Free Pony Dreams by K. C. Sprayberry

sounded worried.
    “Louisa okay?” Pa's words slurred
together.
    Fear pushed me to my feet, and I regretted it
immediately. The room tilted at a crazy angle, and then everything
bobbed up and down. Mark leapt across the floor and shoved me back
onto the bed.
    “Darn it, Abby,” he shouted. “Ma's too busy
to mess with a stubborn child. Do I have to tie you down?”
    “Quit treating me like a baby!” Tears spilled
out of my eyes.
    I wasn't crying because Mark had yelled at
me. it was silly to think I'd feel sorry for myself. Everything
about this situation scared me so bad the tears just came out on
their own. And it felt very familiar, but I couldn't figure out
why.
    The dreams I'd had since the accident might
have provided a clue, but they were fuzzy, almost impossible to
remember.
    “Then stop acting like one.” Mark shook his
head. “Quit crying. That never solves anything.”
    He paced around the room. Every time he
passed the door, he poked his head out and asked one of the others
for an update. No one said much, and he never enlightened me. About
an hour later, the smell of charcoal drifted through the house.
    “Ugh!” I wrinkled my nose. “Why that?”
    “Ma's not sure what made them sick. We heard
smallpox had come up at one of the camps where the Army's holding
the Paiute who raided the stations. She's not taking any chances.
Darn it, Abby, why did you have to mess up?” He fixed an angry
glare on me.
    Holy heck! This is the limit. I'm not sick,
just hurting. Well, I'll show the lot of them. It's time to get up.
Ma needs my help.
    I scrambled off the bed.
    “Get me a dress and my petticoats. The lot of
you won't insult me anymore.”
    He started for me, but I pointed at the door
and tapped a foot, much as I had seen Ma do whenever someone didn't
jump fast enough to suit her. Mark bolted out of the room.
    “Abigail won't get back in bed. She told me
to bring her a dress and her petticoats!” he shouted.
    “Then do it,” Ma called. “I'll need help with
meals.”
    For the first time since the horse sent me
flying, everyone had quit telling me what to do. I giggled.
    “Bring me the yellow dress,” I called. “And
hurry.”
    “Close off that sass,” Ma commented as she
trotted toward the porch.
    After Mark brought my clothes, I made him
turn around because he refused to leave me alone. It turned out for
the best. My fingers cooperated, but my arms hurt too much to
button up my dress.
    “Uh, Mark, could you ... uh, my dress, it's a
bit hard to do up.”
    “Turn around,” he said.
    Gently holding the fabric away from my
chemise, he slipped the buttons through the holes. Once finished,
he pulled me into a hug.
    “Darn it, kiddo, don't ever do something so
stupid again. Pa will holler at you day and night when he hears
about this.”
    Snaking my arms around his neck, I held onto
him for a long time.
    “I won't,” I promised. “I'm sorry I scared
you.”
    He helped me walk to the kitchen and insisted
on getting my boots and stockings before I started work. The woolen
socks went on fine, but the boots proved troublesome. Bending over
to hook them was too painful.
    “You should still be in bed,” He grumbled as
he took care of my boots. “I'd hold you there myself if Pa and the
troublemakers weren't so sick.”
    “My thoughts exactly,” Adam said from the
door.
    He and the rest of my brothers crowded into
the kitchen. Except for Peter and Paul, and that seemed very
strange.
    “Abby, you're not to lift anything heavy or
stoke the stove,” Adam said. “Ma's orders. Mark, you stay in here.
Bart, you're in charge of the stock, the chickens, and the
vegetable garden. Charles, you're with me.
    “What will we do?” Charles asked.
    “There's still the contract to meet,” Adam
said. “Did Pa say when they expected the next delivery?”
    That didn't make a lick of sense, and I
almost embarrassed myself by telling Adam the contract could wait.
Then I remembered what Pa had said after signing