A Dream Come True

 by Elly Mattson (ages 10-13)

      Twelve year old Andi Carter walked along the board walk of Fresno. The cold, winter air whipped across her face, making her shiver and pull her coat closer. She looked up at the sky. The dark clouds threatened to dump water on her any minute. She quickened her pace towards the school.

            “Hey Andi wait up!” a tall, blonde haired boy ran towards her.

      “Howdy Cory!” Andi greeted him, waiting for him to catch up.

      “Did you hear?” he questioned.

      “Did I hear what?” Andi asked, confused.

      “Boy I sure thought you’d of heard the news, your brother being on the board and everything. It’s not often that just a town boy like me hears news like...”

      “Oh Cory! Cut the chit chat and tell me what happened!” Andi exclaimed walking towards the school.

      “Oh alright” he said, jogging to catch up. “Mr. Foster came down with the ague.”

      “So your saying we get a vacation?!” Andi asked, walking into the school yard. It was deserted, probably because of the rain Andi thought to herself.

      “Oh how I wish!” Cory exclaimed. “But sadly his sister, Lavina, came.” At this point of Cory’s story he sighed sarcastically. “And now she’s our substitute teacher,”

Andi  laughed.   “Well if it sounds too good to be true...”

      “It usually is” Cory finished.

Andi chuckled and took the school steps two at a time. Cory dashed up the steps behind her. They entered the school house just as it began to sprinkle. Andi hung up her wraps. Mounting the steps with loud clunks from their boots, Cory and Andi entered the class room five minutes early. Most of the students were already in place and Andi took her seat. Cory followed suit and soon the whole class was hushed into silence.

All eyes were on the tall slim figure writing on the black board. After several moments of silence the lady turned around. Just like Mr. Foster Andi inwardly groaned. The face. The hair. The eyes. But the smile… it was different. Kinder. Almost compassionate.

      “Hello class” she said, looking at her sixteen pupils.

      “Hello” they all chorused, she smiled.

      “As some of you may know, my name is Lavina Foster” she turned and underlined the name on the black board. Then spun back around, “but you can just call me Ms. Foster.”

The class nodded there heads in understanding.

Ms. Foster continued. “My brother, Gerald Foster, took ill last weekend and I was called from my teaching in San Francisco to assist here in the west. I will be taking over until Gerald is well” a mischievous smile crossed her face. “So you’d better get used to me.” The class laughed and the morning began.

                                                              ***

      Two hours later, after recess, the children trooped in and settled into their seats. Ms. Foster rapped her ruler for order and slid into her seat.

      “Today we will be starting a writing class that will extend until the end of the week. Your homework for today will be creating your rough draft, I will let you know what you have to do for your homework each day. It will be due on Friday, and on that day you will read it aloud to the whole class.” 

The children groaned.

“Now, now!” she objected. “Writing is supposed to be fun! that’s the whole purpose of it. Now this isn’t going to be an essay. It’s going to be a story. A story of your favorite day with your dad. Or a time when he told you he loved you,”

Andi’s head spun. A day with my dad? When he told me he loved me?
                                                                     *******
            “How was school?” Justin asked, helping Andi into the carriage.

      “Fine” Andi muttered.

      “Andi, what’s the problem?” he questioned, climbing into the surrey.

      “Nothing” she replied, staring at her skirt.

      “OK,  if you don’t want to talk then I won’t push you” he said with a sigh. Justin snapped the reigns and Pal started off at a trot.

Andi stared at her lap and thought about her Father’s accident the whole way home. It had been a sunny day, Andi had begged to go with Father when he brought down the cattle in the west range. He had said she could rope a foal from Caesar’s back.  Father had ruffled her hair and promised that she could if there was one her size.

Andi had attempted to rope a small foal but she missed and it ran away. The boys had laughed and Father had suggested starting on a fence post. Andi had agreed and happily skipped to one of the many posts lining the pasture

A moment later  Andi heard a whinny and turned around, just as a huge stallion ran after a cowhand on foot. The boys and Father had distracted the stallion, but suddenly out of nowhere the stallion had turned and charged Father. All the men that had come along dismounted and ran to her father’s limp body, Sid checked for a pulse but Andi knew in her heart that it was to late. Her father had died that day. She barely remembered him, how could she write a story about her dad, the next day?

As soon as they reached the ranch, Andi jumped out and headed for the barn. Not worrying about the skirt, she tacked up Taffy and loped towards her special spot. Thirty minutes later Andi dismounted near the creek. Plopping down onto the soft, squishy grass, and leaning against a giant oak, she thought about the assignment.

Andi sighed. I wish I could remember just one time when Father had told me he loved me. Andi pulled a handful of grass and threw it into the creek. As she watched it float away, her eyes began to droop. What a perfect afternoon for a nap. She thought as she drifted off into a world of unknown adventure.

                                                                           ******

      Taffy’s white mane flew in Andi’s face as she galloped across the golden plain. her heart raced with excitement, the ranch hand behind her was losing ground. Andi relaxed Taffy’s reins and let the wind blow in her face.

Suddenly, there was a yell from behind her. Andi looked back. The ranch hand was gaining fast! Andi’s eyes widened, she leaned forward and squeezed Taffy’s sides. Taffy lept into her fastest gait but the ranch hand was still gaining. As they reached a ridge, Andi looked back. She was confused.

The rider had broader shoulders than before and rode a different horse. The large oak tree that they were racing to loomed in the distance. Andi set aside the confusion and urged Taffy on. Andi’s opponent was close now. Only a few feet behind. Andi kicked Taffy again but she knew that Taffy was running her best.

As they neared the oak tree, the rider sped past Taffy and slid to. Taffy followed suit and whinnied at the other horse. The horse nickered as its rider slid off. Andi jumped off  Taffy and dropped her reins. She squinted at the man on the horse. He was tall and muscular, and wore a soft smile, Andi gasped.

      “Father?!”

Andi’s dad lept forward and swung Andi into his arms. Andi squeezed hard into his bear hug.

      “Oh Andi. Its been so long!” Father whispered in Andi’s ear. Andi frowned and pushed away from her dad and landed on the ground.

      “But...your dead! How can this be?” she asked in a confused voice.

He smiled.           “Your helping me with the cows on the west range today,”

Andi’s questions disappeared. She was going to help with the cows? Nobody had ever let her do that since after Father’s accident! Not even Justin.

      “You coming?” Father asked as he mounted Caesar.

Andi jerked out of her thoughts and mounting Taffy.

He pushed his horse, Caesar, into an easy canter and headed towards the west range, Andi followed. Was this a dream? Should she pinch herself? “NO” Andi yelled to her thoughts. If this was a dream she didn’t want it to end. They rode at a steady pace until they reached the west range and then slowed to a walk.

      “So we have to get the cattle in a group. Do you want to do the left side by yourself or do you want to do it together?”

      “Together,” Andi decided. Not for one second was she going to miss an opportunity to be with her father. 

      “OK, we’ll start on the left side of the valley and work to the right,” Andi nodded.

Father and Andi trotted their horses to the far side of the valley and started working the cows into a circle. Andi started moving a cow and calf while Father worked on a cow, calf, and heifer. Andi swung Taffy behind the cow and calf, making them move forward.

She smiled, this was easy. She almost had them to the middle of the valley. Andi clucked to them to shoo them into the tiny group of cows already in the middle. But the cow had other ideas, she spun at the last minute and lumbered back to her original position. The calf got confused, looking for his mom and ran into the herd, creating a ruckus and scattering them. Andi scowled and chased after the runaway cows.

Finally, slowing them down, she turned them back towards the middle and went to collect the other cow. She noticed that her dad already had the cows he was chasing, in the circle. She huffed, maybe this wasn’t so easy.

Father smiled at Andi’s efforts to get the cows to obey her. He could tell she was getting more frustrated by the minute. “Watch how I do it!” he suggested heading towards a few more cows. As he neared them, he eased them into a walk, watching the way their heads were turning. One of the cows swung her head to the left. Mr. Carter turned Ceasar to the left, which dissuaded the cow from running off. Calmly he herded the cows in the circle and smiled at Andi.

      Andi smiled back and turned towards her runaway cow. Maybe this will get easier, she thought as she edged Taffy towards the runaway cow. Using Father’s method, Andi had the cow in the growing circle in no time.

      “Thanks Father!” she called, moving towards anther bunch of cows. Soon they had all the cows on the left side of the valley in the now large circle of cows. The sun was high in the sky. Father jumped off Ceasar and grabbed his saddle bag.  Andi dismounted next to him and sat down by a big rock. He pulled out their lunch and sat down next to her.

      “Mother made these,” he said, taking a sandwich out of the saddle bag, and handing it to Andi.  Andi took a bite.

      “MMM, these are good!”

      “No kidding!” He replied, stuffing the crust into his mouth. 

      “Why do you eat the crust first?” Andi asked.

      “Because then I don’t have to worry about eating it later,” he replied with a wink. Andi frowned and stared at her crust. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea.

                                                                                                       **********

      “Done!” Andi exclaimed as she followed the last cow into the herd. Father jumped off Caesar and plopped onto the ground, motioning Andi to sit beside him. Andi dropped Taffy’s reins and stretched out beside him. The sun crept towards the hills glimmering orange and gold. They sat there in silence, gazing at the heavenly masterpiece God had created.

      “Father?”

      “Yes?”

      “I love you, thanks for letting me help. And for spending the day with me,”  Andi said as tears filled her eyes. This was the best day she’d ever had.

      “I lo-” but before he could finish his sentence, the riders on the horizon yanked six shooters out of their holsters and began firing into the air. The cattle frantically turned and charged towards Andi and Mr. Carter. 

      “Go! RUN!” Father shouted as the rustlers stampeded the cattle towards them. A shot came out of nowhere and hit Father in the chest.

      “Father!” Andi screamed, as he fell from Caesar and crumpled to the ground. Andi stumbled off Taffy and ran to his side. She lifted him off the ground and into her lap. Blood flowed freely from his chest. Andi hugged him close.

      “Please be OK, please be OK,” she begged as she rocked back and forth.

      “Andi...I lo...love you,” he whispered.

Andi choked on the tears that streamed down her face as her father’s body fell limp in her arms.

      “Daddy!” Andi screamed, shaking him. But it was to late. He was dead. Andi gulped in a breath and put her hand to her mouth to keep her sobs contained.

      “NOOO!” Andi’s hands shook, she looked up, realizing that the stampeding cattle were almost upon her. The ground trembled, the grass swayed, the cattle drew nearer.  Andi screamed, the ground shook harder, it shook her to her very core. The stampeding cattle, faded into a darkening sky and the silhouettes of her three brothers shaking her awake.

Andi gasped and wiped the tears from her eyes.

      “Sounded like you were having a pretty bad dream, Sis,” Mitch commented as he helped her to her feet.

      “We were pretty worried about you. Its getting dark and you missed supper,”

      “What was the dream?” Chad asked as he brought Taffy to the group.

      “It was...”

      “Was what?” Justin asked. Andi remembered holding her father in her arms. His last words fluttered through her mind, “I Love You,” Andi smiled.

      “It was a dream come true.”      

                                                      ***

      The week flew by and Friday morning dawned bright and sunny. Andi climbed into the surrey, whistling a tune.

      “Well you’re awful chipper for a girl who’s gonna recite In front of her class” Justin declared, clucking to Pal. Andi laughed and quickly changed the subject.

                                                                ***

      When Andi entered the schoolyard she was met by the familiar sound of children playing. She walked towards the steps.

      “Hey Andi! Come play ball!” Cory shouted from across the yard. A smile spread across her face and she dashed over to join the game.

      Fifteen minutes later the school bell rang.  Andi entered the classroom red faced and breathing hard, although it was a rare dry day In the beginning of December. The wind still gave no hope of letting up any time soon. Andi sat down at her desk. Skirts rustled and boots clomped as a few last minute children hurried to sit down. Ms. Foster picked up a notebook.

      “I will have Andrea Carter share her speech first.” 

Andi stood up nervously and walked to the front. She cleared her throat and began.

      “My best day with my dad was the first time he took me on a cattle drive...” ten minutes later Andi had retold the heartrending story, bringing even Ms. Foster to tears. “And even though that was the worse day of my life, it was also the best.”

       Ms. Foster stood up, dabbing her eyes with a hanky.

      “That was an excellent speech Andrea. I’m proud to say that even my best scholars in San Francisco could never have done better.”

Andi nodded and quickly walked to her desk  before wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeve. She groaned inwardly at Virginia’s disapproving gaze. Why don’t I ever have a hanky when I need one?