Dark Horse by Dandi Daley Mackall

Author:Dandi Daley Mackall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUVENILE FICTION / Religious / Christian
ISBN: 9781414332642
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2009-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

Winnie Willis

Nice, Illinois

“Winnie, we’ve landed.”

I hear the whisper in my dream. I feel someone’s breath on my forehead, a hand smoothing my hair. Catman’s hand, his breath. Only I don’t know if I’m dreaming, or . . .

“Welcome to Nice,” Catman says, louder this time.

I open my eyes, and I’m staring into Catman’s piercing blue eyes. It takes me a few seconds to remember where I am—in the backseat of the Coolidge-mobile. My head is on Catman’s shoulder. I must have been asleep for a while because it’s dark out.

I sit up, suddenly embarrassed. “Sorry about that,” I mutter.

“No sorrow here,” Catman says. He leans up to the front seat. “That’s the road, right there.”

“Are you sure, Calvin?” his mother asks. “I can’t tell in this dark.” Mrs. Coolidge got her license only a couple of years ago. Since then, she gets behind the wheel whenever she can. I admit that I was a little nervous at first about Claire Coolidge hauling my horse and trailer behind the Coolidge-mobile, but she’s actually done a great job. She takes the turn.

“Won’t they be surprised!” Mr. Coolidge declares, straightening his tie.

“They will indeed,” Mrs. Coolidge agrees.

“Wait.” I’m really waking up now. “You mean you didn’t tell them we were coming?”

“We did discuss Thanksgiving Day. Nothing else though.” Catman’s mother smiles into the rearview mirror. “Mr. Coolidge and I love surprises.”

“But what if they’ve got other plans? What if they don’t have room for me? Or for Nickers?” I’ve been nervous enough about spending the week with people I don’t know. Put me with a dozen horses I’ve never seen before and I’m fine. But people? That’s a totally different story. I’ve never been great around strangers, and it doesn’t help to find out these people aren’t even expecting us.

“Since early fall my brother and nephew have been lobbying for us to leave the sanctity of our Ohio abode and make a pilgrimage to the foreign soils of Illinois to celebrate Thanksgiving,” Catman’s dad says.

“They weren’t lobbying to get Nickers and me here,” I whisper to Catman.

“Peace out,” Catman whispers back. “It’s cool.”

I press my nose to the cool window and stare at the stars. The black sky is filled with pinpricks of light. The gravel road changes to dirt. I peer through the back window at the trailer. It’s too dark to make out Nickers inside, though. I can’t wait to get her out of there.

We turn up a long drive. Yellow light spills from several windows of a big farmhouse. Unlike the Ohio Coolidge home, this one looks like it’s in great shape. No boarded-up windows, no patched-up roof. And so far, no sign of a single plastic lawn ornament. “You’re sure this is the right place?” I ask.

“Right on,” Catman answers.

“The yard certainly is plain and undecorated,” Mrs. Coolidge observes.

“Mother used to say I got the creativity in the family,” Mr. Coolidge confides.

Catman turns to gaze out his own window. “Oh, man,” he mutters. “Like, total bummer.”

I pop my seat belt and slide over to peer out his window so I can see what he sees.

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