by Terri Farley
Sam let her breath out by degrees.
It was the wrong time of year for horses to take mates, but these two were surely friends. Locked off from his family, the Phantom had found Rose. Lonely after the pinto’s desertion several weeks ago, she’d joined his tiny herd.
Champ and Ace were neighing now, but only Rose gave a sign that she cared.
“Here they come.” Jen breathed the words as the palomino, quiet and graceful as a doe, picked her way through the boulders.
As she drew near, the mare stopped in a narrow place where she was flanked by purplish rock, and the dirt was bare of boulders. Sam noticed the dark sweat patches on her coat. The horses had been running and the mare was headed for water.
“Keep her away,” Sam said, but her eyes were on the Phantom.
The stallion snorted and shifted. He had to be as thirsty as Rose, but something kept him from coming to the water. Was it their presence, or did he sense something was wrong?
Rose was only yards away from Jen.
Jen held a coiled rope. “If you mess this up for me, I’ll never forgive you,” Jen yelled at Sam.
Sam didn’t listen. “Get out of here!” she shouted, waving her arms.
The mare only looked quizzical.
With a snort of anger, the stallion came after her.
He leaped to the barren spot between the purple rock walls, then came down at a hoof-hammering speed to slash harsh bites on the mare’s rump.
Her squeal echoed along with Jen’s shout.
“No!” Jen yelled, as if the bite had hurt her, too.
Floating like a ghost horse, the stallion was already past the length of the mare’s body and passing in front of her. He was no more than six feet away from Jen. Standing between her and the palomino, he used his body to sweep the mare back from the water.
“Leave her alone!” Jen shouted, but this time she threw the canteen.
A thud on shoulder muscle. And then there was a clatter of hooves as the Phantom backed from Jen and Rose. For the space of a heartbeat, he looked at Sam.
The stallion’s dark brown eyes peered through his shaggy forelock, asking why.
He’d come to her for help, and she’d failed him. Looking at Jen as she raged toward the stallion, Sam wondered which one of them really deserved her friendship.
“Knock it off,” Sam yelled at Jen. She gave her a push and the violence of her movement sent the Phantom leaping back up the rocky slope to the top of the ravine.
He was gone by the time Jen recovered enough to gape at her.
“I didn’t hurt him!”
“I don’t care. You tried.” Sam leaned forward. Her nose was almost touching Jen’s and she wanted to push her down.
“He was trying to steal Rose.”
“No he wasn’t,” Sam insisted. “He was trying to stop her from drinking. There’s arsenic in the water. At least, they found it in the dead pinto. And she was up here. Remember?”
Sam heard her own uncertainty, but it made too much sense to ignore.
Jen held her hands over her eyes. When she uncovered them, Sam couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying.
“Sam, you don’t really believe that, do you? He wanted to add her to his harem.”
Jen was laughing.
With the Phantom safe, Sam wanted to unleash all her worry and anger on Jen.
Instead, she turned to walk away. But she didn’t make it very far.
“I tried to help you every way I could, and it wasn’t enough,” she shouted over her shoulder. “Good luck with your parents, because I’m out of here.”
“Oh, Sam, come back here,” Jen called.
But Sam could still hear the laughter in Jen’s voice. She’d had enough. She mounted Ace and rode out of the ghost town, leaving Jennifer Kenworthy on her own.
Ace didn’t waste any time in distracting Sam from her dark thoughts. The little bay mustang proved he’d had yesterday off. After all the excitement in Nugget, he was ready for a run.
For a while, Sam wondered if the Phantom was nearby. Her eyes scanned every foothill in the distance and every inch of playa unrolling before her.
Finally she decided she couldn’t blame the Phantom for Ace’s energy. She saw no sign of him. What she did see was three Canada geese walking on the playa.
When they were still a mile away, Ace started trotting sideways, ears cocked in their direction.
“It’s weird, but you can handle it,” Sam told her horse. “Maybe they were on their way to California and mistook this for the beach.”
As they drew closer, Sam realized the majestic birds were actually circling a tuft of pale winter grass.
“Maybe the thaw exposed something they like to eat, Acey,” Sam told her horse.
Ace clearly wasn’t interested in her Discovery Channel narration. When the geese honked in his direction, Ace started shaking.
Sam reined him away.
“Don’t be a baby,” Sam told him.
This afternoon was going from bad to worse, and if she got home after dark she couldn’t guess what Brynna and Dad would do to her. Yes, she could. She’d be cleaning Blackbeard’s Closet.
All at once, the geese began running for takeoff. After a few flat-footed, accelerating steps, they were airborne. Wind rushed through their wings. They flapped. They flew. They rolled shining black eyes as they rose into the sky.
It was too much for Ace and he began to buck.
Sam lost her reins, made a grab for the horn, and missed. Ace twisted out from under her like a sidewinder.
She hit the playa with a thump that knocked the breath out of her. She raised up to see him running, but she couldn’t get the oxygen to call him back. Ace was running for home, without her, and all Sam could do was sit there and try to breathe.
There was no sense waiting for him to come back.
Sam stood. The geese were gone, but she saw something on the horizon. A truck was coming her way.
Jed Kenworthy’s truck moved in a cloud of vapor and Sam realized it was getting cold already.
Both Jed and Lila sat inside the truck. Lila had the window down as they pulled alongside Sam and braked to a stop.
“Are you all right, Sam? What happened? Ryan told us you might need help up at Nugget. Where’s Jen?”
“I’m okay,” Sam managed to answer one of the questions.
From across the truck cab, Jed leaned forward. “We saw Ace hightailin’ it for home.” His brown face looked slightly amused.
“Some geese flew practically up his nose—” she broke off, shaking her head. She was still mad at Jen, but her parents deserved to know what was going on. “Jen’s still up in Nugget.”
Lila opened the door and scooted closer to her husband so Sam had room to sit. “Hop in,” she said. “We’re going up there.”
Sam didn’t protest. It was just too bad if Jen didn’t want her parents. She needed them.
They’d only driven for a minute when Jed grumbled, “What kinda idiot stunt is that girl pulling?”
Sam glared at him. She could feel herself do it, and though she didn’t do it on purpose, she didn’t try to stifle the mean look. Instead, she answered him.
“The kinda idiot stunt she hopes will make you happy.”
For a full minute, there was only the sound of the truck rolling across the playa. That kind of rudeness wasn’t acceptable at River Bend Ranch. If this got back to Dad, she might want to clean Blackbeard’s Closet, because it would be her new home.
“We found Golden Rose,” Sam said.
“Impossible,” snapped Jed.
“How?” Lila gasped.
“Jen’s been trying to catch her and bring her home so that you can start your breeding program again and you won’t leave the ranch.”
Lila took a long, shuddering breath. Her husband frowned through the windshield.
“Well, I’ll be,” Jed muttered, but he wasn’t talking about Jen and the palomino.
A sea of glittering water spread a
cross the playa. A lavender building floated upside down amid shimmering ripples. The mirage was back.
While Jen’s parents marveled, Sam wondered if Jen’s plan was just as unreal as the mirage. At first it had seemed magical that Golden Rose had appeared just in time to rescue the Kenworthys. But nothing had changed.
Nothing except Jen had yelled at her and she’d pushed Jen. Hard. They’d done a pretty good job of fracturing the friendship they’d feared distance would end.
Still looking at the mirage, Jed gave a grunt. “Things aren’t always what they seem, I guess.”
He kept his left hand on the steering wheel and patted Lila’s knee with his right.
“Thought you and Jen would like to go someplace sparkly and new. Thought I was doin’ it for you. Turns out I was wrong on both counts.” Jed narrowed his eyes. “It’d probably just be all dust when we got there, anyway.”
A hush filled the truck cab as they passed Lost Canyon.
The mirage thinned to dancing colors, a dim reflection, and then a haze. It had vanished completely by the time they reached the last stretch of road before Nugget.
Sam blinked. She tried to bring something just ahead into focus. It wasn’t another mirage. At first she thought it was sagebrush. Or maybe a white-faced steer. It was too distant to know for sure.
“The road up to Nugget is a mess, as I recall,” Lila said. “I guess we’ll have to hike in.”
“I don’t think so,” Sam said, because she’d just figured out that the figure up ahead was Jen. She was riding Champ and leading Golden Rose.
Jed braked to a stop, threw the truck into park, and turned the ignition off.
He’d climbed out of the truck by the time Jen dismounted.
Sam reached for the door handle, but Lila touched her arm and shook her head.
“I think it would be best if we let them work this out in private.”
Lila’s face was filled with longing. She wanted to jump out of the truck and run to them, too, but she didn’t.
Jen looked about ten years old. Her father wasn’t much taller, but Jen acted as if he was. When she handed him the lead rope attached to the mare’s halter, Jen tilted her head back. Her hair had straggled free of both braids. As her father held the rope and stared at the mare, Jen chewed on her thumb-nail.
“This is what’s been making her act so strange, then,” Lila said to Sam.
“You mean crazy,” Sam said, and Lila laughed. “Really, she’s been staking everything on this.”
In front of them, as dusk closed in, Jen and her father stood talking.
For the first time in months, Sam realized Jed Kenworthy really did look like her own dad. Maybe it was because he looked happy.
“It might have been a good gamble,” Lila said. “If Jed has something of his own to work for, he might see an end to living under Linc Slocum’s thumb. It was always a compromise, but lately, he’s been seeing it as a life sentence.”
In the purple-gray twilight, between two golden horses, Jen and her father hugged.
Lila leaned across Sam and rolled down the window. “Want me to drive home and you two can bring the horses?” she called to her husband.
Jed raised his right hand in an OK sign. He kept the other arm around Jen. But then, as Lila maneuvered herself into the driver’s seat, Jen’s hands waved, trying to keep them from leaving.
She ran to the truck, reached inside, and grabbed Sam’s shoulder.
“Ow! Are you trying to pull me through the window?” Sam said, pretending to be cranky.
“I’m so sorry. I know I didn’t hurt the Phantom, but I have been acting”—Jen searched for a way to be honest, yet easy on herself—“eccentric.”
“Wrong,” Sam said. “I told your mom you were crazy and I’m sticking by that.”
“I was,” Jen admitted with a sigh. Then her face lit with its usual sarcasm. “Crazy as a dog in a meat market, to quote someone we all know and don’t admire. But it fits, I’m afraid.” Jen looked back over her shoulder at her father and the two palominos. “I only had one goal in mind, and I was a jerk ’til I achieved it. But Sam, it might actually work!”
“It might, but you owe me. Big time,” Sam scolded.
“We’ll think of something,” Jen promised.
“Oh no, I’ve already thought of something.”
“Anything,” Jen vowed, then waved as she turned back to her father.
“Get plenty of rest between now and the weekend,” Sam shouted after her, “’cause you’re going to need your energy.”
If punishment came crashing down on her, as it probably would, Sam knew who would help her clean Blackbeard’s Closet.
Chapter Eighteen
When Sam reached River Bend Ranch, she expected to see Ace, saddled and trailing his reins, near the ten-acre pasture. Although the little gelding had taken more than his share of kicks in there, he liked to be near the other horses.
He wasn’t there. Sam was saying thanks and good-bye to Jen’s mom as she surveyed the ranch yard.
There was Jake’s truck, and Jake standing impatiently, with arms folded tight, on the front porch.
“Yeah, yeah,” Sam muttered to herself. “I’m late for algebra tutoring.”
She didn’t care. She had to find Ace.
“Have you seen Ace?” Sam called to Jake. “Did he come in riderless and you put him away or something?”
Jake shook his head, so Sam sprinted toward the barn.
“Dad?” her voice echoed. Her only answer was the fluttering of pigeons in the rafters.
“Hey, I’m not waitin’ all day,” Jake shouted, as she walked back in his direction.
“I need your help,” Sam said.
“That’s why I’m here,” he said, with a slight bow. “To help the numerically challenged.”
Sam brushed his teasing aside.
“This is serious. Ace dumped me out there about forty min—”
“Again?”
“Jake, I need you to take me out in the truck to look for him.” Sam didn’t try to hide the fear in her voice.
“He’ll come home.”
“He should’ve been here by now. I’m worried. Brynna found out that mare died from arsenic poisoning and we don’t know for sure where she picked it up.”
A flare of impatience showed on Jake’s face.
“Never mind,” Sam said, sighing. “I’ll see if Gram can take me.”
“Don’t do that,” Jake moaned.
“Do what?”
“Act like I’ve disappointed you. I hate it.” Jake jammed his hand into his pocket to withdraw his keys.
Sam gave him a quick hug. “I’ll have to remember that,” she chirped. Then, she leaned in the kitchen door and called to her grandmother. “Gram, we’ll be back in a little while. Jake’s taking me to find Ace. He”—Sam gave Jake a glance that said he’d better not contradict her—“wandered off.”
Sam had stepped off the porch and headed for Jake’s truck when Gram came to the door, wiping her hands on her apron.
“Not so fast, Samantha. It’s algebra time.”
“I’ve got to go, really.”
“Sorry. I have my instructions,” Gram said, shrugging. “Get back in here. And bring him with you.”
“Do you know how much I want to go?” Sam knew she was going to be sorry if she said this, but she couldn’t leave Ace out alone. It was nearly dark. “Tell Dad and Brynna I’ll clean—” Sam swallowed. She really didn’t want to say it. “Blackbeard’s Closet this weekend.”
“You’ve got a deal, dear,” Gram said. And then she closed the door.
Using Jake’s binoculars, it didn’t take Sam long to spot Ace. Up on a side hill, pawing at the snow in the shade of a peak of the Calico Mountains, he looked quite content.
“I’ll drive up as far as I can,” Jake said, “but then you’re going to walk for it.”
Jake swerved off the road and drove the truck cross-country, over weeds and gulches and ruts studded with rock
.
“Fine,” Sam said.
“Careful of my hat,” Jake cautioned. His hand hovered over his black Stetson that held the space between them on the old truck’s bench seat.
“Oh, yeah. Wouldn’t want to bump the hat,” Sam grumbled. “I was just trying to keep from banging my head against the door.”
In fact, she was glad Jake wanted her to hike after Ace alone. The gelding was right by the entrance to the tunnel to the Phantom’s valley.
This couldn’t have worked out better if she’d actually planned it, Sam thought. She and Strawberry had come in from the opposite end near Arroyo Azul. From here, the travel through darkness was much shorter.
If only Jake didn’t watch her every move, she could dart inside and see if the snow had melted during the warm spell.
Please. Her head snapped back as Jake scraped the edge of a boulder. Please. The truck slewed down a channel in the dirt, probably cut by a flash flood. Please don’t let him watch me, she begged silently.
Suddenly, Jake pulled on the emergency brake. He reached under the front seat, withdrew a big silver flashlight, and placed it in her lap.
“You’re hikin’ from here, Brat,” he said.
Then he placed his Stetson on his head, leaned back, and pulled it down over his eyes.
Sam opened the truck door and climbed out. But she knew better than to seem glad that she was going alone.
“Hope I don’t break my ankle,” Sam said, slamming the truck door. “Hope no cougar eats me.”
“Can you suffer more quietly?” Jake grumbled. “I’m tryin’ to catch a nap.”
Stars had pricked through the black sky overhead, but it was still light enough that Sam could see Ace’s outline.
He raised his head and nickered in her direction, probably wondering why she didn’t call him to her.
“No,” Sam hissed. She glanced back over her shoulder at the truck. “Stay there.”
Ace did as he was told, even moving a few steps higher on the hill.
Sam climbed steadily, fighting the uneven footing. She pulled the neck of her sweater up to cover her mouth and nose. The air felt icy as she breathed it.
She stopped for a minute, hands on hips, and stared skyward. It had been a long day, but she had to see if the Phantom’s herd was safe. She really hoped Jake had fallen asleep.