Beverly Cleary_Ellen 01 by Ellen Tebbits

Author:Ellen Tebbits [Tebbits, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Ballet, Humorous Stories, Girls & Women, Classical, Readers, Dance, Juvenile Fiction, Performing Arts, Fiction, Family & Relationships, Intermediate, Social Issues, Schools, Best Friends, Friendship, School & Education
ISBN: 9781424204267
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1951-01-02T06:00:00+00:00

My goodness, thought Ellen. I guess he expects me to step in his hand. I suppose it’s all right. His hand is dirty anyway.

She put her foot into his hand and he boosted her onto the horse. The ground seemed a long way below her. And Ellen had forgotten how wide a horse was. The man shortened her stirrups and then helped Austine onto the pinto. Ellen patted Brownie on the neck. She was anxious to have him like her. If only she had a lump of sugar in her pocket.

“Look,” cried Austine. “I’m really on a horse.”

Ellen knew she was expected to take the lead. “Giddap,” she said uncertainly. Brownie did not move.

The man gave each horse a light slap on the rump. They walked out of the corral and ambled down the dirt road as if they were used to going that way. Austine’s mother and father followed on foot.

Ellen carefully held one rein in each hand. As she looked at the ground so far below, she hoped Brownie wouldn’t decide to run.

“I’m going to call my horse Old Paint like in the song,” said Austine, who never missed the Montana Wranglers on the radio and knew all about cowboy songs. “I wish I’d worn my cowboy neckerchief.”

“Yes,” said Ellen briefly. She didn’t feel like making conversation.

When Austine’s horse moved in front, Ellen took hold of the saddle horn. It wasn’t so much that she was scared, she told herself. She just didn’t want to take unnecessary chances.

“I wish we’d worn our pedal pushers,” said Austine. “It’s sort of hard to feel like a cowgirl in a dress.”

“I wish we had, too.”

Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. The horses seemed to know the way, and Ellen found the rocking motion and the squeak of the saddle rather pleasant. She was even able to look around at the trees and enjoy the woodsy smell.

Then when they had gone around a bend in the road, Brownie decided it was time to go back to the corral. He turned around and started walking in the direction from which they had come.

“Hey,” said Ellen anxiously. She pulled on the right rein, but Brownie kept on going. “Stop!” she ordered, more loudly this time.

“What are you going that way for?” asked Austine, turning in her saddle.

“Because the horse wants to,” said Ellen crossly.

“Well, turn him around.”

“I can’t,” said Ellen. “He won’t steer.”

Austine turned Old Paint and drew up beside Ellen. “Don’t you know you’re supposed to hold both reins in one hand?” Austine was scornful.

Ellen didn’t know. “I just held them this way to try to turn him,” she said. She took them in her left hand. They were so long she wound them around her hand.

Austine leaned over and took hold of Brownie’s bridle with one hand. “Come on, Old Paint,” she said, and turned her horse forward again. Brownie followed.

“Thanks,” said Ellen. “My, you’re brave.”

“Oh, that’s nothing,” said Austine modestly. “You don’t steer a horse,” she added gently.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.