Read Silver Dream for Free Online Page B

Joanna, trying not
to grimace. Lunch with her mom and her three chatty friends –
great. Today sure better be worth all the torture that was to
come.
    “And sweetie? Be sure to be home
by two. Jason and Capri are coming over for a late lunch.”
    “Great,” said Joanna, and this
time she meant it. She loved when Jason came to visit, and the
whole family loved his new wife, Capri. She was one of the most fun
people Joanna knew.
    After her mom left, Joanna set
to cleaning up the last of the spilled manure, and then tackled the
last dirty stall. Just a few more minutes and she’d be done.
    Robbie sauntered into the barn,
leading a panting Silver Sky. He shoved the sweat-slicked reins
into her hand. “Take care of him. He needs to be cooled down.”
    “What do you think I am? Your
servant?” This was too much, and Robbie knew it. Dad always
insisted that they cool down and be responsible for their own
mounts.
    “Fine,” said Robbie, jerking
back the reins. Silver Sky snorted and stepped back. Robbie spun
around and led the stallion away. “I just thought you might like
the opportunity to be useful around here for once. You know,
instead of just making more work for me and Dad. If you could at
least clean a stall properly, that would be something.”
    Joanna’s teeth hurt she was
clenching her jaw so hard. She watched Robbie lead Silver Sky from
the barn, desperately trying to think of something – anything –
witty to say. “Yeah, well…” she said, but nothing more came to
mind. And then he was gone. Hot tears prickled her eyes. Why was he
so mean? It was as if he hated her or something, and all of a
sudden. He’d never been so cruel before. In fact, up until about
two weeks ago, he’d simply ignored her most of the time.
    A loud whinny came from outside
and Joanna brushed her tears away. She had better things to do than
think about Robbie, things like taking the fillies their grain. Dad
had entrusted that precious chore to her this morning, and she
wanted to do a wonderful job. He needed to see she was responsible
enough to take care of the fillies all summer, and to realize that
despite Robbie’s opinion, she was helpful. Maybe Dad would even let
her take over some of their training. How wonderful that would
be!
     

 

     
    It was hard leaving the fillies so soon
after they finished their grain, but she knew Angelica was waiting
for her. Joanna rode Raven back along the trail through the woods.
When she reached the spot where she could see Mr. Thomas’s house
between the trees, she slid from his back and patted the pony’s
shoulder.
    “Angelica, are you here?” She
didn’t call too loudly, in case her neighbour heard her.
    Sunlight flashed on a fir tree,
snagging at the rough bark, and Angelica stepped out from behind
the trunk. Her blonde hair seemed even brighter than the sun’s
rays. “Yes, here I am.”
    Joanna stepped back. No wonder
the girl next door had screamed when she first saw Angelica. Up
until now, it had been dark all the time Joanna was with the
teenager, so she hadn’t seen how freaky she looked in the light.
Her hair was long and blonde – that was normal – but her eyes were
like gold lumps in her face. And though she exuded no light, still
she seemed to glow with some unseen energy.
    Power, that’s what it was. The
teenager radiated a strange, unearthly power.
    “The granddaughter went into the
shed an hour ago. She has not come out,” Angelica continued. “I
have not seen the man or David all morning.”
    “How… uh, how do we look for him
if the girl’s wandering around and Mr. Thomas is in the house?”
stammered Joanna. Angelica was the same girl she was with for hours
last night. She had to remember that. And besides, Raven liked her.
That had been evident right from the moment they met, and the dark
pony was an excellent judge of character.
    Angelica sighed. “I do not know.
I was hoping you would have an idea.”
    “Let’s get closer. Maybe we’ll
see