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• Frank Q. Dobbs

"Someone's coming down the driveway now!" Cassie heard her twin sister holler.

Cassie scurried out of the bathroom. "Can you tell who it is?" she asked, kneeling on the couch in front of the window next to Kendra.

Kendra squinted. "Looks like...umm--"

Cassie pulled the curtain back. "That's Tammy."

"How can you tell from here?" Kendra asked.

"I'd know that old truck anywhere." Cassie stood up. "That's my home away from home." Cassie's mind took her back a couple of months to when she'd spent a night with her best friend in the back of the truck at a two-day rodeo.

"Who else is coming to the party?" Kendra asked.

"The only people I invited were Tammy and Caylum," Cassie said. "I couldn't think of anyone else."

"Caylum? Your little Australian hunk?" Kendra teased.

"Huh, little...hardly! Have you seen the size of his arms?"

"Did he qualify for the National High School Finals Rodeo, too?" Kendra asked.

"I'd say. He pretty much dominated the steer wrestling all year."

"I hope he gets a hair cut before then."

"What? And cut off those blond, wavy curls? I hope not. Besides, you worry too much about appearances."

"There's nothing wrong with that!" Kendra smoothed her hair back. "Are those two the only ones you invited? You don't have many friends, do you?"

"I have friends...sort of." Cassie shrugged. "Just none I felt like celebrating with, that's all. Who did you invite?"

"My best friend, Latisha, and Rusty. I had other friends I wanted to ask, but we were only allowed a few, and Latisha wanted to bring someone."

Cassie moved closer to Kendra. "Has Rusty snapped out of his shyness and asked you out?"

"No," Kendra answered. "I had to ask him. At least this party was a good excuse."

Cassie changed the subject. "Have you seen the way Mom's been buzzing around, trying to get things ready? I guess a lot of relatives are coming, too. But Dad's been kind of jumpy. Did you notice?"

"Not really," Kendra said. "I think it's cool that Mom and Dad let us throw this party. They seem as excited about us qualifying for the Nationals as we are."

Cassie took another quick glance out the window. "Oh! I see more trucks. We'd better get going." Cassie scurried to the door, bursting with excitement. And I think one of those trucks is Caylum's.

---

It wasn't long before hotdogs and hamburgers sizzled on the grill, dripping their juices onto the hickory-scented charcoals that sent out an aroma inviting every neighborhood dog. Dad loved to grill out and was usually the appointed chef, although Mom had taken over today after a few blackened hotdogs were showing signs of neglect. Dad paced back and forth from the backyard deck to the side of the house, sneaking a quick peek down the driveway.

Cassie stood up from her lawn chair. "I'm going to go check on Scooter. Anyone else want to come?" Tammy and Caylum walked with her to the barn. As they went in, Scooter and Kendra's horse, Spark, both nickered. Cassie picked up a flake of hay and divided it between them.

"They sure act happy to see you," said Caylum.

Cassie brushed off a few loose strands of hay stuck to her shirt. "I'm not sure if it's me or the hay."

Caylum's light blue eyes sparkled. "I'd say it's you."

Cassie grinned and glanced up at him. "Do you think?"

Tammy walked over to the stalls. Spark was uninterested in his hay and stood with his head hung down over the stall door. Tammy pulled a rubber band off her wrist and pulled her black, waist-length hair back into a ponytail. "So how are you doin'?" she said to the big, black gelding. "You look like you've lost your spark."

Cassie joined her. "He has! Kendra has neglected him so much, he doesn't even want to try."

Tammy rubbed Spark around the eyes. "Yeah, but you can get it back, can't you, boy? I reckon I've seen underdogs come from behind before," she said in her strong, western twang.

"If Kendra plans to win anything, she'd better put Spark on the same kind of workout program as I did Scooter," Cassie said. "She'll have to do something to get him back to running the way he was a month ago."

"I thought that little brumby of yours looked fit at the state finals last weekend," Caylum said to Cassie. "What kind of program did you have him on?"

"I started him out slow, but did a lot of long-trotting to tighten his belly and extend his leg reach. I eventually worked him up to where I could gallop him around the pasture four times without him breathing hard."

"But that wasn't all she did that gave her the advantage to set that arena record," Tammy told Caylum. "Tell him what else you did, Cassie."

Caylum gave Cassie his full attention. "Yeah. Tell me."

"Okay. But you can't tell anyone my secret." Cassie grabbed Caylum's arm and led him to the front barn doors.

"My lips are sealed."

Cassie stopped just outside and pointed. "See that pond? Scooter and I have spent a lot of time in there these past few weeks."

"You've been swimming him, eh?"

"Yep," Cassie said. "It's a great way to get into shape."

Caylum playfully scanned Cassie. "Too right! I can see that."

Cassie felt her cheeks burn.

"You best be plannin' to spend the next few weeks in there, too," Tammy said. "Cause if you think last weekend was tough, you ain't seen nothin' yet."

Cassie was still basking in the glow of her victory at the state finals; her mind hadn't moved ahead. The National High School Finals Rodeo was less than three weeks away. Oh, man! Cassie realized. The Nationals! I'm going! So are over a hundred and fifty others barrel racers—the top four from each state!

Tammy chuckled. "You aren't nervous, are you?"

Cassie looked at Caylum, then back at Tammy. "Huh? No! Why? I mean, why would you ask that?"

"Just checkin'," said Tammy.

"It wouldn't hurt if we all worked out in that pond every day until the Nationals," Caylum said. "We need to be at our best."

Huh! Cassie thought. Caylum in my pond every day for a month. Yeah! I could get used to that.

"More rellies?" Caylum asked, nodding toward the driveway. "Can you tell who it is?"

Cassie squinted. "Umm...nope. I don't think I've ever seen that truck before."

A dusty, black Durango passed the barn on its way to the house. The dark, tinted windows made it impossible to see who was driving.

"Let's head that way and find out who it is," said Cassie.

As they neared the house, a muscular, dark-haired man stepped out of the truck.

"If that bloke is a steer wrestler," Caylum said, "I don't want to go up against him."

Cassie stopped. "That's no steer wrestler. That's Uncle C.J.!"

Uncle C.J. was Dad's brother who lived in Texas. Cassie and Kendra didn't know much about him—only that every once in a great while he and Aunt Betty would pop in with their son, Shardon. No one had seen Uncle C.J. in almost a year—not since the funeral. It wasn't clear what had happened to Aunt Betty, and not even Dad knew where Uncle C.J. and Shardon had gone when they disappeared.

Cassie ran from the barn to greet him. "Uncle C.J.!"

The burly man wheeled around. "Whoa! Look at you! Wait a minute. Which one are you?" he playfully asked.

Cassie stood on her tiptoes and threw her arms around his neck. "I'm the one you like the best."

Uncle C.J. squeezed Cassie tight, lifting her five-foot-four inch, ninety-seven pound frame off her feet. "Oh! I recognize you now."

After he set her back on the ground, Cassie said, "These are my friends, Tammy and Caylum."

Tammy smiled. "Howdy."

"G'day," Caylum said, shaking Uncle C.J.'s hand.

Then Cassie asked, "Where's Shardon?" She was eager to see her young cousin, and wondered why her parents hadn't told her they were coming.

Uncle C.J. opened his truck door. Sitting in the passenger seat was an eight-year-old, sandy-haired boy, staring down at his lap with his arms crossed. "Aren't you going to get out?"

"Nope," said Shardon.

Dad walked up from behind and slapped Uncle C.J. on the back and stuck out his hand. The brothers gripped tightly, then hugged.

What? Cassie thought, watching as her father, who was never one to show his emotions, appeared to be choking up. What's gotten into him?

"Glad you came, C.J." Dad took a step back. "Come get something to eat. We'll talk later."

Uncle C.J. walked to the other side of the truck and opened the door. "All right now, Shardon. Let's go."

"I don't want to."

"Now, soldier!"

"Yes, sir," Shardon groaned.

Uncle C.J. ruffled the top of Shardon's hair. "Come on, son. Quit worrying. It'll be all right."

---

Most of the guests sat around making small talk. Shardon never moved more than two feet from his father. Cassie and Caylum challenged Kendra and Rusty to a game of horseshoes. As they were battling it out, Tammy talked with Latisha and her friend, Brandy.

"How long did it take you to get all those little braids in your hair?" Tammy asked.

"It took awhile," Latisha said, smiling. "You should let me braid your hair."

Tammy raised her ponytail. "This long thing? Like that? Never happen. I braid mine one on each side, and only when I go to visit my grandfather on the reservation."

"Come on. You'd look great!" Latisha assured. "Except it wouldn't be little, tight braids. I'd make long corn-rows."

Tammy hesitated. "I don't know."

"Ahhh!" Cassie hollered, as Kendra clanged her last horseshoe around the stake, winning the game. "You got lucky!" Cassie and Kendra loved to compete at everything, but Kendra was the twin who usually won. Losing to her sister bothered Cassie a lot—up until she set a new arena record last weekend at the state finals, putting to rest most of the insecurities she had about not measuring up.

"Too bad, so sad," Kendra gloated. "Next!"

"Our turn!" Latisha shouted, jumping up. "Come on, Brandy. We'll show Kendra and Rusty what a real team can do."

"Hah," Kendra chuckled weakly, forcing what looked like a fake smile. Cassie wondered if Kendra was feeling like she'd just been replaced as "best friend" by Latisha's long-time friend, visiting from Chicago. "Let's switch partners," Kendra suggested.

"Nope!" Latisha insisted. "We want to defeat the reigning champions. Don't we, Brandy?"

"You got that right, girlfriend!" Brandy cracked her knuckles. "Let's take the title!"

Kendra took a deep breath and squinted. Cassie had seen that look before. It meant Kendra's insecurity was turning into determination. "All right, Rusty," Kendra snarled. "Let's kick their butts!"