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Parker chuckled. “Good job. Now, when you want him to turn left, put more pressure on your left leg and move the bridle very gently to the left. You don’t want to hurt his mouth.”
“Okay.” She followed the instruction and so did Bart. “This is awesome,” she said.
“Horses are awesome,” Parker agreed. “Try turning him the other way. Same procedure.”
She did. Bart followed through beautifully.
“How do I tell him to stop?” she asked.
“You pull back very gently on the reins.”
She did that, and Bart stopped in his tracks.
“Nice job,” Parker said.
“Can we go riding now?” she asked.
He smiled at her excitement. “Not just yet. First things first. You have to know what to do in case of an emergency. That’s the next lesson. But we have to stop for now. Boss man is bringing over a few new horses for the remuda and I have to work with them.”
“It’s so nice of you to help me with Bart,” Teddie said as she dismounted cautiously. “I could never have done this by myself.”
“I love horses,” Parker said. “It’s no trouble. I enjoy working with this sweet old man, too,” he added, patting the horse’s withers. “So let’s get him unsaddled and back into his stall.”
“I’m with you,” she said, and followed him back into the stable.
* * *
“How are you doing with Bartholomew?” Katy asked at supper one night.
“Really good,” she told her mother. “Parker’s so smart!”
“He knows horses, all right,” Katy replied.
“No,” Teddie corrected. “That’s not what I mean. He’s really smart. He had a phone call Saturday when he was over here. I only heard what he was saying, but it was way over my head. Something about Einstein-Rosen bridges and somebody named Schrodinger.”
Katy’s mouth opened. “Are you sure that’s what he said?”
“Well, I think so.”
“Did he mention a cat when he talked about Schrodinger?” Katy pressed.
Teddie frowned. “Yes. But the cat was alive and dead in a box until you opened the box he was in. Strange!”
Katy caught her breath. That was theoretical physics. And it was something she wouldn’t have expected a horse wrangler to know anything about. Parker had said he graduated from college, but he hadn’t mentioned in what field. This wasn’t only over Teddie’s head, it was over Katy’s.
“Well,” she said finally, as she finished her mashed potatoes and skinless chicken breast.
“I told you, he’s real smart,” Teddie repeated. She sighed. “Some man was trying to get him to go to the Capitol and do some work, but he said it wasn’t summer and he couldn’t spare the time, they’d have to get somebody else.”
“Amazing,” Katy said.
“What is an Einstein-Rosen bridge?” Teddie wanted to know.
“Over my head,” Katy laughed. “It has to do with time dilation, and wormholes. I used to have a best friend when I was in college who had a degree in physics. She talked like that, too.”
“And that cat?”
“It’s a thought experiment,” Katy replied. “There’s a cat in a box. The cat is either alive or dead. But until you open the box and look in, the cat exists in both states.”
