Free Eager Star by Dandi Daley Mackall Page A

late.” I sat next to him on the swing. “Lousy first workout. I don’t know if I can get Grant’s horse in shape for the race or not.”
    Somebody shouted from inside. “Come on in now!”
    I didn’t know if they meant us or the dogs, but Chico took it as an order. He darted to the door, toenails clicking across the porch.
    Barker jumped up. “No, Chico!”
    He was too late. Chico rammed the screen . He shook his head and ran at it again.
    Barker snatched up the pup. “When are you going to believe me, Chico? You can’t go through doors.”
    The Barker home smelled like real food, maybe a roast. Two of Barker’s brothers chased past us and up the stairs. Mark and Luke are only a year apart, but Luke is small for his age, kind of like his dog, Chico. Mark, age seven, is the athletic one, his arms already showing muscles from throwing his Lab the Frisbee night and day.
    On an overstuffed sofa an old woman sat with a big, plastic bowl on her lap. She had pure white hair that looked like she’d just finished a high-speed chase in a top-down convertible. The arms that stuck out of her flowered dress were stick thin. She smiled with eyes that looked like they’d seen angels.
    â€œGranny, this is Winnie, a friend of mine.” Barker shouted, but the woman didn’t seem to hear . . . or understand. “Winnie, this is my great-grandmother . . . Granny for short. We’ve got homework, Granny,” Barker explained.
    Granny kept snapping the fresh beans in her bowl into smaller pieces and staring out the window as if it were a TV. I liked that Barker didn’t feel he had to explain her.
    He set his notebook on a nearby table. “Here’s where I study.”
    Barker’s mother brought in lemonade and chips. “Good to see you, Winnie!”
    I’d met her a couple of times when she’d picked up Lizzy for church. Mrs. Barker taught computer science, but she could have been a model. She was tall, with wavy hair, brown eyes, deep brown skin. “Eddy’s dad is teaching a night poetry class. He’ll be sorry he missed you.” She turned to Eddy’s great-grandmother. “Granny? More lemonade?”
    Great-granny Barker’s only answer was the steady snap, snap, snap of the beans.
    â€œWhere Wizzy?” asked William, who had just started talking. His face was round as a cookie, and his hair stuck out longer than the other boys’ hair.
    His brothers filed in behind him.
    â€œYeah, where’s Lizzy?” Matthew, at nine, was the only Barker who didn’t smile much. He had his bulldog on a leash. Their frowns matched.
    Mrs. Barker snatched up the two younger boys. “Winnie and Eddy have to study. Besides, you guys need baths!” She made a face that cracked up four out of the five. “And I’ll read an extra Bible story to the one who gets the cleanest.”
    They thundered upstairs, leaving Granny snapping beans while Barker and I talked about our papers.
    Every idea I could think of for defining success in life sounded too stupid in my head for me to let it out of my mouth. “Right now success would be getting Eager Star to win the barrel race. But I don’t think that’s enough to write about.”
    â€œEnough what?” Mrs. Barker, her arms full of clothes, swept past us, then slid into the empty chair at our table.
    Barker explained our assignment. Then his mom leaned forward. “What do you really want, Winnie?”
    I want Star to beat Summer’s horse. I want Grant and his dad to be super impressed. I want the kids at school to be impressed. I want Dad to be impressed.
    I shrugged.
    Mrs. Barker wouldn’t let me off. “What would success be for Winnie Willis?”
    â€œI want to be known as the best horse gentler in the world,” I said, trying to make it sound like a joke.
    Barker’s mom smiled. “How about you, Eddy?” She