Free Secondhand Horses by Lauraine Snelling Page B

smiled at the girls. “I thought I’d drop off some of Gram’s special treats and my peanut butter cookies for Sunny’s uncle.”
    For a tiny second, a second so fast it might not have happened, Sunny thought Aneta’s mom’s face turned pink. Why would Ms. Jasper’s face get red? It was a sunny day, but not a hot-summer-sun kind of day. Just sweatshirt on, sweatshirt off kind of day. Weird.
    Aneta and Vee walked into the house with Esther and Sunny, dropped off their backpacks, pillows, and stuffed animals in the bedroom, and then ran out to the corral to say hello to Mystery, Shirley, and Mondo. They waved to Bob who watched them while chewing a weed. On the way to the back corral, they greeted Piggles with a snort that caused him to snort. Then they were at the corral where Which Way was still getting in the way of the mini playing ball.
    “I love it, I love it!” Vee yelled, clapping her hands. “It’s more fun than TV. That ball is
splendiferous
!”
    “He is having so much fun with it,” Aneta said, her grin wide.
    Sunny and Esther filled in the other two with the news—the appearance of the bay horse and the gigantic ball. Uncle Dave had made calls, but no one knew where he came from. Sunny figured Mystery had arrived so the girls would have another horse to ride. Immediately after that, they moved on to the
really
exciting news: they thought they’d surprised a burglar the previous night.
    “Oh no! Were the animals all right?” Aneta’s blue eyes widened.
    “You didn’t catch even a smidge of the person?” Vee asked.
    With the mini following the ball Sunny rolled, Which Way and the girls walked the drive back to the front corral. Mystery, Shirley, and Mondo were nuzzling each other across the fence that separated them.
    “How come that new horse can’t be in with Shirley and Mondo?” Aneta climbed up to sit on the top rail of the corral corner, close to the three horses. “They are friends already.”
    Sunny opened her mouth to answer when Aneta’s mom joined them. “Just like you wouldn’t put dogs who don’t know each other together, it’s the same with any animal. You have to see what’s going on with the horse.” She flopped her arms over the top rail and surveyed the new horse. “This one looks like it’s used to being around other horses. You girls said it was just here this morning when you came out?”
    Sunny and Esther nodded.
    Ms. Jasper shook her head. “It’s not right to abandon a horse. It’s against the law.” She walked into the barn and emerged with a long blue lead. Ducking between the rails, she slowly approached the horse, talking soothingly.
    “Mom!” Aneta’s gasp carried across the corrals. “What are you
doing
?”
    “Um …” Sunny felt panic rising up. How about what Ms. Jasper just said about being careful with horses you don’t know? “Does your mom know anything about horses?”
    “I do not know.”
    Sunny truly,
truly
hoped Aneta’s mom knew what she was doing. Sunny just couldn’t see herself taking care of one more patient.

Chapter 16
Not Esther Either
    Y
ou
just never know about parents
.
    Along with Sunny, Vee, and Esther, Aneta found out her mother had ridden quite a bit from when she was Aneta’s age all the way through college. She’d even won awards!
I think she knows as much as Uncle Dave about horses
. Margo Jasper made the girls laugh when she led Mystery to the living room window to allow Uncle Dave to see if he recognized him. He agreed with her that the horse seemed safe to put in with Shirley and Mondo.
    More yayness than that was she received permission from Uncle Dave to start riding lessons with the girls. All four of them did a happy dance holding hands. Once again, Sunny remembered the tractor shed. For pizza sake, that shed was like a splinter you couldn’t get out. Always bothering you. No more putting it off.
    About two hours later, Sunny surveyed the tractor shed with some pride and a great deal of thankfulness