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avoided going out of the house all day, just so no one could try it. Come evening, as it grew dark and there was less risk of bumping in to anyone, she grabbed her hat and headed for the door.
    “Where are you going?” Sandy asked. She’d driven back from Denver with a bunch of new guests to be greeted by the sad news about Moonshine. It had upset her almost as much as Kirstie and Matt, but she’d had to press on. There were cabins to allocate, late arrivals to check in, a hundred and one tasks to make changeover day run as smoothly as it ought. But now at last she had time to talk.
    “Out to Red Fox Meadow,” Kirstie told her.
    “It’s too late to ride.” Her mom followed her to the door and looked out at the bands of dark clouds gathering over Eagle’s Peak. The rest of the sky was indigo tinged in the west with pink.
    “I know.” Kirstie made out a group of new guests walking down the track from Apache Hill. Their flashlight gave off a weak yellow beam as they found their way toward the barbecue set out on the grass by Five Mile Creek. “I don’t plan to ride,” she told Sandy hastily. If she ran to the meadow, she would avoid the suppertime mob. “I just want to say hi to Lucky.”
    “Don’t stay out too long!”
    “OK, I won’t.” She swung out through the door, just catching her mom’s last request.
    “If you see Matt, tell him I’d like to talk with him!”
    But Matt was one of the people Kirstie would rather avoid. She hadn’t seen her brother all afternoon, knew only that he’d volunteered to drive Lisa to her grandpa’s and that he hadn’t been back to the ranch since. He was probably driving the back roads or hanging out in San Luis, trying not to think too hard about Moonshine.
    In any case, she succeeded in skirting around the corral, then crossed the footbridge and slipped past the barbecue without being noticed. She could see the meadow fence up ahead and the dark outlines of horses quietly grazing.
    As she approached and leaned on the fence, she picked out Yukon, the brown and white paint, with her black colt, Pepper. A little further off, pulling hay out of the sides of the metal feeder, were Matt’s big gray horse, classy Cadillac and ugly old Crazy Horse. The two geldings went everywhere together and were recognizable at a glance.
    More horses milled around in the dusk light by the edge of the creek, wandering between willow bushes or nudging each other aside. Yeah, there was Jitterbug, dancing about as usual. And Johnny Mohawk, setting off to lope the length of the field.
    But where was Lucky? It was odd for him not to be here by the fence. Usually he would hear and smell her even before she came into sight. His beautiful golden head would be stretching out to greet her, making her feel she was the most important thing in his world.
    Yep, there he was, standing under an oak tree at the far end of the meadow. Kirstie spotted his pale mane, and recognized his trot as he set off toward her, the way he picked his feet high off the ground and arched his neck like an Arab, instead of the plain old quarter horse that he was. She smiled as she watched him approach. After this awful day, all she wanted to do was stand with him and talk.
    “Hey!” she said quietly as he made his way past Cadillac and Crazy Horse.
    He tossed his head and swished his tail, slowing to a walk. Then he plodded the last few yards, head down.
    “Hey!” Kirstie said again. She climbed the fence and dropped into the meadow, feeling a few drops of rain in the cool breeze blowing down the valley. “Are you feeling like me, Lucky? All washed up.”
    Coming right up to her, he thrust his nose against her shoulder, licking her shirt and pulling at the pocket with his lips.
    “I know!” she sighed. “We didn’t get to go out together today, did we? You missed me, huh?”
    More rubbing and licking, a sideways nudge as if to tell her off for neglecting him.
    “I couldn’t help it!” she grinned. “I was busy