Free Silver Dream by Angela Dorsey Page B

I was accepted at the University and so I was on my way
there.”
    Angelica touched his arm.
“That’s wonderful, David.”
    “Thanks. Anyway, I took a detour
to visit a friend and left his house late. I was driving back to
the highway when I came around a corner and almost struck a horse
and rider galloping down the middle of the road. I swerved just in
time, but my car went into the ditch.”
    “It was Tango and Mr. Thomas
that you saw,” said Angelica. “He is the man who later captured
you.”
    “Too bad I didn’t know that when
I came here to ask to use his phone.” A shiver coursed through
David’s body. “At first he was okay, acting a little confused, but
okay. But then he seemed to recognize me and he became furious. He
kept calling me Graham, and dragged me off to his house, then
pushed me down this hole. He’s strong for an old guy.”
    “You hit your head when you
fell,” said Angelica. It wasn’t a question.
    “I must have. I don’t remember
much after that. Once I thought I heard a girl’s voice come from
above, though. Was that you?”
    “No. You must’ve heard Cally.
She’s upstairs. She’s Mr. Thomas’s granddaughter.”
    “I tried to yell when I heard
her, but the pain knocked me out again. The next thing I knew, I
was looking up at you, Angelica. If you hadn’t come…”
    “I will always come when you
need me,” said Angelica. “Though I am sorry that it took so long to
find you. But now, we should go. Mr. Thomas could be back any
minute.”
    When Joanna raised the candle to
light David’s way to the ladder, the cellar was further
illuminated. The dark space was freaky, like something out of a
horror film. Shelves of filthy jars and cans lined the walls, boxes
were piled everywhere, and some large, sheet covered lumps sat off
to one side – or at least Joanna thought they were covered with
sheets. They were so dusty she couldn’t be sure.
    “I’ll be happy to get out of
here.” David quickly climbed the ladder. He must be feeling a lot better.
    “I can take the candle and will
follow you up the ladder,” said Angelica to Joanna.
    Joanna handed the tiny flame to
Angelica. They hadn’t needed the candle at all really, so why had
Angelica sent her up to get it? She started to climb. To keep her
occupied while she helped David? To stop Joanna from worrying?
    In the kitchen, David introduced
himself to Cally, then asked her where the bathroom was. Cally
blushed as she gave him directions, and David hurried down the
hallway.
    “So we have more information,
Cally,” said Angelica, placing the extinguished candle on the
counter. “The name your grandfather called David.”
    “Graham. I remember now too.
That was the name I heard Mr. Thomas yell,” said Joanna.
    “I’ve heard Grandpa talk about a
Graham before,” Cally said. “But I don’t know who he is.”
    “He would be a man from your
grandfather’s past, I think,” Angelica said. “Someone who possibly
looks a bit like David.”
    “My mom told me a story once.
Maybe that will give us some clues. Years ago, Grandpa raised
racehorses, and he had a long run of bad luck where none of his
horses won anything. He tried everything, but even his best horse,
Dancer, lost every race right at the worst time. Grandpa went broke
and all his horses were sold at auction.”
    “I heard the same story,” Joanna
confirmed.
    “But there’s more you probably
don’t know. Mom said that later, Grandpa became certain that
Dancer’s groom was really working secretly for another farm. No one
believed him because there wasn’t any proof, but I guess Grandpa
suspected because Dancer never lost a race after that. He became
really famous actually, and made his new owner super rich.”
    “That’s not fair,” Joanna
interjected.
    “Are you saying that your
grandfather believes the man who bought Dancer paid the groom – I
suppose his name was Graham – to sabotage Dancer’s races?”
    “Yeah, so he could buy Dancer.
Grandpa