Free The Haven by Suzanne Woods Fisher Page B

whisper of whisker under his nose. His neck was filling out, and she thought he had a cold he couldn’t shake off before she realized his voice was changing. She looked down, and his boots were like boats.
    It was amazing. She couldn’t get her mind around it. One day Jimmy Fisher was a bratty little boy, and the next he was a bratty young man.
    “My filly could beat your bag-of-bones gelding any day of the week,” she said, lifting her nose in the air.
    He leaned closer to the buggy. “So I hear there’s a little scandal happening out at Windmill Farm.”
    She ignored him.
    “A little ten-pound, bald-headed, diaper-bottomed scandal.”
    She continued to ignore him.
    “Funny how life goes, isn’t it? Who would have ever thought sweet little Sadie would have a race with the stork.” He tsked-tsked, shaking his head, as if he were scolding a small child for dripping an ice-cream cone.
    Now that really got M.K.’s goat. A person could only take so much, especially from the likes of Jimmy Fisher.
    Mary Kate pointed a finger at his chest. “You. Me. Your worthless gelding. My sleek filly. From here to Blue Lake Pond and back again.” She glanced at the store. She needed to get back in time before Sadie came out.
    Jimmy perked up. “Now?”
    “Now.” She gave him a sweet smile. “Unless, of course, you need some practice.”
    “Me and my gelding, we don’t need any practice,” he shot back. “What’s at stake?”
    “When I win, you will keep your mouth shut about anything that has to do with the Lapp family.”
    “And when I win?”
    M.K. narrowed her eyes. She hadn’t thought this through. Then a brilliant thought bubbled to the front and the corners of her mouth curled up in a devilish grin. “I won’t tell anyone that you were the one who let Jake Hostetler’s bull out.”
    Jimmy’s mouth opened wide in outrage. Clapped shut. “I never did!”
    “That’s a big lie, Jimmy Fisher, and it’ll only get bigger.”
    The bull breakout had been the talk of the town for a week. Jake Hostetler’s bull had broken through two neighbors’ fences to get to the Masts’ dairy farm. It had taken eight men over two hours to get all of the Masts’ cows gathered and contained and Jake’s bull back home. The Masts were not entirely unhappy about the outcome as they had a prize sire visit their farm without the usual stud fees, but Jake Hostetler was furious. “The Masts sure would like to know who got their cows all stirred up and crazy with desire.” She lifted her voice and carefully enunciated the word desire , just to rub it in.
    Jimmy’s eyes shifted to shifty. She was getting nearer the truth, never a short trip.
    “On. The. Sabbath. ”
    Jimmy’s ears burned like fire, and his broad shoulders slumped. So she was right! She wasn’t entirely sure it was Jimmy who had started the mischief, but she had a strong suspicion. She wondered if the pressures of life had unhinged his mind. Even at the best of times, his mind hung by a single, rusty hinge.
    He glared at her. “Down to Blue Lake Pond and back again.”
    She gave a short jerk of her head.
    Jimmy ran back to his buggy and hopped in. They lined up the horses, side by side, at the edge of the Bent N’ Dent parking lot. “Ready?” he said, watching M.K. from the corner of his eye. She was doing the same.
    The horses quickly surmised that something was up. Their ears, cocked forward, were sharpened to a point. They were retired racehorses and knew the drill. Cayenne pawed at the ground with her right front hoof.
    M.K. made sure she had the reins tightly held. She looked for traffic and saw no car in sight, either direction. “Go!” she shouted, and her mare hurtled into action. Jimmy slapped his reins on his gelding’s rump and his buggy lunged forward.
    The race was on and they were off.

    Sadie walked out of the store just in time to see the backs of two buggies kick up dust as they thundered down the road. It didn’t take a genius to figure