The White Fox Chronicles by Gary Paulsen Page B

brought you this.” The tall man handed him a leather bridle. “I want you to have the pick of the horses we have corralledbelow. And don’t forget your gun. Rachel keeps it wrapped in that bag in the corner.”
    “You knew I was leaving?”
    “When Rachel told us of your mission, I assumed you would leave the instant you were able.”
    “There is no way I can thank you enough for all you’ve done—but I wonder if I could ask one more thing.”
    “Of course.”
    “It’s Rachel. She doesn’t really understand how rough it’s going to be.…”
    “And you want us to keep her here with us?”
    “Would you?”
    Samuel nodded. “I’ll go and tell the others to keep her occupied for a while.”
    Cody extended his hand. “Thank you. If I’m ever back this way, I’ll be sure and look you up.”
    “You will always be welcome.”

CHAPTER 21
    M ike jumped on him and licked every part of his face. Cody hugged him with both arms. “I’ve missed you too.”
    The stocky dog barked as if he understood every word.
    “They tell me you’ve been keeping an eye on my things down here. That’s a good boy. Just as soon as I can catch one of these horses we’ll load him up and be on our way. What do you say?”
    Mike barked again and ran alongside Cody into the corral.
    Cody shook out the bridle and tried for the nearest horse. It danced sideways, easily staying out of his reach.
    “Something tells me this could be harder than it looks, boy. You wait outside. I think you’re scaring them.”
    Mike obediently went to the edge of the fence and sat down. Cody shook out the bridle again and edged up to a large sorrel. He put his hand out and the horse snorted, whirled and kicked, narrowly missing him.
    “Need some help with that?” Rachel called from behind him.
    Cody’s shoulders slumped. “What are you doing here?”
    “I saw you trying to run out on me and I thought I’d follow along to see how far you could make it without my help. From here it doesn’t look like you’ve gotten too far.”
    “I wasn’t running out on you. It’s better for you if you stay here.”
    “Listen, macho man. I’m a big girl and I’ll decide what’s best for me.” Rachel steppedinto the corral and took the bridle. “My parents used to run a horse farm, remember?”
    Effortlessly she wrapped one end of a rein around the sorrel’s neck. Then she slid the headstall over his face and fastened it. “Here.” She held the reins out to Cody and then ducked under the bottom fence rail and ran back to the ladder. “You could have at least said goodbye.”
    Cody dropped the reins and trotted after her. “Rachel, wait.” He took hold of her arm. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have just left like that. I’m sorry.”
    Rachel looked past him. “You’re forgiven. And Cody …?”
    “Yeah?”
    “I kind of got used to having you around.” She looked away. “It would be awful if you got killed.”
    She moved quickly up the ladder and Cody watched her until she was out of sight and he thought, You’ve got that right, Rachel. It would be just awful.



CHAPTER 1
    T he blistering sun beat down on them without mercy. The hot air was thick and still and every breath was a struggle. There was no shade in sight, nothing but shimmering white sand for miles in any direction.
    The horse stumbled and dropped, first to his knees and then all the way down. Cody stood facing him, tugging on the reins. “Come … on. Don’t quit on me now.”
    Mike barked and nipped halfheartedly atthe horse’s back feet but the exhausted animal wouldn’t budge.
    Cody stopped pulling. His arms ached and every movement was a strain. A trickle of salty sweat ran into his eyes. He didn’t try to wipe it away. Instead, he slowly crawled to the horse and started unloading the canvas bags and boxes that were tied on its back.
    When he finished, Cody lay down beside the horse to take advantage of what little shade its body offered. The dog joined him.
    “I