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Bend before Dad and Brynna did.
    â€œHey, Ryan,” Sam called. Her voice silenced the birds on the quiet hillside. “I could use some help here.”
    â€œSorry,” he said. Then, as she watched, he gave Shy Boots’s neck a hug. “I’m just saying good-bye.”
    Just saying good-bye. Alarm tightened Sam’s chest.
    â€œRyan, it’s only going to be a few hours until you see them again.” Sam waited as Ryan pushed a lock of dark hair back from his forehead. “Right?”
    Ryan blushed.
    Like most guys, he hid his feelings, covering his love for the horses by getting busy. He took the staple gun from Sam and held it at an awkward angle.
    â€œExplain the way of this, if you please,” Ryan said. “And we’ll be out of here.”
    Â 
    They were nearly finished.
    Sam stood inside the fence, facing Ryan across it.
    The horses dozed in the shade behind her. Sam held the last section of fencing taut while Ryan prepared to place the final staple.
    Blinking against a dazzling sun, Sam looked past Ryan and spotted the Phantom.
    He hadn’t approached from the trail. His hooves hadn’t disturbed a single pebble. Sam couldn’t guess which instinct made her notice him, off to the left ofthe faint trail leading up to Cowkiller Caldera.
    The stallion hid in a tangle of juniper. Its three tallest branches speared skyward like a trident. Neck high in the brush, he would have been invisible, if the sky had been overcast. But it wasn’t.
    Sunlight picked out dapples that shone like silver coins on the Phantom’s pale coat.
    His ropey white forelock all but hid his eyes. Still, Sam knew this stallion, the most magnificent horse in the world, was watching her.
    The stallion lifted his head and all at once he was crowned with a nimbus of sunlight.
    She felt, rather than saw, the tremor move along his throat as he uttered a silent greeting.
    Zanzibar . Sam sent out his secret name.
    The stallion’s Arab-fine ears cupped forward. It was so easy to imagine he heard her thoughts.
    â€œSam? You look utterly transfixed,” Ryan said. “Hypnotized. What—?”
    Go, Sam thought. Run, boy .
    How could she have forgotten Ryan had kept Golden Rose, the last of the Kenworthy palominos, for his own, until she and Jen had discovered the hidden stall in the ghost town?
    Jen had forgiven him, but Sam felt wary.
    Ryan’s father would do anything to possess the silver stallion. If Ryan saw him and wanted him, could the Phantom outwit them both?
    Sam didn’t want Ryan to have even a glimpse of the Phantom.
    She forced her eyes skyward. Her mind fumbled for distracting words. She must have looked panicky, not casual, because Ryan turned away in a half crouch, ready for trouble.
    â€œWater!” Sam blurted loudly. “I feel weird. I think I need a drink of water.”
    But Sam was an awful actress. And a worse liar. Besides, dust hung where the stallion had been. Anyone could see it, and Ryan did.
    â€œWhat was it?” he demanded. “Tell me.”
    Hotspot kept Sam from lying.
    As if she’d just now caught the stallion’s scent, the Appaloosa rushed forward at a trot. Snorting, she stopped beside Sam.
    â€œA mustang,” Sam admitted. “I told you they were up here.”
    Ryan looked thoughtful, not excited. Did you have to be Western born to love mustangs, to feel the vaulting excitement and a yearning to run beside them, if only in your dreams?
    Sam didn’t think so, but Ryan’s handsome face remained blank.
    Hotspot’s didn’t. Head leveled as if she were frozen in a gallop, the mare stared after the mustang. When Sam tried to give Hotspot a gentle pat, the mare shook her head and moved out of reach.
    â€œIt wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen,” Ryan said.
    Was he talking to himself?
    â€œWhat wouldn’t be the worst thing?” Sam asked.
    Ryan hesitated, then came out with