Free The Island Horse by Susan Hughes

of. If you could head east with the horse, you could go to the sand hills.” He took her slate from the table and quickly drew another map of the island.
    â€œHere we are, here.” He pointed. “And here, past the end of Lake Wallace, eastward along the south shore, are the sand hills. They’re isolated. Just off the beach. Out of the way. I think if you tried to go there with the horse, you might be able to hide him and the rest of the herd among these big dunes.”
    He made a semicircle with his fingertip around the area. “The roundup doesn’t begin until midday. I’ll head over to join the men now. Eat lunch with them at Main Station. And then I’ll try to steer them away from those hills, move them to the west, north or east of there,” he promised. “I don’t know how I’ll do it. They’ll expect me to follow along, it being my first time. I’ll have to think of something. Fall off Cora. Play the fool.” He smiled and shrugged. “Pretend to know things I don’t.”
    Ellie listened intently as her father spoke. Her heart filled. He would do this for her!
    â€œIt’s all I can think of,” he apologized, but it was everything to Ellie.
    Her father finished his tea, and then, as he rose, the sun’s first rays slanted across the sea. He buttered some bread, took it in his hand and hurried to the door. “Good-bye, Ellie. Good luck,” he cried. “Be careful no one sees you along the way!”
    â€œAll right, Pa,” she agreed. “Thank you!”
    He gave a wave. She watched by the window as he saddled up Cora, and she watched as he galloped away to join the roundup riders. Ellie wanted to hug him. With all her heart, she wished she had hugged him. But he was gone.
    Chapter Sixteen
    Ellie quickly went and got dressed. She wasn’t hungry, but she knew she would be out all day. She cut two slices of bread and buttered them. She slipped the buttered bread into her pocket, for later, along with several slices of cheese, an apple and a jar of cold tea. Then she put on her boots and her sweater, and she hurried outside. Quickly she milked the cow and fed the chickens. The other chores could wait.
    She was about to head to the sand dunes, to Orchid, when she saw the flagstaff there, tall. Silent.
    She heard Sarah’s words again: “Ellie, if you ever need me, fly a white flag on your flagstaff, and I’ll come.”
    Oh, I need her now. I need her very much,
Ellie knew.
    She raced back into the house to her bedroom. She grabbed her special white quilt, and was rushing through the kitchen when she saw the orchids on the table. Pink and magenta.
    Ellie was holding the quilt her mother had made for her, and there were the orchids that her mother would never see, and she was remembering the magenta that was her mother’s favorite color. She had lost her mother and her home. Was she going to lose her island horse as well?
    She was underwater, she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t speak. Ellie pressed her face into the quilt and missed her mother, for always.
    But then, as she stood in the kitchen, and it seemed to her that the waves were crashing over her and she was sure she was drowning, suddenly she heard the wind blowing again, and she felt the sun shining. She went to the window and watched the waves washing against the sands of the island, and she knew the wild horse was on the dunes. His head held high, his mane waving in the wind. He was waiting.
    Her father was out there, too, trying to help. And Sarah … Maybe Sarah would come!
    She felt herself floating to the surface, and she gulped in air, big breaths, because now she could breathe, and maybe she was all right. Maybe everything would be all right.
    She needed to help the island horse. She needed to hurry. Ellie flung open the door and raced to the flagstaff with her quilt.
    There was a rope on the flagstaff with loops and toggles. Quickly,