Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 "Whirlaway could have gotten that when he was rolling in the mud," Dink said. "He probably rolled over a rock or piece of wood." "Yeah, probably," Josh said. He wiped his soapy sponge over the strange sign and it disappeared. Dink trained the hose on Whirlaway again to rinse off the soap. Ruth Rose found some towels hanging on the wall, and they rubbed Whirlaway's coat. When he was dry and shining, Ruth Rose unhooked Whirlaway's lead from the post to put him in his stall. "Come on, boy," she said.

Whirlaway rolled his eyes at Ruth Rose. He stiffened his legs and refused to walk. "Good job, kids!" Forest said as he walked into the barn. "He looks like a new horse!" "He won't go in his stall," Ruth Rose said. "Let me try," Forest said. He took the lead from Ruth Rose and began stroking Whirlaway's neck. He spoke softly in the horse's ear. After a minute, Whirlaway walked into his stall. He stuck his nose into the oats bucket and began eating. Forest closed the stall door behind Whirlaway. "He was probably a little spooked from being out during the storm and coming home to all these strangers," he said. Just then Sunny rode through the barn's rear doors on a mountain bike. She hopped off, leaned the bike against a wall, and strode over in tall, muddy boots. "There's the bad boy," she said, reaching over the stall door to pet his nose. Whirlaway rolled his eyes, threw his head up, and backed into a corner.

"Easy, boy," Sunny murmured. She looked at Forest. "He seems scared of me." "He did the same thing with me," Ruth Rose said. The five humans watched the horse, who was also watching them. "Maybe he doesn't feel good," Dink suggested. "Could he have eaten something bad while he was gone?" Josh asked. "It's possible," Forest said. "But he looks fine. And he just ate some oats." Sunny studied the horse. "I hope he runs okay tomorrow."

"How far away is Saratoga?" Dink asked. "A few hours. It's near Albany," Sunny told him. She looked at Forest. "I'll come over at six and load Whirlaway into the trailer. I'll be there in plenty of time for him to relax before his race." "Good," Forest said. "Now let's go see what Warren bought for our supper." Forest looked at his horse. "No more disappearing tricks, fella," he said. Sunny pulled the stall's top door shut and checked that the latch was in place. "See you tomorrow in Saratoga," she said. The kids watched her straddle her mountain bike and ride out the door. She looked funny pedaling a bike in muddy rubber boots. Uncle Warren was back with groceries. Soon they were all eating a hearty meal. After supper, they finished the Scrabble game. At nine o'clock Forest stood up and yawned. "Long day tomorrow," he said. "I'm ready to turn in." "Sounds good to me, too," said Uncle Warren. "See you all in the morning." He patted Dink on the head and left the room.

The kids padded down the hall to their rooms. As Dink and Josh were crawling into their beds, they heard a knock. Ruth Rose opened the door. "Nice Daffy Duck jammies, Josh," she said, marching into the room with her book. "Quack-quack," Josh said. Ruth Rose sat on the end of Dink's bed with the book on her lap. "I want to read you guys something," she said. "Oh, goody," Josh said. "Can we have milk and cookies, too?" Ruth Rose held up her book. "This is really about learning to ride your own horse," she said. "But there's a chapter about jockeys." She opened the book and began reading: "Jockeys must earn the horse's trust. A good jockey does this by feeding and grooming the horse regularly Most horses learn to like their jockeys and become friends." Ruth Rose looked up from the page. "Does anything strike you about that?" she asked.

"Like what?" said Josh. "Well, did you notice how Whirl-away acted around Sunny?" Ruth Rose said. "He sure didn't seem very friendly to her," said Dink. "Yeah, he backed away as soon as she came in," said Josh. "Exactly," Ruth Rose said. "I think Whirlaway's afraid of Sunny!"