Free Gift Horse by Terri Farley Page B

ago, she and Jen had found Golden Rose living in a ghost town. The mare had been missing for years. “I don’t know how much training Tinkerbell has had. It’ll be fun to find out.”
    â€œDo you think he’ll be there when you get home?” Jen asked.
    â€œI hope so.”
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    But he wasn’t. Sam hurried home from the bus stop. She moved as fast as she could over old snow that had hardened into ice. Planting her feet to keep from slipping, she jogged against the icy wind, only to find a chore—instead of a horse—waiting for her.
    Pepper, River Bend’s youngest cowboy, stood near the hitching rack outside the house. Sam was still trying to catch her breath to ask if he’d heard anything about the new horse, when he ordered her to help with an outdoor task.
    â€œDress warm and get on back down here,” Pepper said.
    â€œFor what?” Sam asked.
    If Pepper’s headgear was any indication of what he wanted her to do, it involved a trek to the North Pole. Beneath his Stetson, Pepper wore a wool hat with earflaps hanging down.
    â€œI’d rather freeze than look like some hound dog,” she told him.
    â€œYou may get the chance,” Pepper said. “Your dad wants you to help me out at the stock tanks.”
    â€œNo, I’ve got to wait for Tinkerbell.”
    Pepper grimaced at the name. “He figured you might say that. You can wait out there, is what Wyatt said.”
    â€œOut there” meant the snowy, windswept range.
    â€œI don’t know,” Sam said, trying to sound helpless. “What kind of help could you need from me?”
    â€œListen,” Pepper lowered his voice and glanced toward the bunkhouse. “Dallas’s arthritis is acting up something awful. Your dad doesn’t want him doing this chore with me and it’ll go lots faster with two of us.”
    â€œOf course I’ll help,” Sam said, ashamed she’d tried to shirk a chore that might actually hurt Dallas. “But there’s water in the tanks, and the cattle come drink from them. Isn’t that pretty simple?”
    Pepper chuckled and rubbed his gloved hands together as if anticipating big fun. “While you’re in there, make sure you grab some gloves.”
    There was no point arguing, so Sam hurried. If she dawdled, Dad might make her leave afterTinkerbell had arrived.
    Sam zipped through the kitchen door. Her cold cheeks burned from the warmth inside. The aroma of fresh-baked cookies and the sound of the clothes dryer tumbling would have made a great welcome home, if she hadn’t been in such a rush.
    â€œHow did it go, dear?” Gram asked.
    â€œOkay, I guess,” Sam said, scooping up the chocolate chip cookies Gram had arranged on a plate for her after-school snack. She kept talking as Gram followed her up the stairs.
    â€œTonight after supper, we can brainstorm some ideas with Brynna,” Gram said. “Mrs. Santos didn’t forbid you to do that, did she?” Gram asked as Sam wiggled into her long underwear.
    â€œNo,” Sam said, voice muffled by each layer she pulled on. “While I’m gone you’ll watch for Tinkerbell, right?” Sam said as her head popped free of her turtleneck.
    â€œFrom your description, I don’t think I could miss him,” Gram joked.
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    Heater blasting, Pepper drove the hay truck off the main road, then bounced over frozen ruts toward the winter range. It wasn’t that far south, but there was a drop in altitude. At least that’s what Pepper told her, but to Sam the gray-brown hills and snow-clumped sagebrush looked the same as the range closest to the ranch.
    Once they stopped, Sam discovered why Pepper had tossed an axe in the truck bed. They were going to break the ice off the stock tanks.
    â€œThis is one reason the cattle are wandering off,” Pepper said. He peered at what was probably a frozen surface, while Sam stood shivering by the