CHAPTER THREE
(chapter title – A Day Full of Fun)

"Okay, Sara. Time to go to bed." Roger told his daughter. Sara lifted her head from Mark's shoulder and looked over at her dad. The movie had ended and Joanne, Maureen and Tiffany had left a short while ago. Collins and Christopher had gone to their loft shortly after the girls had left.

"Okay, daddy." Sara said. She usually threw a hissy fit that she didn't want to go to bed right away, but not tonight – she was tired. She yawned, stood up and walked to her room and put on her pajamas. She then brushed her teeth and went to sleep.

"Jenny, time for you to go to bed." Mark told his own daughter. She sat up from lying down on the couch and went to her room. Mark sighed as he watched his daughter go to her room.

"You okay?" Roger asked. Mark turned to his friend and nodded. Roger smiled and headed to his room. Mark had started to head to his room when Jennifer called out to him.

"Yeah, doll?" Mark inquired.

"I want to know about mom. What happened to her?" Jennifer asked, sitting up in bed as Mark walked into her room. Her mom, Katie, had died when Jennifer was two of cancer.

"Honey, I told you your mom died." Mark said, picking up a stuffed cat and holding it in his hands.

"I know she did, but how?" Jennifer wanted to know. For a twelve-year-old, she sure asked a lot of questions, but that was what Mark loved about her – questioning everything.

"She died of cancer – it started off as a tumor at first, but then it got worse…" Mark then went on to explain more about her mom and the cancer that was eating away at her. The doctors had said that Katie Marie Johnston-Cohen had died of ovarian cancer on May 18, 1997.

"Mark, Joanne's on the phone and she needs to talk to you." Roger said, poking his head in the door.

"I'll be right there, Rog." Mark told him. Turning to Jennifer, he added, "Go to bed, sweetie. I love you." He stood up and turned off the overhead light and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Did Joanne say what she wanted?" Mark inquired. Roger just shook his head, toothbrush in his hand. Mark smirked and picked up the phone.

"Joanne? What's going on?" Mark asked.

"Did Tiffany leave her leopard print notebook there?" Joanne inquired. Mark looked around the loft, spotting a leopard print notebook on the floor in front of the couch.

"Yeah, she did, Joanne. Do you want me to bring it over or what?" Mark questioned.

"That's okay. I can get it tomorrow before I go to work. Jennifer and Sara are still coming over after Sara gets out of her lesson, right?" Joanne asked. Sara and Jennifer were going to the movies with Joanne, Maureen and Tiffany. They were planning to see Cars or Over the Hedge, whichever sounded better to them.

"As far as I know, they're still coming." Mark told her, wanting to go to bed. Joanne seemed to read his mind.

"Well, I'm gonna let you go. Tell Sara and Jenny I said 'hi' okay?" the lawyer sounded like she had five cups of caffeine.

"I will, Joanne. Don't worry." Mark told her.

"Bye." With that, she hung up. Mark hung the phone up and went to his room, wanting to go to sleep.

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At noon the next day, Sara and Roger headed to Bingham Stables on Long Island by ferry. Melanie, along with her husband, Jordan, owned over seventy horses and ponies.

"I hope I'm riding Cookie or Zorro today." Sara said, naming two of her favorite horses – a brown and white pinto mare and a pure black Arabian gelding.

"I'm sure Melanie will let you know as soon as you get there, sweetie." Roger told his daughter, ruffling her hair. Today, she wore a light purple shirt that said 'Horse Lover' in white letters and jeans. On her feet, she wore her tennis shoes.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at Bingham Stables. Melanie greeted them as the cab drove up to the driveway. Roger paid the driver as Sara hopped out of the cab and ran up to Melanie.

"Hey sweetie. You'll be riding Zorro today. English tack." Melanie told her as Roger came up to her.

"Hey Rog. Always great to see you." Melanie said, smiling at him. Roger smiled back and went to help Sara with Zorro. She already had the gelding in cross-ties in the middle of the aisle and was using a currycomb to brush him, all the time talking non-stop to him. Roger smiled and watched Sara brush Zorro. She spotted Roger and motioned him on over.

"Hey daddy. You remember Zorro, right?" Sara asked as she put a navy blue saddle pad on Zorro. Roger nodded and moved the saddle pad so that it was on Zorro's withers. He then walked to the tack room and helped Sara with Zorro's saddle and bridle.

"Roger, could I see you a minute?" Melanie asked as Sara was tightening Zorro's girth.

"Yeah, I'll be right there." Roger told her, patting Zorro's shoulder and walking over to where Melanie was standing in front of Cookie's stall.

"I have an opening in this class and I was wondering if you wanted to ride Cookie." Melanie said, leading the brown and white mare out for Roger.

"Sure, I haven't ridden for a while." Roger told her.

"It's okay. Plus, I think Sara would like it if you rode with her." Melanie said, patting Cookie's shoulder and walked away. Roger hooked Cookie in a set of cross-ties before walking over to Sara and helping her with Zorro's bridle.

"Guess what, honey?" Roger asked.

"What?" Sara inquired.

"I'm going to be riding Cookie today because there was an opening in the class that you're riding in." Roger told her, patting Zorro's shoulder as he unhooked the gelding from the cross-ties.

"This'll be fun daddy!" Sara told him, her green eyes wide with excitement. Roger smiled and watched Sara walk Zorro to the indoor riding arena mounting block and got on him. He then turned his attention to Cookie – talking to the mare as he brushed and tacked her up under Western tack. Putting the bit in her mouth, he adjusted his stirrups and checked the girth one last time before unhooking Cookie from the cross-ties and leading her to the indoor arena. He then grabbed a green adult sized helmet and mounted Cookie from the ground. Melanie walked into the arena, followed by Soot and Garfield – two of the barn dogs.

"Okay, everyone. Walk your horses, please." Melanie told the class of three riders – Roger on Cookie, Sara on Zorro and a girl named Gabi on a pony named Aslan. After a while of walking, Melanie turned her attention to Roger and Cookie.

"Okay, Roger, I want you to jog her once around the arena." Melanie told him from the middle of the arena. Roger nodded and gently nudged Cookie into a jog, moving with her instead of against her. Cookie kept the jog up all the way around the arena.

"Good Roger. Now ask her to walk." Melanie said as Roger finished his jog around the arena.

"Walk Cookie." Roger told the mare, bringing her down to a walk. Cookie did exactly what Roger told her to do. He smiled and patted her shoulder, telling her what a good horse she was. Melanie turned her attention to Sara and Zorro.

"Okay, Sara – I want you to do a posting trot on him all the way around the arena. I know you can do it." Melanie encouraged Sara. Sara smiled and clicked Zorro into a trot. Once he was in the trot, she rose and fell with the leg on the wall. Suddenly, Zorro stumbled, catching Sara off guard. She flew over Zorro's head and landed in the dirt, face down. Roger got off of Cookie and ran to Sara's side.

"You okay?" Roger asked, a little panicked. Sara coughed and looked up at him. Roger checked to make sure that she didn't break anything as Melanie walked over to Zorro and calmed him down.

"Do you want to continue the lesson?" Melanie asked as Roger helped Sara stand up.

"Yeah. I'm fine, Melanie." Sara told her, brushing the dirt off of her shirt. Melanie looked concerned at that point.

"How about you just walk a bit around the arena, just to make sure that you didn't hurt anything, okay?" Melanie suggested. Sara nodded and with Roger's help, walked around the arena.

"Do you want to ride Cookie?" Roger inquired as they walked. Sara shook her head and looked up at her dad.

"Actually, daddy, I wanna go home." Sara told him.

"You sure?" Roger inquired. Sara nodded.

"Let me go tell Melanie and then we can go, okay?" Roger said. Sara nodded and walked out of the arena, Soot and Garfield following her. As her dad talked to Melanie, she scratched Soot's ears. Garfield nudged her and whined. The Chocolate Lab didn't like to feel left out, so Sara petted him while she stroked the Black Lab's fur. Soot was pregnant with her first litter of puppies and Melanie had promised that Sara could have one of her puppies. She had wanted a puppy for as long as she could remember – if she got a boy, she would name him Fender and if she got a girl, Musetta.

"We ready to go, sweetie?" Roger asked, startling Sara out of her thoughts. She nodded and took a hold of Roger's hand as they walked out of the stable. As they walked, they passed by Tidbit's empty stall. Sara peered in, knowing that Tidbit wouldn't be there. Melanie had put Tidbit down a week ago – right after the competition at the New York Fairgrounds.

"You miss her don't you?" Roger inquired, putting a hand on Sara's shoulder. Sara looked up at him, tears in her eyes. Roger kissed her cheek and took off his helmet, setting it in the bin with all the other helmets. Sara took off her helmet and returned her riding boots before putting on her shoes. Together, she and Roger boarded a ferry back to Manhattan.

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"Hey, you two are back early. What happened?" Mark wanted to know as Roger and Sara entered the loft. Jennifer was sitting on the couch, watching TV, but as soon as her best friend walked in the door, she turned it off.

"Why are you home so early?" Jennifer asked. Sara told her what happened while she and her dad were horseback riding; Jennifer listening intently. She didn't speak until Sara was all done talking. When she was done talking, Jennifer didn't know what to say – she was speechless.

"Jenny, aren't you gonna say something?" Sara asked her friend. Jennifer shook her head.

"We ready to go to the movie?" Mark asked. Jennifer and Sara nodded excitedly. Roger laughed as they walked up to him, ready to go to the movies. He had called Maureen to let her know that Sara was home early from her lesson and was ready to go to the movies. They had agreed to see the three fifteen showing of the movie Cars.

As Roger drove the girls over to Joanne and Maureen's apartment, they listened to Sara's new CD – Wicked. The three of them sang along with the different songs as they went along their way.