below that it says âValley Fastball Champs 2005â. So I canât say exactly why sheâs so obviously a horse person. Thereâs just something. And basically she looks wonderful, even better than in my dreams, and I can hardly take my eyes off her except that staring is so rude.
And she doesnât seem to care anyway. She grabs her long hair in her right hand and with her left hand fishes an elastic band out of the pocket of her blue jeans and uses it to bind her hair behind her neck. I like her even more because itâs not a sparkly little pink elastic with butterflies on the end, itâs one of those thick blue ones that comes wrapped around bunches of broccoli. âLive around here?â she asks.
I know all the rules about talking to strangers, but I donât think they apply to girls who ride horses. Weâre part of the same tribe.
âYes, Iâm over on Willow Crescent. In the subdivision.â
âI donât suppose youâre sixteen?â
I know sheâs kidding. Something else we have in common. Bliss. âNot quite. Iâm fourteen. Iâll be fifteen at my next birthday.â
âOh.â She looks surprised, but only for a second. I donât blame her. I know I donât look fourteen. But at least she doesnât make a big deal of it. âIâm looking to hire someone to pick paddocks,â she says.
Sheâs treating me like an adult. I want to hug her, but I know that right now itâs more important to act business-like. âWhat exactly is picking paddocks? â
âYou put horse poop in a wheel barrow and take it to the manure pile for composting. We have to do it for parasite control.â She sees my confused look. âHorses get internal parasitesâwormsâand they infect the fields unless the manure is picked up.â
âOh,â I say, thinking about it. âI could do that.â
âYouâre not very big. You look like you could blow away in a strong wind.â
âYeah, but Iâm strong. They said so at gymnastics.â
âYou do gymnastics?â
âOnce.â
âI canât pay much. I could pay you with riding lessons when I get the ring put in, after the barn is finished.â
âThatâs a barn?â Of course itâs a barn. I should have known that. âWhere are you going to live?â
âIn a trailer for now. Iâll park it behind the barn.â
I like her more and more. Anyone who would build their barn before they build their house is my kind of person.
âI think Nickers will like having a barn,â I say.
âNickers?â
âThe bay mare,â I say. I love saying it. The bay mare. Offhand, exactly like a horse person, as if I say it all the time.
âAh. I see.â For a minute she looks like sheâs going to tell me something, she has that adult lecturing look, but then it passes. âMy nameâs Kansasâlike the state,â she says smiling.
âCoulda been worse, I guess. They could have called you Mississippi.â
âOr Rhode Island.â
I feel a giggle building up in me and squash it down. Really, Iâm so happy to have found someone who not only likes horses but also jokes around like me that I figure if I started giggling I might never be able to stop. I tell her my name is Sylvia.
She nods. âI guess youâd need to get permission from your parentsâabout the job,â she says, but she doesnât sound sure.
âI can do that.â
âYou wouldnât have to start for a couple of weeks. I need to harrow the field first to break up the old poop, and then build the paddocks for the other horses.â
âThatâs okay.â This gives me time to work things out with Mom and Dad, but really itâs great, it will fit in perfectly with my gorilla marketing plan. Then it sinks in. âOther horses? How many?â
âI dunno exactly. Iâm
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