Preston Lake S3E2: The Price of Freedom

The Price of Freedom

"Can you hand me that body brush, Zane?" Melissa asked her friend.  The tall blonde rider tossed her the brush, and she resumed grooming Mystica.  

"Y'all ready for this?" Zane piped up.  "I can't wait to meet my partner."  

A week ago, Mabel had announced a new program in which the riders would be paired with veterans of war.  The riders would have a chance to teach the veterans about horses and riding.  Now, the six riders were grooming the horses their partners would be using in just half an hour.

"I'm excited, too," Josie replied.  "I hope Freckles is nice to my partner."  She began braiding the spotted gelding's mane.

"Yo, Josie," Inez chimed in with a smirk.  "Why are you giving Freckles a hairdo that we normally put on mares?"

"Let the girl alone!" Zane protested.  "A man can have braids if he so wishes.  Heck, if I had long hair, I'd probably get Lynn to braid it for me."  He shared a quick smile with his girlfriend.  

Having finished grooming her partner's horse, Patches, Inez unclipped his halter and attached his lead rope.  "I'm going to go tack him up," she informed the others.  

"Have fun," replied Denae.  "We'll catch up."

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Half an hour later, the riders stood with their horses and their partners' horses in front of a line of six veterans.  Among the group, there were two women and four men.  

"I'd like you to meet your partners," Mabel announced.  "Melissa, you'll be working with Julie here."  One of the two women, a middle-aged woman with brown hair, stepped forward and shook hands with Melissa.  

"Lynn," Mabel continued, "you'll be working with Steve."  A man with choppy brown hair walked over to Lynn and shook hands with her.

Mabel continued to go down the line and pair each rider with a veteran until she arrived at Inez.  The last veteran remaining was an elderly man with wisps of white hair peeking out from underneath his helmet.  Inez smiled at him, and he smiled back.  

"Inez, I'd like you to meet Rick," Mabel introduced her.  "Rick, this is Inez Davis.  She'll be your partner."

Rick stepped over to her and shook her hand.  "Pleased to meet you, miss," he said.  "And my goodness gracious, that's a beautiful horse you have."

"Are you referring to my horse or Patches?" Inez inquired.  

The gentleman pointed at Patches.  "That beauty right there," he answered, reaching out to pet the big horse's forehead.  "You're a big boy, aren't you?  Wait, that isn't your horse?"

Inez shook her head.  "Nope.  This is Patches, the horse you'll be riding.  This girl right here is my horse, Petal."

Rick laughed to himself and patted Patches on the neck.  "My goodness.  I'm a lucky man.  Say, your friend over there seems to be having fun with my buddy Greg."

Inez gazed over to Zane, who was chatting with his partner about the time Denae saved him when he was suffering from appendicitis.  His partner was listening intently and eagerly.  "That's my friend Zane," she told Rick.  "He almost died about a month and a half ago."

Rick nodded.  "I gathered that.  Were you there?"

"No, I wasn't.  But I kept the others in a positive mood by joking around."  

"Ah, humor is the best medicine, Inez," Rick replied.  "Lucky they had you around.  I hear we're going on a trail ride today."

Inez couldn't stop smiling.  There was something about Rick that she liked, something that made her feel like she'd known him forever.  Inez had never known her own grandfather, since he had died before she was born.  But the twinkle in this man's eye made her feel like he could be her grandfather.  She could feel a deep longing in her soul to get to know him better.