“Yeah, a couple weeks old now.”
“Never seen anything so cute.”
“Have you seen Ginger?”
“Oh my God. Can’t take my eyes off her.”
“Me neither. I’m riding her today.”
“Lucky you. You going out now?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll see you out there.”
Molly walked away thinking about the possibilities. A new expert female rider for the stables. A possible new friend. Perfect for managing the trail ride program. Qualified to exercise horses. Good help for Willie and Buck. And she knew computers. Molly really needed help on the tech side of managing Summer’s End: a point of pay finance system, daily finance reports, a growing website, active email, and now internet marketing. Why couldn’t customers wanting a trail ride just book it online like they did everything else in their lives?
Okay, then, welcome Becky Bates who reminded everyone of a twenty- year-old Molly Mack.
Meeting Becky had diverted Molly’s attention for a few minutes. But her excitement returned as she walked through the stables to meet Ginger. Her heart was elevated. She’d been looking forward to this all day. She stepped into the stall, moving slowly and respectfully, slipped one of Jo’s favorite biscuits to the beautiful red horse, and let her sniff her hands. Molly stroked her neck, talking softly to her.
“Well, aren’t you about the most beautiful creature I’ve seen in about seventeen years?” There was no horse more beautiful than Jo, and Molly was loyal to her lifelong partner, but Ginger really was special. “You and I are going to ride today. Are you up for some exercise?”
Ginger had been trained to nod yes to friendly questions.
Molly saddled her up and moved her quietly out of the stables, walking a hundred yards before giving her a gentle prod.The athletic horse responded immediately and moved into a light trot. “That’s beautiful, girl. Let’s just take it slow and easy until you get warmed up.”
Molly was enthralled. She felt an immediate connection. It was like her first ride on Jo. They were a team from the start. After a nice warm up, Molly gave her a kick and let her move to a controlled gallop. Molly felt the exhilarating power and speed. Oh boy, she could run, and Molly wasn’t even pressing yet.
Molly ran her through the paces, a slow warm up, some controlled gallops, basic skills, slalom drills, and finally some barrel turns both directions. She felt like she was riding a two-year-old Jo, the feeling deeply satisfying. At the end of the hour, she did a long, slow cool down, not wanting the ride to end. During the cool down, she watched Becky run Dusty through her paces at the other end of the range. Becky could definitely ride.
Back at the cabin, she set the pups up in their basket out by the fire pit where she could watch them. They could crawl out of the basket now, so Shadow was busy. She’d let them play and roll around, but if they went astray, she brought them back.
Molly had a couple cold beers in the cooler. She was set up in her Adirondack in the shade, alternating her eyes among the pups, Shadow, the lake, and the mountains. The cold beer tasted good. But the thrill of riding Ginger had her in a spell.
Her cell phone buzzed, and she saw it was Charlie.
“Hey, Charlie.”
“Hi Molly. I did some checking about Ginger.”
“Thanks. What’d you learn?”
“Unfortunately, nothing very helpful. I called the Oregon agent who’d contacted me.”
“What’d he say?”
“He said the owner just bought her at auction and is keeping her under the radar up here.”
“What does he know about the owner?”
“Well, he’s wealthy.”
“How does he know that?”
“He overpaid at a public auction. My Oregon friend was his bidder at the auction. The owner was on the phone. The instructions were to buy at any cost.”
“Oh, boy.”
