Chapter 30
Every morning after Sam went to work with Bushy, Charlie worked with Whirlwind. At first she’d struggled with the exertion, dead tired by lunchtime, crawling wearily into bed for an afternoon sleep. But as each day passed and Whirlwind grew calmer, Charlie grew stronger. She’d started working Tambo too, and today, in this first sparkling week of autumn, Charlie felt ready at last to ride into Balleroo.
Balleroo — the very word was music. Charlie could hardly believe it; she and Tambo together again, sweeping up a grassy slope into the mountains. She could breathe. She was free. Free of doctors, free of walls, free of well-meaning people asking her Are you okay, Charlie? in that pointed, exaggerated way, that invited her to respond that indeed, she was not. Charlie was free of
