Sunset Ranch by A. Destiny

horse deserves a chance!” Stephen suddenly burst out. I could feel his arm trembling against mine. “No one’s sending him away without at least giving him a chance.”
    Jack put down the schedule.
    â€œWhat did you say?” Rick asked slowly. Dangerously.
    Jack stood up and pulled three feed buckets from the corner. “Sit down, you three.”
    We sat.
    â€œNow, tell me what’s going on here.” Jack spoke to all of us, but he was looking at Stephen.
    â€œWe feel like the buckskin could be a good horse, sir,” Zach jumped in smoothly. “He has potential. Chloe, Stephen, and I can school him every day. If he’s not doing good in a month or two, send him back to the auction then. That’s our proposal.”
    â€œI can do this,” Stephen broke in. He was talking to Rick. “Just wait. He’ll be the best guest horse on the ranch.”
    â€œIf you’re looking to be assistant trainer because of this horse, there’s no promises.” Rick spit the words out like apple seeds.
    I cringed. Stephen looked straight ahead, where there was a yellowing poster of shoeing procedures. Zach whistled a little between his teeth and leaned back against the wall, supremely unconcerned.
    â€œIt’s up to you,” Jack said to Rick. “Their daily work won’t suffer much. I’m willing to give the old boy a chance if these three think they can train him up.” He smiled at us.
    â€œAll right.” Rick looked us over as if we were destined for the auction mart too. “Here’s the deal. We’re short horses for the pack trip. You get that buckskin ready in time. If he can do the trip, he can stay.” He turned his back without waiting for a response.
    The conference was over, and we hurriedly got off our buckets. “We’ll see about assistant trainer,” Rick called after Stephen as we were leaving. “We’ll see how that horse does.”
    Back on the porch, I let out a big breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “We did it!” I clapped my hands together. Zach gave me a high five.
    â€œYou were awesome!” I hugged him, and he lifted me off my feet and twirled me around.
    Stephen was standing quietly to one side, watching us. I felt a sudden flush of guilt, as if I’d been caught. I laid my hand on his arm. “Aren’t you happy? This is your chance at assistant trainer. We’ll show Rick how great the buckskin can really be.” My voice was uncharacteristically bubbly.
    â€œYeah. Yeah. We will.” Stephen smiled, finally.
    Zach slapped Stephen’s shoulder. “Come on, man. We’re driving out to the west pasture to scrub water troughs.”
    â€œI’m supposed to turn out, so I’ll let you guys know how it goes,” I called over my shoulder as I hurried across the wind-whipped grass toward the stable.
    I examined the chore chart pinned to the dusty bulletin board by the door. Auction horses—halter, lead line, pasture, it said. Perfect. That meant I was supposed to work on the ground with the new horses, getting halters on them, leading them around, making sure they had good ground manners—no biting the lead line, or trailing behind, or stopping to snatch grass. Then I would have to take them out to the pasture, make sure they knew how to go in and out of the gate, introduce them to the other horses. General getting-to-know-your-new-home activities. I could start working with the buckskin this morning.
    I took down a lead line from the wall. “Hey, good ­morning, guys,” I greeted the black and the paint, who were hanging over the half doors of their stalls, ears pricked, clearly waiting for visitors. I gave the black a scratch on the star on his broad forehead, and the paint poked his nose over. “You want your share too, don’t you?” I rubbed his velvety nose, pricked with stiff whiskers.
    The buckskin wasn’t