“You hit your head when you fell,” said Angelica. It wasn’t a question.
“I must have. I don’t remember much after that. Once I thought I heard a girl’s voice come from above, though. Was that you?”
“No. You must’ve heard Cally. She’s upstairs. She’s Mr. Thomas’s granddaughter.”
“I tried to yell when I heard her, but the pain knocked me out again. The next thing I knew, I was looking up at you, Angelica. If you hadn’t come…”
“I will always come when you need me,” said Angelica. “Though I am sorry that it took so long to find you. But now, we should go. Mr. Thomas could be back any minute.”
When Joanna raised the candle to light David’s way to the ladder, the cellar was further illuminated. The dark space was freaky, like something out of a horror film. Shelves of filthy jars and cans lined the walls, boxes were piled everywhere, and some large, sheet covered lumps sat off to one side – or at least Joanna thought they were covered with sheets. They were so dusty she couldn’t be sure.
“I’ll be happy to get out of here.” David quickly climbed the ladder. He must be feeling a lot better.
“I can take the candle and will follow you up the ladder,” said Angelica to Joanna.
Joanna handed the tiny flame to Angelica. They hadn’t needed the candle at all really, so why had Angelica sent her up to get it? She started to climb. To keep her occupied while she helped David? To stop Joanna from worrying?
In the kitchen, David introduced himself to Cally, then asked her where the bathroom was. Cally blushed as she gave him directions, and David hurried down the hallway.
“So we have more information, Cally,” said Angelica, placing the extinguished candle on the counter. “The name your grandfather called David.”
“Graham. I remember now too. That was the name I heard Mr. Thomas yell,” said Joanna.
“I’ve heard Grandpa talk about a Graham before,” Cally said. “But I don’t know who he is.”
“He would be a man from your grandfather’s past, I think,” Angelica said. “Someone who possibly looks a bit like David.”
“My mom told me a story once. Maybe that will give us some clues. Years ago, Grandpa raised racehorses, and he had a long run of bad luck where none of his horses won anything. He tried everything, but even his best horse, Dancer, lost every race right at the worst time. Grandpa went broke and all his horses were sold at auction.”
“I heard the same story,” Joanna confirmed.
“But there’s more you probably don’t know. Mom said that later, Grandpa became certain that Dancer’s groom was really working secretly for another farm. No one believed him because there wasn’t any proof, but I guess Grandpa suspected because Dancer never lost a race after that. He became really famous actually, and made his new owner super rich.”
“That’s not fair,” Joanna interjected.
“Are you saying that your grandfather believes the man who bought Dancer paid the groom – I suppose his name was Graham – to sabotage Dancer’s races?”
“Yeah, so he could buy Dancer. Grandpa wouldn’t have sold him if he had any choice. But as I said, there’s no proof.”
“But I think he’s right,” said a masculine voice.
Angelica, Joanna, and Cally turned to see David standing in the doorway, his hair under control and the dirt and dried blood gone from his face.
“And yes, he thinks Graham is the groom that drugged his horses so they wouldn’t win any races,” David added. “The old guy accused me of a lot of things as he dragged me to the house, like that I was bragging to others about what I did. He said that Williams, the guy who bought Dancer, paid me off to get rid of me, so I wouldn’t accidentally tell the wrong person that we’d contrived to steal his horses, but now that he’d finally found me he’d make me confess to the police what Williams and I really did.”
“Williams! You mean Tango’s owner? That Mr. Williams?” asked Joanna.
“And Dancer was Tango’s sire,” Angelica said. “Finally, I understand.” She turned to Cally and took both her hands. “Your grandfather was a victim of a crime. He lost his horses because of Mr. Williams’ and Graham’s plot to make him go bankrupt. And now that he thinks it is the past, he is acting as he wished he had back then.”
“Poor Grandpa. We have to find him.”
“Maybe he’s gone to get another of Mr. Williams’ horses,” Joanna suggested.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” said David. “He really hates that guy.”
“After last night, Mr. Williams will be prepared for a thief.” Cally’s voice was panicky. “He’ll catch Grandpa, and who knows what he’ll do to him.”
“I just hope we are in time,” said Angelica. She released Cally’s hands and strode toward the door. Immediately, David, Joanna, and Cally fell in behind her.
He couldn’t find Thunder anywhere. He’d looked in stall after stall and saw stunning mares and foals, and lovely, athletic, mature ponies – but no Thunder.
When he finished in the barn, he moved on to search the pastures. First, he found a big palomino and a small black pony. Both seemed nervous about him and kept their distance. However, they needn’t have bothered avoiding him. He wasn’t looking for them. He was only here for his daughter’s pony. He wasn’t a horse thief.
Where could they have hidden him? Had they somehow known he would be looking for Thunder? Maybe they felt guilty for stealing a child’s pony and guessed his true owner would try to reclaim him.
Suddenly, he remembered the young ponies the girl had gone to see the last time he’d been here. They were in a distant field, and the field was very large, if he remembered correctly. The girl might’ve turned Thunder out with them.
He groaned aloud. If Kathy’s pony were there, it would take a great deal of energy to find and capture him, energy that he simply didn’t have any more.
But how could he even think such a selfish thing? This was his own fault, leaving Thunder until last. He had no choice but to search the pasture. He’d already been enough of a disappointment to his daughter. It was time to redeem himself in her eyes.
The night was cool for spring. They clattered down the porch steps, then paused when Angelica strode toward the shed.
“That’s a good idea,” said Joanna, suddenly understanding. She hurried to catch up to Angelica. “It’s miles to Mr. Williams’ farm and it’ll take forever to walk. I’ll go get Silver Sky. You guys can help me take down the fence rails so we can get him through.”
Angelica stopped abruptly. “No,” she said. “We must leave him where he is.” When Joanna opened her mouth to speak, Angelica held up an elegant hand. “I do not know why, but I feel it is the right thing to do. You must trust me.”
“But then who do I ride? There’re only three horses.”
“And I don’t know how to ride,” Cally said doubtfully. “Plus, Grandpa doesn’t have any saddles.”
“Do not worry. All will be well,” Angelica said.
“Yeah, let Angelica do her magic,” David added.
The horses looked at them expectantly when the group entered their tiny shed. Within moments they were untied and led outside. Breeze, Bonnie, and Tango all looked overjoyed to be out and pranced along on light hooves.
“David and I will ride together,” Angelica explained to Joanna. “That way if I have to go suddenly, there is still one person per horse. Cally can ride Breeze. He has been longing to take her for a ride.”
“I’ll ride Bonnie then,” Joanna said quickly. The last thing she wanted to do was get on the spirited racehorse’s back.
“Here, I’ll give you a boost,” David offered. He smiled at Joanna as he locked his fingers together, forming a stirrup with his hands.
Joanna’s stomach did a strange flip-flop. “Sure,” she stammered. “Sorry if my shoes are dirty.” She put her foot in his hand and he hoisted her onto the mare’s back. The horse felt so tall after Raven, and even Silver Sky. The sport pony was only 14.2 hand
s, while Bonnie must be close to 16 hands high.
Angelica helped Cally mount Breeze. “He will follow the other horses. Just hold onto his mane until you are familiar with his movement.”
“Okay.” Cally clutched the red mane at Breeze’s withers.
Angelica helped David mount the big bay, then sprung up behind him. Tango pranced down the driveway and eagerly turned onto the road. He knew he was going home. David guided him to the soft shoulder of the road and Bonnie and Breeze followed single file behind them.
“Are you ready to go faster, Cally?” Angelica asked as she looked back. Her eyes caught the moonlight and flashed gold.
“Yes,” Cally said timidly. Tango started to trot, his stride long and elastic, and Bonnie followed, breaking into… what was this odd swaying gait? Certainly not a trot, though it was similar.
“She’s pacing!” Joanna said, suddenly understanding. “Cool! I’ve never ridden a pacer before.” A sudden thought lurched into her mind. If Bonnie was a pacer, she’d probably been a harness racer before she’d been a broodmare. How strange that she was also trained to ride. “We’re lucky someone trained her to saddle,” she added.
Angelica looked back and smiled.
“This is fun! I never knew riding could be so fun!” All tension was gone from Cally’s voice.
Joanna looked back to see Cally firmly perched on Breeze’s back as he loped along with a smooth rocking horse canter. The girl was completely relaxed and obviously enjoying herself immensely. “You’re a natural rider,” Joanna said.
“Thanks. It’s easy with him. I’m glad I didn’t get Bonnie. She looks hard to ride.”
“She’s pretty cool too, actually.”
“Oh no, my car’s gone,” David said, and pulled back on Tango’s lead rope. The horse stopped short. “I’m sure this is the spot I went in the ditch.”
“I am sorry, David. I meant to tell you. Your car is at Mr. Thomas’s house. He must have towed it there last night.”
“Oh wow.” David sounded almost sick. “No one ever would’ve known I was in trouble. If you hadn’t heard me, Angelica, no would’ve found me in that cellar, ever.”
“He didn’t hurt you on purpose. It must have been an accident,” Cally said defensively.
David was silent.
“And it’s my fault too,” Cally added. “If I hadn’t spent almost all day in the shed, I might’ve heard you or something.” When David still didn’t respond, she continued. “But I’m sorry he did that to you, really. If I could’ve stopped him, I would’ve.”
“David?” asked Angelica, when he still didn’t speak.
“Let’s get going,” he said, brusquely.
Angelica sighed. “Cally, are you ready to go faster still?”
“Sure.” She sounded like she was going to cry. Joanna didn’t blame her. Cally was just trying to stick up for her crazy grandpa. Surely David could see that.
Tango broke into a fast canter. Bonnie’s body swayed from side to side, faster and faster, as her pace increased. Joanna didn’t dare look back to make sure Cally was still aboard – it took all her skill to stay on the bareback mare while facing forward. However, Breeze’s hoof beats sounded steady and rhythmic behind her. At least Cally had a smooth horse for her first ride.
She was just about to tell Angelica to take a right at the next road when Tango turned by himself. Of course, he’d know the way to his own home. And they were almost there now. It had been a very quick ride considering they weren’t flat out galloping. Bizarrely fast, in fact.
“The lights up there, about half a mile away, that’s the Williams’ farm,” she called to Angelica. Immediately, Tango slowed to a trot. Joanna was relieved when Bonnie slowed too. Her muscles weren’t used to this kind of movement in a horse, and riding bareback made her legs ache even more. At least with Bonnie pacing slowly she didn’t have to grip as hard with her thighs.
Tango slowed to a walk, and finally stopped about fifty yards from the gate. Angelica and David slid from the big stallion’s back.
Joanna was happy to feel the ground beneath her feet. “Thank you, Bonnie,” she whispered to the mare, and smiled when the black nickered to her and nuzzled her arm. “You’re wonderful.”
She glanced at Cally. The girl was standing beside Breeze, her arms around his neck. Moonlit tears glistened on her face as she hugged the big gelding.
“Cally? Are you okay?” Joanna quietly asked.
The girl nodded, then turned her face away, embarrassed.
Joanna walked toward Cally and Breeze, purposefully keeping her body between the girl and the two teenagers.
“I’m okay,” Cally whispered. “I just wish I could make him understand Grandpa isn’t a bad person.” She rubbed tears from her cheeks.
“I know,” Joanna whispered back.
“So what’s our plan? Just go in and find him?” David asked.
“Yes, and bring him out as quickly and quietly as we can,” Angelica said. “Are you ready? Cally? Joanna?”
“I’m ready,” Joanna said.
“Me too,” said Cally. “Let’s go.”
Thank heavens, the ponies were a lot easier to find than he thought they’d be. He could see them as soon as he reached the gate to their paddock. One of them – it must be Thunder – was glowing white in the moonlight.
The man slumped against the gate. He’d go down there in a minute, as soon as he caught his breath. He watched them with fatigue-clouded eyes, four dark dots and one white, grazing beside some moonlit willows. They were so far away, but at least he’d be able to ride back.
He bent to climb through the fence, straightened on the other side, and started to walk. The dots bobbed closer, slowly taking on pony shape – and then they saw him.
A snort rolled toward him. No! They couldn’t run away!
“Thunder,” he called. “Come here. Oats, boy.” He’d deal with the pony’s disappointment later.
The ponies stood, stock still, for a long moment, then one of them whinnied.
A distant answering whinny came from behind him. The man spun around. Another pony was off in the woods somewhere. Strange!
He heard the ponies behind him break into a trot and turned back. They were moving swiftly toward him now, all five of them, with the white one in the middle of the herd.
Disappointment descended over him like fog when the ponies reached him. None of these were Kathy’s Thunder. His hand went to stroke the nearest pony’s face. They were all too young, mere babies, while Thunder was a mature gelding in his teens.
But the whinny he heard from the woods. Could that be the pony he sought? He turned and struggled back toward the gate. How would he find Thunder among the trees?
The answer came immediately. These young ponies that followed so closely on his heels, they would know where to go. Their senses were much more acute than his. They would be able to see, hear, and smell things he couldn’t. They’d find the pony in the woods for him.
He smiled with a sudden realization. If he wasn’t mistaken, the woods bordered his own land. Thunder himself had gotten as close to Kathy as he could. Life was miraculous sometimes. Wonderful and inexplicable. He would try hard to remember that Thunder had done this, so he could tell Kathy.
They cut across the empty fields toward the lights, and as they drew nearer, a feeling of dread grew in Joanna’s heart. Mr. Williams’ stable yard was very bright. Lights as dazzling as streetlights illuminated the ground around the buildings, and while there were plenty of shadows between the three massive barns, they would have to cross the lighted areas in order to get to them.
What if Mr. Williams had posted a guard? She knew that’s what her dad would do if their ponies were at risk, and Mr. Williams had a lot more money to hire guards than her dad did.
At least they hadn’t finished putting up the lights. She could see more poles lying on the ground in the stable yard. A small backhoe was parked against a fence with its digging bucket resting on the ground in front of
it. By tomorrow night, a lot more of the yard would be illuminated, including between the barns. That was one thing to be grateful for anyway, that they’d come tonight instead. And at least the shadows were very dark – a welcome result of the bright lights. Once they’d passed through the illuminated sections they should be able to search in safety for smaller entrances to the barns.
Then, once they were inside, they had to find Mr. Thomas – which brought up another problem. How were they going to convince him to come quietly away with them, especially after he’d already attacked David and tried to capture Angelica? The task seemed impossible, even though now they had Cally on their side.
Joanna already knew what Angelica would say, that they had to try. Cally, of course, would agree, and Joanna did too. Her problem was that she couldn’t see how they were going to do it.
David was the only one who might not want to save Mr. Thomas. He still seemed moody, hardly saying a word to Cally as they crept across the fields. Of course, none of them were talking much, and Joanna was glad he’d chosen to say nothing to Cally rather than something mean. The silence had been hard enough on her new friend.
Finally, they reached the fence surrounding the stable yard. They peered through the boards at the brightly illuminated barns. From the look of things, Mr. Williams’ employees had been working hard all day, putting in the new lighting. If only they hadn’t been so efficient. At least, with only one night passing since Tango was stolen, Mr. Williams probably hadn’t had time to install any other security measures, like alarms – unless alarms were already installed.
“What do we do now?” she whispered to her companions.
All eyes turned to Angelica.
“There is no way other than to run to the shadowy area between the two closest barns.”
Silver Dream Page 7
