The Tourist Trap

Chapter 11

"Josh! You have to sit still in the saddle!" I ordered, trying with all my strength to keep from losing my head. "Stop squirming! You're going to freak her out and then she'll run and if she runs you'll fall and if you fall, well, then you're pretty much dead"

Actually, Miss Piggy, being an old and temperamental nag, had long since become unfreakable. That was what a few years of lessons with rambunctious kids could do to an aging horse. But in my experience it didn't do any harm to threaten idly.

Josh Locke, angel that he was, reached into the pocket of his jeans, pulled out a handful of dirt, and threw it in my face. 

I had just enough time to close my eyes to keep from being blinded, but I did get a nice big taste of it on my tongue. 

Both Josh and his older brother, Seth, cracked up laughing.

Still clinging to Piggy's reins, I bent over and spit repeatedly onto the ground, coughing and sputtering and working my tongue to try to keep from swallowing the dirt.

"All right! That's it! This lesson is over." I said, reaching up.

Josh slid toward me and let me deposit him on the ground. Then he ran off to race around the training ring with his brother, throwing mud at each other as they went. 

In the middle of the ring was a nice pile of dung that Piggy had left halfway through our lesson. All I could hope was that one of those little monsters would shove the other into it. 

I walked Miss Piggy over to the fence where Lola was tied up, watching the proceedings and flicking flies with her tail. 

There was a bottle of water in my backpack hanging from the post, so I rinsed my mouth out a few times and wiped my hands across my lips.

I sighed and leaned next to my horse. "Is it really worth it Lola?" I asked.

She snorted and nudged the top of my head with her snout. 

The girl had a point. If I didn't do this I was never going to make the money for our entry fee for the county fair. Then Lola would never get her blue ribbon and I would never get my book, food, and fun money.

I rubbed her snout and shook my hair back. "Anything for you, kid." 

The two boys screeched and raced toward the gate. It wasn't until then that I noticed their mothers shiny black porche winding its way up the drive. 

Sweet relief. The devil was here to pick up her minions.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Josh shouted, jumping up and down as she got out of the car. 

This was even worse than Shelby's mom. She wore a tight, white mini dress, white heels, her hair pulled back into a severe bun, making her face appear even more sharp. 

I opened the gate and her two sons ran toward her, arms outstretched. 

Mrs. Locke's jaw dropped and she held out both hands like stop signals, bending at the knee. 

"Stop! Right! There!" she shouted.

Amazingly, the little terrors did as they were told. First time that happened all day.

Cassandra Grace! Why are my boys covered in mud?" She asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Well, Mrs. Locke, unfortunately they were more interested in having a mud fight than they were riding," I said, trying to smile as though I thought this was amusing.

"This is unacceptable! When I leave my sons in your care I expect you to actually care for them." She  snapped.

"I did my best," I told her, my face beginning to burn. "But your children clearly have no interest in horses."