know where you are.”
    Sam agreed, for Rachel. But Gram and Dad wouldn’t have to worry about her. “If there was an emergency,” Sam began, “and I had to leave without--”
    “No excuses,” Dad said. “Not now and not when you’re twenty-one. Never try a fool stunt like that.”
    “I’m not like Rachel.”
    Dad nodded, looking satisfied. He wouldn’t say anything bad about a neighbor, but she could tell he didn’t approve of bribing your child to make her behave.
    “Good thing,” Dallas said, pulling himself to his feet. “Because you’ve got a chore that needs doing.Before you went tearing off after Jake, I planned for you to check the feed room for mice. That means moving everything in there.”
    “But Dallas, Sunny and Ace haven’t been out today. They need exercise.”
    “That can wait. You’re taking tomorrow morning to ride out with the Kenworthy girl. Isn’t that right?”
    “Yes, but--”
    “I saw something out of the corner of my eye this morning in the tack room. We can’t have rodents eating the winter feed.”
    “Dad,” Sam appealed to her father. Instantly, she saw it had been a mistake.
    “Dallas is the foreman. You know that.”
    “Yes, sir,” Sam said, but as she trudged toward the barn, Sam couldn’t help thinking everyone was happier when Dallas was out on the range, where he belonged.
     
    One side of Ace’s corral allowed him inside the barn. He trotted in just as Sam entered, and she couldn’t resist giving him the hug he wanted.
    Ace swung his head over the top fence rail, and Sam wrapped her arms around his sleek bay neck. Eyes closed, she let his coarse mane rub her cheek while his lips whuffled her shoulder.
    “You are such a good horse. I’m sorry you’re bored.”
    Ace drew a deep breath, inhaling her scent beforehe relaxed against her.
    “Tomorrow, we’ll go on a good long ride.” She tightened her hug for a minute, then gave him a pat and pulled back to look at his serious brown eyes. “Until then, you can watch me look for