My Friend Flicka

Early in the morning, just as the sun sets, Ken McLaughlin is on the ridge looking down over Goose Bar Ranch. He comes here every summer with his family after school lets out. Having just fallen from a mare, Cigarette, Ken is determined to try to ride again. He longs for a colt of his own like his older brother, Howard, has.

Looking out over the ranch, Ken sees the signs of the day beginning. Smoke rises from the chimneys of the bunkhouse, a train blows its whistle as it moves along the ridge in the east, and the cows wait in the Calf Pasture to be milked. His report card came in the mail yesterday from school, and he knows that his father will look at it soon and be disappointed with Ken’s grades.

Ken gets back on Cigarette slowly, soothing her as he does so. He is careful not to dig his heals in, which is something his father, Rob, has repeatedly warned him about. After he mounts successfully, a jackrabbit bolts through the grass. Ken braces himself like his father taught him as Cigarette breaks into a run.