House of Night 09 - Destined by P.C. Cast

Author:P.C. Cast [Cast, P.C. & Cast, Kristin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-10-19T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Zoey

“I like his horse,” I said to Lenobia.

“I like his horse, too,” Lenobia said, even though she sounded like she hated to admit it.

We were standing in the corral, a little ways from the group that was clustered around Travis and his giant Percheron, Bonnie. The cowboy had been demonstrating to a very attentive audience of fledgling guys (and Darius and Rephaim and Stark) how to use a lance and a sword from horseback.

“So,” Johnny B said, “Is that all she can do? Just, like, lope or whatever back and forth in a straight line?”

From on top of Bonnie the cowboy looked about a zillion feet tall. Currently, he had a long lance in his hand and I wondered for a second if he was going to skewer smart aleck, muscle-brained Johnny B. But Travis just tilted his hat back, rested the lance on his hip, and said, “My girl can do everything a smaller horse can do. She has all the gaits: walk, trot, lope, gallop.” He glanced over at Lenobia and his easygoing smile turned wry. “Well, Bonnie can’t turn as quick as a quarter horse. She can’t run as fast and as long as a Thoroughbred. But she can tear up a trail with the best of ’em. Don’t forget that she can carry me, a pile of armor and weapons, and pull down a house. All at the same time. Underestimating her would be a mistake.” He shot another look at Lenobia and added, “But then underestimating females in general isn’t a good idea, boy.”

I covered my laugh with a cough.

Lenobia looked at me. “Don’t encourage him. He’s been holding fledgling court all day. The girls want to date him. The boys want to be him. He’s making my head hurt.”

“So you like him a little?”

I was wincing from Lenobia’s frosty stare when Travis raised his voice and called, “Well, you’d have to ask the professor over there about that, but I’d be all for a little field trip.”

Huh? Field trip? My ears perked up. “We go on field trips?”

“Not since we’ve been battling evil we haven’t,” Lenobia said under her breath. Then she raised her voice and started toward Bonnie and her cowboy saying, “I’m sorry, Travis, I wasn’t listening. What is it you’re asking?”

“One of the kids wanted to see Bonnie in action on a trail ride. I’d be happy to take some of ’em out with me and a few horses on a clear night. I grew up outside Sapulpa and know the old oil paths on the ridges there like the back o’ my hand.”

I saw Lenobia sucking in a breath and was sure she was getting ready to blast the cowboy into the stratosphere, when Ant, the littlest of the red fledgling kids, reached way up and, looking starstruck, patted Bonnie on her nose saying, “Wow! A trail ride? Like cowboys used to do? That’d be awesome.” With obvious adoration in his eyes, he gazed at Lenobia. “Professor Lenobia, could

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