Silver Dream by Angela Dorsey Read Free Book Online Page B

he was going to
bring them home, and then he did.”
    “What happened to the real
Wings, Rocket Gal, and Dancer?” asked Joanna, though she already
had an idea – because of the story she’d heard about Mr. Thomas
going broke and his horses being sold to pay his debts. That was
ages ago, but if he was confusing past and present, even calling
his granddaughter by his daughter’s name, it could seem like it all
happened last week to Mr. Thomas.
    Cally stared at the floor.
“Someone stole them, or that’s what he said anyway.” She looked up,
her eyes full of tears. “One day he brought me out here, and Wings
– I mean Breeze – was in the shed. At first I thought it was great,
but then the black one showed up too. What was her name again?”
    “Bonnie.”
    “Bonnie. And he kept talking
about Dancer, how soon he’d bring him home too. I started wondering
if he was stealing them, but didn’t know what to do, how to stop
him.”
    “Why didn’t you tell someone?”
Joanna asked.
    “Tell who?” Cally looked up at
her with desperate eyes. “I don’t know any of Grandpa’s friends,
and I can’t tell the police. They’d just put him in jail. The only
thing I could think to do was wait for Mom and Dad to get home from
their vacation. They’ll know how to fix everything, and they’ll do it without hurting Grandpa.”
    “But what about the horses?
Don’t you care if they get hurt?”
    Cally covered her face again.
Obviously, she did care.
    “We understand that you were
undecided,” Angelica said. She moved to sit beside Cally on the hay
bale. “But now we can help you. You are not alone in this.” She put
her arm around the girl’s shoulders.
    Cally jumped up as if stung.
“You can’t tell anyone.” All her misery had changed back to
palpable fear. “Please, for Grandpa. I know my mom and dad can make
everything right. They’ll be back from their vacation tomorrow
morning. The horses will be okay until tomorrow, won’t they? It’s
almost over. I’ll take good care of them, I promise.”
    Joanna looked around. “I don’t
know. The shed’s pretty small. What if one of the horses kicks
another one? Tango seems really stressed, and he’s bigger than the
other two. He could hurt them.”
    Angelica nodded. “Tango longs to
be home. He does not like it here. And Bonnie is finding it
difficult living in this shed. She is in foal and her legs hurt if
she stands too long in one place.”
    “She’s pregnant?”
    Angelica nodded. “And not very
happy. Only Breeze is happy in this place.”
    “He is?” Cally’s voice was soft
as she looked up at the muscular Quarter Horse.
    “Yes. He loves the attention you
lavish on him.” Angelica smiled. “He does not get much at
home.”
    Cally didn’t smile back. “See?
It may not be so bad for them. Please, please, don’t tell anyone.”
Her lip quivered. “They’ll put Grandpa in jail if you tell anyone.
And if you sneak them back to their real homes, he’ll just go out
to steal them again tonight. That’s too dangerous for him and
them.”
    “But–”
    “I think Cally is right,”
Angelica interrupted. “The horses can stay, as long as they agree.”
She stood to gaze into Tango’s soulful eyes. The horse bobbed his
head and snorted, then backed into his corner, and stood
calmly.
    Angelica moved on to Bonnie. Her
fingertips roved over the jet-black face. Bonnie sighed. Lowered
her head.
    “What’s she doing?” Cally
whispered to Joanna.
    Angelica moved on to Breeze.
    Joanna didn’t know what to
answer. She’d never seen anything so bizarre, but it looked as if
Angelica was not only asking the horses’ permission to leave them
here for one more night, but they were answering her!
    The teenager finally turned
toward them. “They will stay until tomorrow, as long as you promise
they will be safe.”
    Cally didn’t hesitate. “I
promise. But how did you–”
    “There’s something else,” Joanna
said, interrupting her. “We need