Staircase to the Moon by Elizabeth Haran

Author:Elizabeth Haran [Elizabeth Haran]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bastei Entertainment
Published: 2016-01-04T12:09:54+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Kitty and the girls were saddled up the following morning when Hop-sing came out of the kitchen with boxes of sandwiches. It was still windy, but the lightning and thunder had ceased.

“Thank you,” Mr. Li,” Kitty said wearily. She stored the boxes of sandwiches in saddle bags already stuffed with spare items of clothing. “We’ll see you this time next week, all being well. If you could prepare simple meals for Buddy and Stumpy while we’re gone, I’d appreciate it.”

“I not be here,” Hop-sing said.

Kitty was startled but not really surprised. “So you’ve decided to leave us.”

“I go with you.”

Kitty’s mouth fell open. “We’re going to be droving cattle. That means we’ll be moving slowly and there’ll be lots of dust, Mr. Li. I’m sure you wouldn’t like that.”

“Black fellas can look after themselves. I go with you. Help with cattle.”

Kitty was further shocked. “Help! How?”

Emily was close by and overheard what the Chinaman said. “You can’t even ride a horse, Mr. Li,” she said.

“You ride! I ride!” Hop-sing declared indignantly.

“This is not a competition, Mr. Li. It’s a long way by horseback to Derby, and droving is not a simple task. Emily has been riding for a good few weeks now. Even so, she’s bound to find it hard. I know I will.”

“I ride donkeys in China. Donkey same as horse. I help,” Hop-sing insisted.

Kitty thought about it. They needed all the help they could get. “If you are really sure, Mr. Li, then you can ride the horse that Buddy has been riding. Nugget is a fairly placid animal.”

Emily sighed.

Harry rode over to them from his cottage. “Are we ready to go?”

“Yes, and Mr. Li has offered to help us,” Kitty said.

Harry gaped at the Chinaman. “Can you ride?”

“Mr. Li and I have just had that conversation and he is adamant he will be of some help,” Kitty said.

Harry rolled his eyes. “As camp cook? You know I’ve got that covered.”

“No, as a drover and we need as much help as we can get, don’t we, Harry? I said he could ride Nugget.”

“Nugget!” Harry laughed. “He’d need a step ladder to reach the saddle.”

Kitty hadn’t thought of that. Nugget was nearly seventeen hands high, which suited Buddy as he was a tall man. Mr. Li, on the other hand, was barely a shade over five feet tall. “Then which horse do you suggest he ride?”

“Whiplash and Ol’ Smokey are too unpredictable for a novice,” Harry said. “No one but Mr. McBride can ride Banjo, and Chucky has a sore fetlock.”

“He needs a mount so you’ll have to find him one,” Kitty insisted.

Harry broke into a grin. “Can you ride a donkey?” he asked the Chinaman.

“He was just telling us that he used to ride donkeys in China,” Emily chipped in, barely containing a smirk.

“We haven’t got a donkey,” Kitty said.

“We’ve still got Pedro in the home paddock somewhere.”

“Pedro?” Kitty said, confused.

“Yeah, Big Arnie’s donkey.”

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