One Brave Summer (Quartz Creek Ranch)
Page 13
The Bridles and Dr. Moore rumbled across the scree in the Ranger and parked near the tent where the excavation team stored their equipment. They got out, carrying a cooler jug full of lemonade and a stack of cups.
“Break time,” called Dr. Moore. She was a tall woman with aviator glasses and a long, dark ponytail. “Wow! You’re making amazing progress.” It was true. The kids, working closely with Dr. Moore’s graduate students, had nearly finished the excavation. “I’ve got great news,” Dr. Moore continued. “This baby is going to get the royal treatment at the museum. The installation will be right at the entrance, and we want all of you to be there for the big unveiling ceremony.”
The kids cheered.
“Do I get to wear a tuxedo?” asked Cameron.
Dr. Moore grinned. “If you want.”
Sundee made goo-goo eyes at him, and Leila and Paley fake-groaned.
“There’s more news,” said Ma Etty. “Turns out that there was an illegal fossil ring operating out of the rock and mineral shop in town.”
Leila bounced with excitement. “Was there a sting? Did a SWAT team shut them down?”
Dr. Moore laughed. “It wasn’t quite that exciting, but yes, they’ve been shut down.”
“Tell them your news, Will,” said Ma Etty, nudging Mr. Bridle.
“Oh, Etty,” he drawled, “that’s not news.”
“Tell us!” everyone chorused.
The old cowboy drained his lemonade. “I don’t like to gossip. I’m only telling you this so that if you run into Thomas around town, you can be nice to him.”
The kids exploded with outrage.
“No way!” Bryce said, thudding his fist onto his thigh so hard he spilled his lemonade.
Mr. Bridle calmed them down just like he would a feisty mustang. “Jim Goodstein came over to apologize for Thomas. He had no idea the kind of trouble his grandson was getting into.” Mr. Bridle paused. A wide smile spread across his face. “He asked my advice.”
“Don’t tell us you offered to take Thomas on at the ranch?” said Madison, looking horrified.
Ma Etty’s laugh burbled out of her. “Oh, Willard, you didn’t!”
He shook his head. “ ’Course not, Etty. Summer’s over.” There was a long pause. “Maybe next year.”
Ma Etty laughed again, and Paley shook her head. She wouldn’t want to be stuck with Thomas for a whole summer, but then again, she’d felt that way about Bryce at first too, and now she couldn’t imagine not seeing him every day. She watched him laughing with Leila near the lemonade cooler. His short, blond hair stuck up, making him look like a crazed porcupine, and his knuckles were scraped—not from fighting, but from moving heavy slabs of rock away from the dig zone.
She was going to miss him.
She was going to miss them all.
It wouldn’t be easy back home. Her parents were planning to move her tricked-out computer into the family room, and there would be screen time restrictions. The new house rules included exercise every day and no skipping family mealtime.
Middle school was still middle school.
She had to decide if she would give the gaming club another try.
But there were good things too. Her mom had decided they should all learn to ski when winter rolled around, and Paley and Leila were thinking about joining the junior roller derby league in Denver. Best of all, the Bridles said she could come back any time she wanted to visit Prince.
Paley gazed over the excavation site to the lakeshore, where Prince and the other horses were nibbling wildflowers. As she watched him, it was hard to believe she’d been so obsessed with Dragonfyre. It was a cool game and all, but a pretend dragon was just that—pretend. What she’d learned from Prince was that she had to bring her best self to every situation.
And her best self meant her real self.
Not a cave troll.
Not the Blue Elf.
Just Paley.
About the Authors
Kiersi Burkhart grew up riding horses on the Colorado Front Range. At sixteen, she attended Lewis & Clark College in Portland and spent her young adult years in beautiful Oregon—until she discovered her sense of adventure was calling her elsewhere. Now she travels around with her best friend, a mutt named Baby, writing fiction for children of all ages.
Amber J. Keyser is happiest when she is in the wilderness with her family. Lucky for her, the rivers and forests of Central Oregon let her paddle, hike, ski, and ride horses right outside her front door. When she isn’t adventuring, Amber writes fiction and nonfiction for young readers and goes running with her dog, Gilda.
Acknowledgments
Huge thanks to Anna and the amazing team at Darby Creek; our rock star agent, Fiona Kenshole; horse expert, Heidi Siegel; the geology queen, Elaine Young; and the ever-brilliant Viva Scrivas. We are so lucky to have your help on the ranch!
A gelding named Red was the inspiration for Prince. Amber rode him on a pack trip in the Bob Marshall Wilderness of Montana when she was eleven years old. He was a big horse for a little girl, and he never ever let her down.
One Brave Summer
Cover
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
Back Cover