Free Secret Star by Terri Farley

white,like a shark about to attack, and then he came straight at Inez, mouth agape, teeth aimed to rip her flesh.
    He slammed into the board fence with such force, Sam wondered if it would hold. It wouldn’t have if Pepper and Ross hadn’t just renailed it.
    In just a few seconds, though, the attack ended. The stallion trotted away, shaking his black mane.
    â€œI don’t think it’s you,” Sam started.
    Inez pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, then dropped them and glared at Sam. “What?” she demanded. “Do you think he was after the fence?”
    â€œNo, but—”
    â€œI think Sam’s right,” Jake said.
    â€œThen I’m afraid neither of you can help me. Whatever’s wrong is between me and this horse,” Inez said, and her voice held both irritation and regret.
    â€œHe’s charging you all right, but if I went out to—well, watch this,” Jake said. He hurried back to the barn, snatched up the first lead rope he came to, and approached the pasture.
    â€œDon’t go in there,” Inez warned.
    â€œI won’t have to. Watch.” Jake climbed to the second rung on the fence and leaned forward, dangling the lead rope. “Gonna getcha,” Jake said playfully. Bayfire wheeled, arched his neck, pranced in a fiercely threatening manner, then bolted toward Jake.
    Once more, his eyes rolled white and his blackedged ears, so like Ace’s until now, flattened against his head. This time, he swerved before he struck the fence.
    â€œSo what have you proven? That he hates everybody?” Inez demanded.
    â€œI don’t think so,” Sam said. “Maybe he hates leaving the pasture, and he’s doing whatever it takes to make you let him stay.”
    Sam’s words sounded so hollow, Inez didn’t answer. Clearly, she hadn’t shown Sam and Jake what she’d hoped to.
    â€œAll done,” Inez said, flashing a sign to the stallion. Though she used words, she spoke as she would to a deaf person, depending on quick-fingered signals as much as words.
    â€œAre you okay with leaving him out there while we eat?” Jake asked.
    â€œI’m willing to do that, even though I shouldn’t. Bayfire is a very intelligent horse and he’s thinking about what earned him the right to do what he wants,” Inez said.
    The stallion looked cocky as he paced the perimeter of his new corral. He sniffed the top edges of the fence boards, then a patch of dry grass. In between, he stopped and tossed his forelock back from eyes that flashed a challenging glare.
    The trainer was right. Bayfire’s equine brain was used to learning. They’d just taught him if he acted vicious, he’d get his way.
    â€œBut when we return later,” Inez said, “I’ll need your help. Both of you.”
    â€œNo problem,” Sam said. “We should have lots of daylight left.”
    As they walked toward the house, Jake stopped at the pump to wash up.
    â€œGive you two more room at the sink,” he said.
    Sam wasn’t sure she wanted Jake to lag behind. She could feel Inez watching her, not as if she’d done something wrong, but as if she was wondering if Sam could be trusted.
    â€œI know on a ranch you have a different relationship with animals than I do, but they still have to behave and bend themselves to what you require of them—perhaps cutting a calf out from a herd and putting you in position to rope it. If your Ace refused—”
    â€œHe has,” Sam said, “and we’ve worked through it.”
    â€œBut he’s never charged you like that.”
    â€œNo, Ace hasn’t, but I think that’s a stallion thing.” Sam swallowed and looked toward the Calico Mountains. “There’s this mustang called the Phantom…”
    â€œMaxine told me you had a favorite colt that went feral.”
    Sam nodded. “Sometimes I’m still lucky enough to see him. And