Runaway by Dandi Daley Mackall Read Free Book Online

dead when Indians found me. They called me ‘Dakota’ because that’s all they knew about me. The foster system added ‘Brown.’”
    It isn’t true. None of it. But the story gets the reaction it always does.
    “Oh wow,” Guinevere says, her mouth curling as if she’s eaten something sour.
    Hank’s crooked grin half forms on his lips. I can almost see his brain connecting the dots. “Right. So, you want to see Starlight or not?”
    In answer, I stride ahead of them and into the barn. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust from the bright sunshine, but there’s quite a bit of light inside the barn too. Windows let in sunshine all along the loft. I can see four stalls, and there are probably four more on the other aisle. The front half of the barn is taken up by a wooden, circular pen.
    Lancelot stands at the far end of the pen. But when he hears us, he starts walking over. Then he sees Guinevere. His ears flatten, and he stops in the center of the ring.
    “Hank,” Guinevere whines, “you said you’d teach him to come to me.”
    “I’m working on it,” Hank says, climbing into the pen with Lancelot.
    I want to see how he handles the horse, so I climb in too.
    Guinevere glances from Hank to me like she’d better not get left out. Then she climbs in. “Here, Lancelot,” she calls, striding toward the horse.
    “Don’t walk straight at him,” Hank cautions.
    “What?” Even as she says it, it’s clear that she heard Hank. She just doesn’t like being told what to do.
    “Come at him from the side,” Hank says. “That way he’ll see you coming and won’t be so scared of you.”
    “Scared of me ? My horse is probably scared of her .” Guinevere points in my direction. She takes a few steps toward her horse, and he trots away.
    “I’ve just about had it with that horse,” she complains. “Maybe Daddy’s right and I just picked the wrong horse. Daddy found this beautiful five-gaited mare in Indiana.”
    “Don’t give up on Lance,” Hank begs. “I just need more time with him.”
    She smiles at Hank, softens, and becomes a sweet, flirty Guinevere I haven’t seen before. Truth is, I don’t like this Guinevere any better than the other Guineveres I’ve seen today. “Well, I guess more time with Lancelot means more time with me.”
    I think I may puke. Since I haven’t budged from my spot by the railing, I start to climb out the way I came in.
    “Wait, Dakota,” Hank calls. “Where are you going?”
    “To find Starlight,” I answer.
    “I’ll come with you,” he says, jogging to the fence and bounding over it. “Starlight’s over this way.”
    I follow and wait for him to open the stall door. The top half of the double door is already open. Before he steps inside, he’s greeted by a gorgeous brown and white Paint.
    “Starlight,” Hank says, scratching the mare under her chin until she stretches her neck toward him in pure pleasure, “this is Dakota.”
    “She’s great.” I step around for a better look. “How long—?” I stop. I can see now that something’s wrong with her eyes. Really wrong. They’re white and shiny, like solid marbles. “Hank, what happened to your horse?” My voice cracks on “horse,” and something catches in my throat.
    “She’s okay, Dakota. I’m sorry. I should have warned you. I forget what it looks like to other people. Starlight was born blind. Her owner wanted to put her down. The vet told Dad, and we brought her home with us. The dam, her mother, died giving birth to her, so we had to feed her from a bottle. We almost lost her. She was our first animal rescue.”
    “So you named the place after her. And she gets along okay?” I realize that I’m stroking her neck the way Hank had stroked Lancelot’s neck. She’s soft and warm, and she doesn’t flinch or try to get away from me.
    “Better than okay.” Hank pulls a metal hook from his back pocket and starts cleaning her hooves. “It was tough for a long time, even after we knew