Golden Ghost by Terri Farley

Author:Terri Farley
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2003-09-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Sam spent about ten minutes searching the makeshift stall for clues. If there were any, she decided, it would take a professional to find them. She’d hoped for a rope or halter, even a feed sack, but she found nothing. Whoever came to tend Golden Rose was careful not to leave hints to his identity.

Except for tracks.

Jake had given her a few tips on reading tracks, but the skill remained as much a challenge to her as did algebra. Still, as Sam stood in the straw and peered out through the open back of the saloon, she saw two sets of hoofprints. Only one set was shod.

Jake could have read the tracks like a road sign. After a minute or two of study, he would have known when the tracks were made, the weight of the rider, and how fast the horse was traveling.

Sam could only pick her way around the tracks to keep from obliterating them.

When she returned to Ace, she found him a few feet from where she’d left him, half asleep. The little bay mustang stood with one rear hoof cocked and eyelids drooping. “Getting bored?” she asked, but Ace ignored her.

Because her horse was so sleepy, she probably shouldn’t worry that he’d wander off. But she had visions of Jen herding a galloping Golden Rose back into Nugget. Even though Ace had learned to live with humans, he was a mustang. His urge to run was strong. She didn’t want to test it against his training.

She could tie him, but the only hitching rail was near a watering trough. The water inside almost had to be rainwater, and certainly pure, but Sam refused to take a chance. Brynna had warned her not to water horses here. If she did anything to harm Ace, she’d never forgive herself.

While Ace dozed, Sam listened. It had been nearly an hour since Jen left. She’d promised to be back by now, but Sam was pretty sure Jen hadn’t been hurt. She was just carried away by the chase. Sam wasn’t worried, but she was eager to show Jen the stall and get her best guess on who’d kept Golden Rose confined here.

Could it be a clue that yesterday, she and Jen had met up with Jake and Ryan, both riding shod horses near Nugget?

As soon as Jake popped into her mind, Sam thought of his mother, Mrs. Ely.

She swallowed a moan. She and Jen still didn’t have an artifact, let alone a map of where they’d found it.

Since she was standing right in front of the store labeled Ice, she decided to go inside. She wondered where the ice had come from. Maybe during the little town’s glory days, blocks of ice had been cut from the La Charla River and carried this far by horse-drawn wagon.

She fidgeted a minute as she looked at the tilted gray doorway. There was nothing to fear in there, she was sure. There shouldn’t be much inside to attract mice. Or snakes, or any other kind of animal she’d be afraid to face.

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