85
HORSEWOMAN FROMTHE FUTURE
denly a young horsewoman appeared from the handsome, plant-filled living
gates of the settlement. Her fast bay began catching up to the carriage at a
swift gallop. Pulling even, the heated horse began prancing alongside. The
elderly woman smiled and listened to what the young horsewoman was
telling her.
The boy, dissatisfied, probably, with the interruption in the singing but
still with hidden joy said didactically, “What a fidget you are, Mama, you
can’t stay alone for a minute.” The young woman laughed, took a turnover
out of the canvas sack tied to her saddle, and held it out to the boy. He took
it, bit into it, and then, with the words, “Try it, grandma, it’s still nice and
warm,” held the turnover out to the elderly woman and pulling on the rains,
stopped the carriage. The boy leaned over, picked the basket filled with
handsome apples up with two hands, held it out to the rider, and said,
“Please, Mama, take this to them,” and his eyes pointed toward the halted
bus of foreign children.
Lightly grabbing the heavy basket of apples with one hand and giving her
prancing steed a light slap on the neck, the young horsewoman dashed to-
ward the bus of children. By that time, several more buses had stopped next
to the children’s, and their passengers were ecstatically watching the rider
race across the meadow holding a basket of apples. She flew up to the chil-
dren, who had spilled out of the bus, reined in her horse, deftly bent down
and without getting out of the saddle placed the basket of apples before the
ecstatic children.
She also managed to pat a swarthy little boy on the head, wave in greet-
ing to all, and head her steed right down the middle of the highway. The bus
driver announced over his portable radio, “She’s racing right down the me-
dian strip. She’s beautiful!”
Many tourist buses pulled off onto the highway’s shoulder and stopped.
The people quickly got out of the buses and lined up along the road. Hold-
ing their breath, they watched the young beauty riding at a swift gallop. Not
an exclamation but a whisper of admiration tore from many lips. And there
was something to admire. Her hot steed, racing in a swift gallop, threw up
sparks from its hooves. No one was chasing it, the woman riding it did not
