Authors: Terri Farley
Red Feather Filly
Phantom Stallion 10
Terri Farley
Overhead, two wild geese split off from a ragged veeâ¦
“Do you know what would happen to us if weâ¦
As the crunch of Mrs. Allen's tires faded, Jen shrugged.
Before Sam could tell Jake about Mrs. Allen's race, Brynnaâ¦
“They might as well be hounds raising their hackles,” whisperedâ¦
Jen's hand flew up to cover her mouth, but clearlyâ¦
Sam sat straight up in bed.
“She could run,” Jake said with conviction. He spoke quietlyâ¦
When Sam arrived home and announced that she and Jakeâ¦
Sam was entering Mrs. Ely's history class when Jake grabbedâ¦
At five o'clock in the morning, Sam stood in theâ¦
“Here's what we're going to do,” Jake began.
“You talked in your sleep a lot last night,” Brynnaâ¦
Chip trembled, leaning forward to stare in the direction Jakeâ¦
Drumbeats, Sam thought.
“I have one chance to get it right,” Jake said,â¦
Sam heard Chip's hooves coming before she saw him.
A racket started up on the road that ran pastâ¦
O
verhead, two wild geese split off from a ragged vee of birds winging south.
As their flock flew on, the pair turned back, swooping low enough that Samantha Forster heard the silken rush of feathers and saw the glitter of dark eyes studying her.
A dome of blue sky arched over River Bend Ranch. Underfoot, a few shoots of grass ventured through dirt dark from melting snow.
There was a moment of silence from the squadron of construction workers hammering as fast as they could to rebuild the barn while the sunny weather lasted. With permission from Dad, they'd arrived just as the sun was rising. Since six
A.M.
, this was the first time they'd quit pounding.
In the quiet, Sam could hear the La Charla River dashing under the bridge, gurgling over rocks frosted with morning ice.
Northern Nevada was still making up its mind about springtime, but Sam knew it had arrived.
“Samantha, did you hear me?” Dad's stern voice made it clear he knew she hadn't.
“Sorry, what?” Sam felt as if she'd come plummeting back down to earth.
Dad and Brynna sat on their horses, ready to ride out. For a minute, she'd forgotten all about them.
“Honey,” Dad said, “that's just what I'm talking about.”
What
was just what he'd been talking about? Sam tried not to look guilty.
She stared up past Strawberry's roan legs, past Dad's faded jeans, and met his eyes.
“You've got permission to walk the buckskin and to ride Ace. That's it. Don't take it into your head to give Popcorn a try.”
“I wasn'tâ”
Dad held out a hand to keep her from interrupting and Sam wondered how he'd turned into a mind reader. She'd heard Brynna, her new stepmother, talking about getting a rider up on Popcorn pretty soon. Sam wanted to be the first this spring, but she hadn't uttered a word about it to anyone.
“I've seen you eyeing him, Sam. You're not up to it yet.” Dad's words stung, even though she knew it
was true. “I want to be sure you're clear about this before I go. You're forbidden to mount him unless someone is watching over you. Spring fever can be a dangerous thing.”
“I get it,” Sam said. For a second, Dad looked like he might mention her tone. Again. But Brynna spoke up.
“She understands, Wyatt,” Brynna said.
“Okay,” Dad said. He relaxed in the saddle and Strawberry's ears pricked forward, sensing they were about to go. “We're gonna check out the graze in the spring pasture and decide when to move the cattle. We'll probably be a couple hours.”
He and Brynna rode out at a trot. Within seconds, their laughter flowed back to Sam. They probably weren't laughing about her, but Dad's criticism still hurt.
You're not up to it yet.
She'd only been back on the ranch for about nine months. And she had taken her share of spills. But why did Dad have to rub it in?
She'd find a way to show him she wasn't the worst rider in northern Nevada. But how?
The sudden thunder of nearby hooves made Sam turn back toward the ten-acre pasture.
Nike, red mane streaming as he paced along the fence, had spotted the halter in her hand. He stopped and tossed his head, attracting the attention of other horses. Tank, the big bald-faced bay, joined Nike. Soon Amigo and Buff jostled each other in excitement.
Behind her, Ace and Sweetheart created a commotion inside the round pen. The high-sided corral had been their home since an earthquake destroyed the old portion of the barn and their attached corrals.
The horses had adapted to the pen, but they missed the open view they'd had of the ranch. Now they spent their days peeking between the fence rails.
The two horses had snorted a greeting when Sam had passed by on her way to the damaged tack room to get Dark Sunshine's halter. They'd been patient when she'd walked by without stopping for them. But now that it looked like she might be leaving with another horse, they neighed in protest.
“It's okay, boy,” she called to Ace, letting him know he wasn't forgotten.
The long minutes Ace had been trapped in the fallen barn had reminded Sam how much she loved her little bay mustang.
“Jen will be here soon and then I'll get you out of there.”
In the bad weather, most ranch work had been done from a pickup truck instead of on horseback. These were working horses and their vacation had left them full of energy.
In the pasture, Buff lifted his furry brown body into a half rear. The others shifted to give him space, but their ears remained pricked forward and their eyes watched Sam.
“You'd think I had a bucket of oats instead of a halter,” Sam told Blaze.
The Border collie pranced beside her, tail waving, mouth open, as he escorted her to the pasture.
Popcorn finished rolling in the mud, heaved himself to his feet, and shook. His white coat was wet and smeared with brown. He'd noticed he was missing something and trotted to join the others by the fence.
Only one horse hung back.
Dark Sunshine ignored the saddle horses' excitement and stared toward the Calico Mountains. She turned one ear to catch Sam's boot steps, but her head stayed high, her attention focused.
“The only horse on the place who isn't fascinated,” Sam told Blaze, “is the one I need to catch.”
Blaze panted sympathetically.
“Get back,” Sam ordered the other horses, but they didn't.
She jiggled the latch on the gate, then waved her hand.
Filled with high spirits, the crowding horses rolled their eyes and backed away. They'd had breakfast two hours before, but they were still checking to see if she carried food. She wasn't, so they worked off their energy with a gallop around the pasture.
“Blaze, you stay,” Sam said as the dog tried to follow her.
The dog's fanning tail drooped as Sam let herself into the pasture and latched the gate. She took advantage of the horses' distraction to stride across the wet earth and new grass of the pasture. It was only sensible to get over to Dark Sunshine before the saddle horses
grew bored and returned to her. Excited and heavy, they could bump the pregnant mare off her feet without meaning to and a misplaced hoof could cause an injury.
“And we don't want that,” Sam said out loud. “We only have about eight weeks left.”
She'd kept talking as she walked. She meant her voice to ready the mare for her approach, but she might as well have stayed silent.
In her eight months on River Bend Ranch, Dark Sunshine had grown accustomed to life as a captive mustang. She took comfort in her adopted herd, but she didn't trust humans. She tolerated Sam's presence.
“But you don't like me, do you, girl?” Sam asked.
The mare raised her head higher. Her black-edged ears pointed east. Her dark-gold skin shivered in annoyance. Sam didn't blame the mustang for hating captivity, but the graceful, deerlike mare's belly was rounded in pregnancy. And that changed everything.
Dark Sunshine's eyes stared toward the mountains as if she ached to be there.
“Do you miss him, or your freedom?” Sam asked.
The mare was in foal to the wild silver stallion known as the Phantom. That was a great gift and a burden. With two wild parents, the foal could be born rowdy and uncontrollable.
Dad hadn't said Sam could keep the foal for her own, but he hadn't said she couldn't.
“C'mon girl,” she said. “We have the ranch to ourselves.”
Dad had given the cowboys the day to go to a saddle show in Reno.
Gram had driven into Darton to do the month's grocery shopping. As she'd made her list, Gram had muttered about making lasagna and mentioned to Sam that it had been her mother's favorite dinner, one she'd elbowed Gram out of the kitchen to make.
Gram had smiled at the memory, but she must have sensed Sam's melancholy as she thought of her long-dead mother.
“You're thirteen years old, for heaven's sake,” Gram had scolded. “It's past time you learned to cook and I say you should start with lasagna, this weekend.”
But that would come later.
Dark Sunshine started at the sound of a vehicle turning off the highway. Tires grated on the patch of gravel road just before the bridge.
Sam couldn't see much from here, but it didn't sound like one of the ranch trucks. Still, it sounded vaguely familiar.
Then, hooves clopped on the bridge.
Sunny shied and jerked as if Sam had reached for her. When Sam started to back away, the mare bolted in the opposite direction. She stopped to watch, though, as Jen arrived on a galloping palomino.
Silk Stockings burst into the ranch yard in a
flailing lope, demonstrating why she'd been nicknamed Silly.
Jen's turquoise sweater outlined arms braced to keep her horse's head up. She appeared to be using all the strength in her seat and legs to drive the mare forward so she wouldn't buck.
When she was almost upon Sam, the palomino began shaking her head. Her white mane and forelock flipped around her, and the mare wore a shame-faced expression. But Jen didn't punish her horse.
“My fault,” Jen called as she slowed the palomino to a jouncing trot, then a walk. “I thought two seconds about sharing the bridge with Mrs. Allen's truck, then two more seconds about what a crazy driver she is, and that was all it took. Silly read my mind and took off.”
Jen rode past, hands and voice comforting Silly. Sam envied Jen's controlled understanding of her mount. Many riders would have jerked at the reins, forgetting the punishment the bit inflicted on a tender mouth. Others would have yelled and blamed the horse for their own miscalculations.
Not Jen. As she turned Silly to come back at a smooth, long-reaching walk, the palomino looked proud and collected.
“One of the best things about Silly,” Jen said, dismounting, “is her short attention span. She's already forgotten we were scared, haven't you girl?”
Sam laughed as Jen patted the palomino's neck
and let her go to the end of her reins. With high-flung head and tail, Silly greeted the other horses.
“Wait,” Sam said as Jen's words soaked in. “Did you say Mrs. Allen?”
As she asked, a tangerine-colored truck rocketed across the bridge and into the River Bend Ranch yard.
“Oh, yeah,” Jen said. She lunged and grabbed Silly's reins just under her chin.
Blaze began barking. Red hens fled cackling for the safety of their coop.
With a squeal of brakes, a jerk, and a sputter, the pickup's engine died.
Sam stood close to Jen.
What could be so urgent that Mrs. Allen had arrived in a cloud of dust on a Saturday morning?
