Wednesday, August 10, 4:44 PM. Claire.

Good afternoon, Diary. I hope you were not too lonely since yesterday. I kept you with me all the time.

Trevor and I rode our bikes this morning before it got too hot. My ankle didn’t hurt too much when we started but now it hurts and I can’t really walk. We went like four streets over and it only took an hour, but mom called us on the walkie-talkies ten times. We saw lots of kitties and three of them came over to us and meowed for scratches and food probably too. When we scratched them they arched and purred like crazy, like they hadn’t been loved in years, and when we tried to leave they rubbed up against us until we got on our bikes. We’re going to take them some food.

After that we went and saw the horses! Nobody was there and they were very hungry but they did have water from the creek. One of the horses had died and it was in the creek. I cried about that even though I was so happy about the other ones being alive.

This summer when I went to horse camp at the ranch, I rode a horse named “Pip.” He’s not there any more. I guess they sold him. But I recognized some of the other horses and they maybe recognized me. Daddy says he doesn’t know whether the horses will be healthy after not eating for so long. Horses are very fragile animals, he says. But we will feed them and take care of them for now and if they get strong enough he will let me ride them. I am praying hard that God will make them strong and that we will get to keep them and ride them forever.