Phantom Horse Read online

  “I know,” Carole said. She gulped, thinking of Troy’s story. “It’s—it’s like he suddenly became a whole different horse.” She immediately felt foolish for saying it out loud. The groom’s ghost story had spooked her, but that was no reason to start acting crazy and superstitious.

  Luckily Lisa hadn’t heard. She was hurrying forward to help Stevie with Starlight. The gelding was still giving an occasional shudder and tossing his head, but he had calmed down considerably. “How is he?” Lisa asked, taking Starlight’s bridle as Stevie slid down from Belle’s back.

  “Much better already,” Stevie said. “In fact, he told me he’s very sorry about the whole incident. Are you okay, Carole?”

  “I’m fine,” Carole said. She was gazing at her horse with a worried expression.

  “Come on, let’s check him over and see if we can figure out what set him off,” Stevie said. She could tell that Carole was shaken by the fall, so it was up to her to take charge. “Lisa, if you’ll hold his head I’ll take a look at his hooves. Carole, why don’t you check the saddle—maybe a thorn slipped under there or something.”

  Lisa was patting Starlight’s sweaty neck soothingly a few minutes later when she noticed a small bump a few inches in front of his withers. She ran her fingers over it, and Starlight flinched and tossed his head. “Hey, look at this,” she said to her friends. “I think I may have found the problem.”

  Carole and Stevie looked at Starlight’s neck.

  “Insect bite?” Stevie asked.

  Carole nodded. “Looks like it.”

  “Well, I guess that would explain the reaction,” Stevie said. “But it must have been some bug. Ouch.”

  “Do you think it was a bee?” Lisa asked.

  Stevie peered closely at the bump. “I don’t see a stinger,” she said. “It was probably a fly, or maybe one of those flying red ants. Those bites hurt. My brother Alex sat on a whole family of them once, and believe me, he screamed a lot louder than Starlight.”

  “We’d better get him back to the stable so Max can take a look,” Carole said. “I’ll ride behind one of you, and the other one can lead him, okay?”

  “Hold on just a minute,” Lisa said. “Starlight doesn’t seem to be in any serious pain, right? So shouldn’t you follow that advice you’re always giving other people and get back in the saddle right away?”

  “She’s right, Carole,” Stevie said. “You can ride him back. It won’t hurt him, and it’ll make both of you feel better.”

  Carole bit her lip, glancing up at Starlight. He gazed back at her calmly, as if nothing had happened. He was her horse, and she loved him. She had fallen off him before, and she would again. It was all just a part of riding. So why didn’t she want to follow her friends’ advice and climb back aboard? She didn’t know the answer to that, but something inside her was resisting what her logical mind was telling her.

  She decided the best thing to do was to ignore her nervousness. “Give me a leg up, will you, Stevie?”

  Stevie stepped forward and cupped her hands. Taking a deep breath, Carole swung aboard Starlight’s broad back.

  “There you go,” Stevie said. “Feel better?”

  Carole nodded, then urged Starlight forward. She rode him in a circle, then a figure eight. Then she signaled for a trot. He responded immediately, shifting into the smooth, comfortable gait Carole had always loved. She automatically began posting, and Stevie and Lisa, obviously satisfied that all was well, turned back to their own horses. But for some reason Carole couldn’t relax and enjoy the ride. Each time she had fallen before, her feelings of nervousness had gone away after a few seconds back in the saddle. But this time they seemed to have settled in a hard, cold lump in her stomach, and they weren’t showing any sign of melting.

  Stevie and Lisa remounted and trotted to join her. “Everything all right now?” Stevie asked.

  “Sure,” Carole said as the three friends turned their horses toward home. “No problem.”

  But deep down inside, she wasn’t sure she meant it.

  CAROLE TIGHTENED THE girth around Starlight’s belly, then checked all his tack once again before mounting. She was heading out to the ring to work with him on jumping, and she wanted to be sure nothing went wrong. She patted his neck as she rode forward to touch the lucky horseshoe. But strangely, it wasn’t in its usual place on the wall.

  Carole frowned, wondering what had happened to it. She had never seen the doorway without the comforting shape of the horseshoe beside it, and the bare wall looked very odd to her. Still, there was nothing she could do about it now. The stable was deserted, so there was no one she could ask about it. Besides, she didn’t want to waste any of her training time with Starlight. With a shrug, she touched the spot on the wall where the horseshoe normally hung and rode outside.

  When she reached the outdoor ring she got to work right away. A small jump course was already set up, and after warming up with a few turns around the outside edge of the ring, she sent Starlight toward the first obstacle. He cleared it easily, and Carole smiled. She had the perfect horse; she’d always known it, and Starlight kept proving it to her over and over. He continued through the course, taking each jump with more room to spare between his hooves and the top rail. Before long it seemed almost as if he were flying.

  Then they cantered toward the final obstacle, a bright red fence with shrubbery around it. Carole frowned a little when she saw it. For some reason she hadn’t noticed it until this moment, and when she did it struck her as odd. First, she didn’t remember seeing the red-railed jump before. Second, it seemed strange that anyone would take the time to set up such an elaborate jump for a training course.

  The seconds seemed to pass very slowly as Starlight made his approach to the jump, and Carole’s mind seemed to be working very slowly as well. One part of her wanted to pull up and avoid the red jump, but for some reason she didn’t seem able to do it. Her hands felt numb and helpless on the reins, but Starlight wasn’t paying any attention to his rider’s distress. He was gaining speed, and for a moment Carole was afraid he was going to plow right through the fence. But at just the right moment the gelding’s forefeet lifted off the ground, and Carole felt his powerful hindquarters propelling them forward and upward, like an exploding cannon. When she glanced down, the jump seemed to be yards beneath them.

  Starlight’s landing was perfect, like the rest of the jump. Carole’s hands relaxed and she started to smile, but her smile froze when the horse suddenly came to a complete stop and began shaking his head and snorting. Perplexed by his behavior, Carole signaled for a trot. But Starlight ignored her, standing stock-still except for his head, which was now rolling from side to side so far that Carole could see the whites of his eyes. Something was very wrong, but Carole wasn’t sure what it was. She gave the signal again, more firmly this time.

  Suddenly, with a quick, powerful movement, Starlight reared and bucked. Carole flew out of the saddle, landing with a loud thud against the jump behind them. She shook her head to clear the red haze out of her mind. The first thing she saw was the red posts of the jump. As she stared at them, trying to get her eyes to focus properly, she heard an unfamiliar noise behind her. When she turned she saw Starlight, except that he didn’t look like the Starlight she knew. This was a wild, unknown Starlight, with eyes that were beginning to burn as if lit from within by a red fire. And those eyes were trained directly on her as he pawed the ground and leaped forward …

  Carole awoke in a cold sweat and sat bolt upright, her eyes staring wildly into the dark corners of her bedroom, looking for a ghost horse to spring out at her at any second. As soon as she realized what had happened—it had all been a dream, just a bad dream—her heart started to slow down to its normal rate. She took a deep breath to calm herself and glanced at the digital alarm clock beside her bed. It was four o’clock in the morning.

  “It was just a nightmare, that’s all,” Carole whispered to herself, shifting her legs, which had become entangled in the s
heets. She flipped her pillow over to the cool side, then leaned back and closed her eyes. As soon as she did, the red-eyed phantom Starlight reappeared. Carole’s eyes flew open again, and she sat up with a groan. She had the sinking feeling she wouldn’t be going back to sleep that night.

  BY THE TIME Carole dragged herself downstairs for breakfast, her father had already left for work. Carole had spent a long time in the shower, standing under the coldest water she could bear to try to wake herself up, and she hadn’t heard him leave. She remembered that he had a big project going on at work that week, which meant he had been putting in long hours at the office. In fact, she’d spent the past few nights alone watching the scary old movies they usually enjoyed together at this time of year. She felt annoyed that he had rushed away without even saying good morning. She would have liked to talk her nightmare over with him.

  Heaving an irritated sigh, she grabbed two slices of whole-wheat bread and stuck them in the toaster. She wasn’t particularly hungry, but she knew she would be starving by lunchtime if she didn’t eat something. She leaned on the counter as she waited for the toast to pop up, and her mind drifted back to her dream. It had seemed so real; she could still remember the feeling of flight as Starlight’s hind legs propelled them over the jumps. But it hadn’t been real. She had to keep reminding herself of that. Starlight was in his stall at Pine Hollow right now, and he didn’t have glowing red eyes or a look of murderous rage or—

  Carole jumped when the toast popped out of the toaster. Feeling annoyed with herself for being so nervous, she grabbed the toast, burning her fingers. She dropped the toast on the counter and stuck her fingers in her mouth, feeling more annoyed than ever. It was going to be a long day.

  CAROLE WENT FROM class to class as usual, but her mind wasn’t on her schoolwork. She had expected her memory of the nightmare to fade as the day wore on. That was what usually happened, whether the dream in question was good, bad, or indifferent. Once, years ago, she had had a wonderful dream about riding in the Grand National steeplechase race. She had wanted to remember and savor the dream for as long as possible. But by the time she had finished breakfast, she couldn’t remember what she had been wearing, and by lunchtime she had forgotten her mount’s name and what he looked like. By the next day all she had been able to retain was the wonderful feeling the dream had left her with.

  This time it was different. Her nightmare was just as vividly imprinted on her mind now as it had been the second she woke up, and she had no idea why. The rational part of her mind knew that the dream didn’t mean anything. Obviously her spill of the day before had combined with Troy’s Halloween story to create the scary nightmare. But in the less rational part of her mind, Carole wondered: Was there such a thing as a phantom horse? Was it possible for an animal she thought she knew inside and out to change into another sort of creature entirely? Had Starlight’s sudden outburst the day before really been the result of an insect bite?

  Carole knew she was being silly. But she was tired, and as she dragged herself through the school day thoughts of her dream, Troy’s phantom horse, and Starlight kept swirling through her head.

  She had made plans to meet Stevie and Lisa at Pine Hollow after school for a trail ride, but by the end of the day she felt almost too tired to make it to the stable. Then another thought occurred to her. Her two best friends would be the perfect people to take her mind off her strange dream and even stranger thoughts. Lisa was so sensible that she would make things seem okay just by listening; and Stevie, despite her wild schemes and crazy sense of humor, was down-to-earth about the things that really mattered.

  Carole felt relieved the moment she’d thought of this. School was almost over, and soon she’d be with her friends at the stable. All this nonsense would be behind her. Besides, just seeing Starlight himself would make her feel better—wouldn’t it?

  WHEN CAROLE ARRIVED at Pine Hollow, her friends were nowhere to be found, so she headed straight to Starlight’s stall. She ignored the slight fluttering in her stomach as she turned the corner and headed down the aisle, and to her relief the sight of his mahogany head peering out at her over the half door of his stall brought an automatic smile to her lips, just like always.

  “Hi, boy,” she said softly, reaching forward to stroke his velvety muzzle. She let herself into the stall and ran her hand down his neck, searching for the insect bite. It wasn’t difficult to find; in fact, it seemed to be larger than it had been the day before. Carole frowned. It must have swollen overnight.

  “Carole? Are you in there?” called a voice from outside. It was Troy.

  Carole let herself out of the stall. The groom was leaning against the wall, chewing on a piece of hay. Normally Carole might have found it an amusing sight—tough-looking Troy, in his leather jacket and earrings, chewing hay like a TV image of a country boy. But today she didn’t feel much like laughing.

  “There you are,” Troy drawled. “I hope I didn’t scare you this time.”

  Carole didn’t bother to answer that. “I think Starlight’s shoulder is swelling,” she said. “He got a bug bite yesterday and it’s bigger now than it was then.”

  “I know,” Troy said calmly. “Max wanted me to come tell you he already had the vet in to look at it. She said it’s nothing serious. You should just keep it clean and keep an eye on it, and call her if it doesn’t start clearing up within a few days.”

  Carole glanced back at Starlight. “What about riding him? Did she say it would be okay?”

  Troy shrugged. “She didn’t say it wouldn’t.” He spit out the piece of hay and turned to go. “I guess it’s your call. See you later.”

  “Bye. And thanks,” Carole said. She watched him go, thinking about what he had said. The local equine veterinarian, Judy Barker, was one of Carole’s heroes. Judy definitely knew what she was doing, and she was nothing if not cautious and thorough when it came to her patients’ health. If she hadn’t left orders that Starlight wasn’t to be ridden, that meant it was okay for Carole to ride him.

  Carole glanced at Starlight again. He looked back at her unblinkingly, his eyes large and dark. Carole bit her lip. Wasn’t it possible that just this once Judy had forgotten to mention that Carole shouldn’t ride Starlight? A swollen insect bite didn’t seem very serious, but then again, neither did a cough, and that could lead to bronchitis, the flu, or pneumonia, which in turn could lead to broken wind.

  Carole decided she’d better play it safe, and that meant no riding until the swelling went down. She felt relieved once she’d made the decision, but she wasn’t entirely sure that her relief was because she knew she’d made the right choice. Was it possible that she didn’t want to ride Starlight today anyway?

  Instead of thinking about that, she went to look for Max. She found him in the grain shed helping Red mix the feed for the next week. The two men looked up as she entered.

  “Hi, Red. Hi, Max,” she said.

  “Are you all right, Carole?” Red asked, an expression of concern on his freckled face. “Your eyes look a little red.”

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” Carole said, rubbing her eyes. “I didn’t get enough sleep last night, that’s all.”

  “I hope it wasn’t because you were worrying about Starlight,” Max said, measuring out a cupful of barley. “I noticed that bite was swelling, so I asked Judy to take a look. But she said there’s nothing to worry about. It will be gone in a day or two.”

  Carole nodded. “Troy told me. But I think I’ll let Starlight rest today, just to be on the safe side. I’m not going to ride him.”

  Max shrugged. “It’s up to you,” he said. “I really don’t think there’d be any harm in riding him today, though. Anyway, I thought I saw your two co-conspirators arriving a few minutes ago. Won’t they be disappointed if you have to cancel your trail ride, or whatever you three have planned?”

  Carole shook her head, looking a little stubborn. “I’m not going to ride him today.”

  Max and Red exchanged glances. “Okay,�
� Max said. “As I said, it’s up to you. He’s your horse. But I really would hate to see your friends disappointed. When Stevie gets disappointed, strange things have a way of happening. So why don’t you take Barq out today, no charge? Actually you’d be doing me a favor. He hasn’t been ridden for two days, and he’s getting bored.”

  “Really?” Carole said. “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”

  “Of course not,” Max replied with a smile. “Unless you’d rather stay here and help us mix this feed, that is.”

  “Thanks, Max,” Carole said gratefully. She hurried out of the shed before Max could change his mind. She went to Belle’s stall, arriving there as Stevie walked up carrying Belle’s tack.

  “There you are,” Stevie said. “Lisa and I were wondering where you’d gone. She looked for you after school, but you’d already disappeared.”

  “I came straight here,” Carole said. “I guess I forgot to wait for her.”

  “Well, she might forgive you,” Stevie teased. “Especially if you help her get Prancer tacked up. Is Starlight ready to go?”

  “Urn, I’m not riding Starlight today,” Carole said. She was dying to tell Stevie all about her nightmare, but she decided to wait until Lisa was there, too. “That bite he got yesterday swelled up a little.”

  “Is he going to be all right?” Stevie asked, immediately concerned.

  Carole nodded. “Judy said it’s not serious. It’ll be gone in a couple of days.”

  “But you can’t ride him?” Stevie said. “What a pain in the neck. Get it? A pain in the neck?”

  “Ha ha,” Carole said. “Actually, Max said it would probably be okay to ride Starlight today. But I don’t want to take any chances, and Max offered to let me ride Barq. I’d better go get his tack now.”

  “Oh. Okay,” Stevie said. As she watched her friend walk down the aisle toward the tack room, her eyes narrowed curiously. Carole hadn’t seemed very disappointed about missing a ride on Starlight. That wasn’t like her at all. Usually she could hardly bear to be parted from her horse, even to eat, sleep, or go to school. Now she was switching to Barq with hardly a blink of the eye. After a moment Stevie shrugged and turned back to Belle. It was probably nothing. If something was wrong, Carole would tell her.