If only she had had a chance to see a horse show. She had no idea what Gypsy would have to do or how hard she would have to compete with other horses. Of course the judges would have to be fair, but, she thought, how could they ever be quite fair to the other horses, once they saw Gypsy?
She closed her eyes and tried to see Gypsy as the people at the horse show would see her. She would not be the tallest of the horses, and certainly not the smallest. Would it be her eyes that would attract them? Or that warm russet glow of her coat? Would they recognize that special softness about her?
Gypsy was standing far away, at the edge of the forest. The copper of her body against the green pines was like a burning fire, her face a patch of white mist. Sarah felt like running toward her horse, but there seemed to be no need to hurry. The distance between them was diminishing fast as she walked across the sunlit meadow, in the deep grass. Her hand was in her husband’s hand, and they were walking together toward the horse that stood waiting for them at the edge of the forest.
Author of 19 published books, Maia Wojciechowska won the Newberry Award in 1965 for her young adult novel, Shadow of a Bull.
Born in Poland on August 7, 1927, she traveled through war torn Europe as a child and later immigrated to the United States with her family. Her first book, Market Day for ‘Ti André, was published in 1952, and she didn’t attempt another for over ten years. Instead, she tried her hand at being a wife, a mother, a masseuse, an undercover detective, an Avon saleswoman, a ski bum, and a bullfighter. Her unconventional life, which afforded her opportunities to test her own physical and moral courage, inspired her to write novels inhabited by characters who struggle to make brave and inspired choices for themselves.
Before she died in 2002, she raised another child as a single mother, became a grandmother, was an elected councilwoman, was made an honorary member of the Ramapough Indian tribe, and donated her body to medical science.
A Kingdom in a Horse Page 10
