bulged over a huge silver belt buckle Next to him sat a woman who looked a little like him except she was wearing so much makeup that Natalie thought she looked like a rodeo clown That’s Chad Ingott and his sister Marlene Liz whispered The two of them run the place along with their other brother Brad
Natalie and Liz took seats in a middle row trying to blend in They watched the teenage rider in the auction pen When the rider jogged the pinto pony past the gate its strides got sluggish and reluctant The pony bulged its neck sideways like a stretched-out rubber band and tried to duck out of the arena The rider gave him a prod with his spurs and the pony bucked It was clear that he didn’t have much training or else he was used to riders who let him get away with misbehaving Here’s a perfect family pony for the kids folks said Chad Ingott Who needs a babysitter or lawnmower when you’ve got a pony like this Who’ll start the bidding at five hundred dollars He spoke in a singsong voice so quick that his words blurred together No one bid so Chad lowered the opening price to four hundred and then two hundred dollars A man leaning against the fence raised a piece of paper with a number on it I have two hundred two hundred who’ll give me twofifty warbled Chad A short stocky woman in a tan cowboy hat
raised the bid by fifty dollars Those were the only two bids Chad Ingott banged a wooden gavel on the table and said Sold The woman in the cowboy hat got up from her seat and went over to the edge of the arena where another farmhand wearing an Ingotts shirt helped her fill out some paperwork Liz nodded with satisfaction I know that woman she said leaning over so Natalie could hear her over the noise of the auction She runs a lesson program out in Lone Star Heights It’s not a fancy place but she’s a good trainer That pony could have done a lot worse The pinto pony was followed by a buckskin mustang with a barcode-like brand on its neck After that was an elderly draft horse trained for driving followed by a herd of miniature goats Most of the animals were plain and a little bit scraggly At first glance none of them looked sick or seriously underweight But Liz had explained that a lot of problems could be masked for the auction arena A horse with lung problems might be given a dose of steroids so it wouldn’t cough Or
