At Top Speed (Quartz Creek Ranch)

by Amber J. Keyser

  “You knew all that stuff about barrel racing at the rodeo,” said Ella. “You must be kind of good at it.”

  Jordan gave her trademark shrug. “Mrs. Rose taught me a little, and lets me exercise her horses for her after school. When she suggested I compete on Antonio because he loves the spotlight, I agreed. That’s all. It was just good luck, and Antonio.”

  “Then why did you come here?” asked Ella, her tone accusatory, feeling she still had something to be mad at Jordan about, that there was still some inherent deceit. “I thought this place was for kids who wanted to learn how to ride, not for people who are already good at it.”

  “I . . .” Jordan swallowed, her eyes never leaving the floor. “Ma Etty said it was fine. My parents thought that since, you know, I’ve had one good thing happen to me on a horse, that coming here would be good for me. That it would teach me focus, or determination, or something.” She sucked in a big breath, and she gave Ella the impression of a vase, perched precariously on the edge of a shelf, about to tip over and smash on the ground. “I only came here because my parents sent me. It wasn’t my choice, you know.”

  She said this last part almost angrily, and turned her head away, cradling the broom handle to her chest.

  That made it a little better to Ella, that Jordan had been sent here against her will. She felt sympathetic to that, also having a strong-willed parent.

  “How long have you been riding?” asked Ella, incredibly curious now about how this shy, quiet girl had won a championship. “How did you hook up with this lady, Mrs. Rose?”

  But Jordan stared at the floor, sweeping the same spot she’d swept five times already. “Not long,” was all she said.

  After that, Ella couldn’t wiggle even one more word out of Jordan—only grunts and shrugs and head shakes. Ella regretted calling her a liar, because now Jordan wouldn’t even look Ella in the eye.

  They spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the chicken coop in total silence. If only she hadn’t slammed the door to Jordan McAdam, just as it was starting to open.

  Chapter Nine

  Ella had her dad’s persistence, so she didn’t let what had happened with Jordan trouble her. The next day during the morning riding lesson, she threw herself into becoming the best horsewoman she could, even though she had to ride snooze-fest Lacey.

  And as Ma Etty had suggested, Lacey did listen to Ella. Whenever Ella asked, Lacey walked or turned or backed up around the orange cones Fletch had arranged. The rodeo seemed to have worked a bit of magic on the other kids too, because all their attention was focused on speeding up to a trot. Ella watched Fletch and Madison’s faces, wondering if this step was enough, and when they’d report back to Ma Etty that she was ready to ride Figure Eight again.

  Probably not, though. Ella had a feeling that impressing Ma Etty wouldn’t be easy.

  Ella and Lacey were walking directly behind Jordan and Loco Roco. Ella hated watching them, the way they seemed to work in perfect tandem, like two halves of the same whole. He anticipated her commands, often sliding to a smooth stop before she could say “Whoa.” Jordan barely looked like she was doing anything to get sharp turns and careful, snakelike bends around orange cones.

  As Ella watched Jordan silently sway in her saddle, moving in perfect rhythm with Loco’s walk, she wondered if Ma Etty’s prescription could actually work—if Ella could ever become the kind of horsewoman that Jordan was.

  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

  Ella got paired up with Kim that afternoon for chores, and though she’d dreaded it during lunch, it turned out that Kim was good company. He kept to himself unless he had a sarcastic remark to make, like, “You’d think this fly would get the hint after the fifth time I’ve almost smacked him.” There wasn’t much glory in gardening—just a lot of dirt. Ella wanted to complain, but she didn’t.

  Patience. Kindness. Compassion. Thoughtfulness. She kept repeating the words in her head.

  She tried the thoughtfulness part out while they worked, but it was deadly boring. She couldn’t think about anything except how badly she wanted to be racing around those barrels on Figure Eight’s back.

  Saturday was supposed to be blazing hot, so Fletch and Madison planned a ride out into the wilderness that bordered the ranch, where the trees and the mountains would keep them cool.

  Ella wanted to ask about taking Eight, because they’d just be plodding along at a walk the whole time, but she remembered: patience. Ugh.

  As the kids gathered with their horses in the gravel parking lot for the ride, baking under the hot sun, a man rode a huge horse down Bridlemile Road from the northern end of the ranch. Ella had heard from Drew that the Bridles grazed cattle up there.

  The man had windswept blond hair and a bushy mustache. His enormous horse, colored the strangest deep brownish-red, stopped in front of them. Three handsome, black-and-white dogs trailed along behind.

  “Paul, glad you could make it,” said Madison, waving from the ground. “Think you can handle this group?”

  Paul emitted a bellyful of laughter. “Handle?” he said. “Who needs handlin’, Maddie? We’re just gonna go walk through some woods and enjoy the scenery together.”

  At this, Madison stifled a laugh. “All right then,” she said, and then waved to the kids. “Paul here is the ranch manager at Quartz Creek Ranch, and he offered to lead your trail ride today. Fletch and I are staying here to catch up on exercising our own horses. So please listen to Paul as if he were us.” She paused, then said, “Scratch that. Don’t listen to him as if he were us. Listen to him as if he were a two-hundred-pound man who knows how to fire a rifle through a coyote’s heart at three hundred yards. That’s more accurate.”

  Paul gave her a perplexed look, but Madison just winked and sauntered off.

  “Okay then,” said Paul, pointing off toward the green mountains lying to the west of them. “Let’s go!”

  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

  “This all is White River National Forest,” said Paul, gesturing grandly at the blue-green trees sprouting up all around them as they wound uphill, into the woods. “One of the prettiest darn places in the whole wide world, if you ask me.”

  “I don’t remember asking,” said Kim near the back, so only Ella, Drew, and Jordan could hear. Ella and Drew both chuckled.

  “What’s that back there?” called Paul.

  “Nothing,” said Kim. “Just agreeing with you.”

  “Hmm,” said Paul.

  That made Drew and Ella giggle even harder. Jordan, who followed behind Kim at the very back, stayed silent. It reminded Ella about her pledge to Ma Etty, and her own laughter tapered off.

  How was she going to master any of the traits that old lady wanted? Kind people were like Jordan, like Mom. They went quiet and looked away when the conversation turned against them. They didn’t fight for themselves. They were doormats.

  And people like Ella, people like Dad, who were willing to step on and over those doormats—those were the people who made it ahead in this world. Who got what they wanted.

  There had to be another way of becoming the type of horsewoman who was allowed to ride the beautiful, graceful, powerful Figure Eight.

  Then, as Ella turned her head to take in the trees passing by, she spotted Jordan and Loco Roco in her peripheral vision.

  A thought struck. Ella needed a teacher, like Ma Etty had suggested—someone who had what she was missing. Someone who had the trust of Fletch, Madison, and most importantly, Ma Etty.

  Ella leaned back in her saddle and whispered to Kim, “Hey, trade places with me?”

  He arched an eyebrow at her, but then he shrugged. “Whatever,” he said and passed her in line, putting Ella just in front of Jordan. Ella could practically feel the other girl tense up behind her.

  This was one benefit of Lacey, Ella thought, as she turned all the way around in her saddle so she could face Jordan. Lacey kept moving just behind Kim’s horse, taking no notice of her rider’s misbehavi
or—or if she did notice, she didn’t care at all.

  “What’s up?” Ella asked. She realized as soon as she said it how lame it was.

  Jordan just looked at her posture with wide eyes, and then looked away.

  With a sigh, Ella sat normally in her seat again and pulled back on Lacey’s reins. Confused, but ever willing, Lacey slowed down so Loco Roco could catch up to her. Then they continued on, side by side, a few paces behind the rest of the group, as Paul began telling a long-winded story.

  “Good work in the arena the other day,” said Ella. “You know, when we . . . walked around.”

  Man. Ella could not seem to stop with the lameness.

  “Uh,” said Jordan, “thanks.”

  “How long have you been riding horses?” Ella asked, trying out this question for the second time now.

  “Um . . . two years, maybe three?” Jordan shrugged.

  That’s what she always did, it seemed like—shrug as if she didn’t know a single thing in the world, as if she had no authority on anything, including how long she’d been riding horses.

  “How could you not know?” Ella asked with a chuckle, before she could think better of it.

  Jordan’s lips pressed together and she answered with silence, and another shrug.

  This was going about as poorly as Ella’s original plan to get Eight back. She didn’t know how to talk to someone like Jordan. She could volley easily with someone like Dad—someone who believed completely in his abilities, sometimes beyond them. Nothing Ella said could chip his armor or make him think less of himself. Sometimes Ella hated that.

  But then, she also could never hurt him by accident. So they made an okay team.

  Or they did after Mom left. She could never take that stuff—too delicate, Dad said. Sometimes, during the divorce proceedings, he had called her a wimp. Thin-skinned. Fragile. Even though Ella had decided to stay with her dad when they went to court, she’d never been able to decide if she agreed with that assessment of Mom or not.

  Maybe Mom just didn’t like having her confidence and patience tested every moment of every day.

  “Sorry,” said Ella after a long while had passed. Jordan had kept pace with her and Lacey.

  Jordan gave her a strange look. “For what?”

  “For what I said. For being sarcastic.”

  Jordan shrugged. Again.

  “Jeez,” said Ella. “Don’t you feel things besides ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t care’? Like, didn’t that annoy you, that I said that?”

  Another shrug. Jordan started slowing her horse down, falling behind again.

  “What are you gals doing back there?” called Paul from the front. “I don’t want you to fall behind and get lost.”

  Ella sighed. This wasn’t going to work. “Okay,” Ella called back. “On my way, Captain.” She gave Lacey a little kick to catch up with the others, leaving Jordan alone in the back. Probably the way she wanted it.

  Up at the front, Paul regaled the kids with a tale of the time a cow escaped onto the neighbors’ property. Neighbors who—from what Ella could tell this far into it—were pretty mean, grouchy people. Worried what might befall one of his prize heifers, Paul had bemoaned the pickle his cow found herself in to a previous group of ranch kids. They heroically marched in after her, rescuing her, and barely escaped with their lives. At least, that was how Paul told it.

  “That’s a dumb story,” said Ash. “Something like that would never happen at this ranch.”

  Paul frowned. “Well, that’s rude. It did happen—I saw it. I was there.”

  “Uh huh,” said Ash, rolling his eyes. He always had to take somebody down with him.

  “Shut up, Ash,” Ella said. “I liked Paul’s story. Well told. Very dramatic.” She even clapped a little.

  Paul frowned. “I’m pleased to hear that, Ella. But no telling people to shut up on my watch either, okay?”

  Ella sighed. “Okay.”

  The dogs had found a bone as they ran circles around the slow-moving horses, and they were taking turns carrying it around. Soon, Paul slowed down and said, “Here we go.”

  The forest opened up before them. Hills rolled out below, the edges tinged blue-green. The immense, snow-capped Rockies took over the skyline.

  Paul turned away from them to focus on the path as he began talking. “This part of White River is known for its natural spring water,” he started saying.

  Ash and Drew were whispering and giggling. In the two seconds Ella had been gazing out at the scenery, Drew climbed up in his saddle so he was half-standing on top of his horse, like one of the trick riders at the rodeo. Ash was on his way to the same position. When he saw she was watching, Ash gave Ella a challenging look.

  “What? Gonna throw a fit about it?” he said quietly. The dare to join them went unspoken.

  If there was any horse you could pull a stunt like this on, it was little Lacey. Ella felt enormous pride in her boring, constant pony as she got onto her knees first, grabbing the horn with one hand for balance. It would be a shame if Paul turned around, she thought briefly. Lacey didn’t bother with whatever Ella was doing and kept walking.

  Drew had gotten all the way up on his feet, looking back at Ella, when Ella saw a low-hanging branch just ahead of him. She pointed, mouthing, “Duck!”

  But instead of doing as she instructed, Drew turned to see. The branch hit him across the side of the face. He started sliding off his horse with comical slowness as both the branch he’d run into and the steady, slow pace of his horse radically delayed his fall.

  Paul decided right then to turn and ask them a question.

  “What on God’s green Earth?” he cried. He flipped his horse around and jogged back down the line. Ella slid back properly into her saddle. Drew’s horse, sensing he was losing his rider, abruptly halted.

  This motion sent Drew sliding all the way off, still desperately clutching the tree branch, and he dropped unceremoniously onto the ground. The dogs ran up to Drew, yapping and licking, and he laughed as he pushed them away. He didn’t look hurt in the least, maybe a bit dirty.

  “That was the dumbest thing I have ever seen,” Paul said, his expression somewhere between astounded and furious. “Who tries to stand up on their saddle? Were you raised in a barn?”

  “Obviously not,” piped up Kim. “If he had been, he might know better.”

  Drew stood up and dusted himself off, sheepishly taking his horse by the reins. “Hey,” he said. “Worked out better than that joyride I took on my bike, at least.”

  “And you two,” Paul said to Ash and Ella. “Motor-mouth is one thing, but the two of you!” He couldn’t even seem to find words for how angry he was.

  Ella opened her mouth to say something, to explain herself somehow, but Paul raised his hand to stop her. “No,” he said. “Don’t say anything. We’re going back. Now.”

  A gasp rose up from the very back of the train of kids, and Ella was sure it had been Jordan.

  “But we’ve only been out here—” said Ash.

  “Back!” Paul hollered. “Now!”

  No one spoke as they turned around and headed back down the hill toward Quartz Creek. Paul rode at the head of the line, no longer full of stories. Even his horse walked more stiffly, and his dogs took up what seemed like guard positions all along the line of kids, no longer playing or arguing over bones.

  Ella fell in line behind Jordan this time. The other girl looked absolutely miserable as they stalked back down the mountain and onto the ranch land. It really was hot out, Ella thought, so heading back down to the ranch was a bummer. But it wasn’t like Jordan had done anything wrong up there. What was eating her?

  Chapter Ten

  “We’re back!” Paul hollered gruffly as they rode back into the parking lot.

  Fletch poked his head out the office window. “So soon?”

  “So soon,” Paul confirmed. “I don’t want injured campers on my watch, you know what I mean?”

  “Injured campers?�
�� Fletch sighed and ducked back into the office. After some scuffling, Madison and Fletch both came out the front door and helped the kids off their horses. They didn’t bother to ask what had happened, and Paul didn’t tell them.

  He stuck two fingers in his mouth, let out a sharp whistle to call his dogs to him, and galloped off on his big blood bay, back the way he’d come earlier that morning.

  Why did Ash and Drew have to ruin everything? That stupid trick-riding idea had obviously been Drew’s, and Ash shouldn’t have challenged her.

  Where Ella had missed the heat up in the forest, down on the ranch it was dry and suffocating. Even the grass seemed wilted and brown. They sat on it as they ate their lunches, because they hadn’t been gone long enough to eat them on the trail ride.

  “Man,” said Jordan. Everyone turned to look at her when she spoke. It was the first time she’d ever done so freely. “We could have been swimming right now.”

  “Swimming?” asked Ella. “Where?”

  “Fletch mentioned a glacial lake up there, on the trail.”

  “Glacial lake?” Drew asked with his mouth full of food, then swallowed it. “Like the kind that’s so clear you can see to the bottom?”

  “Yeah,” Jordan said.

  “Whatever,” said Ash. “It probably wasn’t that cool. All lakes look the same.”

  Ella felt so outraged at this that she couldn’t even bring herself to speak at first. There had been a gorgeous glacial lake waiting as their final destination, and they’d missed it?

  “Wow,” said Ella sarcastically. “Thanks a lot, Drew.”

  “Hey,” said Ash. “You got up there too. Wasn’t just Drew.”

  Ella wanted to argue with him, but there was no point. So the kids fell quiet and ate the rest of their food in silence, baking in the afternoon sun.

  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

  After the morning’s events, and an afternoon sweating and toiling in the heat, everyone came to dinner grumpy and tired. As plates were handed around, they bickered over who had taken more than their fair share of Ma Etty’s stew, and the tension in the room swelled.