California Cowgirls

 by Sara M. (Ages 14-17)

“Andrea, come here, please.” Andi’s Aunt Rebecca called her into her parlor. Andi Carter was in San Francisco visiting her sister, Melinda, at Miss Whittaker’s Academy. She walked to the parlor and straightened up. Prim and proper. Just before she entered. Aunt Rebecca was sitting on a fluffy couch with a lady that looked about the same age as Andi’s aunt. Andi had never seen her before.

“Andrea, meet my dear friend Clara Preston.” She paused and turned to the older lady. “Clara, meet my niece Andrea Rose Carter.” Aunt Rebecca waved her hand with a flourish towards Andi.

“A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Preston.” Andi curtsied in her light pink flowery dress.

Aunt Rebecca turned with interest towards Andi.“ Clara has a granddaughter named Annaliese Rose. I’m sure you know that she has the same middle name as you.” 

Andi giggled. “That’s too funny! Will I get to meet her?”

Aunt Rebecca's face folded into a rare wrinkly smile and she nodded.  “Yes, as a matter of fact. Tomorrow afternoon at 1 o’clock sharp, Thomas will drive you to the Preston’s home and you will meet Anneliese. She is thirteen years old. The same age as you and I believe you two will get along very well.”

Mrs. Preston was nodding all the while. Andi’s smile disappeared. She was joking when she asked about meeting this Annaliese but now she really was going to. What would the girl be like?

“You may return to your sampler if you please, Andrea.” Aunt Rebecca said dismissing Andi.

Andi left the room and went upstairs to her room that was next to Melinda’s. She was not looking forward to tomorrow one bit! What if Annaliese was rude and snobby? Andi had run into enough of those people in cities. What if Annaliese didn’t want to do anything but sit around and knit and sew? Enough what-ifs! Andi scolded herself. What happens, happens, I’ll find out tomorrow.

Andrea picked up her sampler and looked it over. The stitching was crooked. She frowned and threw it aside again. She flopped on her bed. “I want to go home. I miss Taffy.” she said aloud. She bolted upright when a knock sounded on her door. What if it was Aunt Rebecca? She hastened to straighten her bedcover.

Her eyes glanced over the room and it looked good enough. She opened the door properly and the maid stood before her. “Hello Miss Carter, your aunt is requesting you come down for supper.” she said with a slight smile.

“Thank you. I’ll be down in just a minute.” Andi replied. The maid left and Andi flopped back down on her bed. It was much too hard being so ladylike!  She sighed but got up and walked to her wardrobe and picked out a fresh dress that was light green with a daisy print. She slipped it on and hurried downstairs before her aunt came looking for her.

“Hello Andrea. Clara will be staying for supper with us. Please have a seat,” Aunt Rebecca said as soon as she saw Andi.

“Yes, Auntie.” Andi sat down and quickly smoothed her dress.

The plate before Andi was filled with mashed potatoes and roast beef. It smelled delicious! Andi took a few bites carefully. As she didn’t want a scolding from her aunt!

After eating a bit Andi reached for her water. Knowing it was there but not exactly looking at it. Her fingers hit the glass and knocked the glass of water over.

“Andrea Rose Carter!” Aunt Rebecca leaped up and screeched. “How could you?”

She called the maid over and the maid wiped it up.

Aunt Rebecca turned to Mrs. Preston, “I’m so sorry. Andrea is not usually like this. I’m sure she will do better at your house with your granddaughter.”

"It's fine. Annaliese and Andrea shall get along fabulously." Clara said with a wink at Andi.

"Can-" Andi broke off. "May I be excused?" she finished embarrassed. She had lost her appetite.

Aunt Rebecca frowned slightly but said, “Yes, you may."

Andi hastened out of the dining room and scurried to her room and closed the door behind her. "I'm not looking forward to tomorrow," she said aloud.

But no matter what Andi could do nothing but run away and she knew better than to do that, much better! Tomorrow would come and it did.

It was nearly noon and already Andi was fretting about what to wear and what to do when she got to Mrs. Preston's house. Just before they were about to leave Andi finally decided on a blue dress. She straightened it the best she could and walked downstairs.

“Thomas is waiting for you, dear.” Aunt Rebecca said as she sent Andi off. “Do you have your gloves?”

“Yes, Auntie,” Andi replied holding her gloves up as proof.

“Good. Now have a nice time!” Aunt Rebecca waved her off. 

Andi waved back as Thomas drove down the street. Andi wasn’t sure she’d have a good time, but for better or worse. She was on her way.

About twenty minutes later they arrived at the Preston’s’ home. A young lady was sitting on a chair on the fancy house porch knitting a potholder. Oh no, Andi thought, this is going to be so boring. I hope we aren’t doing needlework the whole time. She groaned inwardly.

Andi was so consumed in her thoughts that while stepping down from the carriage she fell and if it wasn’t for Thomas Andi would have fallen on the street right in front of the girl. Whom Andi assumed was Annaliese.

“Thanks, Thomas.” Andi’s cheeks flushed red.
“You're welcome, Miss.” Thomas replied, “I’ll be back within a few hours to pick you up.”

Andi waved as he left. She reached in her dress pocket to put her gloves on but groaned, I left my gloves in the carriage! Annaliese is really going to think I am a sloppy young lady. Which I am, I suppose. She sighed and walked up the porch steps.

“Hello. Are you Annaliese Rose Preston?” Andi asked, Just as a proper lady would.

“Yes, I am. And you are?” Annaliese asked.

“I’m Andi - I mean Andrea Rose Carter. My aunt pointed out we have the same middle name.” Andi winced at her words. She couldn’t have sounded any worse!

“We do.” Annaliese agreed. ”Would you like to come inside for some tea and cookies?”

“Sure,” Andi said but she was thinking of proper introductions. Each time she met someone new it was always the same thing they did. Tea and cookies. She followed Annaliese inside anyway.

“Do you like sugar in your tea?” Annaliese asked as she poured the tea carefully.

“No thank you,” Andi said. She picked up her cup and saw Annaliese’s eyes widen. Oh no! I’m not holding the cup right! Quickly setting it down and Andi picked it up the proper way. Being a lady is hard! Andi thought.

“How old are you?” Annaliese asked.

“I’m thirteen. How old are you?” Even though Andi already knew Annaliese’s age it was the right thing to ask.

“Thirteen as well.” Annaliese said.

The conversation was awkward and Andi couldn’t wait to leave, till she noticed only fifteen minutes had passed! Another hour here at least. She sighed. Annaliese’s voice broke through her thoughts, “Do you want to come up to my room, Andrea?” she asked.

“Sure.” Andi nodded.

They walked up the stairs to Annaliese’s room and Annaliese went in first. “You’ll just have to excuse the stuff everywhere.” she said blushing.

Andi was shocked. Annaliese was definitely a horse girl!

Everything in her room had something to do with horses– horse blankets, horse ropes hanging around her room, everything!

“You have a horse.” Andi stated. Starting to feel a bit more comfortable.

“I do. Her name is Sugar and she is a palomino horse.” Annaliese said.

“A palomino! I have one too! Her name is Taffy.” Andi said excitedly.

Annaliese’s mouth dropped, “Do you really?”

Andi nodded. Her grin spreading across her face. Annaliese was definitely different from what she had originally thought her to be!

“Where do you live?” Andi asked. If she had a horse and was horse crazy why did she live in the city?

Annaliese blushed as she replied, “I just came out to the city to visit my grandmother. I don’t love the city but I love my grandmother so I came to visit her. I’m up near Glenwood California. Ever heard of it? Where do you live?”

“I have.” Andi said. Her brothers were up that way selling cattle once. “I live near Fresno California.”

“Fresno California!” Annaliese was excited, “I’ve been there! We were visiting some friends who had just moved there.” she added.

“It was a tiny town and it has been growing,” Andi said thinking of her hometown.

“Do you have any nicknames?” Andi asked.

“I do. It’s Ann.”

“Mine’s Andi.” Andi grinned. “Spelled with an I.’

“I bet your aunt doesn’t like that.” Ann giggled.

“Nope. She thinks it's too boyish. But it's my name and I like it.” Andi laughed too. “How were you so ladylike when we were downstairs?”

“Oh! I am so not ladylike. Being that ladylike takes all my attention and I can hardly do anything else. When I saw you nearly fall out of the carriage it took all my self-control not to say anything because I do the same all the time!” Ann broke out into a full laugh. So did Andi!

“How long are you staying here?” Andi asked a few minutes later.

“I don’t know yet, I can stay as long as I want really. You?”

“About a week.” Andi said and quickly changed the subject to horses. “How many horses do you have?”

“I personally own two, Sugar and her foal, Cookie. My whole family has sixteen horses.” Annaliese answered. “How many do you all have?”

“I don’t know how many we have all together. I have one, Taffy, and each of my family members has one. There are also the random foals we have every year and the ranch hand’s horses.” Andi said, trying to add all the Circle C Ranch horses together.

“Do you have a name for your place?” Ann asked curiously.

“Yes, it’s Circle C Ranch. Does yours?” Andi said.

“Circle C Ranch! Let me think about that a minute.” Ann paused. “One of my uncles worked there!” Ann said after pondering a bit.

“Oh really? That's interesting.” Andi said.

“We do have a name for our place. It's not really fancy or anything but the name is Preston’s Place since we are kind of a ranch and since we do a lot that is not ranching we picked that name, you know?” Ann said.

“Yes! I see.” Andi said. She liked the way Annaliese talked.

“What shall we do now?” Ann asked after a bit of just hanging out in Ann’s room.

“I don’t know. What do you want to do?” Andi asked.

Ann’s face brightened, “We can go outside and find something to do! We can go down to someplace to ride.” she suggested.

“Sure!” Andi said, “I just hope we don’t have to ride saddleside.” Andi’s face turned red. What if Anneliese always rode saddleside?

Ann noticed. “Don’t worry. I never ride saddleside. I did once and fell off!”

“Really? Same.” Andi said in surprise. She and Ann sure had a lot in common!

“Yep!” Ann grinned, “Let me tell my grandmother where we are going,” she added as they walked downstairs.

“Hey Grandmother?”

“Yes, Ann?” Mrs Preston came out of the parlor from where she was knitting.

“We are going to head for the stables and ride but not saddleside.” Ann smiled at her grandmother.

“Thanks for letting me know. Have fun and be safe!” Mrs Preston said.

“We will!” Ann called. Grabbing Andi’s hand she pulled her outside.

“Let’s go!” she took off at a fast walk down the street.

“Where are we going?” Andi caught up to her new friend.

“To ride.” Ann answered.

“I know. But where at?”

“Oh! Just down this street a little.” Ann said. “There!” she pointed ahead.

Andi looked down the street and saw a building saying, ‘Larry’s Riding Stables.’

“I ride here all the time when I am in town,” Ann said as they walked into the stables.

“Hello, Miss Annaliese. Horses for two today?” Larry, the owner of the stables asked Ann, seeing Andi behind her.

“Yep! Thanks Larry.” Ann and Andi walked back and a boy was saddling up two horses with normal saddles! Perfect! Andi thought.

Ann and Andi mounted the horses and rode about in the area; Andi had a great time! Riding without a sidesaddle in the city was awesome!

After their ride Andi had a sudden thought. “Ann, would you like to come by Circle C Ranch sometime?”  she asked, “I know my family will be fine with it.”

“Yes! I would love to! When?” Ann was super excited. As was Andi!

Andi grinned. “Three days? I am going back to the ranch then, you can come along and my brother is coming back to San Francisco in a week from today…” she let it hang. “So it would work great!”

“It will! Let’s hurry back and ask my grandmother!” Ann picked up her skirt and ran down the street. Andi laughed and did the same.
“Wait for me, Ann!” she called. Never before was she running down a city street the way she was before! 

 

Three days later Andi and Ann were nearing Fresno California. Ann’s grandmother and parents were perfectly fine with Ann coming to see Andi’s family’s ranch since Aunt Rebecca knew Clara very well. “All aboard for Fresno California!” the constructor called from the front of the train. It pulled into the Fresno station and stopped. Andi grabbed her small bag and Ann did the same. “This is so exciting!” Ann whispered.

Andi just nodded. She was so glad she had met Anneliese!

She saw her brothers out of the window searching for them. “That’s my brothers.” Andi pointed out.

“Let’s meet them!” Ann exclaimed. She bounded in front of Andi and off the train with Andi right behind her.

“Hello, Mitch, Justin.” Ann curtsied in front of them. “Nice to meet you. I am Anneliese.” she said.

“Nice to meet you, likewise.” Justin said, “Shall we head for home?” he asked.

“Yes!” Ann said, “I can’t wait to see your ranch! Andi said there are a lot of horses and horses are my favorite animals!”

Justin and Mitch looked slightly confused but didn’t say anything.

Before long they arrived at Circle C Ranch. Andi jumped down from the wagon, and Ann did the same. “Let’s take our bags inside and come back out. Is that alright?” Andi asked.

“Of course!” Ann said. Her excitement was building and Andi couldn’t help but smile. She was ever so glad she had met Ann! They put their bags inside and came back out.

“Want to head for the barn?” Andi asked.

“Sure!” Ann said and they took off at a run having a great time! Taffy was in her stall and nickered once seeing Andi.

“This is Taffy,” Andi said, rubbing her horse's nose and giving her a little sugar she had snitched from the house.

“She is adorable.” Ann came over and petted her.

“Want to ride?” Andi asked.

“Sure!” Ann said.

“Great! Pick a horse to take. I think you could ride any of these.” Andi checked out all the horses in the barn, “How ‘bout Pal?” she suggested.

“Sounds fine with me.” Ann said. Andi unlatched Pal’s stall and led him over to the saddles and hoisted one on Pal’s back. “He’s all set.” she said after tightening the clinch.

Andi got Taffy out and did the same. She turned around to see Ann already up on Pal and waiting. “Let’s go!” Ann said.

Andi mounted Taffy and they rode out of the barn. Skirts and all! Andi saw all her family up on the porch watching them. Chad looked the most shocked. He had never seen a so-called ‘city girl’ ride a horse like Ann!

Andi laughed at Chad’s expression and Ann saw him. She kicked Pal and he trotted right up to the edge of the porch. “Hey Mister, want to ride with us?” she asked mischievously.

“N -No,” Chad was awfully surprised. “I’m fine,” he added.

“Alrighty. But you're missing out!” Ann kicked Pal into a lope and Andi did the same with Taffy and off they rode off.

Andi laughed, feeling the breeze in her hair. It was a wonderful evening, riding Taffy with a new friend, into the glorious California sunset!