Gift Horse by Terri Farley Read Free Book Online

said. “You board people’s horses while you and Jake polish them and make them better riding horses. Then you get paid, if people think their horses have improved. The only difference is that I don’t know who’ll end up paying me. It’s no gamble, because Tinkerbell is a good investment of my time and Mr. Fairchild’s money.”
    â€œThink so, do ya?” Dad’s tone was sarcastic, but she couldn’t tell if he was amused or annoyed.
    â€œI do,” Sam said. “It shouldn’t be too hard to make him worth more than eight hundred dollars.”
    â€œWhat he’s worth and what you’ll get could be two different things,” Dad said. “But take your best shot, honey. That’s all anyone can do.”
    Sam nodded, smiling as she looked across the range. The lights of River Bend Ranch glimmered in the darkness.
    â€œFried chicken tonight,” Dad said. His words sounded like a truce. “Your gram said she’d save us plenty of biscuits and honey, too.”
    â€œI can hardly wait,” Sam said, and then she sighed.
    Home always looked good at the end of a long day, especially when you’d won.
    River Bend’s lights looked brighter than usual, she realized. Was she imagining it?
    Sam’s thoughts slowed. Too bright. Yellow beams shone from the barn and bunkhouse, though only the porch lights should have been on.
    Dad sucked in a breath.
    â€œGuess we’d better slow down.” He downshifted and drove over the bridge at half speed. “And I wouldn’t hold your breath about that fried chicken bein’ hot by the time we get to it. If I’m not mistaken, every horse on the place is milling around just outside the kitchen.”

Chapter Five
    D ad was mistaken. Not all the horses were loose in the ranch yard, but none should have been.
    Gram and Brynna stood guard between the horses and the bridge.
    â€œIt looks like they’re ready to wave their arms and spook them back if they try to make a break for it,” Sam said.
    â€œLooks like it,” Dad agreed.
    He slowed the truck to a crawl. The tires clunked across each board on the bridge. As the truck passed under the tall wooden rectangle marking the ranch entrance, its headlights spotlighted the horses. Ace and Sweetheart, Gram’s paint mare, stood with legs braced wide apart, but Sam worried most about Ace.
    Dark patches of sweat marked his glossy bay coat. His eyes glowed red in the headlights. As he turned toward the familiar sound of Dad’s truck, he seemed to peer inside. Sam would bet Ace was looking for her.
    Ace was her horse, and she didn’t believe a better-mannered, more willing horse existed. Nothing fazed the little gelding, but now he looked more frightened than she’d seen him since a fire had broken out in the old bunkhouse last summer.
    Sam leaned against her seat belt until her nose almost touched the windshield. She stared past the horses and focused on home. The white, two-story ranch house was lit so brightly, inside and out, that the green shutters and ruffled curtains showed as well as if it had been daylight.
    But there was no orange glow. When she rolled down the truck window, she didn’t smell smoke or hear the crackle of flames, either. Fire was unmistakable. This wasn’t it, so what was going on?
    Popcorn was out, too, and that was really weird. The albino mustang was only green-broke. He belonged in the ten-acre pasture. Instead, he moved in a stiff-legged walk, eyes rolling. The way he kept approaching, then shying from Gram and Brynna, told Sam he was eager to escape.
    As Dad eased the truck past, Brynna gave them a worried but welcoming smile. She didn’t wave and Sam knew she was trying not to make any move thatwould startle the horses. In spite of that, all three snorted, wreathing their heads with their own hot breath.
    Dad coasted into his usual parking place, then turned the key off. He pulled the