“She’ll like it,” Mrs. Finley assured him.
Chase put his hand out and petted the horse’s coat. As he ran his fingers across it, the horse leaned its head toward him, touching its nose against Chase’s forehead.
He laughed. “Feels funny.”
“Her name’s Dana,” Mason spat out, sounding very protective of her.
“She’s an American Quarter Horse,” Ma added. “I’ve had her for about five years now.”
Dana licked Chase’s face. “Hey!” he shouted, laughing even more.
“She likes you,” Mrs. Finley said. “She’s always been good at judging a person’s character. She doesn’t warm up to just anybody. Not the only one I know who’s like that.”
She eyed Mason who glared at her.
Chase giggled, and Mason turned his angry look on him.
“You do a good enough job,” she told him, “and you can ride her one of these days.”
Mason’s face flashed red like he wasn’t pleased with her offer, but he kept quiet.
“Come along now,” Mrs. Finley continued. She led them to a stall at the back of the stable which was packed with crates and boxes that were stacked up to the ceiling. “We’ve been using this for storage, but we picked out two new horses that we’re going to be bringing in here next week, so we need to clear it out and move everything over to the new shed we put up. Of course, I don’t expect you kids to handle anything too heavy. Mason will let you know what to let be. Once you do this, you guys will be in charge of the horses. Your mom said it’d be fine for you to swing by twice a week, which will be plenty. You’ll be in charge of cleaning and feeding. Mason can show you the ropes. He’s been doing it long enough that he’s good at it, and Mason’ll be good to you, won’t you, Mason?”
Mason nodded, and she eyed him strangely, but then she ran her fingers through his hair. “Okay. I’ll be leaving you here to it, but I’ll check on y’all in a little while, and then we’ll have dinner ready and get you back on home to your parents after, Chase.”
“Thank you,” Chase said before she headed out.
Mason’s gaze shifted to him.
What was on his mind? Was he still upset with him about the fight?
Why was he so quiet?
Finally Mason said, “We’re trying to get everything moved to where Ma and Pa want.”
He started explaining the way he was organizing the shed. Most of it was supplies for the dairy, a lot of stuff that looked strange to Chase and that he didn’t understand the reason for having.
Mason directed Chase to work on one end of the stable while he worked on the other, and Chase obeyed, figuring that maybe if he did as Mason said, he’d forgive him.
They worked together, and he worked hard, because he didn’t want Mrs. Finley to change her mind and not have him back. He wanted to impress her on the first day of chores.
Two weeks passed with Chase going to the Finleys’ dairy on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help out.
Mason started to break the ice with stories about his friend Billy Maders and the science project they were working on together. He and Chase were even talking during recess.
One afternoon while they were working in the shed, Chase grabbed a box to pick up, but he couldn’t get a good grip on it, so he slid it out of the corner it was in. A rake and shovel he hadn’t noticed were leaning against the box fell toward him.
“Watch out!” Mason called. He grabbed Chase and pulled him out of the way quickly, pulling him close to his body like he was shielding him from harm.
Chase was shocked by how fast everything had happened, and his face warmed as he realized Mason had him in his hold.
“You have to be careful,” Mason said, and Chase’s muscles stiffened. He pushed away from him.
“It was an accident!” he exclaimed quickly, worriedly—the way he might have done with his parents. Even though his parents weren’t around, he could imagine his stepdad screaming and pushing him around over the mistake.
Mason’s eyes went wide with surprise over his reaction. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said, setting his hand on Chase’s shoulder. “I just meant to watch out. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
As soon as he said it, a calmness swept through Chase. He looked at Mason’s hand on his shoulder.
