Rain Dance by Terri Farley

Author:Terri Farley
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2004-09-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

The ranch house kitchen was dark and still.

Sam froze before closing the door behind her. Something was moving upstairs.

She quietly lifted the telephone receiver. Still no dial tone, but she hadn’t expected any. She’d only hoped for it.

Her elation forgotten, she grabbed the flashlight from the top of the refrigerator. She slid the switch to ON and a golden beam lit the kitchen. Thank goodness Gram always kept it filled with fresh batteries.

Sam started toward the door into the living room, then stopped. Why should she go looking for trouble?

The hermit of Snake Head Peak was mostly harmless, and he’d never been to River Bend Ranch, so she had no reason to think it was him. Flick, the wild horse rustler she’d stolen Dark Sunshine from, was in jail. At least, he was supposed to be.

Sam listened intently. What she heard wasn’t footsteps. It was more of a slither. Gram had warned her to watch for snakes in the garden…

Suddenly, the sound turned familiar.

Sam pushed open the door and played the flashlight’s beam on the staircase. She heard padded paws jumping from one step to another. Cougar passed through the shaft of light, eyes glowing green.

“Meow?” Cougar inquired as he came into the dark kitchen.

“You silly kitty,” Sam said, whisking him from the floor and into her arms. “You scared me.”

Cougar gave Sam’s cheek one rough-tongued lick before he struggled to get down. Sam let him jump from her arms.

He paced in front of the refrigerator.

“I’ll get you some milk,” she said. “But if the power stays out much longer, it won’t be cold.”

Sam pushed her soggy hair away from her face as she remembered Gram had left the refrigerator well stocked with food because she wouldn’t be there to cook.

If Gram were here, she’d put the food into a cooler so that it wouldn’t spoil. Sam groaned. If the power wasn’t working, neither was the pump. Whatever water was in the pipes was all she’d get from the well until the power came back on.

Was that her responsibility, too?

“I don’t think Mrs. Coley is coming. Hotspot must be foaling,” she told Cougar.

The brown-striped cat rubbed his face on the refrigerator, pointing out Sam’s tardiness in supplying his milk.

“In a minute,” she told him.

Even if they were short on water, she’d use what they had for Dark Sunshine. She just had to heat it a little so that it would be tepid.

Sam ran some water into the teakettle, set it on the burner, and turned a dial. A little blue-gold flame spurted into view, looking cheery in the dark kitchen. At least the gas stove worked when the power was out.

Next, she opened the refrigerator door to get some milk for Cougar, and the lights came on.

“Yay!” she cheered as the cat threaded between her ankles.

Sam switched off the flashlight and put it back on top of the refrigerator. As she poured the milk, she hoped the power would stay on. Being the one in charge was fine, but she only wanted to be in charge of the fun stuff.

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