Free Lucky Charm by Annie Bryant Page A

the area muddy, and the ruts in the driveway were filled with water. Not the stuff of TV , Katani thought.
    “We’re here!” Grandma Ruby sang out. “Come on, girls.”
    “Ooooo!” Kelley said when she opened the door. She pinched her nose closed with her fingers.
    Kelley was right. It was smelly. Katani promised herself that she would take a half-hour shower when she got home. Okay, maybe an hour.
    “Look Katani. Horses!” Kelley yelled, and pointed to two horses in the tiny ring. Two more horses were tied up to the side of the barn. “Just like on the carousel. I want to ride a pink-and-lavender one. Do they have a pink-and-lavender one?”
    “These are real horses,” Mrs. Fields explained to Kelley. “Horses are brown, and black, and white, and gray. Some even have spots.”
    Suddenly, one of the horses in the ring let out a big snort and stamped his foot on the ground. Kelley jumped about a foot in the air and grabbed hold of her sister. Katani felt like jumping too. Those horses were big !
    Mrs. Fields led her reluctant granddaughters to the fence. Something had spooked the horses and they began a slow trot around the ring, their manes flying behind them in the wind. The horse with a white splotch on its forehead held its tail high. Katani had to admit that he looked beautiful and proud. She leaned her head over the fence to get a closer look
    “Oooh,” Kelley exclaimed as the horses moved closer. Suddenly, the one with a splotch on its forehead stopped and reached its head over the rails. Kelley jumped back. Unafraid, Grandma Ruby stuck her flat palm out and let the horse nuzzle her.
    “You are one lucky girl, Kelley. You’re going to learn to ride!” Kelley looked at her grandmother with a comical face that seemed to say, “I’m not too sure about this.”
    “This is a great opportunity for you, too, Katani. Noteveryone gets a chance to do this type of thing.”
    Katani knew better than to roll her eyes in front of her grandmother, but she didn’t smile either.
    Yeah , Katani thought. I hope I don’t ruin my jeans .
    The horse continued to paw the ground and snort. Katani wondered what that horse wanted.
    “I want to go home now,” Kelley said. “I don’t want to ride real horses. I want to ride on the carousel.”
    Before Grandma Ruby could respond, a young woman walked over. She had short, curly blonde hair and big, friendly, blue eyes. She was wearing jeans, a bulky sweater, a vest, and some kind of mud boots. Katani thought she looked like an ad in a magazine.
    “You must be Mrs. Summers,” the woman said, offering her hand to Grandma Ruby.
    “No, I’m Kelley’s grandmother, Mrs. Fields,” Grandma Ruby said, taking the woman’s hand and shaking it.
    “Nice to meet you, I’m Claudia McClelland. You must be Katani. And YOU must be Kelley. You girls can call me Claudia. So, have either of you ever been on a horse before?”
    This woman is all business, thought Katani, who shook her head no. She knew she was supposed to be the brave one, but she didn’t feel particularly brave at the moment.
    “I rode a horse once. It was pink and lavender. It was pretty…so pretty,” Kelley enthused.
    “It was on a carousel,” Katani interrupted. She didn’t want Kelley to go off on a tangent about pretty pink-and-lavender horses.
    Claudia nodded like she knew all about the episode last Saturday. She reached up and patted the horse’s head.
    “Well, I see you met Sadie here,” she said as Sadie nuzzled her hair. Katani made a face. There was no way she wanted some hungry horse sticking its face in her hair! Claudia gently pushed Sadie’s head away. “Let’s head to the stable. I have some horses to introduce you to.”
    Katani slowly followed Claudia to the side of the stable where the two horses were tied up. Katani thought the brown, shiny leather saddles were beautiful.
    “Katani, you’re nice and tall,” Claudia observed.
    If she says anything about basketball I’m going to scream