Cang’s eyebrows furrowed and he locked eyes with Long. “How old are you?”

“Thirteen.”

“By the looks of you, I would have guessed older—perhaps sixteen. I am not sure you are ready for a journey like this. However, I will give you a chance. Prove to me that you can ride, and I will help you.”

Long breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, sir.”

“Thank me later. First, I need to make sure you won’t kill yourself.” Cang began to swing himself out of the saddle.

Long’s eyes widened. “You want me to ride that horse? Right now?”

“Yes,” Cang said. He hopped off the horse like a man half his age and handed the reins to Long. “Let us see what you can do.”

Long looked at the horse with its saddle and stirrups. “I have only ridden bareback, sir.”

“Did you use reins?”

Long nodded.

“What about kung fu?”

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“Excuse me, sir?”

“Have you ever practiced kung fu?”

Long stared at Cang, dumbfounded. “You could say that I know a little about the topic.”

NgGung laughed out loud. “That’s pretty funny, Long.”

Long ignored him.

“All right,” Cang said. “I take it you know how to do a Horse Stance?”

“Yes.”

“Here is what you are going to do, then. Get up on the horse and put your feet in the stirrups on either side of the animal. Then lower yourself into a Horse Stance—or Horseback Riding Stance, as some kung fu instructors call it—and use your legs as springs to help absorb the shock of the horse in motion. It will be hard on your thighs, and even your stomach and back muscles, but the longer your tail is up off the saddle, the less bruising and saddle sores you are going to get. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now, your legs cannot hold you up like that all day long, so you are going to have to get a feel for when you can sit and when you should not. It will take time, but you will figure it out.”

“I understand.”

“Do you? Get up there and show me.”

Long turned to face the horse’s left side, taking the reins in his left hand. He placed his left foot in the stirrup, sprang into the air off his right leg, and raised his right leg high, swinging it forward in order to throw it over the horse’s back. Unfortunately, the horse was no longer there. It was leaping sideways away from him.

Long felt himself falling backward, and there was nothing he could do. He dropped his chin to his chest to protect the back of his head and hit the ground high on his upper back, his left foot still stuck in the stirrup and the reins still in his hand. Fortunately, the horse did not run off. It just stood there, looking back at him.

Cang rushed over and took the reins from Long. NgGung hopped off the fence, pulling Long’s boot free of the stirrup. Long sat up and felt his wounded right thigh begin to throb. “What just happened?” he asked.

“Rule number one,” Cang said. “Pay close attention to the reins. When you hopped into the air, you let your left hand drop. The reins are attached to something called a bit, which is a piece of metal between the horse’s teeth. Pulling down like that hurts.”

“Sorry,” Long said. He stood and brushed himself off. “Lesson learned.”

“Hmpf,” Cang muttered, handing the reins back to Long.

Long tried mounting the horse again, this time paying close attention to the reins. He made it up and into the saddle in one smooth motion. He glanced over at NgGung, who had climbed back onto the fence, and NgGung nodded his approval.

Long turned to see Cang’s reaction and felt his weight shift to one side. His new silk pants caused him to slip wildly in the smooth leather saddle, and he squeezed his thighs against the horse’s sides in an effort to regain his balance.

The horse took off.

“Hey!” Long yelled as they trotted inland along the fence line. Slipping worse now because of the bouncing gait, Long fought the urge to pull on the reins for support. He did not know if this would hurt the horse or not, but he took a chance and grabbed a handful of mane, heaving himself to a balanced sitting position.

The horse seemed fine with it, and Long gave a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, they were now moving along at a fairly quick pace, and he was still slipping every which way, even with his feet in the stirrups. Maintaining a Horse Stance, as Cang had said, seemed to help, but keeping both of his feet parallel to the ground was proving to be far more difficult than he had imagined, because the horse rocked from side to side with every step.

Long repositioned his body repeatedly in an effort to find which posture worked best, but had little success. Hunching forward and bringing his heels up did not help. Leaning backward and pushing his legs forward was even worse. But eventually, he figured out that it was best if he kept his body in a straight line, perpendicular to the ground, just like in a proper kung fu stance. He kept his legs long, dropped his heels, and aligned his ears, shoulders, and hips with his heels. It worked like a charm.




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