Chapter 6

The little boy was tugging at my jacket. “Ma’am, can I ride your horse, please?”

Firecross is not—as will have been evident from the morning’s events—a quiet horse. And certainly not kid riding material.

But this boy had saved the day and I wanted to reward him. A better idea occurred to me, if his mother agreed.

She was hovering in the background, clearly afraid of my horse but ready to leap in if her son needed saving.

I turned to her. “I have a very calm, beginner friendly horse at home. Would you allow your son to come to my house and ride him, instead?”

“Please, Mom, please, please, please!”

“All right, Freddie.”

Freddie gave his mom a jubilant hug and we arranged a time for the lad to come for his well-deserved ride.

The whole episode was being recorded on the parishioners’ phones. Their owners were watching from a safe distance and completely forgetting where they were.