My Friend Flicka

Ken does not eat dinner that night. His mother sends him out to hang her hammock, which gives him time to himself. After a while, Nell joins him. She assures Ken that gelding the horses is better for them and that they will forget about it soon. She tells him that part of growing up is learning to “take the bad with the good” (90).

Eventually, McLaughlin comes out and feeds oats to the horses. He then starts with the newborn colts. As he does so, he explains to Ken and Howard that this is the first step in getting the colts used to human beings. They have spent the spring alone since birth, but now McLaughlin can begin to train them.

After, McLaughlin tells his wife that he is going to town for supplies. Ken and Howard excitedly get into the car. However, McLaughlin points to Highboy, Howard’s colt. His lower legs are dirty from riding the day before. McLaughlin lectures Howard about grooming him properly. To Howard’s disappointment, McLaughlin makes him get out of the car and groom him, not allowing him to go into town.

On the way to the store, McLaughlin tells Ken that he is giving him a colt as part of a “bargain.” He wants Ken to be responsible and learn from caring for it. Ken promises his father that he will continue to fulfill his responsibilities on the ranch while also raising the colt. He feels more deeply connected to his father than he has before as a result of the conversation.

In town, McLaughlin stops to fill up gas and visit the store. The neighbor from nearby, Reuben Dale, asks if they have seen any wildcats. He warns them that he has lost two calves near Castle Rock Meadow.

On the way home, McLaughlin informs Ken that he is going down to Castle Rock to look for a missing colt. Rocket had one with her before, but now it’s gone. He assures Ken that he will take a gun with him in case he sees a wildcat, but he is sure he won’t need it.

That afternoon, as they search Castle Rock, Howard finds the foal dead in a cave. McLaughlin tells them it was a large mountain lion, judging by the size of its tracks. The boys ask if the horses are still in danger. McLaughlin explains that, now that they are on the range, they will be more protected. The lion will likely stay near Castle Rock. The range is also more open, not giving the lion a chance to hide and attack. He’s confident that Banner will help protect them as well.

McLaughlin drives around the land looking for Rocket. When he can’t find her, he recruits Tim and Gus to help. A storm comes and it rains throughout. After hours of searching, they give up for the day. McLaughlin is insistent that they find Rocket soon so that she can be bred again. He thinks she managed to jump the fence.

That night, McLaughlin and Nell lie in bed. She asks what his plan is for the mountain lion. He is hopeful that it stays near Castle Rock. He does not want to scare the boys. He is certain they will be fine as long as they are on horseback when they go out. He warns Nell about going off on her own. She promises to stay away from Deercreek, which is surrounded by trees; lions often use the trees as cover to pounce on prey.

Over the next week, it rains regularly on the ranch. Everyone continues to search for Rocket, but they have no luck finding her.

A buyer from Colorado, Joe Williams, comes to purchase older horses to sell at auction. Although McLaughlin hates the idea of giving up his horses for much less money than they’re worth, Nell encourages him to do so or else he may never be able to sell them. McLaughlin promises Williams that he will have some horses for him the next time he comes back.

Another man, Ross Buckley, shows up at the farm. He is a bronco-buster who is in the area waiting for a rodeo. He hopes to ride some of the three-year-old horses for practice, in turn breaking them for McLaughlin. McLaughlin agrees, and Buckley stays in the bunk house for several days.

Near the end of the week, Ken knows that he only has a day or two left to choose his colt. He has decided that he is going to pick a filly, partially so that he does not have to see her castrated. He feels as though something is changing within him, as he is treated differently by his father and his brother now. He spends less time daydreaming and more working, a thought which makes him feel partially sad for what he is losing in his changing. He wakes up early and rides through the meadows, searching for the pack of colts.

As Ken rides, he suddenly comes across Rocket. She has a filly at her side. Banner, nearby with the brood mares, approaches her and tries to corral her. However, Rocket’s filly takes off, running away from the group.

As the filly runs by Ken, he is struck by the overwhelming urge to follow her. He sees it almost as a plea for “help.” He chases after her on horseback. Eventually, she comes to the other colts, excitedly greeting them all. In that moment, Ken feels a monumental change, as if he has become “something entirely new” (130). He is certain that he will choose this filly.

When Ken gets back to the house, he decides to keep the colt a secret until the next day, when his week for choosing is up. Instead, he excitedly tells his family about finding Rocket. His parents express how proud they are of him.

After breakfast, McLaughlin asks Nell to go up and help break one of the three-year-old horses. Although Buckley has been riding three of them, the fourth, Rumba, is too small and delicate for him.

The family walks up to the stables together, with Nell dressed in her riding gear. Buckley greets her, calling her “Missus,” which Nell thinks of as “a royal title in the West” (136). The idea partially annoys her, as everyone treats her as though she is too delicate to do anything but housework. Unsurprisingly, Buckley is adamant that Nell does not need to ride Rumba, but McLaughlin insists.

Nell carefully approaches Rumba, who initially reacts with fear. However, standing near the horse, Nell talks with Buckley and McLaughlin and pretends to ignore Rumba. Slowly, Rumba warms to her, eventually allowing her to mount. Nell rides out of the stables to the practice field with McLaughlin and Buckley following on two of the other houses.

That night, Ken gets into bed still thinking about his colt. He went up to visit her again that afternoon, marveling at her speed. He realizes that her grandsire is likely the horse Albino, a fact that will make his father unhappy. However, Ken is hopeful that she will take after her sire, Banner. He remembers seeing his colt the year before, when she was born. They saw Rocket standing over her protectively. Gus, who is Swedish, referred to her as “flicka,” explaining to Ken that it is “Swedish for little gurl” (143).

The next morning, Ken tells his family his decision at the breakfast table. He has decided on the name Flicka for her. McLaughlin tries to talk him out of it, insisting that all the horses from Albino’s line are untamable. However, Ken is adamant that he can do it. His father warns him that he will not allow Ken to cost him extra time or money in doing so.

McLaughlin takes Ken and Gus up to the ridge to find the colts. He makes Ken take the lead on bringing them all into the corral. They are all branded and sent back out the gate one by one, except for Flicka. Gus leads them up the Saddle Back, the large hill behind the ranch.

When Ken is alone with Flicka in the corral, she refuses to calm down. She desperately tries to jump the large fence and get out the gate. After slamming into the walls several times, she knocks a few bars loose. She then squeezes through the hole, bleeding from the effort, and takes off out the gate before Gus has returned to close it. Ken watches the entire time, fearing that Flicka will injure herself.

That afternoon, McLaughlin suggests again that Ken change his mind. However, he is adamant that he still chooses Flicka.

A man who owns a ranch up north, Charley Sargent, comes for dinner. He is selling several of his horses to a man from Los Angeles; he plans to make them into polo horses. He wants McLaughlin to send four of his horses as well so that they can share in the profits. McLaughlin readily agrees.

After dinner, as Sargent and McLaughlin talk, McLaughlin begins bragging about how fast Rocket is. He claims that she can ride over 30 miles per hour. When Sargent expresses his disbelief, McLaughlin offers to sell her for $500. Sargent agrees if she truly is that fast.

McLaughlin, Sargent, Ken, Howard, and Gus go out into the pasture to bring in the horses. With Banner’s help, they manage to get Rocket isolated. Sargent points out a piece of rope hanging around her neck. McLaughlin insists that he plans to take it off; he has just struggled to do so because of how wild she is.

Rocket takes off running, so the men get into the car to follow her. She makes her way up to Castle Rock Meadow, breaking straight through a fence to do so. McLaughlin points out that she is likely returning to where she lost her colt.

The men drive up to Castle Rock where they find Rocket trotting through the meadow. McLaughlin pulls the car up behind her, then honks, sending Rocket running toward home. McLaughlin follows in the car. To Sargent’s excitement, the car tops 30 miles per hour. He happily agrees to buy Rocket, with McLaughlin promising to deliver her to his ranch.

That night, Ken and Howard stay out late. When they come home, they tell their father that they went back to the cave where they found Rocket’s colt. More of her carcass is gone, with McLaughlin guessing that the lion returned to feed on her.