"It's only two miles," Mindy pointed out.
"You'll be careful?" asked Mrs. Simpson, and Mindy knew that her mother
was making a mighty effort to remain calm.
"I'll be very careful," Mindy promised.
"If you're going to ride," Mrs. Simpson said, "you had better put on
some of Alec's outgrown clothes. You'll find some in Cindamine's
carpetbag."
"Shall I write the message and the address to which it's going?" asked
Gramps.
"No," said Mindy, who remembered every word. "I'm to send it to Mr. John
Brent, care of Dasher and Brent, 816 Fourth Street, New York City. I'm
to say, '_The Run is on. Pete gone. All is well_.'"
[Illustration]
"That's right," Gramps said. "Here is some money to pay for the
telegram."
Mindy took the money and went into the Simpson wagon. She found
underwear, blue jeans, and a shirt exactly like those Cindy was wearing.
Mindy removed her own clothes and put them on, shivering a bit as she
did so. It seemed perfectly fitting and natural for Cindy to wear such
garb, but other girls wore dresses. However, without a side saddle, one
could not ride very well while wearing a dress, and she must ride.
When Mindy stepped out of the wagon, it seemed that she had suddenly
become as big as a house and that everyone was watching her. She
breathed a sigh of relief because her mother, Granny, and Gramps were
not in sight. As fast as she could, Mindy skipped over to Pete Brent's
picket line.
She was a little puzzled. Cindy, who seemed to think it was something
unusual, had told her she was the only person ever to pet Pete's Thunder
pony, and Mindy did not understand what she had meant. Gramps had said
that Pete's remaining horses, the big work team and Thunder, were not
very fast. But if Thunder wasn't fast, his looks and the way he used
his feet belied everything Mindy knew about horses.
Taking a bridle from Pete's harness rack, Mindy went to the picket line.
The big work horses pricked their ears up and snorted softly. Thunder
danced happily forward to meet her. Mindy looped the bridle reins around
his neck to hold him, and she slipped his halter off. She put the bridle
on, and Thunder took the bit willingly. Mindy grasped a handful of his
mane and vaulted to his back.
[Illustration: _Mindy vaulted to his back_]
Thunder danced gallantly, ran in a little circle just to show he could
do it, then responded perfectly to the reins. Mindy guided him down the
dirt road leading to the telegraph station. She knew the road, it was
the one on which her father had brought her to the wagon.
For the first mile she held Thunder to a walk, and she did not look to
either side. She still felt big as a house, and it seemed to her that
everyone on the border must be looking and laughing at this girl who
wore a boy's clothing and sat a horse astride. Then she began to feel
more at ease.
Of course, dresses were the only proper garments for girls. But it was
astonishing how much more freedom of movement a boy's clothing allowed,
and nobody seemed to be laughing. Mindy began to steal glances at what
lay about her.
Again, and in an unbelievably short time, the border had changed. There
weren't nearly as many people as there had been, for most of the men had
joined the Run into Oklahoma. Many wagons had gone, too. Most of the
people left behind were women, children, and older people who were
waiting for their men to stake claims and then send for them. They were
all too deeply occupied with their own thoughts and troubles to give
Mindy more than a passing glance.
She felt more and more at ease. Mindy touched Thunder with her heels.
The pony shot ahead, scarcely seeming to touch the earth as he did so.
Mindy forgot that she was wearing a boy's clothing. For a while, so fast
and wonderful was the ride, she almost forgot the dangers facing her
father, Alec, and Cindy. Then she saw the depot in which the telegraph
station was located and drew Thunder to a walk.
At least ten trains were moving slowly into Oklahoma. There were faces
at every window of every car. Men clung to the platforms between the
cars, and as many men as could find room there were sitting on the tops
of the cars. Even as Mindy watched, a sack came sailing through an open
window. A moment later, the man who had thrown his provisions out jumped
through the same window and landed on his feet. But another face
appeared at once. Plainly, there were as many people in each car as
could possibly be squeezed into such a conveyance.
Mindy stopped Thunder at the little station. The agent in charge looked
tired, but he smiled when he saw Mindy.
"Hello there, young lady," he said.
"Hello," said Mindy. "Gee! That's a lot of trains!"
"There were fifteen," the man said. "All of them made up at Arkansas
City, up in Kansas. But they came the sixty miles through the Cherokee
Strip to line up at the border just before noon."
"Where are all the people going?" Mindy inquired.
"Most of them are headed for Guthrie to stake city lots," the man said.
"But some are jumping off to stake homesteads all the way between here
and Guthrie. What can I do for you, young lady?"
Mindy gave the man her message, paid for it, and thanked him. Mounting
Thunder, she rode at a swift clip back to the Simpsons' wagon. Looking
very worried, her mother met her.
"Mindy!" Mrs. Simpson exclaimed. "Thank God! You're all right!"
"Why, of course, Mother," Mindy said.
"We thought you'd take a work horse!" Mrs. Simpson said. "The one you
took is an outlaw!"
"Outlaw?" Mindy questioned. "Why, Thunder's the gentlest pony I ever
saw!"
"Only with you then!" said Gramps. "Pete has all he can do to handle
Thunder when he's saddled, and you rode him bareback! Nobody else in the
world could have done that! You certainly have a way with horses!"
Mindy patted Thunder's neck. "He knew I'd never hurt him, so he wouldn't
hurt me either." She looked around the camp, then asked the question she
had hoped she'd not have to ask. "Didn't Cindy and Alec come back?"
"Not yet," said Mrs. Simpson.
"Don't you worry, Mother," Mindy said. "They'll come." But even as she
spoke, she wished she could believe it herself.