She sang a new song for Ace, slow and soothing, and worked on the cut, cleaning it well to help prevent infection. Then, she numbed the area and expertly closed the wound with four stitches. She swiped some salve over the gash.

Sarah picked up the brush and, still singing, worked the brush over Ace again. By the time she finished, the horse was calm and Sarah was exhausted. Her leg screamed with pain, but she still had to play with the boys and sit through their picnic.

“Okay, Ace, you’re all set. Now, be a good boy and play nice with everyone. Jerry, where do you want him?”

“He’s due to have some exercise outside before we put him back in his stall. He could probably use it after the morning he’s had. I’ll take him out to the exercise ring.”

Jerry stepped forward to take the lead ropes for Ace, but Ace wasn’t about to give up on having Sarah take care of him. He stomped his hooves and moved toward her.

“Okay, big guy. I get it. You’re in the mood to be babied. Jerry, I’ll take him for a short ride.”

“Ride,” he said, aghast, and shook his head. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. He hasn’t been ridden in a while, let alone saddled.”

“Who said anything about saddling him?” Sarah took off the lead ropes, turned over an empty bucket, stood on top, grabbed Ace’s mane, and hauled herself up onto his back. She gave him a soft kick and walked him out of the barn.

As soon as Ace felt the sunshine on him, he took off like a rocket. The only thing Sarah could do was hold on. The pain in her thigh was punctuated by having to use her legs to hold on to Ace, but she hadn’t felt this free in a long time. Ace was a strong horse and he was using that strength to get some energy out. With the sun and wind on both of them, Sarah simply gave in and enjoyed the ride that Ace was determined to give her.

Chapter Nine

“I’m four and I know all the numbers of the alphabet.” Nick said.

“It’s not numbers, it’s letters,” Jack corrected. “He’s still a baby. He gets mixed up.”

Nick persisted. “I am not a baby. Mama says I’m a big boy now. I go to pre-K.”

Luke had worried about leaving Sarah with Ace, but listening to the boys chatter as they made their way to the horses outside made him smile. So full of energy; it felt good to hold them in his arms with their little hands clinging to his shoulders.

Luke pretended the boys were weighing him down. “You’re both big boys.” He hefted them up a bit higher. “That’s why you get to ride these big horses.”

“I want the brown one,” Nick yelled.

“They’re both brown, dummy,” Jack said to his brother.

“Jack, don’t call Nick names. That’s not nice. Now, which brown one do you want, Nick?” Luke loved how Nick concentrated with his eyes narrowed and his mouth quirked in a crooked frown.