Rain Forest Rose by Terri Farley

Author:Terri Farley
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2007-09-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

The next morning Darby and Hoku walked into the rain forest. At their intrusion, birds and insects had hushed. With no other noise to mask their movements, each step sounded as if they were crashing heedlessly through the vegetation.

Finally, they stopped on a wooded slope, picking an almost level spot where they had a view of the stream where the pink mare came to drink.

Darby sat with her notebook while Hoku rubbed her neck against a nearby tree. A pudgy, watermelon-colored bird glided near enough to study them, then landed on a branch. Down below, a gold-winged bird landed near the water and fluttered, taking a bath. Then other birds called and insects hummed, as if the forest had accepted them.

Unsettled by her conversation with Cade, Darby had stayed awake much of the night.

She’d been wrong about Cade. Ben had been riding Tango. Ben had ordered Cade to chase Tango, but after the first reflex obedience, he’d come back without Tango to help his mentor and Megan. It wasn’t his fault that nothing could be done.

Tossing in the confinement of her sleeping bag, Darby had felt sick over her unwarranted suspicion.

If Megan wanted to be friends with Cade, she’d have to untangle their misunderstandings herself. Or go to Tutu.

Great-grandmothers, especially Darby’s, had learned a thing or two about human nature, while Darby only knew about studying. And talking to horses. When she got them to talk back, then maybe she’d be a horse charmer.

I’m out of this, she’d declared, deciding to give up amateur detecting. Only then had she tumbled into a sound sleep.

Now Darby sat in the shade-strained sunlight, doing something she knew she could do. Homework. Hoku raised her head from inspecting a path-side plant and snorted, but her ears pointed away from the bird bathing below.

“Don’t try to distract me,” Darby said softly.

Jonah wanted her to list twenty-five things her horse did. As homework went, it was a piece of cake, Darby thought. Working from memory, she started writing.

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