“The sugar cubes I took from inside. They’re for feeding to the horses. He’s the only one who’ll come to visit though. The rest of the herd aren’t that social. My uncle says he’s real quirky. Just don’t go in the pen with him and you’ll be fine.”

“Hey, that’s a nice horse,” said Ben, pushing his bike over. He was the only one of us who wasn’t covered in scratches and bruises.

I didn’t want to leave the horse, but I also really wanted to feed him, so I ran back to the barn and got the cubes. I ran back out and slowed down when Kingdom’s head went up. A person probably shouldn’t run around horses.

“Hi,” I said, and he made a snorting noise. Up close he was big and covered in dust but also somehow kind of shiny and he smelled very horsey, which is a surprisingly nice smell.

“Okay, I’m going to give you a sugar cube now, so don’t bite off my fingers,” I said, barely even noticing that I was talking out loud to a horse. I looked around to see Ben was practicing on the bike jumps again and Fisherman was saying something to him.

King arched his neck and sniffed my hand and I held out the sugar cube between two fingers. He took it from me and his lips were soft, and I could feel his whiskers brush against my hand.

“Not like that,” said Fisherman. “Hold your hand flat.”

I took a deep breath, put another sugar cube in my palm, and held my hand out, like I was asking for something. He took the piece of sugar just as gently as he had the first time.

He also let me pet his neck and I took a few sniffs of him. I never thought anything that wasn’t a girl’s perfume or fresh baking could smell so nice. I can’t quite explain it, but being close to the horse made me feel better than I had since we’d got to Stony Butte. The horse made my insides feel calm.

I was so happy when he didn’t walk away after he ate all the sugar cubes. He sniffed me and I sniffed him and I kept giving him pats. That probably sounds weird but it wasn’t.

“You want to do the course once more before we take it down?” asked Fisherman.

I shook my head, still staring at King. “Do people ride him?” I asked.

“Not yet. He’s still green. My uncle’s real into that natural horsemanship stuff so he doesn’t start ’em until they’re a little older. I think King’s broke to halter and he’s been lunged, but nothing else. My uncle says he has a few quirks, so he’s taking it real slow with him.”