Mystery of the Midnight Rider (11 page)

But I wasn’t going to focus on that right now. I took the hand Ned was offering me, climbing up into the carriage.

“Ready to ride off into the sunset with me?” Ned asked, squeezing my hand. “Or at least the midday sun?”

I squeezed back. “I’m ready.”

Dear Diary

POOR PEYTON.

The pressure she was under to perform and be number one was too much for her. It would have been too much for anybody, really. It’s too bad she just couldn’t talk to her parents and tell them how she truly felt.

But harming Midnight sure wasn’t the answer.

Hurting anybody—or anything—never is.