“The bed and dresser look very nice. Thank you for the offer to help. I’ll hand you the clothes, and you can put them in a drawer.”
Elise was unprepared for Millie’s next question.
“Whose trousers are these?” Millie held up one of the three pairs of men’s trousers Elise had purchased in preparation for her new job.
“Those are... um... my work clothes. When I train horses, I can’t have skirts in my way, and even riding pants are cumbersome.”
“Oh,” was all Millie said.
As they worked, Millie asked casually, “Who was the man you talked to by the stagecoach?”
Elise liked the little girl and thought her company would be fun. “His name is T.J. , and we spent a lot of time traveling together. He’s going on to a place near Hunter’s Grove.”
“Oh,” was all Millie replied.
“There. That’s the last of the unpacking. Now, I’m anxious to see the horses. Will you take me on a tour, Millie?”
Elise followed Millie out of the house and into one of the two large stables, both of them close to large circular corrals.
Millie opened the stable door. “My papa puts the female horses in one building and the males in the other. The colts and fillies are also in the stable with the females. We’re going there first.”
Elise walked slowly from stall to stall, admiring the quality and beauty of each horse. The stalls were clean and well-organized.
When she saw the young horses, she felt excited, and she couldn’t wait to begin. The colts and fillies were somewhat older than those she usually worked with, but she understood they hadn’t had anyone to train them for a while.
A door from the back of the stable opened, and a man walked in. She assumed he was a worker as he was dressed in a flannel shirt with his sleeves rolled up. He stopped short when he saw them.
“Papa!” Millie yelled, and she ran into his arms. “She’s here, she’s here.”
The man smiled as he hugged his daughter tightly. “Yes, I see. Would you care to introduce us?”
Millie wriggled down from his arms and said, “Papa, this is Elise Ansell, our horsewoman.”
Harlan wiped is hand on his pants and held it out to her. “Welcome, Miss Ansell. I’m Harlan Tanner.”
“Please, call me Elise,” she said. “I’m pleased to meet you, and I can’t wait to begin.”
“Is tomorrow too soon?”
“No, I’m ready.”
“Good. Millie will show you the other horses. I have a mare in labor in the birthing building, and I think she’s about ready. I’ll see you both at dinner,” he said as he hurried out of the stable.
Millie asked, “What do you think of my papa?”
Elise wondered at the question, but she answered, “He seems like a nice papa, and I impressed with his stables and horses.” The girl was obviously proud of her father.
“I think I’ve met everyone now except your mother. Is she around?”
“I don’t have a mother,” Millie said sadly.
“I’m so sorry, Millie. Did she die?”
Millie looked down at her feet as if trying to think of an answer. Elise was curious at her reaction to the question. Had her mother’s death been so recent that it was still painful to talk about?
“That’s all right, Millie. I don’t need to know any more. Shall we see the other stables?”
During dinner, Harlan Tanner explained to Elise exactly what he needed her to do and what his plans were.
“When are you planning the auction?” she asked.
“I hope in September. Will we have enough horses trained by then?”
Elise giggled. “I’ll have nearly all of them trained by then.”
Harlan’s mouth dropped open, and he gave her a sly smile. “We’ll see. That’ll be a huge job.”
Elise smiled back at him. “I like challenges.”
That night when Elise and Millie were crawling into their beds, Millie asked, “Do you say prayers before bed?”
“I always do, yes. Do you go to services?”
“Yes, and we go to church every Sunday.”
Millie said her prayers aloud, and then whispered to Elise, “I didn’t hear you praying.”
“I say them silently in my head. God is omnipotent, and He can hear your prayers even when they aren’t said aloud.”
Elise had been impressed with Millie’s simple prayer. She was a darling little girl, and Elise was glad she had said her prayer out loud because she loved hearing it.
“Maybe some nights we can say them together aloud.”
“I’d like that,” Millie said. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Millie.”
After a hearty breakfast, Harlan led Elise to the stables. “Which horse do you want to work on first?”
“The one you plan to give to Millie.”
“But shouldn’t we be working on horses to sell at the auction?” he asked.
“I assure you they’ll all be trained in time. Now, which one is to be Millie’s?”
Harlan had a hard time concentrating on his work because he was constantly peeking out at the corral to see how Elise was doing. She was wearing pants! He’d never seen a woman wearing pants. And how did she think she’d train twenty horses by September? Even Pedro couldn’t have trained them that quickly.
She was a tiny woman, not at all as he’d imagined. Her dark brown hair was pulled up on top of her head, and she had a cute face—not beautiful, but cute. He supposed she was nice enough, but he doubted a tiny woman could train a horse faster than Pedro.
Millie hopped up to sit on the stable wall as he was grooming one of his breeding horses. “Hi, Papa. Do you need any help?”
“No school today?” he asked.
“Nope. Don’t you remember, it’s over until after the harvest in the fall?”
“But you have assignments to do at home, right?”
“I’ll get them done.” She patted the head of the
