Hello and welcome back for part two of Cecilia’s story.

Remember in part one, Cecilia wants to make River dance again.

So, her momo gives her magic dust to help.

Will that be enough?

Let’s find out:

Wheareas some horses danced out of fear, Cecilia had seen River dance and knew that he did so out of love. River was a horse who just loved to move.

Cecilia had seen a rider on River, when they had entered a horseshow, and it seemed like they were one body. The rider had given a series of clicks with her tongue and quick taps with her riding crop. Cecilia had even tried it before River lost his sight in his left eye.

She remembered the transformation from stepping to striding to the beautiful fluidity of dancing with River. But now, River seemed to hesitate. She felt it like a hitch.

“Time to take your lesson, Cecilia.” Momo clapped her hands.

Cecilia guided River back to the fence and dismounted, giving him a pat on his flank. She looked into his good eye and held his face. “That was good for our first day. You’ll be dancing again before too long. I promise.”

Cecilia took off the saddle and put the bucket away in the tackroom. When she came out, she turned to Momo. “Can you give me more of that ‘nothing magic’ from your bag for River. I think he’s going to need it.”

Momo handed her a package wrapped in wax paper. “This?”

“I meant for tomorrow.” But Cecilia opened the package anyway. “This is Sonnmorsbrod. I meant the stuff you gave me before I got on River.”

“You don’t want the Sonnmorsbrod? I’ll take it back.”

“No. That’s not what I—”

“Let’s go, Cecilia,” called the trainer.

Cecilia gave her momo a look and hurried toward Motley, who was just waiting for the saddle. Today, Cecilia sat tall, not worried if River would see her now. They’d had their time together and they would have much more. Cecilia wondered what Momo had said to the trainer to get her to allow Cecilia to ride River. One of these days, she’d have Momo’s gift and be able to convince anybody of anything, too.

A couple of hours later, Cecilia had dismounted, brushed Motley, and returned the saddle to the tackroom. Momo had disappeared and Cecilia could see the top of her head in her car.

“Why did you pretend like you didn’t know what I meant earlier? About the magic from your purse,’ Cecilia asked as she buckled her seatbelt.

“We don’t talk about such things in the open. You never know when an elf or a naughty fairy might be listening. We’ll come back tomorrow, and you can practice again.”

Cecilia rolled her eyes. Magic nothing dust was one thing, but elves and fairies? She was way too old for that.

Momo brought Cecilia back every day for two and half weeks. Each day, Momo handed Cecilia a fistful of magic, which Cecilia would then either blow on River or sprinkle onto his head. And each day, River became lighter and lighter on his feet. He did better if he kept his good eye on the fence, but Cecilia was working on that. Bit by bit, River was finally comfortable no matter which direction he faced. Cecilia halted him and clapped.

“Good to see someone riding that old guy,” called one of the ranch’s owners as she walked past the pair. “He looks pretty good. You must be working really hard with him. He’ll appreciate that.” The owner waved her hand.

Cecilia hoped all her hard work would be good enough for the show. Becky would know. It occurred to her that she and Becky had never talked about River. That was kind of weird if she was going to be riding him and Motley in the show.

“Motley’s ready for you,” Becky said as Cecilia walked toward her with the saddle.

“Hey, how come you don’t ever talk to me about River?” Cecilia asked.

“Why would we talk about River?”

Cecilia raised her eyebrows. “Ummmm. Because I’m riding him in the show.”

“Ummmm,” Becky mimicked. “No, you’re not. We talked about that weeks ago.” She put her hands on her hips.

Cecilia did the same. “But I’ve been riding him.”

“Yes. I know that. But you’re not riding him in the show.”

Momo dashed up to them. “Cecilia, please hurry up with your lesson. You have homework, remember.” Momo clapped her hands and gave her a piercing look. Then when Becky’s back was turned, Momo put her finger to her lips.

Cecilia didn’t understand what was going on, but she didn’t mention River again.

“What’s going on, Momo?” Cecilia asked as soon as they were in the car with the doors shut. “Why doesn’t my trainer know I’m riding River in the show?”

“You aren’t riding him in the show, min skatt.” Momo began the slow drive over the rutted road. “Bump…bum—”

“Momo!” Cecilia put her feet down and leaned forward as far as her seatbelt would allow. Momo always got what she wanted. How could this be? “Why have I been riding River? Why have I been practicing every day? Why would you let me waste my time?”

“Min skatt,” said Momo.

“I’m not your treasure, Momo!” Cecilia stamped her feet against the front seat.

Momo slammed her foot on the brakes, and Cecilia jerked back into her seat.

“Cecilia, you said you wanted to make River dance. You have made River dance. You’ve been having a marvelous time, too. I can see it on your sweet face.”

Cecilia didn’t feel sweet. “Of course, I wanted to make River dance. But for the show! What would be the point of making him dance for nothing? And why did you need to keep giving me the magic nothing dust? Who cares if River could dance or not if he’s not going to be in the show?”

Momo opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. Cecilia thought she looked like a carp.

“What was the point?” Cecilia said. “What a stupid waste of time.” She slammed her hand onto the seat, raising a shimmer of dust.

“You need to think about what you’re saying, Cecilia. What was the point, you ask? Wasting your time, you say? You have spent many days with your favorite horse. You have helped him dance again. You have helped him do what he loves even though his vision is poor. You’ve made a friend very happy. Don’t ever tell me that that isn’t worth everything.”

Cecilia rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything else until they were outside her house. “Goodbye, Momo.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow after school for your lesson?” asked Momo.

As if. “No,” Cecilia said as she slammed the car door. She was so mad she didn’t even wave when she opened the front door and stepped inside. Momo’s car sputtered away as the front door clicked shut.

Getting through dinnertime and homework time was excruciating. Cecilia’s mother peppered her with typical mom questions about her day and her friends and her riding lessons. Cecilia gave one-word answers or shrugged her shoulders. When she finished her final math problem, she closed her workbooks, packed up her backpack for tomorrow and went to bed.

“A complete waste of time,” Cecilia said, turning on her side and closing her eyes. She pictured River dancing in the arena. He had been so happy, head and tail held high. Together, she and River had moved like a team. They were a team. But there would be no show. No audience. No dancing in the show arena. It had all been a waste of—

No. Cecilia checked herself, once again picturing River proud and assured. It hadn’t been a waste. It had been the best time of her life. Momo was right. It had totally been worth it. But the show was just three days away, and neither she nor River would be in it. And she had promised him.

The next day, Momo was waiting for her after school.

“I’m sorry, Momo,” Cecilia said as soon as she got in the car. She patted Momo’s head. “You were right. Will you take me to the ranch?”

“Yes, min skatt, let’s go.” She handed her a wax-paper wrapped package over the seat. Sunnmorsbrod.

For the next three days, Cecilia continued to lead her double life, practicing on Motley and dancing with River. Finally, it was show day. Cecilia dressed in her white pants and black jacket and helmet. She rode Motley, concentrating on everything they had practiced. The pair came in fourth in Cecilia’s age group. Then, she left the commotion of the show.

River had his head poking out of his stall, waiting for Cecilia. She nuzzled his cheek before leading him into their arena. They could still hear the music wafting from the show. “Technically,” Cecilia told River, “We’re still at the show.” And “technically” was good enough for her. She saddled the horse, seated herself, positioned River with his good eye on the fence to start and whispered, “You’re on.”

River picked up his feet, and they found their rhythm. Cecilia tried to move to the beat of the music. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. Then she quickly put River into a trot, keeping the rhythm but increasing the speed, until she had him in the flow of the canter. “Whoa,” she said.

River stopped and Cecilia led him back into the walk for a few beats before sliding him into a half-pass to his left and into the center of the arena, then a half-pass to his right back to the fence. His legs stepped easily into what looked like a dancer’s grapevine movement. They did it again before she put him back into a walk. She could still hear the show music and she felt as if she were floating on River. Together they pranced and slid and, finally, River bowed. Cecilia bent forward and hugged her horse, rubbed her face in his coarse black mane.

“We did it,” Cecilia said. “Too bad no one could see us.” But everyone had turned their back on this horse, this beautiful horse with just one eye. “You should never, ever turn your back on a horse. You might miss something.” Cecilia rubbed River’s neck and his ears.

In the show arena, the music ended, and Cecilia heard applause. She bent forward again and whispered in River’s ear. “They’re clapping for you.” Cecilia dismounted and held River’s face between her hands. “I’m so proud of you. You did it. You’re still a dancer.” She rested her forehead against his. “Hey,” she said, standing straight. “We didn’t use Momo’s magic dust!”

Momo walked up to the pair, clapping. “That was beautiful, min skatt.”

“You saw?”

“Of course. I always keep my eye on my treasure.” Momo put her arm around Cecilia’s shoulders.

“We did it without your magic dust. I forgot about it.”

“Ah, Norwegian secrets.” Momo smiled slyly and put her finger on her cheek.

Cecilia didn’t understand. “What was your Norwegian secret?”

“Well, I think you must know it now,” Momo said with a rich laugh, as if it was some wonderful joke. Momo could be like that sometimes. Sometimes, Momo was the only one who understood the joke. “River didn’t need magic. And neither did you.”

Cecilia smirked. “Some Norwegian secret. It’s kind of lame, Momo.”

Momo brought her hand to her heart. “Oh, you hurt me,” she said with a wink. “He couldn’t have done it without you, min skatt. Was it worth it?”

“Norwegian secrets and magic dust.” Cecilia rolled her eyes. “Totally worth it.”

~end~

Click Here for Part 1

Thank you for reading How to Make River Dance.

What have you done that you thought was totally worth it?

Can you write a story about it?

That would be totally worth it!

Have a happy rest of your day.

Gail

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