The Penny Pony (6 page)

The large shadow was moving more quickly
through the trees now and would disappear and be gone soon.

“We have to stop him! Wait a couple of
minutes and start honking the horn so the guys come,” I said and
was out the door, then running. I cut through some tall bushes,
scratching my arms, but making very little noise. I ran at an angle
toward where the shadow had been. Then I was in the trees, looking
around. The moon was bright, but tree shadows made it hard to see
where I was going.

I couldn’t see Jake anymore, so I slowed
down, walking carefully and trying not to rustle any dead leaves.
My mouth was dry and the pounding of my heart covered up any other
noises I might have heard. I tried running again, along a dry
streambed that followed the curve of the hill down to the lake.
Branches grabbed at my face so that I had to shut my eyes partly. I
couldn’t see because of that and because of all the moon shadows,
which was why I tripped on the big twisty branch. I fell hard on my
left shoulder and scraped my knees on some rocks when I went down.
Luckily, I caught myself with my hands so I didn’t hit my head.

Hearing some noises, I looked up. A large
figure was bearing down on me in the dark. All I could see was his
shape because the moon was behind him, but I would have recognized
the puffing and wheezing anywhere. It was Disgusting Jake.

“Stop,” I yelled. “The police are here! Give
yourself up!” I didn’t have time to plan what to say and suddenly
realized how big he was compared to me. I was on the ground and he
was standing in front of me. Why wasn’t Addie honking the horn?
Where was Dad?

“What?” he said. “You!” He reached to grab
me, but I ducked and jumped out of the way, smelling his sweat and
my fear.

“You brat!” he yelled. “That was you that
snuck into my trailer! You stole my pony and ruined my business.
I’m leaving this dumb town and taking that horse with me, but not
before I make you pay for what you did to me, you stupid little
brat!”

“No! You cannot have her! She deserves better
than you!”

I had turned and was gasping for air,
scrabbling away in that dry stream bed, hoping it wouldn’t hurt too
much when he caught me. I could hear him coming behind me and smell
his nasty breath as I crawled up the hill. I lost my balance and
landed face down in some leaves. I closed my eyes and prayed, but
as I prayed I grabbed a big, flat rock that my hand found. Standing
and turning around, I threw the rock and someone yelled, “Dad!”
There was a terrible smacking noise and then silence as I collapsed
on the ground. That’s when I fainted. I’d never fainted before, but
things blinked out for a minute, and when I opened my eyes,
everyone looked blurry.

With a groan, I sat up and looked around.
Icky Jake lay flat on the ground, holding his head.

There was Addie standing beside me. “Do you
think you should hit him again?” she asked.

“No,” I heard Sheriff Harvey Martin say. “I
think he’s out for a while.”

“Why didn’t you honk the horn?” I whispered
as my eyes closed again.

“Piper,” Addie shouted, “please be all right!
I didn’t honk the horn because I couldn’t let you chase him by
yourself. You needed me for your backup, so I followed you.”

“You’re hurting my head,” I said. “Quit
shouting. But Addie, if I don’t make it, you have been a true
friend. I want you to have my Breyer horse collection. And my
Taylor Swift poster.”

My dad came puffing up and hugged me, then
hugged Addie, then me again. While the sheriff handcuffed Jake, Dad
got a flashlight and checked me over for injuries.

“What happened?” I asked as we walked slowly
through the woods back to the car.

“Don’t you remember?” said Addie. “It was
awesome! He came up behind you, and you turned around and bashed
him with that rock. You yelled for your dad and was standing there
like a...like a warrior princess! It was great!”

“I think you just fainted from all the
excitement,” said Dad. “I’ve got some antiseptic for those
scratches,” he said, “but the bruises will just have to go away on
their own.”

My eyesight was back to normal by then.
Luckily, Addie didn’t have any hurts to deal with, so we all kind
of sat around the car waiting. Sam got on his phone and called for
someone to come get us. None of us really wanted to go into that
house after all.

Then, about ten minutes later, the blue
Cougar came roaring up the road. Miss Julie leaned her head out the
window.

“Your moms sent me to get you. Are you both
really okay?” she asked, peering at me and Addie. When we assured
her we were fine, she said, “Then hop in and start talking. Don’t
leave anything out!” Dad, Addie and I all piled into the backseat
of Miss Julie’s car. Sam said he would ride back with Harvey
Martin.

Telling the story took most of the ride back
home. I told most of it, but I was exhausted. Addie filled in a
little, and we got it all told by the time Miss Julie pulled up in
front of my mom’s house. Dad went in to talk to Mom while I turned
to Miss Julie.

“So, Dotty is safe now, but why did Jake have
her?”

Miss Julie’s smile and her bright blue eyes
made me warm after an awful night.

“You go on to bed, dear. We’ll talk tomorrow.
Why don’t you both go out and see Dotty in the morning?”

“Okay, Miss Julie,” I said. I was just too
tired to think or ask questions any more and I could tell Addie was
too. Miss Julie left to take Addie and Sandy home. Mom and Dad
walked me up to my room.

“Goodnight, honey,” Dad said, kissing my
forehead. “Will you stay home until morning?”

“Okay, Daddy,” I promised. I hadn’t called
him Daddy since I was little.

“Goodnight, Piper,” said my mom. “I love you
so much.”

“I love you, too,” I said. I hugged them both
and was asleep before I had time to worry anymore.

Chapter Eleven

~ Warm Pony and Fresh-Cut Grass ~

I didn’t wake up
until late the next morning. I hollered to Mom that I was going out
to see the pony and went over to wake Addie. She climbed out her
window as soon as she saw me. It was another warm day and things
seemed better with the sun shining. Dotty whinnied when she saw us
and trotted over to have her forehead scratched. We decided that
since there was no longer any reason to hide, we would walk her
over to the barn and let her drink. Someone had already replaced
the ratty old family gate with a new aluminum one that swung open
smoothly. Things were looking up.

As we neared the house, we could hear a
lawnmower, which soon came chugging around the side of the house,
Sam sitting on it and driving. Miss Julie was shaking a dust mop
out the back door.

“Hi, girls!” she called. “Do you want to come
in for cold lemonade when you finish there? I have a cooler with
some already made.”

We must have looked sweaty and hot. We
watered Dotty and tied her under the maple tree to graze, then
walked to the house. The air inside was cool on my moist skin. My
mom said those big old houses didn’t heat up like small ones do,
that the heat went up into the attic.

“What are you doing, Miss Julie?” I
asked.

“Why are you cleaning?” asked Addie. She
didn’t like sponges and mops much.

“Oh, girls!” said Miss Julie, handing us
tall, cold glasses of lemonade. “The most wonderful thing has
happened. I’m going to move back out here. Sam and I talked and
talked last night. He thought I wanted to live in the retirement
home more than anything and I guess I did want to try it. But I
really don’t like living there. I miss my home and would love to
move back if we can find someone to live here with me so I’m not
alone.”

Sam came inside, all sweaty and grinning. He
took a swallow from a glass of lemonade.

“There are lots of people looking for rooms
to rent, even in a small town like Serendipity Springs. I know
it’ll be easy to find someone. And then I plan to stay out here
most weekends. I’m finding out that I miss the farm, too. And some
of the people around here.” He was grinning when he said that.

I felt glad for Miss Julie. She belonged in
this big old house with all the trees and lilac bushes around
it.

“By the way,” said Sam, “Sheriff Martin
called earlier. It took all night, but Jake finally admitted
everything. He had drugs hidden in the feed bags and didn’t know or
care anything about horses. He just used the pony to cover up what
they were doing.”

“What about that weird house?” Addie wanted
to know.

“That house is where his contact in this town
lived—the guy you saw him with. He and some others were making the
drugs and giving them to Jake to sell. They’re probably far away by
now.”

“What will happen to Jake?” I asked, worried
that he might get free and come after Dotty.

“Oh, they’ll give him some time off for
helping the sheriff’s department find the men he was involved with,
but he’ll still be in prison for a good long time.”

I was relieved to hear that and I could tell
Addie was, too. She started to smile until she heard Sam’s next
words.

“There’s just one problem,” he said. “And
that’s what to do with Dotty.”

Addie and I had talked about this and knew
Miss Julie was probably too old to take care of a pony. Dotty would
have to be sold. That was sad, but I was pretty sure Miss Julie
would sell her to nice people who would take good care of her.

“Please make sure she goes to a good home,” I
said.

“With nice people who love horses,” said
Addie.

Miss Julie’s blue eyes twinkled. She grinned
and I saw where Sam got his smile. “What I would really like is to
have some horse-loving girls take ownership of Dotty, but keep her
here on the farm and be responsible for her.”

“Do you mean it?” I said, feeling hope
glowing in my chest. Something was bothering me about this, but I
wasn’t sure what it was.

“Don’t kid us about this,” Addie said,
jumping up and down. “This is too important.”

Miss Julie’s eyes were blue stars. ”I mean
it,” she said. “It was such a lucky accident that you found her,
and it was so brave of you to protect her, that I think you should
both have her. You can move her up here close to the house where I
can see her, too. And I’ll be able to visit with you while you take
care of my old friend. Maybe we can make Addie a horsehair bracelet
to match Piper’s.”

“You should have one too,” said Addie,
“Everyone who loves Dotty should get one.”

“Your dad is coming out later to check Dotty
over,” said Sam. “But she’s looking pretty perky today, and I think
once she puts on a little weight, she’ll be fine. And I believe
both your moms are coming out to meet her.”

“But, Miss Julie,” I said, remembering what
it was that bothered me, “she’s a registered purebred. She’s worth
money.”

“Okay,” said Miss Julie. “So how much money
do you have?”

I knew I had none at home. There was a little
in my savings account, but I had to use that for a phone. I dug and
dug, but only came up with the penny I had found on the street.

“This is all,” I said with a sad heart.

“That’s exactly enough,” said Miss Julie
Applegate, taking my penny. “Dotty is yours. Sam will take care of
the paperwork.”

Addie and I held hands and spun in a circle
right there in the farmhouse kitchen, nearly knocking over the oak
trestle table. Miss Julie and Sam laughed at us. It felt so good to
hear the laughter that I started to giggle.

“Adds,” I said, “You know what?”

“What?”

“We have a pony!”

“I know,” she said, grinning.

“We haven’t brushed our pony today.”

“Let’s go!” she said. We danced out the door
and across the lawn to the spotted pony waiting for us under the
maple tree. I put my head close to her and whispered that she
belonged to us now and would never have to be hungry or thirsty
again. With Addie on one side and me on the other, we hugged
Dotty’s neck, breathing in the smells of warm pony and fresh-cut
grass, the best smells in the world.

Coming in October, 2013

Nickel-Bred

Book Two in the Horse Rescuers Series

Piper and Addie are looking for another horse
so they can ride together. They find the perfect horse in Nickel,
but then discover that his owner is part of a gang of criminals and
that the horse himself is in danger of being sold to a
slaughterhouse for dog meat. Piper’s parents do not want her to
have anything to do with the lowlife owner, but Piper and Addie are
determined to save Nickel. Piper incurs the hatred of one of the
gang’s members, and the girls must not only save Nickel, but also
save their friends and family from the vicious clutches of the
criminals.

About the Author

Patricia Gilkerson
spent a horse-loving childhood growing up in Kentucky, and finally
got her first horse as an adult. She began writing books for
children at night after teaching all day. Today Patricia lives on a
hobby farm in Minnesota with her husband Jim, and the current count
of three horses. Her two children are grown with children and pets
of their own, so there are frequently grandchildren and granddogs
running around her house. Her hobbies include travel, Irish/Celtic
music, scuba diving and reading. Her favorite thing to do is to
hang out with family and friends.

Website:

patriciagilkerson.com

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