Cassie's Hope (Riders Up) by Kraft Adriana

Author:Kraft, Adriana [Kraft, Adriana]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: B&B Publishing
Published: 2013-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

- o -

Clint appreciated Tug’s beaming smile as he clasped Cassie’s father’s hand in greeting.

“I see you’re back, young man. Couldn’t stay away from my daughter, huh?”

“You’re right about that,” Clint confided, “but I also thought maybe you could use some help protecting the filly.”

The older man led Clint to a group of lawn chairs in the yard. Cassie and Silver Hawk were raiding the refrigerator for pop. The day was too hot to remain inside. It pleased Clint to see Tug getting around better. Unsteady, but better.

“So who are these little ones, Clint?” Tug asked, after catching his breath.

Calling his children over to them, Clint announced, “I’m proud to introduce you to my kids, Lester and Sammy. Kids, this is Mr. O’Hanlon, Cassie’s father.”

“Just call me Tug,” he said, reaching for the boy’s hand. “So what do you two do for fun?”

“I ride as fast as the wind,” Lester boasted. “And I catch toads and frogs down by the creek.”

“Do you catch toads and frogs, too?” the old man asked Sammy, helping her settle on his knee.

“No,” she warbled. “I play with my dolls and I chase the boys…I’m fast…and I ride my pony…he’s not so fast.” She paused and ran her finger pads across Tug’s face. “You have wrinkles like my grandmother. But she doesn’t have whiskers.”

The old man howled. “You’re something, little girl. I bet you can wrap Cassie right around your finger.

“Oh, no. Fire Woman lives too far away from me. Do you think she will want to live with me?”

Swallowing hard, Tug smiled at the girl. “I don’t rightly know. She’ll have to decide about that, but I can’t imagine anyone not wantin’ to live with you. And what did you call my daughter?”

“Fire Woman. That’s the name my grandmother gave to her. She thinks Fire Woman is a good name for Ms. O’Hanlon, because her hair catches fire when the light shines on it.”

“Sounds like your grandmother is a wise woman. My daughter has a lot of fire, that’s for sure.”

Becoming very serious, Sammy responded, “I bet you’re a wise man, too. I think that’s what wrinkles mean.”

Tug laughed again, but before he could utter another word his young new friend hopped off his lap and dashed toward the house. Cassie and Silver Hawk were coming down the steps with trays of drinks and food.

“Sorry, Tug, my kids aren’t very shy,” Clint said. “Good to see you getting some color back.”

“They’re good kids. The girl’s observant. That’s good. And she’s already learning how to chase boys.” Tug’s eyes filled with mirth. “She’ll turn many a head as she gets older. You can count on that.”

“Right.”

It hardly took a moment for both kids to refuel and then dash toward the barn to continue exploring, after Tug had agreed to show Lester a good place near the house to look for frogs some evening, and Sammy had gotten him to agree to spend some time meeting the dolls she’d brought along but had left at the hotel.

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.