Christmas in the Country (A Pocahontas FanFiction)

Horse Race and Ride

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, Uncle Ben turned to the boys, "Kids, your Uncle Lon and your dad and I have work to take care of. Why don't you two take a couple of the horses out for a ride?" Thomas' eyes lit up, "We sure will!" Uncle Lon grinned, "And how 'bout a sleigh ride sometime before supper?" John almost choked on his cinnamon roll, "Are you serious?"

"Of course I am!"

The boys rushed upstairs and began shoving on their coats and boots and raced out to the stable. Grandpa had kept the horses for a long time, there were four all together. There was Victor (named for the Lone Ranger's horse), Snowflake, Jack, and Lucky. Lucky and Victor were their favorites, Thomas always thought Lucky was the prettiest, he was covered in tiny brown spots that looked like cinnamon when you sprinkled it out. John thought Victor was the friskiest, he was always up for anything fun whether it was a walk, a race, or a sleigh ride.

"You up for a race around the pasture, Thomas?" Thomas looked at Lucky as he was saddling him up, "You up for a race, Lucky?" Lucky whinnied and seemed to nod. Thomas gave John his game face, "You're on!"

At the pasture, the boys mounted, "Ready, Lucky?" Thomas asked the horse. Lucky pawed the ground. John looked in the distance and saw their dad, "Hey, Dad!" Mr. Smith looked up, John waved to him, "You wanna say 'go'?" Their dad came over to the pasture, "You boys ready?" Thomas and John nodded, Lucky pawed the ground again. Mr. Smith nodded, "On your mark. Get set..." It was Victor's turn to paw the ground, "Go!" The boys took off around the pasture.

Lucky pulled in first by a few feet. Thomas smiled, it was the first time he beat John in a horse race, "We did it, Lucky!" Lucky whinnied happily. John and Victor pulled in, John gave Thomas a high-five, "Nice job, kiddo. You and Lucky make a great team! Come on, let's go have some fun." Mr. Smith smiled as he watched the boys ride off. It was always nice to see how much the boys loved each other.

The boys rode Lucky and Victor around the pasture and down the riding trail until lunch. Grandma had insisted on making them hot chocolate for when they came in, "You boys will freeze to death if you stay out there too long." The boys laughed as they sipped their drinks and lunch was served. As they ate, Uncle Ben asked the boys which horse they should take for the sleigh ride, "Definitely the fastest one." John told him. "But which is the fastest?" Thomas asked. Uncle Lon piped up, "We could race 'em and find out." The boys nodded, "Yea!"

After lunch, the men went out to the stable and saddled up the horses. John and Thomas took Victor and Lucky of course. Uncle Ben and Uncle Lon took Jack and Snowflake. John proposed the race, "We'll race around the edge of the pasture. First one back here wins." Uncle Ben looked down from Jack, "David, you wanna say 'go' again?"

"Sure. On your mark. Get set.....Go!" The horses took off, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Grandma watched. Jack came in first with Lucky right behind him. Mrs. Smith smiled and patted Jack, "Looks like Jack will be pulling the sleigh tonight." Lucky snorted with disappointment. Thomas gave him a pat, "Don't worry, Lucky. We ran a fair race. We still came in second, that's pretty good." Thomas got down and patted Lucky's nose while Lucky nuzzled his face.

John helped Uncle Ben hitch Jack up to the sleigh and they headed down the lane. Thomas couldn't help laughing as they went faster and faster. His laughing made John want to start laughing, too. Sleigh-riding was so much fun!

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After a hot supper, everyone gathered in the living room for Cinnamon Bear.

"W-what happens after that?" John asked a little more desperately than he intended. Uncle Lon chuckled, "That, you boys will have to wait till tomorrow to find out." Thomas shot Uncle Lon a disappointed look. Uncle Lon ruffled Thomas' hair, "Don't worry, we'll listen again tomorrow."