Chapter 7: The Horse Market

Mrs. Harper from next door—the one who runs the fruit stand at the corner—had always wanted my pancake recipe. I sold it for fifty bucks, then took the little donkey to the horse market.

The horse market was bustling. The air was thick with hay and sweat, auctioneers shouting over the crowd.

Most buyers were traders who knew which horses had good strength and endurance.

I walked around and finally set my sights on a plain-looking horse and bargained.

The old man stroked his white beard. “Miss, you’ve got a good eye, but this cash isn’t enough.”

“Why not look at another one?”

He pointed to a white horse not far away.

But someone had already taken a fancy to it.

Natalie’s delicate voice rang clear in the noisy market: “Jason, this horse is beautiful. What do you think?”

Jason sat on another horse, leaning down with a smile, full of affection.

“Anything you like is fine.”

Natalie suddenly looked over.

“Melissa?”

Jason turned his horse and saw me.

He looked down from above, frowned, and asked, “What are you doing here?”

I tugged the rope in my hand and answered honestly, “Selling the donkey. It doesn’t have good endurance and can’t travel far.”

Jason suspected nothing.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on my hair. He narrowed his eyes, looking dazed.

His voice tightened. “Where’s your hairpin?”

I instinctively touched my hair.

Women love beauty. Over the years, I bought many ornaments, but the copper hairpin he gave me—whether in cold or heat—I always wore it.

I kept it polished and shiny, without a single spot of rust.

I looked up and replied blandly, “Oh, didn’t your agent ask you?”

“They’re all cheap things. Wearing them would be beneath my status, so I stopped wearing them.”

Hearing this, Jason’s expression turned unhappy, a trace of anger in his eyes, almost gnashing his teeth: “Cheap?”

Jason dismounted and approached me. “That was something I…”

His voice trailed off, but for a second, I saw the old Jason—the one who once cared.

At this moment, Natalie suddenly cried out, “Jason!”

Her horse was startled and about to throw her. Jason instantly turned back, grabbed the reins, and steadied the horse.

Then he gently helped her down.

Natalie was still frightened, her face pale. “Jason, this horse doesn’t seem to like people. I’m a bit scared…”

“Let’s look elsewhere.”

Whatever he wanted to say to me was forgotten.

Jason’s anger faded, his eyes and heart only for Natalie. He said to me, as if in afterthought:

“Forget it, if you sold it, you sold it.”

“When we return to D.C., I’ll make you a gold hairpin.”

Jason turned his head, wanting to say more, but I had already turned away.

Natalie tugged his sleeve. “Jason, that horse over there is pretty… Didn’t you say you’d teach me to ride?”

“I’ve waited for you for two years. You must teach me these days.”

Jason came to his senses and withdrew his gaze.

After they left, I turned to the old man:

“Is my cash, plus this donkey, enough to buy that horse?”

The owner looked at me, then at the donkey, nodded, and said it was enough.

They bought horses to travel to D.C.

I bought a horse to go to the western border.

The horse I chose wasn’t flashy or fast, but it felt like freedom under my hands. I named her Lucky and promised her that wherever we went, it would be forward.