"What's the matter?" Cindy asked hurriedly.
"Look!" Mindy pointed.
A big brown beetle was crawling up her shirt, Cindy plucked it off and
threw it away.
"It was nothing," she assured Mindy. "Just a beetle."
"Shall we start back now?" Alec asked.
"I think we'd better," Cindy and Mindy said in the same voice. Mindy
added, to Cindy, "May I sit in the saddle and hold the reins?"
"Why, of course," Cindy said.
Mindy climbed into the saddle and took Sparkle's reins. Cindy climbed on
behind and put two loving arms around her twin's waist. "We're ready,"
Cindy called.
"Let's go," said Alec.
He grinned as he followed his sisters. He did not realize exactly what
had taken place. But it seemed to Alec that, from now on, each of his
sisters would be a pleasing mixture of lady and tomboy.
Considering everything, Alec decided, the Simpsons just couldn't have
done better.
_About the Author_
Jim Kjelgaard was born in New York City but spent his childhood and
youth in the Pennsylvania mountains. There he learned to hunt, fish, and
handle dogs. He still likes to hunt and has done so in most parts of the
United States and Canada, though he has exchanged his rifles and
shotguns for cameras. After graduating from high school, he spent two
years at Syracuse University Extension. Since then he has held a variety
of jobs ranging all the way from trapper to factory superintendent, and
has been writing professionally for twenty years. Of some twenty-seven
successful books, all but one are for young people--particularly for a
sixteen-year-old daughter who, according to Mr. Kjelgaard, is a lot
smarter than her daddy.
_About the Artist_
Chris Kenyon was born and brought up in Phoenix, Arizona. While in high
school, he won many art awards, including seven first prizes in the
National Scholastic Art Contest. In 1950 he went to the Art Center
School in Los Angeles, California. The Korean War interrupted his work
there, but he returned after spending two years in the Army and in the
Far East. His work appeared in _Stars and Stripes_ while he was in the
service. The great outdoors is Mr. Kenyon's first love, and he has made
numerous pack trips into the Southwest and Mexico. He spent two years
with the U. S. Forest Service in Montana, and a year with the Arizona
Fish and Game Commission.
_About the Historical Consultant_
Savoie Lottinville was born in Hagerman, Idaho, and now lives in Norman,
Oklahoma. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1929 and went
to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. When he returned to the United
States in 1932 he became a reporter on the _Oklahoma City Times_. The
following year he became an editor for the University of Oklahoma Press
and later its director. His lifelong study of history has resulted in
many articles and papers written for leading journals and reviews. He is
married and has two daughters.