Saddles & Secrets (An Ellen & Ned Book) by Jane Smiley

Author:Jane Smiley
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2019-03-05T05:00:00+00:00

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Dad was home by the time I walked in the door from school on Friday, a little early, but good for me. I’d already packed my overnight bag three times, but I ran upstairs and packed it again while Dad sat at the kitchen table and ate the last of the ice cream. Soon we were on our way to Abby’s, and it was a little different from the way it usually is. Dad was wearing his suit, and he was quiet while I told him why his atlas was on the coffee table, and gave him a little list of all the maps I’d looked at since Tuesday and what I thought about them. I had been writing them down in alphabetical order, but I didn’t have to look at the list—once I write something down, I remember it. I think we’d just passed the airport (because I saw a plane gliding down out of the off-and-on clouds above us) when he said, “Jamaica. I would go there.”

Jamaica is an island over near Florida. I said, “Would you go there first or Oahu first?”

“I would flip a coin.”

I said, “Jamaica looks like a seal and Oahu looks like a hat.”

“Well, our peninsula looks like a big face with its mouth wide open, screaming.”

And it does. And we live on the top of its head, right under the brim of the clown hat.

Dad dropped me off and put my overnight bag on the porch, because we had to get right to work. He was smiling when he waved good-bye.

No one had to tell me that staying at Abby’s was going to teach me a lesson. And it did teach me some lessons:

1. It taught me that the horses, all the horses, really like you when you’re bringing them their hay. They nicker and even whinny, and they look at you like you are their best friend forever.

2. It taught me that walking around late in the day, when the sun is balancing on top of the ridge, and you can hear the birds calling in the trees, and you can see a hawk arcing through the sky with its wings wide, is much more pleasant than division problems.

3. It taught me that of course you have to watch out for the manure and not step in it, but it also has a pleasant, almost sweet odor.

4. It taught me that you can whistle while you work, like in Snow White, but you can also sing a song, and I did sing a song—“Lorena.” When you carry the hay and sing a song at the same time, you feel like you are dancing.

5. It taught me that when you come in from doing your work, dinner tastes really good, especially if it’s beef stew, which is what Abby’s dad likes to have on Friday nights.

6. It taught me that it isn’t bad to go to bed early. I stayed in Abby’s room, in her other bed,

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