Free One Unhappy Horse by C. S. Adler Page B

get up and move."
    "Oh, my! Lying down's no good for horse or human. It makes your muscles weak. That's why I try to walk every day. It's important to stay healthy." Mattie nodded in agreement with herself. "Well, we're going to get help for that poor animal soon. Don't you worry." More quick birdlike taps on Jan's arm followed.
    Mattie greeted Jan's mother with a hug, as if they were old friends, never mind that they'd never met. "I just know
you're a lovely person because you're the mother of this sweet child. Did you know she made me a birthday present?"
    Mom laughed. "I hope you didn't get sick from eating it. Jan and I aren't much for cooking. And you'd better be satisfied with hamburgers, because that's what we've got for supper."
    "Oh, I love hamburgers. They're my favorite."
    Mattie then went on to exclaim about how cute the casita was. "Just the right size for two women, isn't it?" she said.
    Jan and her mother glanced at each other. "Actually, it's a pretty tight squeeze," Mom said honestly.
    But Mattie wasn't listening. She was admiring the framed photographs on the wall behind the television: Mom on a bucking bronco in a rodeo, Dad with the first yearling they'd raised on their ranch, Jan sitting on top of Dove when she was seven and barely visible under her father's hat.
    "Why, that hat almost fits you, doesn't it?" Mattie said with a sly grin.
    The supper was a gourmet delight if Mattie was to be believed. Jan hadn't heard her mother laugh so much since Dad had died. Mattie was full of stories about her horse experiences and how her husband had spoiled her. All she said about her daughter was that Valerie had never taken to horses much and that she'd always been good in school.
    "Don't know where she got it from," Mattie said. "I was never much of a student. Maybe my husband would have been if he'd had a chance, but he had to go to work so young. He
came from a poor farm family. Though you'd never know it to speak to him. He was a real old-fashioned gentleman, just like my daddy. In fact, those two got along real well.
    She described with some pride the property her own family had owned in Mississippi. "Until my daddy lost it all. He was a gambler, you know. A good man, but he did like to gamble.
    The stars were out when Mattie looked at the clock and exclaimed, "I can't believe how the time has gone. It's my bedtime, and here I am, still out partying. Oh, my! She turned to Jan. "You don't want to walk me home in the dark, honey. I'll just take off by myself and leave you to help your mama with the dishes."
    "Jan will walk you," Mom said.
    "Do you think she should be out alone this late?" Mattie asked anxiously.
    "It's just on the ranch, after all. Like walking around your own property," Mom said.
    "Well, I guess if you look at it that way, I'd be glad of an escort," Mattie said. "My eyes aren't good in the dark anymore. Thank you for this wonderful evening. I had such a lovely time. It's the most fun I've had in—oh, I can't tell you when.
    She rose and Jan got up to take her arm. Then Mattie said, "I almost forgot. I have something here for you." She smiled and put the thin rectangular box, which she'd set down on the TV set, into Jan's hand.
    "Now, don't be that way, honey," she said when Jan pulled back and shook her head. "You'll like this present. I know you will."
    There was no polite way to get out of accepting it. "Thanks," Jan said. She took the box, but set it back down on the TV unopened. Getting presents embarrassed her, and she'd never been good at pretending to like something if she didn't. Better to open it in private and wear it once for Mattie to see, and thank her then. That was assuming the box held something wearable and not a photograph or something like that.
    "Well," Mattie said, "I guess I'd better get on back to the house, hadn't I?" She seemed anxious to leave now, but not so anxious that she didn't spend five minutes thanking Mom again for the delicious meal and saying she just