Rough Roads
CHAPTER ONE
"Watch it, Scooter!" Cassie demanded. She drove him as hard as she could to the third barrel, urging his every stride. Just one more barrel! We can't knock it over! Cassie could feel he was running as hard as he could, but didn't know why he was pulling against the bit. She knew if she eased up on him, he'd duck in and hit it for sure. She rode him like she was planning to go past the barrel. Up alongside of it, she yelled, "Whoa!" then rated him down with both hands. He ducked back so fast it threw Cassie off balance and flung her down, jerking the reins out of her hand. Scooter lined himself out and headed for the finish line. Cassie sat up and grabbed her rein without disturbing his stride. "Come on, Scooter! We can win this!"
By the end of their run, Cassie was puffing as hard as Scooter. As he slid to a stop, Cassie's eyes shot over to the timer display board. She blinked several times to make sure she was reading it correctly. The crowd rose to their feet, cheering.
Cassie, sitting on the floor of her twin sister's bedroom, sighed and slid back against the wall. Her eyes were closed and she was sporting a smile.
"Darn it!" Exclaimed Cassie's twin sister, Kendra.
Cassie's brown eyes snapped open. "What?"
"My old belt looks kind of ragged attached to my new buckle." Kendra shook her head as she continued to buff.
"You keep polishing that buckle and you'll rub all the letters off."
Kendra stopped rubbing. "You don't think that could-- No it couldn't. Could it?
Cassie chuckled. "You are so gullible."
Cassie and Kendra had just returned from New Mexico, a few days prior, where they had competed at the National High School Finals Rodeo in the cloverleaf barrel racing. Kendra finished tenth in the average and won a trophy buckle. Cassie didn't place in the average because she'd hit a barrel in the first go-round, but she and Scooter blitzed everyone in the second go-round by running the fastest time of the entire rodeo. And for that, she too brought home a trophy buckle.
"Man!" Cassie exclaimed. "I can't help thinking about how things might've turned out if Scooter wouldn't have hit that barrel."
Kendra marched over to her dresser and set her buckle up on top, displaying it to face the front. "I've never seen him shoulder into a barrel like that before."
Cassie nodded with a frown. "He's starting to develop a problem that I'm not sure how to fix."
"Hmm," Kendra said, staring intently at her buckle.
"Hmm, what?" Cassie asked. Kendra didn't answer, just moved her buckle slightly to the right. "Are you even listening to me?" Kendra still didn't reply. "Hey!" Cassie shouted.
Kendra startled and turned around. "Yeah! What?"
"Oh, never mind." Cassie jumped to her feet. "I'll leave you two alone."
Cassie flopped down on the living room couch. Its burgundy leather was the same shade as the curtains draped across their picture window. She decided she'd call her best friend, Tammy. Cassie snatched up the handset on the end table and punched in her number.
"Hello?" Came a voice over the phone.
"Hi, Tammy. It's me, Cassie."
"Whatcha doin'?"
Cassie drew up her knees. "Well. I was hoping you could give me some good advice."
"About what?" Tammy asked.
"About Scooter starting to shoulder the barrels."
"The best advice I can give you is to get some expert advice. I'd hate to tell you somethin' that'd end up makin' the problem worse."
"Yeah, right," Cassie said in a discouraged tone. "Where am I going to find a barrel racing expert? I don't think they list them in the yellow pages."
"Maybe not," said Tammy. "But they do list ‘em in the monthly rodeo bulletins."
Cassie jerked her feet down and sat up straight. "They do?"
"Sometimes," Tammy replied. "Doesn't your dad have any rodeo bulletins layin' around?"
"Are you kidding?" Cassie joked. "He may be laid-up from steer wrestling with a bad knee right now, but he still keeps up with everything going on in the rodeo world."
"Well there you go," said Tammy. "Check in the back of some of those."
"Okay. And speaking of sore knees," Cassie added. "How's yours doing?"
Tammy had hurt her knee a few weeks before the NHSFR. She had qualified in both the barrel racing and the goat tying but, because of her sore knee, she didn't do well in either event at the finals.
"Awe, it'll be fit as a fiddle in no time." Tammy always seemed to make light of any bad situations. Her faith in God was strong. She firmly believed that everything happens for a reason, and that God is always in total control. "I'm gonna stay off of it for a week or two and give it a chance to heal."
"If you need anything--"
"You'll be the first one I holler at."
"Okay," said Cassie. "I'm going to go check out some of Dad's rodeo bulletins. I'll call you later."
"I'll be here."
Cassie knelt beside a square, wooden end table, looking at the mass collection of Dad's trophy buckles displayed beneath the glass covering. She pulled out the bottom drawer and took out a stack of rodeo bulletins. "Let's see now…June, May, April, March." She paused a moment. He probably hasn't gotten the August issue yet, but I wonder where he's put July's. Cassie heard the front door open. She set the magazines back in the drawer and slid it shut.
"Ughhh," grumbled a voice from behind her. Mom was struggling to lift a handful of plastic grocery bags up on the kitchen table.
"Wait a minute, Mom," Cassie called out, scampering over to help lighten her load.
"Thanks, honey." Mom handed Cassie a few bags then set the rest on the table.
Cassie scurried toward the front door. "Are there any more bags in the car?"
"Nope," Mom answered. "I got them all."
"Oh," Cassie groaned, dragging her feet back toward the pile of grocery bags, setting on the kitchen table.
Mom shook her head. "I've never seen anyone who dreaded such a simple chore. You act as though I'd just handed you a long list of to-dos."
Cassie couldn't help the way she felt about household chores. She would've been much happier being asked to go clean out a stall. Cassie dug through a grocery bag. "Do you know where Dad put his latest rodeo bulletin?"
"For which association? National, regional, or state?" Mom asked, turning toward the pantry. "He has to join them all, you know."
Cassie recognized a scornful tone in Mom's voice. She had heard it before and it was a hurtful reminder of how much Mom missed performing in the rodeos. Cassie opened the refrigerator door and set in a container of orange juice. "When are you going to teach me how to trick rope?" Cassie asked, trying to sweeten the mood before it had a chance to turn sour.
Mom didn't reply. When Cassie shut the refrigerator door and turned around, Mom was gazing at her, taking Cassie by surprise. They stared at each other a moment, then Mom broke eye contact and crinkled together a few empty plastic bags. "Do you really want to learn, or are you just trying to get me jump-started?"
"Well…yeah," Cassie confirmed, silently admiring her mother's perception. "How many times do I have to ask?"
"I'm not even sure where I put-- Well, maybe. If I can find my ropes." Mom gave a slight grin and stuffed the grocery bags into a hanging plastic bag holder. "As far as your Dad's rodeo bulletins, check the bathroom in our room. I think I saw one in there this morning."
Cassie quickly scanned the unpacked groceries on the table. She snatched up a can of hair spray and bottle of hair dye. "I'll go put this in your bathroom."
Mom snickered. "That's one way of getting out of something you don't want to do."
Cassie gave Mom a suspicious look as she hoofed it out of the kitchen. "Yeah. And your ropes are probably still in that hat box, down in the basement."
With her eyes glued in the July issue of Dad's rodeo bulletin, Cassie plopped down on the corner of her parent's bed. Oh, please let there be something in here, Cassie silently prayed as she flipped through the pages. She turned toward the back and scanned the classified ads. Rodeo equipment, livestock for sale, rodeo announcers, clowns, rodeo photographers… Cassie sighed. I don't see anything in here about-- Just as she licked her finger to flip another page a small ad caught her eye. A few moments later, Cassie squealed with excitement, leaped off the bed, and scurried into the kitchen.
Kendra had joined Mom and was helping her put the groceries away.
"Back so soon?" Mom joked.
Kendra handed Cassie a bottle of shampoo. "Here. Go put this in our bathroom."
"Look what I found," Cassie said, ignoring Kendra's order. She flipped to the back of the bulletin and waved it in front of Kendra's face. "This is just what we both need."
"What is-- How am I--" Kendra grabbed her sister's arm. "Hold still a minute!"
Mom stacked the last of the canned goods in the pantry. "What is it, Cassie?"
Cassie danced a little jig. "An answer to my prayer."
Kendra snatched the bulletin from Cassie's hand and read the ad, "Barrel Racing Clinic held this Labor Day weekend—Instructed by champion barrel racer, Karen Edelen."
"This could help us both," Cassie said to Kendra.
"Spark isn't doing so bad," Kendra defended. "He won me a buckle, didn't he?"
Cassie folded her arms. "Yes. But maybe he would've won you a saddle if he'd a been running the way he's capable of."
Kendra stared at Cassie a moment. "I wonder where that clinic's at and how much it costs."
"I don't know where she's holding her clinic," Mom commented. "but Karen Edelen lives here, in Ohio."
Kendra's eyes shot toward Mom. "No way! Really?"
"How do you know that?" Cassie asked Mom.
Mom playfully threw her hands to her hips. "How long have I been in the rodeo business?"
Kendra scoffed. "A l-o-n-g time."
"Uh-oh," Cassie muttered, trying hard not to giggle.
Kendra froze, apparently thinking twice about her answer. She stared into Mom's glaring eyes. "I, um-- I mean-- Well, you know. Okay. Let me start over. You started trick riding and trick roping in a wild west show when you were eight years old, and then at some Pro rodeos. But then, um--"
Cassie cut in. "Did you ever compete in the barrel racing?"
"I ran for a few years ?"
Cassie's eyes lit up. "Do you know Karen Edelen?"
Mom grinned and slid out a kitchen chair. Cassie and Kendra quickly took a seat.
"C'mon, Mom," Kendra said in a doubtful tone. "You've probably just seen her around at a few rodeos, huh? Does Dad know her? After listening to all his stories, sounds like he knows everyone."
Mom's grin faded. "The ones who tell the biggest stories aren't always the ones with the biggest stories to tell."
Cassie slapped the table. "You do know her, don't you?"
"On a first name basis."
"Get out!" Kendra howled.
Mom set back, draping her elbow over the back of the chair. She tossed her auburn hair back over her shoulder. "I guess it would really blow your minds to know she was also a trick rider and performed at the same rodeos as I did." Mom peered into Kendra's eyes. "But that was a l-o-n-g time ago."
Cassie and Kendra stared at each other, speechless.
"Let me see the ad," Mom said, reaching for the rodeo bulletin. She scanned it a moment. "Hand me the telephone."
* End of Chapter One *