Caleb’s Dream Ride

Caleb’s Dream Ride

It started out like any other night. I shut down my computer after surfing through websites about the old west in the 1850s. I really liked learning about the past and had a couple of adventure books next to my bed. I brushed my teeth in front of the mirror, washed my face and hands, and put on my favorite horse pajamas. My mother came in to kiss me good night and wish me sweet dreams. She opened the window and drapes before she left so the night breeze could blow in. The moonlight streamed through the window and shone on the cowboy posters pinned to my walls. I had barely closed my eyes when my adventure began!

The first thing I noticed was the smell and feel of dry dust in my nose. I began to sneeze over and over with my eyes tightly shut. When I opened them, I squinted in bright sunlight. Sunlight? It was 9:30 at night, how could the sun be shining? I looked down

and saw that I was standing on an unpaved street. My boots were covered with orange dust. My eyes lifted to see an old wooden building with a sign above the door. It read “McGinty’s Way Station.” An old man stomped out of the building. “Well son, it’s about time you showed up,” he said to me. “Git around back and saddle up the bay mare.” “What...” I began to reply. “No lollygagging,” he stated, “Abe is due to arrive in a few minutes and you’ll have to take over.” Almost speaking to himself, he continued, “Just old enough, skinny, but looks strong. You’ll do, boy. Now git!”

I hurried to the back of the station and found a rickety shed. Inside was a brown horse nibbling on hay. I took the tack down from the hooks on the wall. As I bridled and saddled the mare, I silently thanked my father for sending me to summer riding camp. The horse pranced and snorted as she followed me to the front of the station. “Saddle up!”

the old man shouted at me. We could both hear the faint pounding of hoofs. Leading the horse to a nearby stump, I put my foot in the stirrup and swung my leg over the saddle. “What do I do?” I asked the man. He handed me a small saddlebag. “Here are some vittles for the ride. You take the mochila from Abe and follow the road,” he pointed west. “At the next town, you sort out any mail for the townsfolk and collect the new mail. Then you trade horses and keep going. Don’t stop riding until you get to Diamond Springs and meet up with the next rider. You should get there by dark. Then you get up in the morning and start back with the new mochila.”

Abe pulled up his sweating horse in a cloud of dust and tossed me the mochila. He leaned over and put a small key in my hand. “Open this pocket and take out the mail that stays here.” Abe turned to the old man. “McGinty, where’s the new mail?” he asked him. The man handed me a small stack of letters. I placed them into the empty open pocket and closed the lock. The transfer took us about seven minutes. “Good luck,” said Abe. “I’ve got to go see my sister. She’s sick with the sweats.” McGinty swatted the back

of my horse and she leaped forward. I held on tightly as she galloped down the road at top speed. All through the day, I stopped in small towns and traded mail from my locked mochila. By the time I arrived at Diamond Springs, I was exhausted and starving.

I hardly had time to chew the dry food from my bag. My hands were sore from holding the reins. My bottom ached from bouncing in the saddle. My eyes and throat were dry and itchy from the dust. I collapsed in a deep sleep on a small cot in the backroom of the station. When I opened my eyes to sunlight, I was back in my own

bedroom. So, that’s what it would be like to be a rider for the Pony

Express. Maybe it wouldn’t be as much fun as I thought!