Free Trail Ride by Bonnie Bryant Page A

around a bend in the road. As she rounded the corner, her heart leapedwith joy. Two horses stood grazing peacefully. One was a gray and the other a bay with two white socks.
    Stevie was tempted to reach out and try to coax them closer. She would have loved to give them a pat on the nose and feel their warm breath on her hand. Instead she contented herself with leaning on the top rail and gazing at them. She didn’t even mind the mosquitoes.
    “You like horses?”
    Stevie let out a yip of surprise, which startled the animals. They threw up their heads and snorted, ears pricked in her direction.
    The boy standing next to her was tall and thin. He had longish dark hair and deep brown eyes. “I didn’t hear you come up,” she said a little nervously, suddenly wondering how smart it was to go walking at night in a strange neighborhood without telling anyone where she was going.
    “Yeah, I could tell by your reaction,” he laughed.
    Nice laugh
, Stevie thought. “You could have made a noise or something,” she said, determined to hide her uneasiness.
    “I did, actually, but you were mesmerized. Never seen a horse before?”
    “Of course I have,” Stevie said scornfully. “In fact, I own one.”
    “You do? That’s great!” He smiled.
    Nice smile.
    “I own two,” he told her.
    Is he trying to impress me? Let’s see if he really knows anything about horses or if he’s only pretending.
“Really? What kind? Thoroughbreds? Geldings?”
    The boy looked disappointed. “I thought you said you owned your own horse.”
    “I do.”
    “Then you should know that a Thoroughbred is a breed of horse, while a gelding is a male horse that’s been fixed.” He turned away from her. “Good night.”
    Stevie felt ashamed. She had tried to trick him into revealing himself as a horse fraud, and instead it looked as if she was the pretender. “Wait!” she called and hurried after him. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m from Virginia, and I’m visiting my cousin here, and she pretended to like horses in order to tease me and I fell for it and I felt like a fool, so when you said you had two of your own, I automatically didn’t believe you and decided to test you, which was incredibly rude of me and I’m really sorry.” Stevie hadn’t intended to say that much, but it all came out in an uncontrolled rush.
    The boy considered her for a moment, then laughed and held out a hand. “I’m Will.”
    Really nice laugh.
“Stevie,” she said, shaking his hand.
    “One question. Do all the people in Virginia talk so fast?”
    Stevie blushed. “Or so much? No. But I haven’t had anyone to talk to in days.”
    “Would you like to meet my horses?”
    Would I!
“Are they very far from here? I really shouldn’t go much farther without telling my parents.”
    “How about I bring them to you?” he suggested with a grin.
    “You’d do that?”
    “I can tell you’re suffering from a lack of equine companionship. As a fellow rider, it’s practically my duty to help if I can.”
    Stevie laughed. “Will it take long?”
    “Not if they’re in a good mood.” He winked at her, returned to the fence, and let out a series of low, lilting whistles.
    To Stevie’s surprise, the two horses that had been grazing lifted their heads and trotted obediently over to where Will waited at the fence. “Stevie, I’d like you to meet Honey and Sugar.”
    “These are your horses?”
    “Yep. Actually, this is my family’s farm.”
    Stevie held out a hand for the animals to sniff. “Honey and Sugar?”
    Will looked embarrassed. “I know they’re goofy names, but I promised my kid sister she could name them, and that’s what she chose.”
    “Sweet.”
    “I know,” he said with a shrug. “Honey and Sugar.”
    “Not their names. I think it’s sweet that you let her name them.” She laughed. “And even sweeter that you kept the names after she did.”
    He reddened and stared at his shoes.
    Before long Stevie found herself describing Pine Hollow