Free Moonlight Mile by Catherine Hapka

and silver fabric Nina had brought into his mane and tail. Nina herself looked suitably spooky in her long, tattered gray tunic, pale gray gloves, and dark breeches. A wig she’d found at a junk shop was glued to her spare riding helmet, its lank gray locks streaming out behind her as she rode.
    Nina circled the ring at a canter, enjoying the cheers of the crowd. Now that she was out here, she was glad she hadn’t let what had happened earlier keep her from entering the costume class. This was fun!
    Later, after all the riders had taken care of their mounts and returned to the ring on foot, the stable owner finally announced the winners of the costume prizes. Nina and Jordan ended up tied for first place in the local-interest category, while Nina also won second prize for spookiest, behind a pretty convincing Headless Horseman costume.
    â€œWell done, baby,” Aunt Toni said, touching the colorful ribbons fluttering on Nina’s backpack. “You did good today.”
    â€œThanks.” Nina smiled, accepting congratulations from the rest of her family as well.
    But she couldn’t help feeling a little distracted. The day hadn’t turned out quite as she’d been expecting. Normally that wouldn’t bother her—Nina loved surprises. But today she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about the things that had gone wrong. Like Breezy stopping at that fence in their first jumping class. Or the cat-and-mouse spook that had caused chaos for the entire ring. Or especially that horrible ripping sound as her breeches split down the middle . . .
    Realizing that her mother was talking to her, sheblinked. “Uh, sorry,” she said. “Spaced out there for a sec. What?”
    â€œI said, are any of your friends coming to your dad’s gig tonight?” her mother said.
    Nina blinked again. She’d forgotten all about her father’s show. Right then, the thought of spending that evening crammed into a dark, smoky jazz club didn’t seem as appealing as it should have.
    â€œNo, I don’t think so,” she said, suddenly glad she’d forgotten to mention the gig to Jordan and Trin and the others. She glanced at her father. “Actually, would you be mad if I didn’t make it? I kind of want to hang out with Breezy a little longer—you know, thank him for being such an awesome pony today.”
    Her father looked surprised, but he shrugged. “No worries, I get it,” he said. “You go pamper that good pony of yours.”
    â€œMaybe you can come join up with us later,” DeeDee suggested. “I’ll leave my phone on vibrate so I’ll catch it if you call or text, okay?”
    â€œSure, sounds good.” But Nina had hardly taken in hercousin’s words. She’d just spotted Brett wandering in their direction. “Listen, break a leg, Dad, okay? Catch you guys at home.” She sprinted off in the opposite direction from Brett before anyone else could say another word.

    A couple of hours later, Cypress Trail Stables was quiet as Nina led Breezy out of the barn and down a gravel path lined with live oaks. It was after sunset, but between the city lights and the full moon rising over the skyline, Nina had no trouble seeing where she was going.
    Soon they reached one of the small fenced paddocks where the stable’s residents took turns stretching their legs and getting some fresh air. There was only a little bit of grass in there, but Breezy dove for it eagerly as soon as Nina let him.
    â€œEat up, babycakes,” she said softly, smiling as his flexible lips wiggled around looking for the most succulent blades of grass. “You earned it today.”
    She perched on a rocky outcropping and watched her pony graze. Miss Adaline would have had a fit if she’d seen her—she was all about safety, and always warnedher riders that sitting down near a horse was never a good idea—but Nina knew that the instructor had left