Ghost Horse

by George Edward Stanley

  Emily guided the ghost horse toward the first door.

  This time she kept her eyes open. It was incredible. One minute she was looking at a door. The next minute she was inside a room. She didn’t feel a thing when she went through the door.

  Unfortunately, the first room was a bathroom. It was so small that the ghost horse had to back his way out.

  They went through the second door. Emily saw a man and a woman. They were both snoring. Oh, no! she thought. Julie’s parents! She quickly guided the ghost horse out of that room.

  Finally, they went through the third door. There was a night-light on inside the room. Julie was asleep in her bed.

  The ghost horse knelt down, and Emily got off. She shook Julie’s shoulder.

  Julie groaned and opened her eyes. “Emily! What are you doing here? How did you get into my house?”

  “We came through your front door,” Emily said. “I forgot to tell you that my horse is a ghost horse.”

  “A ghost horse?” Julie cried. She sat up in bed.

  Emily nodded. “He’s like a regular horse except that he’s a ghost. But my parents really didn’t buy him. He just comes to see me every night.”

  Julie gasped.

  “What’s wrong?” Emily asked.

  “When I was little, my grandmother used to tell me stories about a ghost horse that walked around your house late at night,” Julie said. “I thought she was just making them up.”

  Emily shook her head. “No, Julie, she wasn’t. The ghost horse is real.”

  Julie reached out and patted the ghost horse’s nose. “He’s so beautiful,” she said.

  “You’re not mad because he’s a ghost horse?” Emily asked.

  “Oh, no!” Julie said. She got out of bed and shyly hugged the ghost horse’s neck.

  “I don’t care what kind of horse he is.”

  “But what am I going to tell the other kids at school?” Emily asked.

  “He’s still a horse, Emily,” Julie said. “You don’t have to tell them that he’s a ghost horse.”

  “That’s true,” Emily said.

  “And maybe one of these days you’ll get a real horse,” Julie added. “Then you won’t have to worry about it.”

  Emily was sure that would never happen, but she didn’t say so.

  “Julie, do you know who John and Mary Wikkens are?” she asked.

  “No,” Julie said. She patted the ghost horse’s nose again. “Why?”

  “They’re buried in the cemetery here. I think the ghost horse knows them,” Emily said. “He took me there last night.”

  “He did?” Julie asked.

  Emily nodded. “I think he’s trying to tell me something,” she said. “I hoped you could help me figure it out.”

  Julie thought for a minute. “Wait! There’s a Ms. Wikkens at our school!” she said. “She’s the new librarian.”

  “I wonder if those people in the cemetery were her parents?” Emily said.

  “We can ask her tomorrow,” Julie said.

  The ghost horse whinnied softly. He shifted from one foot to the other.

  “I think he wants to leave now,” Emily said. “I’ll see you at school in the morning.”

  “Okay,” Julie said. “Thank you for showing me your horse.”

  When Emily and the ghost horse got back to her room, she patted him softly on his side.

  “We’ll find out something tomorrow for sure,” she told him. “I promise.”

  7

  Moonlight’s Story

  “Hurry, Mom!” Emily cried. “I get to school early!”

  “I’m hurrying,” her mother said. She backed the car out of the driveway and started down the street.

  “Why the rush?” her mother asked. “You weren’t this excited about school before.”

  “I have to meet my new friend, Julie,” Emily explained. “And I don’t want to be late!”

  “Well, I can’t drive any faster,” her mother said.

  Finally, they reached the school.

  Emily jumped out of the car and ran to the front door. Julie was waiting for her.

  “We have five minutes to talk to Ms. Wikkens before the first bell rings,” Julie said.

  They hurried down the hallway and turned a corner. The door to the library was open. Emily followed Julie inside.

  “Hi, Ms. Wikkens,” Julie said.

  Ms. Wikkens looked up from her computer. She had the whitest hair Emily had ever seen. “Good morning, Julie,” she said.

  “This is Emily,” Julie told her. “She just moved here.”

  “Hello, Emily. Welcome to our school.” Ms. Wikkens gave Emily a big, friendly smile. It made her blue eyes sparkle.

  Emily knew right away that Ms. Wikkens was a grown-up who would listen to them. “Hello,” she said.

  “Can we talk to you?” Julie asked. “It’s very important.”

  “Okay,” Ms. Wikkens said. She pulled her chair over to a big table. “Let’s sit here.”

  Julie and Emily sat down at the table. “Who wants to go first?” Ms. Wikkens said.

  Julie nudged Emily. “Ask her,” she said.

  Emily gulped. She had hoped Julie would do all the talking. Now Ms. Wikkens was looking at her. Emily took a deep breath. “Are your parents buried in that cemetery outside of town?” she asked.

  Ms. Wikkens blinked in surprise. “Yes,” she said. “But how did you know that?”

  “Emily’s horse took her there the other night,” Julie said.

  “Emily’s horse? I don’t understand,” Ms. Wikkens said. “What are you talking about?”

  Julie looked over at Emily. “Can I tell her?”

  Emily nodded.

  “Emily has a ghost horse,” Julie explained. Ms. Wikkens smiled at them. “A ghost horse?”

  “Yes,” Julie said. “He comes to see her every night.”

  Ms. Wikkens shook her head. “That’s impossible, girls. Ghosts aren’t real.”

  “Well, this one is,” Julie said. “I’ve seen him, too.”

  “He showed me your parents’ graves, Ms. Wikkens. I think he knows them,” Emily said. “He’s white, and he glows at night. He’s really beautiful.”

  Now Ms. Wikkens’s eyes were big and wide. She wasn’t smiling that grown-up smile anymore. “Where do you live, Emily?” she asked.

  “I live at 1016 Brice Street,” Emily said.

  Ms. Wikkens gasped. “It just can’t be!” She had tears in her eyes. “That’s my horse! That’s Moonlight!”

  Ms. Wikkens was quiet for a minute. Then she began to explain. “It happened a long time ago when I was about your age. My family lived where Emily lives now. It was still a farm then. I begged and begged my parents to buy me a horse for my birthday. Finally, they did. I named him Moonlight, because he glowed in the moonlight.” Ms. Wikkens took a deep breath.

  “One night, there was a fire in the barn. Moonlight was trapped. My parents tried to save him, but they couldn’t. Moonlight died in the fire.” She looked down at the table.

  “Then everything went bad. A few months later, both my parents died in an accident. I went to live with an aunt. I only moved back to Westville a couple of months ago. I was gone for forty years.”

  Ms. Wikkens wiped the tears from her eyes. “Emily, Julie, my head says there are no ghosts,” she said, “but my heart wants it to be true. I would love to see Moonlight again.”

  Emily thought about it for a minute. The first bell rang. She had to decide fast.

  “Tell me where you live,” she said. “Moonlight and I will ride over to your house tonight.”

  8

  The Search Is Over

  Emily and Julie hurried out of the library. They got to their classroom before the second bell rang. Mrs. Benson was writing on the chalkboard.

  Emily walked slowly to her seat. She had a terrible thought. When she went over to Ms. Wikkens’s house tonight, Moonlight would probably want to stay there. He wouldn’t come to Emily’s room anymore. She
wouldn’t have a horse at all!

  Emily was happy for Ms. Wikkens, but she was sad for herself.

  Several times during the day, Mrs. Benson had to scold her for not paying attention.

  Finally, school was over. Emily was so happy to go home.

  Emily went straight to her room and lay down on her bed. She felt like crying, but she knew it wouldn’t do any good.

  She went to the kitchen. She ate a snack and did her homework.

  After dinner, her father took them all to get ice cream cones. Emily only ate half of hers.

  Emily went to bed right when they got back. She turned out her light, but she couldn’t go to sleep. She lay in bed thinking about Moonlight.

  Emily opened her eyes. She had fallen asleep after all. What if Moonlight had come and she had missed him?

  All of a sudden, she heard Moonlight’s whinny.

  “Moonlight!” she cried.

  Moonlight stuck his head through the wall of her room. He seemed excited about something. Emily was sure she knew what it was, too!

  “You’re wondering how I know your name, aren’t you?”

  Moonlight whinnied again.

  “We’re going to see a friend of yours,” Emily whispered into his ear.

  She climbed onto Moonlight’s back, and they rode through the wall of her room. When they reached the street, Emily headed toward Ms. Wikkens’s house.

  Ms. Wikkens had left the front porch light on. Emily guided Moonlight up the sidewalk. She could tell that Moonlight was getting even more excited.

  When they rode through the front door, they were in the living room. Ms. Wikkens was asleep in a chair. Moonlight whinnied softly.

  Ms. Wikkens opened her eyes. She stood up. “Moonlight!” she cried. “I thought I’d never see you again!”

  9

  Moonlight’s Last Ride

  “You ride in front,” Emily said. “After all, Moonlight is your horse.”

  Ms. Wikkens got on Moonlight. Emily sat behind her and put her arms around Ms. Wikkens’s waist.

  Ms. Wikkens made a clicking sound with her tongue. “Let’s go, Moonlight!” she cried.

  Moonlight trotted through the front door of Ms. Wikkens’s house and out into the street.

  “Where are we going?” Emily asked.

  “To Moonlight’s favorite spot,” Ms. Wikkens said. She gently prodded Moonlight’s flank.

  Moonlight started galloping down the street.

  “Faster, Moonlight, faster!” Ms. Wikkens cried.

  Before long, they were out of town and racing through the countryside.

  Emily saw a wooden fence ahead of them.

  “Watch this!” Ms. Wikkens said.

  When Moonlight reached the fence, he didn’t go through it. He jumped over it. For a few seconds, they were flying through the air. Then Moonlight landed in stride, and they headed toward a line of trees.

  “There’s the river, Emily!” Ms. Wikkens pointed through the trees.

  When they reached its bank, Moonlight stopped.

  “Why did we come here?” Emily asked.

  “Moonlight loved this place when he was alive,” Ms. Wikkens said. “He liked to drink from the river.”

  Emily and Ms. Wikkens sat down under a tree.

  “Ms. Wikkens, why did Moonlight come to my house?” Emily asked.

  “I guess he was looking for me,” Ms. Wikkens said.

  “Really?” said Emily.

  Ms. Wikkens shrugged. “He knew where my parents were, because he’s buried in the pasture just beyond them. But he didn’t know where I was.”

  “What will happen to him now?” Emily asked.

  For a few minutes, Ms. Wikkens didn’t say anything. Emily could see tears on her cheeks.

  “He’s been looking for me for a long time, Emily,” she finally answered. “Now he knows I’m all right. I have a feeling he won’t be back.”

  “You mean he’ll never come to anybody’s house again?” Emily asked.

  Ms. Wikkens shook her head sadly.

  Emily sighed. “I told all the kids at school that I had a horse. They thought I meant a real horse. Now I won’t even have a ghost horse.”

  Ms. Wikkens wiped her tears away “I’m sorry, Emily,” she said. “I wish there were something I could do about that.”

  “Its all right,” Emily said. “I shouldn’t have lied to them.”

  “We’d better go,” Ms. Wikkens said. She whistled for Moonlight.

  Moonlight stopped drinking and looked up. Ms. Wikkens made the clicking sound again. Moonlight came over to her and knelt down.

  “You ride in front this time,” Ms. Wikkens said.

  Emily got on. Ms. Wikkens got on behind her.

  Moonlight raced through the trees. He raced through the fields. He jumped over the wooden fence again. Finally, they were back in Westville.

  Moonlight took Ms. Wikkens to her house. “I love you, Moonlight. Thank you for waiting for me all these years,” she said. “Now please take Emily home.”

  When they reached Emily’s house, Moonlight went through the wall of her room, and Emily got off. She hugged Moonlight’s neck.

  “I love you, too, Moonlight,” she said.

  Moonlight whinnied softly. Then he turned slowly and disappeared through the wall of Emily’s room.

  10

  A Read Horse

  “Emily! Get up!” her mother called. “We’ll both be late if you don’t hurry!”

  Emily sat up in bed and yawned.

  A week had gone by since her ride with Ms. Wikkens. Every night she’d waited for Moonlight. But Ms. Wikkens was right. Moonlight never came back.

  The kids at school had stopped asking about her horse. She knew they no longer believed her.

  “Hurry, Emily!” her mother called again. “I’m supposed to make sure you’re at school early!”

  That’s strange, Emily thought.

  Emily ate her breakfast and brushed her teeth, then she dressed as fast as she could.

  It only took them a few minutes to get to school. Her mother stopped in front. Emily looked out the window and gasped.

  Julie and all the other kids in her class were standing together on the playground. Ms. Wikkens was with them. She was holding the reins of a beautiful white horse.

  Emily looked at her mother.

  “It’s Ms. Wikkens’s new horse,” her mother said. “She called me one day last week. It was the strangest conversation I’ve ever had. She said she had a lot to thank you for.” Emily’s mother looked at her. “What did she mean?”

  Emily shrugged. “Did she say anything else?”

  “Yes. She said you could name the horse. And that you could ride it anytime you wanted.”

  “Do you think she’ll let me ride it to school?” Emily asked.

  “Why would you want to ride a horse to school when you could ride your bicycle?” her mother asked.

  “My bicycle?” Emily cried.

  Her mother smiled. “We’re going to buy you one today. Your father said he’d teach you how to ride it so you can bike to school.”

  Emily hugged her mother’s neck. “Thank you! Thank you!” she said.

  Emily got out of the car and ran over to where Ms. Wikkens and the horse were standing next to all the bicycles.

  “Do I really get to name him?” Emily asked.

  Ms. Wikkens nodded.

  “Then I’m going to call him Moonlight,” Emily said.

  Ms. Wikkens smiled. “I think that’s a wonderful name, Emily,” she said.

  About the Author

  Although George Stanley has never seen a ghost horse, he did think he once saw a ghost dog! On Christmas night, he was awakened by the family’s yellow lab, Daisy. Daisy was surrounded by an eerie blue light. He soon found out the dog wasn’t a ghost at all—the sweater she’d received for Christmas glowed in the dark!

  George Stanley has written over fifty books for young people, several of them award winners. He and his wife, Gwen, live
in Lawton, Oklahoma. They have two sons, Charles and James, and a daughter-in-law, Tambye.

  Do you like books about animals? You may also want to read

  Absolutely Lucy

  by Ilene Cooper

  Bobby’s mother smiled. “Now it’s time for your special present,” she said.

  His father said, “Close your eyes.”

  Bobby was glad to close his eyes. It would be easier to look surprised when he opened them.

  “Okay, Bobby,” his father called, “you can look!”

  Bobby opened his eyes. He didn’t have to pretend to be surprised. Or happy. In his father’s arms was a puppy. The cutest, squirmiest little dog Bobby had ever seen.

  Text copyright © 2000 by George Edward Stanley. Illustrations copyright © 2000 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published by Golden Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books. a division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 2000.

  www.randomhouse.com/kids

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Stanley, George Edward.

  Ghost horse / by George Edward Stanley; illustrated by Ann Barrow.

  — 1st Random House ed.

  p. cm.

  “A Stepping Stone book.”

  SUMMARY: A ghost horse helps Emily get over her unhappiness when she has to

  move to a small town, attend a new school, and try to make new friends.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-52780-6

  [1. Ghosts—Fiction. 2. Horses—Fiction. 3. Friendship—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Moving, Household—Fiction.] 1. Barrow, Ann, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.S78694Gh 2004 [Fic]-dc21 2003005189

  RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks and A STEPPING STONE