High Hurdles Collection Two by Lauraine Snelling Page A

bike and headed back to the stalls. “Joe, could you please bring Major and Patches in from the hot walker? I’m late!”
    â€œSure ’nough, kid. You want a ride home?”
    DJ shook her head. “I can ride it almost as fast as you can get the truck out. Thanks, I owe you one!” She called the last of the sentence over her shoulder as she jogged out of the aisle. She’d have gone at a dead run, but Bridget forbade running in the barns.
    The twins were already in the car when DJ pedaled up the street.

Chapter • 10
    DJ hit the kitchen door at 10:29. “I’ll hurry!” she said before her mother could get in a word. The look on Lindy’s face already said more than DJ wanted to hear.
    Robert shut the hatch on the Bronco as DJ charged out the front door. “Perfect timing, DJ. Did you bring a jacket? Could be cold over there.”
    DJ waved her fleece-lined Windbreaker. She climbed in the second seat, where the boys were already buckled in. “Hi, guys.”
    â€œWe was waiting.” The B closest to her handed her the left half of the seat belt. “You gotta buckle up.”
    â€œI know.” DJ tousled the boy’s hair, then clamped the belt in place. She could hear Robert and Lindy talking in low tones at the rear of the vehicle. Come on, Mom, I wasn’t that late. Lighten up. And besides, there was nothing I could do about it. You always said I have to be polite . At the reminder of the reason she was late, she thought again of the filly Omega. She would be fun to break. The second thought wasn’t nearly as pleasant. How will I find time to do all of this?
    The boys fell asleep in the car on the way home, and DJ did the same not long after. The next words she heard were Robert’s, “Let’s just order in pizza.”
    DJ kept her eyes closed—opening them took more energy than she could dig up at the moment. They had had a good time. She could feel a grin coming on as she remembered lunch. She and the boys had been setting the hot dogs out on a round table with a blue umbrella while Robert went back for napkins and Lindy used the rest room.
    DJ had turned away to look at something for one second when one of the twins let out a shriek. She turned back just in time to see a sea gull lift off with one of the hot dogs in his beak.
    â€œHe took my lunch!” The B flapped his arms at the bird.
    Hearing the boy shriek, Robert charged back. “What happened?”
    â€œThe bird took my hot dog!” Bobby—or Billy—pointed to a circle of squawking and fighting sea gulls, one of which had the hot dog. Two others now squabbled over the bun. “Get it, Dad.”
    â€œI’ll get you another one.” Robert’s laugh rang out. The boys looked at him, at DJ, who was trying to keep from hooting, over to the birds, and back.
    â€œBad birds!” the boys shouted together.
    â€œYou can have half of mine,” the twin who had kept his hands over his lunch said.
    â€œHere, you take mine, and I’ll get another.” Still laughing and watching the hot dog disappear down the bird’s gullet, DJ handed her basket across the table.
    â€œThanks, DJ.” Robert took some money from his wallet and handed it to her.
    â€œNow, you guys hang on to your food.” In a flash, both boys put their hands over their plates. “That’s one smart bird.” DJ shook her head, laughing her way over to the concession stand.
    Even now, she could hardly keep from laughing. While her mother had missed all the action, she had thought it funny, too.

    That evening after they’d devoured the pizza, DJ sat on the sofa with a boy tucked under each arm and read both Horton Hears a Who and The Cat in the Hat . They giggled at her different voices for the different animals and chanted some of the lines with her.
    â€œThank you, God, for my family,” DJ whispered that night when she’d turned the light out.