03 - Dark Paradise by Tami Hoag

Author:Tami Hoag [Hoag, Tami]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller
ISBN: 9780553561616
Amazon: 0553561618
Publisher: Bantam
Published: 1994-03-01T06:00:00+00:00

“What are you doin’ with that colt?” J.D. demanded.

Will, who was turning twelve that very day, was already in the saddle. The Appaloosa gelding was just two and wild as a cob. He’d run loose his whole life, had never felt the hand of man until Chaske ran him down from the hills three weeks before. J.D. had taken a shine to him instantly. The young horse had a fine way of carrying himself and a smart look in his eyes. He was a copper chestnut with white legs and blanket of snow white over his hindquarters. J.D. had been working him in the round pen with Chaske’s help, trying to get the colt used to people, then to a saddle. He hadn’t been ridden more than twice.

As Will took a short hold on the reins, the colt danced, his head sky high. He rolled his white-ringed eyes back, trying to see the unfamiliar person on his back.

Will shot J.D. a smug grin. “I’m gonna ride him.”

The feeling that burst through J.D. was jealousy, pure and simple. The colt was his. He had a natural talent with horses, and that was one thing his snot-nosed little brother couldn’t horn in on. Except now he was. Nothing was sacred.

“You’re gonna get dumped on your bony little butt, shithead. Get off him.”

Will took a tighter hold on the reins. The colt danced around in a circle, blowing through flared nostrils. The color was gone from Will’s face, but he showed no other sign of losing his nerve. “I can ride him if I want, John Dopeface. You don’t own him.”

“I own him more than you do,” J.D. shot back. He jumped up on a rail on the corral fence and reached for the colt’s bridle. The horse shied sideways, beyond trusting anyone. “Get off before you ruin him!”

Will ignored him, his attention snagged by the sound of Sondra’s voice as she and some of her town friends came down across the yard toward the corral. She was laughing and talking, her voice like the sound of water tumbling down a mountain stream. She dressed like a town lady, which J.D. hated, but then, he hated most everything about Sondra and Sondra’s snotty friends. He was too busy glaring at them to notice that Will was taking the colt out through the gate.

Everything seemed to happen at once then. Will said something to catch his mother’s attention. She turned toward him, smiling brightly, and raised a hand to wave. The colt went off like a rocket. He shot straight up in the air, all four legs coming off the ground. Will’s eyes went as round as silver dollars, then squeezed shut as the horse came down, driving his head down between his knees and jerking him halfway over the animal’s neck in the process.

There was nothing to do but watch the wreck happen. J.D. stayed on the rail, his fingers digging into the rough wood. Sondra was screaming. Her lover went running to find help, but there was no helping Will.

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