Maggie Cartwright: Book 1 Bad Choices

First pony

I was jarred awake by banging on my door and my brother hollering.

"Wake up little sister!" Joe said, jumping onto my bed, the continuing to jump.

"Go away!" I groaned, throwing a pillow at him. It hit him dead on and he flopped onto the bed.

"It's you're birthday! Wake up!" He said, throwing the pillow back at my face. Then it hit me.

"It's my birthday." I say straight up in bed. "Pa said when I turned 13, I would get my first pony!" I gasped.

"That's why I came to wake you up! Breakfast is ready and once we eat, we're going out to the range and looking at the horses out there!" Joe said excitedly with a chuckle.

"I'll be down in a minute." I said as Joe got up and walked out of my room. He shut the door behind him as I leaped out of bed.

I got dressed within minutes, putting my brown hat on that Joe got me 2 years ago for my 11th birthday. I quickly ran down the stairs, almost tripping over my own feet.

"Careful Maggie." Pa spoke from the table.

"Sorry." I chuckled as I settled down in my seat where I sat beside Joe.

"I remember when Joe turned 13. That's when he got Cochise. First day working with that colt and he got kicked in the face." Adam chuckled.

"Oh hush." Joe responded with an annoyed tone as he shoved half a flap jack into his mouth.

"So, do I get to train my horse like everyone else did?" I asked after swallowing a bit of my breakfast.

"I'll ride the horse first, unless you pick one of the broke ones, or one that has a couple rides on it." Joe said.

"Oh okay." I nodded.

"I wouldn't let you on an untrained your horse anyhow." Pa told me as I took a sip of my coffee.

"That's what I thought." I said with a shrug.

"You wouldn't be shrugging if you got thrown off a green horse." Hoss chuckled. I rolled my eyes, finishing up my breakfast.

"Okay, let's go!" I jumped up from the table.

"Hold on little sis!" Joe chuckled, wiping his mouth with a cloth then finishing his coffee.

"Okay, let's go." He said, standing up. I grinned as I followed Joe out the door.

"Is anyone else coming?" I asked.

"No. Hoss has fencing to fix and Adam and Pa need to run to town." Joe said as we walked into the barn. Cochise stuck his out of his stall and nickered.

"Hi buddy." I smiled as I scratched his soft muzzle.

"You can ride Buck, unless you want to ride with me on Cochise." Joe said as he pulled Cochise's saddle and pad off the hay bale.

"I'll ride Buck." I said as I opened the buckskin gelding's stall. I gave him a quick hug before going to get his tack. I quickly tacked him up and followed Joe and Cochise out of the barn. I adjusted the stirrups on the saddle and then mounted.

"We'll start with the south end near the lake, then make our way from herd to herd." Joe said as we trotted down the trail out into the open plains.

"Okay." I nodded.

"Is there a certain horse you're after?" Joe asked.

"The one that sticks out to me. Maybe has a personality that relates to me." I shrugged.

"So a red mare?" Joe chuckled, looking back at me.

"Oh shut up!" I rolled my eyes with a grin on my face. I nudged Buck a little more and he threw out a crow hop.

"What are you doing back there?" Joe looked back.

"I wore my spurs. Buck doesn't like spurs, remember?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Oh yea! That was funny!" Joe smiled, remembering the day when I rode Buck my first time in with spurs and crow hopped me into the fence.

"I broke my nose! That wasn't funny!" I groaned.

"It kinda was. The why he just gently threw you off his back into the fence." Joe chuckled.

"Well, it wasn't funny!" I huffed.

We rode for an hour until we came up to a herd of horses. We sat on a hill as I watched every one of them.

"See any you like?" Joe asked after we sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

"That blue roan with the bull calf face." I pointed the horse, who grazed quietly on the outskirts of the herd.

"Are you serious?" Joe groaned.

"What's wrong with it?" I asked.

"She's a mean one. Remember when I got that broken arm while you we're in town with Adam and Hoss? She was the one who threw me off. Please don't make me ride her again." Joe pretended to act sad.

"Can I get a closer look at her? Can I go and rope her?" I asked, gripping the rope attached to the saddle.

"I guess." Joe said as he clicked to Cochise and they trotted down the hill to the herd. Me and Buck followed as I unclipped the rope.

"She nice and cut off from the herd. Go get her." Joe said as he stopped at the bottom of the hill. I got the rope ready and got Buck into a canter. I started swinging the rope at the mare. She jerked her head up and leap up into her back legs. She tossed her head and took off in the opposite direction. Buck instantly took off after her as I swung the rope. We gained on her and I threw the rope. It settled perfectly around her neck as I wrapped the rope around my saddle horn. The mare jolted to a stop, throwing a fit. I lead her back to Joe, yanking her along as she bucked and and would plant her feet in the ground before she would finally prance ahead, then throw some more bucks.

"She a beauty, Joe!" I gasped, looking at her small build and strong legs.

"Yea, also a stubborn mare." Joe sighed.

"How old is she?" I asked, watching the mare huff and shake her head.

"She's about 6 years old." Joe said, looking her over as he walked Cochise around her. She pinned her ears at them.

"Well, if you really want her, you can have her." Joe shrugged. My heart leaped with joy.

"I wonder what I'm gonna name her." I questioned as we started back to the ranch.

"That's all up to you. She doesn't have a name. We just called her the mean blue roan." Joe said as he walked Cochise beside me and Buck.

"That's not a name for any horse!" I huffed. I looked back at the beautiful mare.

"I'm thinking Arrow, Tulsa or Shadow, but we already have Old Shadow at the barn, so I won't name her that." I said, thinking the names over in my head.

"Tulsa sounds good!" Joe said with a nod.

"Okay. Tulsa it is." I smiled, looking back at the mare.

"I still can't believe I'm gonna have to ride her again." Joe huffed.

"Why don't I ride her?" I grinned slyly.

"I'll ride her. Unless she handles pretty well under saddle." Joe said.

"I hope she does, since she's been saddles before." I said hopefully.

"I wouldn't count on it." Joe shook his head.