-Part 2-
"Sarah, Hoss and I were just talking about you." Ben said a couple of days later when Sarah sat down at the table with them for breakfast.
"What? Did I do something wrong?" Sarah asked.
"No. Nothing like that." Ben said, laughing slightly. Sarah sighed in relief.
"Oh." she said, "What is it then?"
"I was just thinkin' on maybe teachin' you to ride a horse. I mean, if you want to learn." Hoss said.
"Wow. I'd like that. I love horses, but I've never ridden one. Is it hard to learn?" Sarah said, smiling.
"No way. It's easy enough even Hoss was able to learn." Joe said. Sarah frowned.
"No, Hoss is plenty smart. He's just smart about different things than most people." she said.
"Nah, Sarah, Little Joe's right. I ain't exactly the brainy one in the family." Hoss said.
"Hoss, you shouldn't say such things about yourself." Sarah said, smiling, her clear blue eyes fixed on him.
"Well... Thank you, Sarah. That's mighty fine of you to say." Hoss said, a small smile crossing his face.
"You should take her outside after breakfast and give her some lessons." Joe said.
"Now, dad burn it, Little Joe, don't you get carried away. I'll teach her when she's ready, and she didn't say she was yet." Hoss said.
"After breakfast sounds fine to me." Sarah said.
"What? You sure about that?" Hoss asked. Sarah nodded.
"Yes. I trust you, all of you, and I trust your judgement. If you all think it's alright, then it probably is." Sarah said.
"I don't know. With the rest of us, you should be alright, but trusting Little Joe's judgement could get you killed." Abbie said. Adam, who was sitting next to her, grinned.
After breakfast, Hoss led Sarah out to the barn. He led her over to a stall where there was a beautiful palomino horse with a white stripe down the front of it's face.
"What a beautiful horse." Sarah said.
"Sarah, me and pa were talkin', and we want you to have this horse when you learn to ride." Hoss said.
"You... want me to have it? You mean, it's mine?" she asked, looking from Hoss to the horse and back again. Hoss nodded.
"Once you learn to ride, she's yours." he said.
"But, that's so generous... I couldn't..." Sarah said.
"Now, Sarah, we already decided. Pa won't take no for an answer. And, neither will I." Hoss said.
"Thank you so much." Sarah finally said.
"It's nothin'." Hoss said, smiling, "So, you'd better give her a name."
"Hmm." Sarah said, looking at the horse for a moment as she gently petted it's head, "I think... Juniper. She just looks like a Juniper to me."
"I think that's a mighty fine name, Sarah." Hoss said. He petted the horse's head, his hand accidentally falling on top of Sarah's. Noticing this, they stopped and stared at each other for a moment before both pulling their hands away. They both looked away for a moment, embarrassed before Hoss finally cleared his throat and said, "Well... we better get her saddled up."
"Yeah." Sarah said quietly. They saddled up the horse, Juniper, and led it out of the barn to a small open area. Sarah patted Juniper on the head again before Hoss helped her get up onto it's back. After a few moments, Adam and Abbie walked over to them, leaning on a nearby fence as they watched.
"How's she doing?" Abbie asked.
"She's doin' real well. She has a real way with animals." Hoss said.
"I've always loved animals." Sarah said. Just then, Little Joe walked over to them.
"Hey, how's it coming?" he asked, leaning on the fence with Adam and Abbie.
"She's doing better than I did." Abbie said, "On my first time on the horse, I got thrown off."
"You didn't get hurt, did you?" Sarah asked, her blue eyes wide.
"No." Abbie said, "Luckily, Adam was there to catch me." She squeezed Adam's hand and he smiled slightly.
"Maybe if I'd have caught you you would've ended up fallin' for me instead of Adam." Joe said.
"I don't think there was any danger of that." Abbie said.
"Sarcasm. One of Abbie's many talents." Joe said sarcastically.
"That's my girl." Adam said. Sarah and Hoss laughed.
