The Miller Family Series 4-in-1 by Mary Ellis

Author:Mary Ellis
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736983365
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers

Matthew Miller thought there was nothing quite like the first warm day in April, with sunshine so bright it hurt your eyes, a cool breeze tickling the back of your neck, and birds singing from the treetops to bring music to your ears. Clover in the pasture was coming up thick and green for his favorite friends. Black flies would soon hatch to annoy man and beast alike, but today there wasn’t a single thing to swat at. Matthew could certainly get used to days like these after the overcast skies of March. His teacher had once read a poem to the class about spring, but never being much of a bookworm he’d forgotten all but the pleasant memory. At nineteen, Matthew was living exactly the life he had planned.

His sixteen-year-old bruder, Henry, had finished school and possessed few aspirations other than farming. Henry loved to plow and disk even the hardest soil. He would plant seeds during downpours, round up cattle in a blizzard, and could pick sweet corn until his fingers seemed worn down to the knuckles. After chores he would curl up in the hammock with a glass of cider and a book about pirates or Civil War generals whenever Pa wasn’t looking. That boy loved to read.

Matthew’s vocation and great joy in life was four-legged and bushy-tailed, with long dark eyelashes and grass-stained teeth. From miniature ponies to Belgian draft horses, he loved anything equine. He’d once seen Clydesdales in a TV beer commercial at the home of their English neighbors. He had been so mesmerized that Mr. Lee copied the commercial into a black machine, and Matthew had watched it over and over that summer as he helped Mr. Lee paint his house.

Now he didn’t have to sneak around watching somebody’s TV to see all the different breeds. His job at Macintosh Farms gave him access to the Arabians, saddlebreds, and Tennessee walkers of rich Englischers. He worked with racing quarter horses; Kentucky-born thoroughbreds; and standardbreds, the harness-racing trotters. Amish folk often bought this breed for their buggies once their racetrack days were finished. Four years ago Mr. Macintosh had hired Matthew on the spot after a short demonstration of his handling and bareback riding. Mr. Mac said he had the “gift”—an ability to get inside a horse’s head and get it to do your bidding without breaking its spirit. Matthew didn’t know much about that. He just knew the day he was promoted from exercise boy to assistant trainer had been the happiest day of his life.

And it would likely remain his happiest day forever because he couldn’t seem to summon enough courage to take Martha Hostetler home from a Sunday singing. His big sister said if he weren’t careful he would end up an old man with females named Quicksilver, Quiche, and Juniper for his sole company. Emma was probably right, but what girl would want to court someone with freckles and spiky red hair?

At least he now did more important things at work than muck out stalls, clean water troughs, and measure grain into feed buckets.

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