I was GOING to wait until chapter 10 to do this… but I just can't resist! And plus, I am going to be adding members of the NHSRA, so if any of you want an oc, just enter by this category thing:

-name

-gender

-age

-hair color

-eye color

-personality

-rodeo event(s) (goat tying, barrel racing, pole bending, calf wrestling, bull riding, bronc busting, team roping, and calf tying)

-NHSRA state, (has to be Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas, West Virginia)

Thanks! And the oc could be you if you wanted! Just say the word… this was a long beginning author's note…

"We're going to Pennsylvania!" jay sang as he threw his saddle on to the rack in the tack-room of the trailer. And it wasn't just a regular trailer; it was an 8-horse, tack room, air conditioned, living quarters gooseneck trailer! Not so easy on your paycheck…

It had been 2 months since Lloyd got Poco. They had celebrated Lloyd's 8th birth-day, and Poco's training was coming along well. She was already letting cole sit in the saddle, she was so laid back. The rodeo team was headed to Pennsylvania, for a NHSRA rodeo. They had been loading the trailer all morning, and all the horse were in… except Slinky…

"Come. On. You. Dumb. Thing!" jay slammed himself against Slinky's hind quarters. Everyone but Lloyd was around slinky, trying to get her into the trailer. Slinky was screaming, and she wasn't going in.

Zane tried to push slinky in, but she kicked out and busted his arm off. The robotic arm flew through the air and landed in a tree. Lloyd busted out laughing and climbed up the tree.

He retrieved the arm and tossed it to Zane, who reattached it.

Zane sucked in a deep breath and ran right straight at Slinky's hindquarters. A thousand thoughts ran through his head as he threw himself at her gigantiferous butt.

Out of shock, Slinky hopped straight up into the trailer. Jay slammed shut the slat and sighed.

"NOW we can go."

In the truck, Lloyd leaned over into kai.

"I don't know if I should go… Zane stayed behind for his dressage thing, so maybe I should stay with him…"

Kai stared at him. "Why?" he asked.

"I've got some strange sense of dread…" he murmured.

Kai elbowed him and laughed. "Just hush, silly."

At 9:00, they pulled into the rodeo grounds at Pennsylvania.

Lloyd peered out the window. "It's like a campground! Look! They have a fire!"

Kai smiled at him. "Still have that 'sense of dread'?"

Lloyd stuck his tongue out at him. "Yes, and why would you care, mister snoopy pants?"

They pulled in to a little lot and jumped out. They set up a little portable electric fence and let the horses out with some hay.

They all climbed into the trailer living quarters.

Everyone ate a little bowl of cereal and went to bed.

Nya had the big bed, and the boys split up the bunk beds. Lloyd and kai on the bottom, cole and jay on the top.

"I can't sleep." Lloyd whispered.

Kai turned to face him. "Well, I can." He whispered back. He pushed Lloyd to the very far side of the bed with his butt.

Lloyd laughed and pushed kai. Kai pushed Lloyd back again. It escalated into a playful fight of them pushing each other to claim bed territory.

It was funny until kai slammed into Lloyd a little too hard. Lloyd fell off the bed and erupted in giggling. Kai started laughing too, and nya, cole, and jay sat up and all let out a loud 'SHHHHH!'

Lloyd and kai fell quiet, but they were still laughing into their pillows.

"GOOD MORNING!" jay jumped onto Lloyd and kai, making them both scream.

"Get off, you big oaf!" kai shoved him off of them and sat up.

Horses were whinnying around the site, and nya was making pancakes.

"guys, this evening, there is a group dinner thing, and we have to bring a dish to it, so try not to get dirty or too stinky, all right?"

Lloyd nodded and took a bite of his pancake.

"Whuf are you bwingan?" he asked with a mouthful of food.

"Do not speak with your mouth full of food." Nya said sternly. She sat down with her pancake and looked up at them.

"I'll be bringing mac-and-cheese."

Lloyd nodded and clapped his hands.

Meanwhile, in another trailer…

"PEG! IS THAT HOSS TACKED UP YET?!" miss take called to her daughter. She was making some muffins for the dinner, and she needed to know if Peg Take, her daughter, was ready to ride yet.

She dumped all the muffin mix into the tin. As she poured, she spilled a little bottle of tea into one of the muffins. She picked up the bottle. She groped for her reading glasses. She couldn't find them, so she just attempted to read the bottle.

"Eh… sage…tea?... eh." She just stirred the leaves up with the muffin, and shrugged. "Whoops!"

She rinsed her finger in the sink and put the muffins in the oven.

It was at that moment that she spotted her reading glasses. "Oh!" she picked up the tea bottle again. "AGE tea! Boy am I dumb. Heh heh. Ah, well!"

After some good runs, everyone gathered around the mini pavilion for the meal.

One of the leaders of the rodeo walked up.

"Everyone, let's pray.

"Father God, we all come to You today to thank You for these safe rides, Lord, and we ask You to bless this food unto us so that we may honor You. In Your exalted name, Amen."

"amen." Everyone said in unison.

People hopped up to get in line for the food. Nya's mac-n'-cheese was a hit, and people complemented about it.

Nya was engaged in a pleasant conversation with Peg Take, who was part of the GHSRA.

Lloyd walked up to her, sniffling.

"Oh, baby, what's wrong?" nya was immediately concerned. She felt Lloyd's head and looked him over.

"I don't feel good. I'm tired, and my throat and my legs hurt." Lloyd said quietly.

Nya cocked her head. "What did you eat?"

"um, some mac-n'-cheese, some green beans, and a muffin."

Nya knit her brow. "Um, well, go on to the trailer and take a nap. You should feel better soon."

Lloyd nodded and trudged to the trailer and flopped onto the bed. Lloyd sighed as he laid down on the bed, and the pain of his aching limbs drifted away as he fell asleep.

Peg walked up to her mother. "Mum, what was in those muffins?"

Miss take turned around. "Eh, flour, sugar…"

"MUM! Anything strange?!"

Miss take rubbed her chin. "Eh… oh! Yes. I accidentally spilled some age tea into one of the muffins."

Peg groaned. "What are the effects of the tea, so you could know if it was working?"

Miss take looked lost in thought again. "I gave a cat some talking tea, and then I gave it some age tea. He told me that his throat was sore, and his limbs hurt. Yes! That's what it was."

Peg smacked her head and placed it in her hands.

"NYA!" she screamed and raced to find her friend.

Yes… a cliffhanger.