by Shari Barr
After warming up for a few minutes, McKenzie slowed the horse to a walk, but Sahara wasn’t ready to rest. She wanted to run.
Emma signaled McKenzie to begin, so she dug her heels into Sahara’s side. The horse leaped forward as they flew toward the first barrel. McKenzie pulled on the reins, guiding Sahara in a tight circle around it.
Then she raced toward the second barrel. After circling the third barrel, McKenzie squeezed Sahara’s side with her calves, urging her to go faster. As they crossed the finish line, Emma clicked the stopwatch.
“Great run, McKenzie,” Emma called out. “You beat your last time by half a second.”
McKenzie rode over to the fence where Emma and Bailey waited. Her face flushed with pride. She knew she had to work hard if she wanted to win at the rodeo. “Do you think I stand a chance of winning?” McKenzie asked.
“Sure,” Emma said as she patted Sahara’s back. “But you have a lot of tough competition. Last year’s winner will be racing against you. If you push yourself, you can easily make the top three. But remember, McKenzie, doing your best is what matters the most. God doesn’t expect any more than that, and neither does anyone else.”
McKenzie knew that, but it was hard to believe sometimes. She knew God wanted her to do her best, but by winning she would know she had done that. If she didn’t even place in the top three, she would always feel as if she hadn’t tried hard enough.
This would be her third year to compete in barrel racing at the rodeo, and she had finished in the bottom half each time. This year she was determined to get at least second or third place.
“Let’s try it a few more times,” Emma said.
Again, McKenzie and Sahara flew through the course. The sun beat down on them, and McKenzie felt the sweat trickling down her back. She tried to make as tight of turns as she could around the barrels. Every split second counted in barrel racing. When Emma shouted that it was quitting time, both horse and rider were relieved.
“You had some great runs, McKenzie,” Emma said as she approached Sahara.
Bailey had said nothing while McKenzie practiced. When McKenzie glanced at her, she turned away. Was Bailey upset about something? She seemed almost sad. McKenzie wondered if she was homesick.
“I need to call Sheriff Danby. Hopefully he will have some news about Diamond Girl,” Emma said as she glanced at her watch. “You can start your investigation if you want, but why don’t you get some cold drinks while the horses rest?”
McKenzie gave Sahara a quick rinse to cool her off, and then the girls grabbed two bottles of water from the supply room. Fifteen minutes later, they rode into the pasture behind Sunshine Stables.
“You really did good on Applejack this morning, Bailey.” McKenzie adjusted her riding helmet.
“Not really,” Bailey said with a frown. “You’re lots better than I am. You’ll win for sure.”
So that’s what’s bothering her, McKenzie thought. She remembered how she had felt when she had first begun barrel racing. She had thought everyone was better than she was.
“You were great, Bailey,” McKenzie said cheerfully. “I’ve been racing for years. This is your first time. You’re better than I was when I started.”
Bailey shrugged her shoulders. “You’re just saying that. There’s still no way I’ll win anything.”
McKenzie pulled on the reins to stop her horse. “It doesn’t matter if you win. You’re probably the youngest person in our division. You’ve only been riding horses for a little while, and you’re already competing in a rodeo. How many kids get to do that? You were great. I mean it.”
Bailey smiled but didn’t answer as she reached over and scratched Applejack’s neck. The horse whinnied softly as he plodded beside McKenzie and Sahara.
“Let’s head to the gate that was hanging open.” McKenzie led the way across the pasture. “Emma and Derek said Diamond Girl didn’t go through it because there were no hoof prints, but maybe we can find a clue there, anyway.”
McKenzie knew the gate that had been left open was on the far side of Sunshine Stable’s land. Soon McKenzie turned to Bailey and pointed to a gate about a hundred yards away. “There’s the gate we’re looking for.”
As the girls approached the gate, McKenzie slid off Sahara’s back. She looped the reins around a fence post and patted the horse. Sahara leaned across the fence and began munching the tall, green grass on the other side. McKenzie turned to the gate, which opened onto a dirt road.
“Emma and Derek are right. The ground is soft and no tracks are here. The grass hasn’t been trampled and there aren’t any tire tracks, either. So, no one parked on the road and hauled her off in a trailer.” McKenzie searched the ground looking for clues.
“So, who opened the gate? And why?” Bailey dismounted Applejack and walked to McKenzie.
“I don’t know. It’s really weird. The gate has a solid latch, so someone had to open it on purpose.” McKenzie leaned against the fence, staring into space. “It’s almost like someone wanted us to think Diamond Girl escaped through the gate.”
“Hey, maybe that’s it.” Bailey’s dark eyes sparkled. “The thief could have parked on the road and walked over to open the gate. That’s why there are no hoof prints or tire tracks.”
“I think we’re on to something,” McKenzie said with excitement. “The thief could have stolen Diamond Girl from another part of the pasture. Then he could have opened this gate to throw everyone off.”
“So what do we do now?” Bailey asked with a frown.
“Well, the thief must have taken her through a gate. Right? So, we need to check the other gates to the pasture.” McKenzie pulled Sahara’s reins from the fence post and mounted her.
“How many gates are there?” Bailey asked as she pulled herself onto Applejack’s saddle.
McKenzie thought for a minute. “Three other ones, I think. And this pasture is big, so it’ll take awhile to get around to all of them.”
As they rode, McKenzie tried to think of people who might want to steal Diamond Girl, but she couldn’t imagine anyone doing something that awful. Almost everyone in the rodeo business had heard about the prize-winning horse, so anyone might have done it. The horse would bring a large sum of money if the thief sold her. Surely the thief wasn’t someone she knew.
McKenzie couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing Diamond Girl again, so she knew how Emma must feel. Her instructor would be devastated if they didn’t find Diamond Girl.
McKenzie led the way across the valley behind Sunshine Stables. As they approached the next gate, she quickly checked the ground beyond it.
“No trailer has backed up here, that’s for sure,” McKenzie said with a sigh. “She must have been stolen through one of the last two gates. Let’s check them out.”
But the girls didn’t find any evidence at either of the other gates. McKenzie was not only disappointed, she was also confused. How could Diamond Girl have been stolen? No tracks of any kind disturbed the ground beyond the gates.
“I don’t get it,” Bailey remarked. “She couldn’t have disappeared into thin air.”
McKenzie sat in the saddle. “The only other opening into the pasture is next to the stable,” she told Bailey. “Surely Diamond Girl didn’t leave that way. Surely a thief couldn’t just walk out the front gate with her without anyone seeing them.”
“This just doesn’t make sense!” Bailey said.
McKenzie wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. “These horses need a drink. Let’s head to the stream, and then we’ll head back. I’m hot.”
The girls rode slower now that the late afternoon sun was beating down on them. At the top of the rise, McKenzie stopped and gazed at the stream below them. After leading the horses to the creek bank, the girls dismounted to let them drink. McKenzie pulled off her boots and socks. She rolled up her jeans and waded into the stream, letting the cool water bubble around her ankles as it tumbled over rocks from high in the mountains.
; “Come on in,” McKenzie called to Bailey. “The water’s great.”
As the horses drank, the girls splashed in the foaming water. Within minutes they were laughing and playfully shoving each other.
“We’d better head back,” McKenzie said through her laughter. “Emma will wonder what happened to us.”
Bailey walked up the bank with water streaming down her legs. Her black hair was plastered to her head. Water trickled down her face onto her red tank top. Little globs of mud stuck to her like an explosion in a chocolate bar factory.
“You look like a river rat,” McKenzie teased as she wiped her face with her T-shirt hem.
Bailey stuck her tongue out at her friend. “I can’t look as bad as you, can I?” she kidded McKenzie.
“All right. That does it. You’re getting dunked.” McKenzie laughed as she lunged toward the younger girl, grabbing her arm.
Bailey twisted out of her grasp and fell into the shallow creek. Even with Bailey on her knees, the water only reached the tops of her thighs. “Hey, look what I found,” she said as she reached into the water. “An old horseshoe.”
With water dripping from her elbows, she stood and handed it to McKenzie, who examined it.
“Bailey,” McKenzie said as she scrutinized the horseshoe. “You’re a genius! This isn’t any old horseshoe. It’s Diamond Girl’s!”
A Wild Ride!
“How do you know the horseshoe is Diamond Girl’s?” Bailey asked as the girls walked up the grassy bank.
“Emma had custom horseshoes made for her. See the little diamond shapes on the arch.” McKenzie traced her finger along the engravings. “But I guess it really doesn’t mean anything. It just means she came down here to drink, and all the horses do that.”
“I think we should consider this a clue,” Bailey said. “Detectives should take every piece of evidence very seriously. She had to lose the shoe yesterday before she disappeared or someone would have noticed, right? We just need to figure out where she went from here.”
“You’ve got a good point. Maybe she wandered out through a hole in the fence.” McKenzie surveyed the barbed wire fence stretched across the shallow part of the creek, looking for a broken wire. But every wire was secured tightly.
“What about tracks?” Bailey asked. “Wouldn’t it be easy to track a horse with one missing shoe?”
McKenzie looked up with a grin. “Great idea, Bailey.”
Both girls returned to the creek’s edge, looking for tracks in the dirt. “You mean, not so great,” Bailey grumbled after a few minutes. “All the hoof prints around here have been washed away from our splashing.” McKenzie continued to look, searching for tracks farther up the creek. All the tracks seemed to come from horses with all four shoes in place. She sighed hopelessly. “I feel like we’ve overlooked a clue, but I don’t know what else to do.”
“Detectives take pictures of the crime scene to go over later. Maybe you could do that,” Bailey suggested. “Your cell phone takes pictures, doesn’t it?”
“Brilliant!” McKenzie said as she pulled her phone from her jeans pocket. “I hope it didn’t get too wet.”
She looked at her phone. It seemed dry, so she quickly snapped pictures of the ground. She didn’t really know what she hoped to find, but maybe they would see a clue they had missed when they reviewed the pictures later.
Applejack and Sahara had waded into the stream to cool off and waited patiently. After leading their horses up the bank, the girls slipped into their boots and headed for home. Though the sun was still hot, the breeze felt almost cool against their wet clothes.
After arriving back at the stables, the girls removed the horses’ tack and led them to the corral and the watering trough.
“Let’s find Derek or Emma and show them the horseshoe,” McKenzie suggested.
They found Derek at the far end of the stables and showed him their find. They explained their theory to him.
“It’s Diamond Girl’s all right,” Derek said. “I’m sure she went to the creek yesterday to drink, but that part of the creek has a lot of large rocks to catch a horse’s shoe. I really don’t think it’s a clue to her disappearance. I’m sorry, girls.”
McKenzie’s face fell at Derek’s remark. She had convinced herself that the horseshoe was the first real lead they had found. Now she was beginning to think it didn’t mean a thing.
As Derek left with a wheelbarrow full of old hay and manure, the girls headed through the stable.
“I was hoping the horseshoe was a clue,” McKenzie said with a sigh.
“Me too,” Bailey said dismally. “But maybe we’ll find a real clue soon.”
McKenzie suddenly stopped and peered into the nearest stall. “Let me show you one of Emma’s special horses. Her name is Krissy, and you’ll like her. But first I need to get Derek to help.”
The girls stood to the side as the stable hands hauled wheelbarrows of hay to the stalls. Nightly feeding and grooming had already begun. McKenzie would quickly show Krissy to Bailey, and then they would need to help with chores.
McKenzie hurried to the supply room and grabbed a handful of baby carrots from the fridge. She asked Derek to help with Krissy. Then she returned to Bailey’s side.
McKenzie opened the stall door and stepped inside. An older black horse covered with white splotches lifted its head at the sound of the girls’ voices.
Bailey gasped and flung her hands over her mouth while her dark eyes gleamed. After a few seconds she finally spoke. “An Appaloosa! This is my favorite breed of horse. I’ve always wanted one!”
McKenzie laughed as she stepped to Krissy’s side and patted her back. “See the big white spots that look like snowflakes. They look like Christmas snow, so Emma named her Krissy, like Kris Kringle.”
Bailey ran her hands through Krissy’s mane. The horse tipped her head toward Bailey and whinnied. Krissy obviously loved the attention. The horse stood still as Bailey stroked her spotted back.
Soon Derek arrived carrying a stack of bright cardboard signs.
“Are you ready for the good part?” McKenzie asked as she untied Krissy’s lead rope. “This horse is very talented.”
McKenzie turned the horse around and held on to the rope. “We’re ready if you are,” she said to Derek.
He held up three cards and looked at the horse. “Okay, Krissy. How many signs am I holding? Count for me,” Derek said.
Bailey looked skeptically at McKenzie. Then she turned her gaze back to Krissy. The horse lifted her head and nodded one, two, three times. Bailey’s mouth fell open as she turned back to McKenzie.
“Did that horse just count?” Bailey asked with surprise.
“Yep, she sure did,” McKenzie assured her as she offered Krissy a carrot.
“Do you want to try it?” Derek asked Bailey.
“Sure,” Bailey said eagerly.
Derek handed Bailey the stack of cards, then grabbed a pitchfork and stepped into the next stall.
Bailey held up four cards. “Okay, Krissy. How many cards am I holding?”
The horse simply looked at Bailey, refusing to nod. Again, Bailey asked Krissy to count.
This time the words “one, two, three, four” came out of Krissy’s mouth. Bailey jumped back, dropping the signs. For a minute she stood speechless, staring at the horse.
Finally McKenzie could control herself no longer. She burst out laughing and cried, “Derek, that’s a mean trick to play on your new friend.”
Derek’s head popped over the top of the stall, and his laughter filled the stable. “Haven’t you ever seen a talking horse before?” he said, though his mouth didn’t move.
Bailey stared at him for a minute, then grabbed a handful of straw and threw it at him, laughing. “Are you a ventriloquist?”
He dodged the straw and turned back to Bailey. Again, his mouth didn’t move as he spoke. “Only when I need to be.”
“Wow, you are really good,” Bailey exclaimed. “How do you do it? And how did you get the ho
rse to count by nodding her head?”
Derek continued to scoop hay and manure. “I’ve been practicing ever since I was a kid. I performed in a few talent shows when I was younger. As for teaching Krissy to count, that’s my little secret.” He turned to McKenzie and winked.
Though McKenzie had tried to get Derek to tell her the secret, he wouldn’t let her in on it. McKenzie turned to Krissy and secured her lead rope. After grabbing a brush from the ledge, she began stroking the horse’s back. “I wish you could talk, Krissy. Then maybe you could tell us what happened to Diamond Girl.”
No one answered for a few seconds. Derek leaned on his pitchfork and took off his cowboy hat. He pulled a bandana from his back jeans pocket and wiped the sweat from his face. “I know you girls are worried about that horse. But there’s really not much anybody can do.”
McKenzie grew worried at his words. Did he think no one would ever find Diamond Girl? Surely he didn’t really believe that.
Bailey seemed to read McKenzie’s mind. “Can’t the sheriff find her?” The younger girl pulled a tube of watermelon lip balm from her pocket and ran it across her lips.
“He’s called all the auction companies in the area, but no thief would try to sell a prize horse like Diamond Girl around here. She would be easily recognized. But some thieves know how to disguise a horse, so she could be sold anywhere. No one would ever find her.” Derek shook his head dismally.
McKenzie stared at Derek. Surely God wouldn’t let Diamond Girl just disappear off the face of the earth. They just had to find her, and she would keep trying until they did.
McKenzie wanted to tell Derek and Bailey not to give up hope, but as soon as she opened her mouth, a figure at the end of the stables caught her eye. She turned as a woman approached them.
McKenzie recognized Maggie Preston—the neighbor Emma had been on the phone with the night before. She owned Cedar Creek Ranch, which was next to Sunshine Stables. McKenzie wondered how long Maggie had been standing there. Had the woman been listening to their conversation?
