Season of Ponies by Zilpha Keatley Snyder Read Free Book Online Page A

Pamela’s window, and to her relief, she found that the window was unlocked. Ponyboy pushed it open, and Pamela slipped through.
    “Good-by,” Pamela whispered.
    “Good-by. Next time remember the cookies.” Ponyboy closed the window, and in a moment he had disappeared over the edge of the roof. A slim shadow moved across the lawn, then everything was still.
    The storm was rising again and dark clouds raced across the sky. The branches of the oaks tossed and reared like a herd of wild black horses. But free and clear, through the roar of the wind, Pamela heard a familiar sound—Ponyboy’s flute.
    Just then the racing clouds broke for an instant, the moon shone through, and Pamela saw them: the two ponies, pale and perfect, and a boy who waved a silver flute. Then they faded into the dark shadows under the oaks, and the black clouds rushed across the moon.

Shadow Glen
    O NE DAY NEAR THE end of June, Pamela overheard Aunt Sarah and Aunt Elsie talking about her. She was playing jacks on the veranda, and her ball rolled off the edge into some bushes. She was under the bush looking for it, when she heard her aunts come out.
    “She seems so much happier lately,” Aunt Sarah said. “She’s beginning to realize how much better it is for her to be living quietly with us instead of being dragged all over the country by her father.”
    “Well, perhaps,” Aunt Elsie answered. “But there’s something about her now that worries me. Her mind seems to be miles away. It’s almost as if she were off in a dream world. Sometimes I could swear she’s listening for something all day long.”
    “Nonsense,” said Aunt Sarah. “You’ll have to admit that she smiles a great deal more. Why, just a few minutes ago I saw her playing jacks right here on the front porch and she was whistling the oddest little tune, and every once in a while she would laugh—right out loud. I tell you she’s a much happier child.”
    Aunt Sarah was right about that much. But she would never have guessed why. Pamela was happy because she knew that almost any time, most often when she was least expecting it, she would be off on another adventure with Ponyboy.
    Even the days when she did not see Ponyboy seemed to be less boring. She spent much more time out-of-doors now. The ponies did not like to come near the house in the daytime, and Pamela knew places where they might be. While she waited and watched for them, she found new and interesting things to do. She learned to climb trees and look for birds’ nests; she caught lizards with weed lassos; and she almost tamed a squirrel that lived behind the old barn. In the evenings she was busy rereading all her favorite fairy tales so she could tell them better.
    Often, when she had not seen Ponyboy during the day, he would send Nimbus for her in the early evening. Right after dinner Aunt Sarah and Aunt Elsie retired to the parlor, and Pamela was sent to her room to read or study. Fortunately her aunts disliked climbing stairs, so they slept in downstairs bedrooms. They rarely climbed the stairs for any reason, so it was quite safe to leave right after dinner.
    From her window seat Pamela would wait for the sound of Ponyboy’s flute or the shadowy form of Nimbus among the trees at the edge of the lawn. She kept her jacket ready with the pockets full of cookies. She never knew when to expect them, but if bedtime came without a sign, she knew they wouldn’t come that night.
    On nights when she heard the secret sound of the silver flute or saw the gray mare, Pamela would slip out her window and down the trellis. There was always something wonderful to do. Sometimes they found a jack rabbit to chase and played fox hunting, galloping over hills and through valleys. Once a fox hunt led them up the boulder-strewn slopes of Sleeping Lady Mountain, and once again Pamela felt the senseless surge of fear as she looked down on the mysterious cloak of fog below. But there was so much to do, there was no time to worry