I had no idea what any of that meant.

“How old is he?”

I finally looked back at Fisherman, who shrugged.

“Maybe two and a half?”

I wanted to know everything about King, but it would have sounded like I was in love with him, which, if I’m being real, I guess I sort of was. Not that I’d say that to anyone but you because it sounds weird. Maybe I was more, like, in awe of him than in love.

“You sure you don’t want to ride the course again?”

Something about being near the horse made it feel okay to say that I didn’t want to.

“Before we go, we need to put everything away. If we leave a mess, I’ll be working here for free for a year.”

“You work here? Doing what?”

“I help with the horses. Fix fences. Make sure they all have water. Unload hay. Stuff like that.”

“Can I help?” The words were out of my mouth before I could even think them properly.

“My uncle pays me, like, three dollars an hour,” said Fisherman. “I only do it because my mom says I have to. And because sometimes he lets me shoot his guns after church.”

“I don’t need to get paid. And I don’t want to shoot.”

Fisherman stared at me like I just farted.

“Serious? No pay and you don’t want to shoot?”

I nodded. “I wouldn’t mind learning about ranching. And horses.”

He gave a little laugh. “If you say so. I’ll ask my uncle.”

“I want to shoot,” said Ben. “Can we try that the next time we come?”

Fisherman scuffed his feet around. “I don’t know. My uncle would be so mad. But I know where he keeps his outside guns.”

Outside guns. Great.

Then Fisherman got that embarrassed look on his face again, the one he got when he talked about the old dog. “Hey, it’s cool having you guys here,” he said. The way he said it made me think he wasn’t used to hanging out with friends.

Ben clapped him on the back. “Thanks, man,” he said.

I said I was having fun too. And I was.

After that, we took the jumps apart and put everything away. While we worked, I kept an eye on the horse, who watched us the whole time. King trotted beside us when we rode our bikes down the road, and when he reached the end of the fence line, he snorted. I stopped to watch as he tossed his head a few times and then took off running, his black mane and tail flying.

I’m not sure how to say this, but hanging with the guys and riding bikes and petting a horse and being in a barn made everything else go away. I wish you could have been there.

Rodney

17

Hey, Larry,

A few more things from the longest day ever.