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"On his way right now," Dustin said

Joey had been let out of a van that had the words Parsonage House written in script on the side Two other boys stepped out--Matt and Sean, Dustin saw They headed into the office, while Joey walked toward theht?" he asked Olivia "Oh, hello, Dustin, Drew"

"We’re still riding today," Olivia said "Joey, I have you on Trickster, and Andrew, I see you’ve gotten Chapparal saddled He’ll be perfect for Dustin, unless he was saddled for soht hi me"

"Thanks" Olivia nodded "Well, then, shall we?"

Tenout beyond the pastures The hills rose and fell until they reached a stretch of relatively flat land Olivia said, "Okay, Joey, we’ll run the Re we’ve learned about trust and boundaries works when you’re riding, too Don’t let Trickster take you You’re taking her"

Joey nodded, flushing with pleasure Olivia glanced at hi to head out first He’d bring up the rear

It wasn’t a wild ride It was a pleasant canter and then a brief gallop across the flat land Olivia reined in first, waiting for the other two Joey slipped sidehen Trickster reverted to a trot, but he gripped the horn of his western saddle for ahis balance He bea okay," he said

Olivia sazing past Joey--back up to the hill that rose between them and the Horse Farh; it seemed to cast shadows on the mound

But Dustin saw soe of a tall rider sitting proudly on a great steed gradually appeared He wore a plueneral Dustin thought he lifted a hand, al froone

"Hey, Liv, you’re coht, aren’t you?" Joey said, unaware

"Pardon?" Olivia brought her attention back to the boy

"The caht?"

"Uh, yes I suppose so," Olivia said

"And you’re co, too," Joey looked at Dustin "You said you would"

"Yes, sounds like fun I used to go on cao," Dustin told hihost stories," Joey said

"She’s good at talking about history, too," Olivia added a little sharply

"Yes, but you can only have a ghost if you have the history of someone who lived," Joey said reasonably

"Yes, of course, buthistory is important, Joey," Olivia said "There was a fae Santayana who explained why it’s so important to understand history His words are often quoted ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condes that ca that we remeet heated today Tennessee was the last state to secede frohout the war East Tennessee actually tried to secede from Tennessee when it left the Union, but troops were sent in The state was truly divided The east was for the North, the west for the South--and theballot It was horribly sad and tragic here Only the state of Virginia saw more battles The Battle of Shiloh was, at the time, the bloodiest in the nation’s history But we learned from the war, Joey"

"In many ways," Dustin murmured

Joey turned to face him, "Yeah, I know," he said dryly "My dad told y Like today, you wouldn’t fight the same--we have automatic weapons and bombs and drones and stuff But the ies they used back then"

"We also learned about co he didn’t sound too"It’s easy to be harsh noe look at the past So, and you have to try to understand the context and the reasons--and the mistakes That’s history, and that’s why it’s ihosts!" Joey threw in cheerfully

"But ghosts are good, too," Olivia said "For instance, General Rufus Cunninghahost around here, and he tells us a lot about humanity He was a leader, but he didn’t consider any of his men expendable And he valued hued to the eneoes unpunished,’" Joey blurted out, grinning

Olivia groaned "Oh, I give up!"

"Kidding, just kidding!" Joey said "I love the stories about the general Are we going to ride? Or are we going to just sit here?"

"We’ll take the forest trail to the curve, coain for a few h the trees," Olivia said

She led the way Trickster tried to stop for grass, but Olivia re the shots; he could give Trickster an apple back at the stables Joey regained control, grinning at her proudly as he did