Lucky Horse by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page B

little at dinner last night.”
    “Oh, Stevie,” said Lisa. “What if these CDs had fallen in some other horse’s stall? What if another horse had gotten hurt?”
    “I know.” Stevie shuddered. “We were awfullylucky. Although Belle does have a little bump on her withers. Look.”
    Lisa watched as Stevie gently pressed a small swelling at the top of Belle’s shoulder. Belle flinched and again gave a short squeal of pain.
    “Poor baby,” Stevie whispered, wrapping her arms around Belle’s neck. “I’m so sorry. I promise nothing like that will ever happen again.”
    Belle nickered in reply.
    “I think she’s okay,” Stevie said.
    “Then let’s turn out her light so that she can get back to sleep,” suggested Lisa. “And we can do the same.”
    “Okay.” Stevie gave Belle a final hug and turned out the light. Then both girls climbed back up the ladder. Lisa gave Stevie her CDs to store in a safe place.
    “Maybe I’ll put them at the top of my sleeping bag instead of the bottom,” said Stevie. “Surely I won’t head-butt any off the hayloft in my sleep.”
    “Not unless you start dreaming about sandwiches playing soccer,” Lisa giggled.
    “Speaking of sandwiches”—Stevie sat up again—“are you hungry?”
    “No.” Lisa sat up, too. “But I’m not sleepy anymore, either.”
    “Me neither.” Stevie reached for the tray ofwrapped sandwiches. “Maybe a little snack will help me get sleepy again.”
    Stevie ate another sandwich while Lisa made some notes on her to-do list. Then Stevie listened to one of her CDs while Lisa played Stevie’s electronic game.
    “Are you sleepy yet?” Lisa asked after she’d killed off a hundred space raiders and saved planet Earth.
    “What?” Stevie said loudly, holding out one earphone.
    “I said, are you sleepy yet?”
    Stevie shook her head. “I don’t think we should have had those sodas with dinner. They supposedly have a lot of caffeine.”
    “Well, we had to drink something,” Lisa said. Suddenly she tilted her head to the floor below. “Listen!”
    Stevie took her headphones off and tilted her head, too. Belle was shifting in her straw, having her own dream. The girls could hear the soft rasp of her breathing, broken by an occasional half whinny.
    Stevie grinned. “Wonder what she’s dreaming about?”
    “Dancing apples?” Lisa said with a giggle.
    “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the stable this quiet,” Stevie whispered.
    “Me neither,” said Lisa. “It’s kind of neat, isn’t it?”
    Stevie nodded, and they both lay in their sleeping bags listening to the horses and talking quietly. Theyfell asleep only when dawn rose up over the Virginia hills.
    M ILES AWAY , SNUG in a sleeping bag deep in the Virginia wilderness, Carole awoke with a start. She was almost certain she’d just heard the soft whinny of a horse.
You must have been dreaming about Pine Hollow
, she told herself, but she sat up anyway. Though she was in the forest camping in a state-of-the-art tent, she was sure the sound had been real. Being careful not to disturb her sleeping father, she crawled out of her sleeping bag and stepped through the tent door. She smiled. There, just at the edge of their campsite, stood the shadowy form of the strawberry roan Appaloosa she’d met the day before.
    His ears pricked up the moment he saw her. Slowly she began to walk toward him. He seemed happy to see her and took a few steps in her direction.
    “Hi, boy,” she whispered as he came up and sniffed the top of her head. “What are you doing out so late?”
    He arched his neck to be petted, just as he had before. She giggled as she scratched him behind his ears. “You’re being very naughty to take a nighttime jaunt like this. Now I’ve got to figure out a way to get you back.”
    The roan nodded as if to agree. Carole laughed again. This was a mischievous horse, but he was gentleand affectionate, too. He was wearing the same halter he’d had on earlier. If she