“You don’t want that,” said Ben. “That place is supposed to be bad news. He came over to our place once, but I just had to update my paperwork. I was riding in a Rock ’Em Energy Refresher video with my brothers so I was allowed to miss school.”

Then we stopped talking and just ate. At first, I ate just to be polite, and then I ate because it was all really good, even if it was a weird mix of things. Maybe doing illegal and dangerous activities was good for the appetite.

The peaches were especially delicious, even though they were slimy, and we had to eat them with our hands and then wipe our hands on the hay (me and Ben) or our pants (Fisherman).

“My aunt cans,” said Fisherman.

“My uncle bottles,” I said, trying to be funny. But none of us got the joke exactly, because I guess I’m not good with ranch humor yet.

When we finished eating, we started building.

It was actually fun and a bit educational, Larry. I think you might have liked it. There’s more, but I’m going to take a break. Maybe have a pot pie.

Arigatō!

Rodney the Wild

16

Hey, Lar,

I’m back! There’s more!

We built two jumps using plywood and boards over hay bales that we could ride up and over. Ben hit the first jump and flew right over the second one. Fisherman hit the ramp and it collapsed. I hit the ramp and fell into the space between the jumps. I sacked myself so hard that I couldn’t stand up for, like, ten minutes because I couldn’t breathe. The guys thought that was hilarious.

I also slipped off the side of the ramp once and hurt my elbow and scraped all the skin off the side of my leg.

I fell coming off the side of the second jump another time because I was going so slow and bashed my other elbow.

It wasn’t that fun from a getting-hurt perspective.

Ben kept moving the jumps further and further apart and then he got Fisherman to lay down in between them. That’s when I took a break. I wandered over to look into the fenced pasture.

That’s when I saw the horse.

He came trotting over. His coat was a reddish-gold color and he had a long dark mane and tail. His eyes were black and there was black on his nose and legs. I walked toward him and he made a horse noise that sounded like hello. I have to tell you, man, it was amazing.

Fisherman came over. He wasn’t injured, so I guess Ben didn’t land on him.

“That’s Kingdom Come Lately. We call him King. He probably wants sugar. You can feed him if you want.”

I looked at Fisherman, not quite getting what he meant.