Save Me - Lisa Scottoline [137]
Leo waved back. “Lookin’ good, cowgirl!”
Rose gasped. “Two hands, honey!”
Mo scoffed. “She can ride with no hands, her balance is that good. Want to see?”
“No,” Rose shot back. “I mean, no thanks.”
Mo and Leo laughed. Melly walked past them, and the horse swished his thick black tail. Mo cupped his mouth, calling out, “Mel, trot on!”
Melly kicked the horse, and it trotted around the circle, faster. She went up and down in the saddle, keeping the rhythm, even at speed.
Mo nodded. “Churchill said, ‘The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.’”
“Churchill wasn’t a mother.” Rose bit her lip. “Why is she going up and down?”
“She’s posting. Many people take a few lessons to pick it up, but she got it right away.” Mo gestured at Melly. “She’s happy as a clam. On a horse, you have to meet the world with your eyes front and your chin up. A girl who directs a thousand-pound animal learns confidence.”
Rose watched Melly, who did look happy.
“Horses have a way of going, which means the way they move and relate to the world. People have a way of going, too. Melly’s way of going is to keep her head down, to run and hide behind books and computers.”
Rose winced. “These aren’t the worst things, Mo.”
“Don’t mistake me. I think she needs all the things already in her life, but she loves horses and she’s not afraid of them, even the biggest jumpers here.”
“I know she’s good with animals. The thing she needs to work on is people. She needs a friend in school, and riding isn’t even a school sport.”
“Ah, but riding is where it starts.” Mo kept an eye on Melly. “She’s making a friend, before your eyes.”
“She’s making friends with a horse.”
“Not at all. She’s making friends with herself.”
Rose hadn’t thought of it that way. She watched Melly.
“We all see Melly’s problem, but she’s got to find confidence in herself. Face the world as she is, on her own, with her eyes front and her chin up. The more she does it here, the more she’ll do it at school. Look. She’s moving that pony on her own. She’s succeeding.”
Rose watched Melly riding smoothly in the bright sun, with the lovely pastures and the gorgeous autumn backdrop, and felt her heart fill with emotion. Something had changed, and she was looking at it, and maybe things could turn around for Melly, someday. Maybe someday was starting right now.
“It’s worth a try, babe,” Leo said softly, his hand on her back.
“It surely is,” Mo added. “I can give her a lesson when you come up, and there are plenty of schooling barns in Reesburgh. I looked into it online and found you a list.”
Rose felt tears in her eyes, cuddling John close. It was hope, at long last. “Does she want lessons?”
Leo answered, “Ask her.”
Chapter Eighty-four
“Hit the sack, kid!” Rose tucked Melly into bed, feeling like herself again, having showered and changed into clean clothes. It was twilight, her favorite time at the cabin, when the day was over and they’d go to bed early, in harmony with the rhythms of nature rather than TV or homework.
“It’s cold tonight.” Melly tugged up the comforter, next to Princess Google, already asleep. “Isn’t Ebony so cute, Mom?”
“Very cute.” Rose sat down on the edge of the single bed. The room was bare-bones, containing only a small bookshelf and bureau. A metal reading lamp was clamped to the headboard, and Rose turned it off, leaving them in the dim light from the window.
“Do you really like him?”
“Ebony? Of course. I think he’s adorable and furry. You looked great up there.”
“Harry rides brooms, and I ride horses.” Melly smiled, and Rose gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Do you like riding horses?”
“I love it. It’s so fun, and Ebony is soft, really soft.”
“I remember.” Rose had petted the horse before they’d left, and he’d looked insanely tall, up close. “You know, I was wondering if you want to take riding lessons. Mo says there’s barns around us, at home. Want to give it a try?”
“What do you think?”
Rose fell silent a moment, and through the screen came the scent of horse manure, but that could have been her imagination. She knew