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wondered.
    But she did. The chocolate-brown mare was not impressed with the stallion’s rearing strength.
    â€œSmart girl,” Jen said.
    When he came back to earth, the stallion stoodstill. He might have been carved from white quartz as he waited.
    But the mare looked right through him.
    Finally, without a flicker of interest in Sam or Ace, the Phantom trotted away, forcing a path through a crackling thicket of wild roses.

Chapter Four
    â€œW hose horse is she?” Sam asked.
    As the mare searched for graze, sun danced on her dark brown coat. She stretched her neck to reach, bite, and chew. She clearly hadn’t chosen a reunion with humans on horses over the Phantom. The mare seemed content on her own.
    â€œI don’t know,” Jen said slowly. “I’m still trying to figure out what breed she is. What do you think?”
    â€œI’m no expert compared to you, Jen,” Sam said. “I’m not even sure what color she is! Would you call her a chestnut? I mean, she has a dark body with a flaxen mane and tail.”
    â€œI guess,” Jen said. “But that coloring is distinctive.It’s just—shoot, I’ve lived in the sticks for so long, I just don’t know.”
    â€œWait,” Sam said, remembering the sound of the horses running side by side. “Didn’t you notice something about her gait?”
    â€œYeah,” Jen said, “but we need to talk with someone who’s been around different breeds. Maybe Katie Sterling.” Jen sighed. “I’ll tell you, Sam, I’m disgusted by my own ignorance. If I’m ever going to be a vet, I have to study horses, not just ride them.”
    â€œDon’t be so hard on yourself,” Sam said, but she didn’t say the rest of what she was thinking. You’re a fourteen-year-old girl who’s lived in northern Nevada your entire life.
    â€œSince I’m a student by nature,” Jen said, blinking slowly behind the shiny disks of her glasses, “and we don’t have the HARP girls this week, I’ll go to the library, load up on books, and cram some horse information into my brain. Not like that will be unpleasant.”
    Silly lowered her head and blew out a long breath.
    â€œYes, girl,” Jen joked with her palomino. “We’re both relieved to have a plan. Now, let’s get back to the campground before Hal thinks we’ve defected.”
    â€œBut what about her?” Sam asked. “She’s obviously someone’s horse. We can’t just leave her there.”
    The mare looked quite satisfied, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t looking for her. Any horsewould enjoy similar surroundings.
    Even Ace.
    Sam rubbed her horse’s neck while she tried to erase a totally immature thought. The idea refused to vanish. What if Ace “escaped” and returned to the Phantom’s herd? He couldn’t be sold as a therapy horse then, could he?
    No. No way would she duck her responsibility. That would be so selfish, so juvenile, so…
    â€œRidiculous.”
    â€œWhat is?” Jen asked.
    Sam bit her lip. She hadn’t meant to say the word out loud.
    â€œNothing,” Sam said. “I was just thinking it would be pointless to try to rope her and bring her in now. She’ll probably see all the other horses as we drive the herd through here, and join up.”
    For a second, Jen hesitated.
    She’s not reading my mind, Sam told herself. Jen had been asleep this morning when she’d told Jake about the offer to buy Ace.
    â€œGood point,” Jen said, proving she was just weighing the logic of Sam’s statement. “Even if she doesn’t fall in with the herd, we can report her to Sheriff Ballard.”
    And it was settled. But thinking about this morning had stirred another worry. What about the accident Lynn Cooper had rushed off to cover?
    Jake was a very careful driver, but if an animalhad run into the road in