Free The Heart of the Lone Wolf by Montgomery Mahaffey Page B

orchard. But after running another length, instinct took over and I finally relaxed into the mare’s rhythm. Her pace steadied with the return of my confidence. The Trainer stopped and watched me run the mare a few rounds along the peach trees. Then I was ready to move on and reined to a stop beside him.
    “This is boring,” I said.
    “I assume you must be feeling better,” he chuckled. “Where do you want to go?”
    “How about the fields on the other side of town? Or the woods east of the house.”
    The Trainer didn’t say anything at first, his golden brown eyes intent when he looked at me. The way he was staring made me blush. I hated it whenever I did that, but there was no stopping the blood rushing to my cheeks. However, I resisted the urge to glance away.
    “Little miss, do you know somewhere there’s no folks to be seen?”
    His question surprised me and I didn’t answer right away. But I was also curious as to what he wanted, and played along.
    “The only place I can think of is the Abandoned Valley. Nobody ever goes there.”
    “The Abandoned Valley?”
    I remembered he wasn’t from here and pointed northwest of the fields.
    “It runs on both sides of the river. South until the Ancient Grove, then north until you get to the No Man’s Land at the border.”
    “That sounds a nice spot,” he said. “Why doesn’t anybody go there?”
    “Same reason nobody goes into those woods, because of the Sorcerer. Haven’t you heard about him yet?”
    I flushed even harder when the Trainer burst out laughing.
    “What are you doing? It’s not funny.”
    “Oh come on!” he said. “You’re a smart girl. You don’t believe those stories, do you?”
    “The Sorcerer of the Caverns is real!” I protested. “Even my father won’t go there.”
    “Well,” the Trainer said, his eyes twinkling, “if we should meet this Sorcerer, I’m sure I can fight off the dirty old cuss.”
    It was the first time I met anybody who doubted the existence of the Sorcerer and I had never been more shocked in my life. All I could do was shake my head.
    The Trainer stopped laughing when he took a good look at my face. His fingers tapped the front of his saddle for a moment and his manner was much gentler when he spoke.
    “I promise you we’ll go far from the woods. I’m sure it’ll be okay if we stay close to the border in the northwest.”
    His tone was very persuasive and his persistence made me suspicious. It was my turn to stare inside of him. I always found when people want to do something they know is wrong, their faces take on the likeness of a rodent. I’ve seen those rat expressions on the children from Sunday school whenever they taunted the butcher’s son. I’ve seen it on the Cook the first time she gossiped after facing Papa’s ire. But the Trainer didn’t have that sly, guarded look.
    “Papa would dismiss you for even making a suggestion like this.”
    I was surprised when the Trainer nodded.
    “Absolutely, he would.”
    “Then why do you want to go there?”
    Looking back, the magnitude of the risk he was taking steals my breath away. I could have told Papa everything and ruined him. If the Trainer offended my father, he would never get another post again, not even for a day’s work.
    “Because I want to teach you how to ride like a man,” he said. “I’ve been trying to convince the Patron since I started. But he refuses, even after your accident.”
    I looked at his saddle. His legs were spread across the back, gripping the flanks of the colt. I blushed hard when I thought of sitting like that, and then I was dizzy from the blood draining from my face.
    “Women ride like this all over the world,” he said, reading my mind.
    “I don’t understand,” I said. “If Papa won’t permit it, then you can’t.”
    “Well, I can’t be true to my conscience and not teach you.”
    “But he said no.”
    “Little miss,” he murmured, “you ride hard and that scares the devil out of me.
    It’ll