by Alexa Pearl
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that
this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed”
to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received
any payment for this “stripped book.”
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real
people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters,
places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any
resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.
An imprint of Bonnier Publishing USA
251 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010
Copyright © 2017 by Bonnier Publishing USA
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction
in whole or in part in any form.
LITTLE BEE BOOKS is a registered trademark of Bonnier Publishing USA,
and associated colophon is a trademark of Bonnier Publishing USA.
Manufactured in the United States of America LB 1216
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0390-7 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0389-1 (pbk)
First Edition 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Names: Pearl, Alexa, 1967- author. | Sordo, Paco, illustrator.
Title: Big secret / by Alexa Pearl ; illustrated by Paco Sordo.
Description: New York, New York : Little Bee Books, [2017] | Series: Tales of Sasha; #1 |
Summary: “In the Tales of Sasha series debut, Sasha discovers that she really isn’t like the
other horses in her valley when wings sprout from her back and she soars through the air!”—
Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016004446| ISBN 9781499803891 (pbk) | ISBN 9781499803907 (hc)
Subjects: | CYAC: Horses—Fiction. | Animals, Mythical—Fiction. | Identity—Fiction. | Secrets—
Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books. | JUVENILE FICTION /
Animals / Horses. | JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Mythical.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.P425 Bi 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016004446
littlebeebooks.com
bonnierpublishingusa.com
Contents
1. Go! Go! Go!
2. Head in the Clouds
3. The Big Sneeze
4. Up in the Air
5. Sparkle!
6. The Big Secret
7. The Story of Sasha
8. Up to the Top
9. Flying!
CHAPTER
1
Go! Go! Go!
“Sasha! Come back!”
Sasha’s ears perked up, but she did
not stop running. She was having too
much fun. She ran past her friends. She
ran past her two sisters. Faster and
faster. The wind flowed through her
glossy mane. The sun felt warm on her
back. The spring grass was bright green
beneath her hooves.
Up ahead, she spotted the stream. She
did not slow down. She ran toward it.
One . . . two . . . three! Sasha counted
to herself. Then she leaped into the air.
Her body felt so light it was like she
was floating in the clouds. This is the best
feeling EVER! she thought.
Sasha landed on the
other side of the stream.
A forest of tall trees
stood in front of her.
“Sasha! Come back!”
Her mom’s voice stopped her. Sasha
knew that tone. That tone meant her
mom was upset, and Sasha knew why.
The horses in their valley all had the
same rule: Never go beyond the big
trees.
Now she was standing in front of
the big trees. She had never run this far
before.
What is beyond the trees? she wondered.
No one in Verdant Valley knew. Not
Mom. Not Dad. Not her teacher. Not
her sisters.
I hate not knowing things, Sasha thought.
Someday I will go there. Someday I will find
out.
Sasha splashed back through the
stream. She trotted to her family.
Her mom frowned. “I warned you not
to run too far, Sasha,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” said Sasha.
Mom nuzzled her with her nose. Sasha
nuzzled back. Sasha’s mom never stayed
angry with her.
“Was someone chasing you?” asked
her sister Zara. Zara was the oldest
sister in their family. Poppy was in the
middle, and Sasha was the youngest.
Sasha laughed. “No. Why?”
“You were running so fast,” said Zara.
“Running makes me tired and sweaty,”
said Poppy.
Running makes me super happy, Sasha
thought.
She had once tried to tell her sisters
about how great she felt when she ran.
They did not understand. They liked
to spend their days eating grass and
talking. Sasha thought that was boring.
Zara and Poppy were so different
from Sasha. They looked different too.
Zara was jet-black with a chestnut
brown mane and tail. Poppy was chestnut
brown with a jet-black mane and tail.
Their dad called them the “flip-flop
sisters.” Everyone could see that they
belonged together.
And then there was Sasha. She was
pale gray—except for a small white
patch on her back. Her tail and mane
were gray too. Borrrring! thought Sasha.
Whenever she ran, Sasha pretended
that she was shiny silver. She pretended
that her mane glittered. She even
pretended that rainbow sparkles
exploded from her tail.
Sasha wished she looked as sparkly
as she felt. She wished she could be a
“flip-flop sister” too.
“I’m putting flowers in Zara’s mane,”
said Poppy.
“Do you want flowers in yours?”
asked Zara.
“Yes!” said Sasha. “We can all wear
pretty flowers.”
Poppy tucked a flower into Sasha’s
mane, but it fell out. Poppy put in another
flower, but that one fell out too.
“Sasha!” cried Poppy. “Stay still. The
flowers are falling.”
I stink at staying still, thought Sasha,
but she tried to be like her sisters. She
tried not to move. Then her hooves did
a little dance. Her body wanted to go,
go, go!
Wyatt trotted over. Wyatt was Sasha’s
better-than-best friend. He swatted her
with his tail.
“Tag! You’re it!” cried Wyatt.
Sasha was off! She chased after
Wyatt. All the flowers fell out, but Sasha
did not care.
Wyatt was fast, but Sasha was faster!
CHAPTER
2
Head in
the Clouds
“Got you!” Sasha tagged Wyatt.
“Let’s play a
gain,” said Wyatt. “This
time you won’t catch me.”
“Sure!” But Sasha knew she would
catch him. She always did.
A loud whinny echoed through the
valley. The whinny sounded again. Caleb,
their teacher, was calling them.
“It’s time for school,” said Wyatt.
Caleb waited in the shade of a pine
tree. All the young horses trotted over
to him. Zara and Poppy galloped up.
Sasha and Wyatt went too.
Caleb was the oldest horse in their
valley. There were flecks of gray in his
copper coat. He had taught Sasha’s
parents when they were young. Caleb
was very smart. He knew everything
about everything.
“Today, we will learn to walk in a
line.” Caleb spoke very slowly.
“But why?” asked Twinkle. Twinkle was
always asking questions.
“Horses walk in a line to go to the
pasture to eat,” said Caleb. Caleb
showed them how.
Sasha yawned. Caleb walked as slowly
as he talked.
All the horses watched Caleb—except
Sasha. She watched a butterfly flutter
up and down. She watched a bumblebee
buzz over a purple flower. She watched
a red-tailed hawk soar through the sky.
Her heart beat in time to the beating
of their wings.
She imagined the world from above.
Did the air taste sweeter? What would
their valley look like from high up in the
clouds?
If I could fly, thought Sasha, I would
spread my wings like the hawk and fly to
faraway places. . . .
“Sasha? Sasha?” Caleb’s voice broke
through her thoughts. “What is the
answer, Sasha?”
“Uh, well . . .” Sasha flattened her
ears to her head. Her face grew hot.
She didn’t know the answer. She hadn’t
heard the question.
Caleb sighed. “Sasha has her head in
the clouds again.”
“What’s that mean?” asked Twinkle.
“Her head is right here on her body.”
“That means Sasha was daydreaming,”
explained Caleb. “Sasha, eyes on me.
Okay?”
“Okay,” said Sasha. She tried to pay
attention. She really did, but her skin
itched—right by the white patch on her
back. That itch made her want to move,
run, and soar. She looked up at the sky.
She wished her head really were in the
clouds.
CHAPTER
3
The Big
Sneeze
“Everyone, find a partner,” Caleb told
the class.
Hooves pounded as they all scrambled
to pair up. Sasha hurried to Wyatt, but
Chester was already at his side.
“I’m sorry, Sasha,” said Wyatt. He and
Chester were partners.
Zara and Poppy stood together.
Sasha’s sisters were partners.
Sasha turned to Twinkle. “Partners?”
Sasha asked hopefully.
Twinkle shook her head.
“No?” Sasha gulped. “Why not?”
“You don’t listen. You get into trouble
a lot,” said Twinkle.
“No, I don’t—” started Sasha. Then
she stopped. She did get into trouble
a lot. She tried to tell Twinkle why.
“Sometimes, I feel like I’m standing at
the starting line of a race, waiting for
the whistle to blow.”
Twinkle wrinkled her nose. “What
race? There’s no race.”
“I know.” Sasha searched for the
right words to make Twinkle understand.
“I keep getting an itchy feeling that
something exciting is about to happen.
It makes me fidget. I can’t pay attention.
Then I get into trouble.”
“I need a good partner,” Twinkle told
her. “I want to get a good grade.”
“I’ll listen. I promise,” said Sasha.
“Please, can we be partners?”
“Okay.” Twinkle smiled, and her
brown eyes twinkled. That was how
she’d gotten her name.
“Partners need to walk nose to tail,”
Caleb told the class. “Choose who is in
the front and who is in the back.”
“I’ll be in front,” said Twinkle.
“I’ll be in back,” agreed Sasha.
“Both partners must stay in step with
each other,” said Caleb. “Walk together
around the pine tree, around the log,
and past the big, flat rock.”
“That isn’t hard,” Sasha told Twinkle.
They set off. Sasha kept a close watch
on Twinkle’s hooves. She stepped at the
same time that Twinkle stepped.
“Right, left, right,” said Twinkle. They
walked around the pine tree.
Swish! Twinkle’s tail brushed Sasha’s
face. The long hair tickled her nose. Ah-
ah-ah . . .
Oh no! Sasha felt a sneeze coming—a
big sneeze.
I’ll mess up if I sneeze, she thought. I
can’t do that to Twinkle.
Sasha tried to hold in her sneeze. She
pushed her tongue against her teeth. She
closed her mouth. Her eyes bulged. Her
nose twitched.
Could she do it?
CHAPTER
4
Up in
the Air
Sasha did it! The sneeze went away.
“Look at the cute turtles on the log!”
Twinkle called back to her.
Sasha couldn’t see the turtles. All she
could see was Twinkle’s backside, and
she didn’t want to see that! Sasha raised
her head high and saw the hawk again.
She watched him make lazy circles over
the big trees.
“Psst, Twinkle,” whispered Sasha.
“What do you think is beyond the big
trees?”
“More trees?” guessed Twinkle.
“I think there are huge, crunchy pink-
and-purple fruits. They taste sour and
sweet at the same time. I think there are
tall flowers. And the flowers have faces.
Funny faces,” said Sasha. She made a
funny face too.
“You’re silly, Sasha,” said Twinkle.
Sasha didn’t think so.
“I want to go there someday. Do you
want to come with me?” asked Sasha.
“Nope.” Twinkle kept walking.
“Why not?” asked Sasha.
“I’m happy here. My family is here. I
don’t want to go anywhere else,” said
Twinkle.
Sasha didn’t understand. Couldn’t
Twinkle feel that something amazing
waited beyond their valley? Something
way more amazing than learning to
walk in a line!
Sasha loved her family and her home,
but she knew they’d always be waiting
here. She dreamed of exploring.
“The flat rock is coming up,” said
Twinkle.
Sasha spotted the rock. The patch
on her back began to itch. She tried to
ig
nore it. “Right, left, right,” Sasha said.
The patch kept itching. It made her
tail flick back and forth. It made her
hooves go tap, tap, tap.
“Twinkle,” she said suddenly, “let’s
jump over the rock!”
“No way!” cried Twinkle. “We’ll get
in trouble.”
“Come on! It’ll be so much fun,” said
Sasha.
“You promised to be a good partner.”
Twinkle turned to look at Sasha. Her
eyes were not twinkling anymore. “Go
around the rock—not over.”
“Around,” agreed Sasha. She shook
her head to shake away the feeling, but
her body still wanted to soar over the
rock. One big leap. Up, up, up.
No, she scolded herself. Friends keep
promises. Sasha wanted to be a good
friend—and a good partner. She stayed
behind Twinkle. Then she couldn’t help it.
She stepped out of line.
“Sasha!” Twinkle exclaimed, as she
twisted to look at Caleb. “Get back in
line!”
Sasha’s legs kept moving. Her white
patch itched. The itching made her legs
go faster. She trotted past Twinkle. Then
she cantered by Caleb.
Caleb frowned. Wyatt laughed. The
other horses whispered.
“Stop!” called Twinkle.
Sasha knew she was in big trouble,
but she couldn’t make herself stop.
Her hooves left the ground. She leaped
high over the big, flat rock. A soft wind
blew through her mane. The wind grew
stronger. It swirled around her. It pulled
her up toward the clouds.
What’s happening? Sasha wondered as
she squeezed her eyes shut.