_Ready for the Run_
A couple of days later, Alec sat near the Simpsons' wagon, watching his
father exercise Sunshine. Controlling the beautiful mare entirely by the
way he swayed his body and with a very light touch on the reins, Jed
Simpson put Sunshine into a canter. Then he drew her back to a trot, and
Alec sighed wistfully.
Tomorrow was April 22, the day of the great Run, and it was impossible
not to share the excitement that mounted all along the border. Alec
tried hard to calm down. He was not going to make the ride into
Oklahoma, and he knew it. His father had asked him to stay with the
wagon and take care of his mother and sisters. Duty was plain, and there
could be no shirking. All the Simpsons had to work together for the
good of all.
He must not, Alec told himself, even _wish_ that he could make the ride.
But because he couldn't help wishing, he felt a little guilty. His
father brought Sunshine back, staked her on the picket rope, and began
to rub her down.
"She's in shape," he called to his son. "She'll make it."