She wanted to make it to the NFR in Las Vegas so much that lately she'd been having odd dreams about competing on a course set up in the middle of a glitzy casino while showgirls cheered off to the sides. Winning the national barrel-racing championship was firmly entrenched in that spot. She loved it all, every square foot, but adding to the substantial acreage wasn't at the top of her to-do list. The Cottonwood was home to snowcapped mountains, lush valleys, waterways of various sizes, and seemingly endless stretches of rangeland dotted with cattle, horses and natural gas wells. The fact was that everything within her view, with the exception of the far peaks of the Rockies to the west, was Cody land, had been for years even before her birth. "Yeah, I'm already plotting my takeover of the rest of Wyoming." She steepled her fingers and squinted as if devising an evil plan of domination. The race to the National Finals Rodeo was beginning to stress her out.Įlly laughed. But when she turned and saw no visible evidence on Janie's face, she dismissed it as a product of less-than-restful sleep the night before. "Surveying your domain, Princess Cody?" asked her best friend, Janie Hansen, as she stopped beside Elly.Įlly thought she heard an edge of some unfamiliar emotion-resentment?-in Janie's voice. She pulled her horse, Pepper, to a halt at the top of a ridge beyond the Cottonwood Ranch's homestead. Nothing better than a ride on a clear November morning to make her feel alive. Elly inhaled the crisp morning air, felt it warm as it flowed into her lungs.
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