Kade’s story….

“Hey girl,” Kade spoke softly, his voice low and non-threatening.  “You’re okay.”  He didn’t move.  Just continued to speak in that same, low tone.  At seventeen, Kade was one of the best horsemen on the ranch.  He loved horses and knew how to talk to them, understood their silent language.  “You’re a beauty, aren’t you?” he soothed.  Still not moving.

The horse watched him silently.  Her ears twitched back and forth, but other than that, the big animal didn’t move.  Not an inch! 

The owner of the ranch had finally asked for Kade’s expertise on the recalcitrant, stubborn animal.  Several of the ranch hands had tried to break the horse by riding her to exhaustion.  But this filly wasn’t giving in. 

Kade took a different approach to luring horses.  He spoke to them quietly. He showed them that he wasn’t a threat.  He taught them that he could be trusted, that he’d give them food, water and special treats.  He’d also give them shelter.  A warm, secure, comfortable place to sleep at night. 

Usually, the horses responded.  So far, whenever asked, he’d been able to calm the horses on the neighboring ranches and he was building a good reputation among the ranchers.  Plus, he was making a lot of money too!  Kade enjoyed the money, but he liked the horses more.  He’d invested all of his earnings which was already enough for him to attend college in the fall.  But now, he needed to focus on this filly and make sure that she wasn’t going to kick his butt.  Literally! 

“I have something for you,” he told the horse.  He pulled several apple slices out of his pocket, extending his hand towards the filly. 

He didn’t speak again.  Not until the horse moved closer.  Step by step, the horse moved closer to inspect the treat.  She still didn’t trust Kade, but she was too interested in the apple slices to worry about that.  Trust would come. 

Over the next several days, Kade arrived at the same time, right after school with an apple in his hand.  Eventually, the mare anticipated his arrival and trotted over to him, eager for her treat.  Enough so that he could pet her neck.  Then her flanks. 

It took over a month, but patience and kindness eventually won out.  The mare nuzzled his shoulder every time he came close, eager for a ride.  Soon, the beautiful mare was impatient to be out on the range and flying across the tall, thick grass.  And after every ride, Kade brushed the beautiful mare down, talking softly to her.  Letting her know that she was a good horse, beautiful and wonderful. 

Patience, he thought.  That was what would win in the end every single time. 

 

Frankie’s story….

He was lying.  Frankie stared at the man, not sure why he was lying.  But she knew that he was.  It was there, in the eyes.  His hazel eyes shifted slightly.  Looking to the left and downward.  A sure sign of a lie.

“So what do you think?” Derick asked.  “Want to head over to the lake with me?”

Frankie fiddled with the pen on her hand, flipping it back and forth.  “I thought you were seeing Lynn Cremshaw?” she offered.  Frankie knew that was true since Lynn had cornered Frankie earlier this afternoon after gym class.  The beautiful blond woman had threatened Frankie with some very vile things if Frankie ever went on a date with Derick. 

“We broke up,” Derick said, leaning back and stretching his long legs out in front of him.  “She’s a bit of a drag lately.”

Frankie tilted her head slightly.  “You don’t find her blond hair to be alluring?” she asked, her eyes watching him closely.

The guy hesitated.  “Well, yeah.  Sure!  She’s gorgeous and all.  But…”

“And her father?  You’re not afraid of her father?  I mean,” she leaned forward, her eyes sharpening on Derick’s gaze, “he sent that letter of recommendation to Yale, right?  You’re in because of his recommendation, aren’t you?”

Derick’s mouth fell open.  His relaxed demeanor changed immediately to one of guilt.  His face paled and his eyes flicked to the left and right.  Good grief, even his tongue darted out nervously, wetting his lips as if they’d suddenly gone dry as well. 

“Who told you about that?” Derick demanded.  “It’s a lie!  I got into Yale on my own grades!”

Frankie snorted and tapped her pencil against her shoulder.  “No you didn’t.  You’re barely making a three point four grade point average.”  Something new flickered in Derick’s eyes and another thought occurred to her.  She leaned even closer.  “You didn’t get into Yale, did you?” she whispered.

Derick slapped his hand down on his textbook and his features changed from confident to nasty in a fraction of a second. “Don’t you dare go spreading those rumors, Frankie! I got into Yale and I’m going to finish at the top of my class!”

Frankie looked at him, curious about the mystery.  For a long moment, she didn’t say anything.  But when his lips pressed together, she knew that he was lying.  In fact, Frankie suspected that Derrick had been lying for so long, he didn’t know how to shift out of lying mode.  “Right,” she sighed and gathered up her books.  She’d been studying in the library after school when Derick had come by to ask her out.  Frankie hadn’t been interested before, but now that she knew that he was a loser who literally lied his way through life, she didn’t want to even be seen with him.  “Go back to Lynn, Derick.  She’s more your type.”

He stiffened with her rejection because…well, because it probably hadn’t ever happened before.  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Frankie pulled her book bag over her shoulder and shrugged. “Nothing.  I’m not going to say anything to anyone, so please don’t threaten me with anything horrible.  Lynn has already done that today when she thought you were going to ask me out.” She paused and leaned forward slightly.  “But Derick, you’re going to have to come up with a valid reason why you’re not going to Yale in the fall.  Because Mike is, and he’ll be looking for you.”

Derick snorted, shrugging his shoulder dismissively.  “Mike’s a dweeb.”

Frankie shook her head.  “Mike is a dweeb.  But he’s a good dweeb.  And he’s going to Yale.  So start sucking up to him.  He’s probably going to be your employer soon.”

With that, she walked out of the library, dismissing Derick from her mind.  Sure, he was good looking and relatively smart.  Or maybe not.  Maybe he just cheated his way to that three point four GPA.  Who knows?  And personally, she didn’t really care.  Men were pretty annoying, she thought as she dumped her book bag into the back of her beat up old car, then slipped into the driver’s seat.  In the distance, Frankie saw Lynn toss her hair a moment before she stepped into the Mercedes convertible that her father had given to her on her sixteenth birthday.  Frankie’s driver’s seat was held together with duct tape and prayers.  The engine ran smoothly, but only because her father was really good at keeping it going.  It purred like a kitten, despite the twenty year age of her crappy car.  It might get her from point A to point B, but the car definitely didn’t accomplish that feat in style! 

Didn’t matter, she thought.  She’d be heading to community college in the fall.  She couldn’t afford one of those bigger, fancier schools.  But she was determined to make it in this world regardless.