The Challenger by Terri Farley

Author:Terri Farley
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2003-11-09T05:00:00+00:00

When Sam and Jen got off the bus after school the next day, Sam felt their fight was almost forgotten. She was still careful not to mention the cougar or Jen’s dad, but she’d quit weighing her words.

Now, as the bus pulled away, they stood talking before starting their walks home.

“I’ll be calling you about my algebra. I don’t get polynomials at all,” Sam moaned. “And I can’t believe it’s only Tuesday.”

“It’s a challenge fit for Einstein,” Jen agreed. “The week that never ends.”

Sam laughed in bewilderment. Jen was always saying things like that, as if she had a crush on the dead scientist. Sam promised herself that someday she’d learn what all the fuss was about.

“Although maybe,” Jen mused, “I shouldn’t hope it does.”

“Shouldn’t hope the week ends? Why?”

“Because Princess Rachel will be ruling Gold Dust Ranch for a week.”

Sam recoiled. “Where’s Linc going?” she asked.

It wasn’t as if Rachel would have much to do. Mrs. Coley managed the house and Jed Kenworthy ran the ranch. Nothing was likely to go terribly wrong. Still, handing Rachel any control was frightening.

“New York. To meet Ryan.”

“Ryan? Rachel’s twin?”

“That’s the one,” Jen said. “I guess Linc’s combining a business trip with meeting Ryan at the airport when he flies in from London.”

So that’s why Rachel had dragged her off horse shopping, Sam thought. Ryan lived in England with their mother and he was a serious horseman. Rachel wanted to dazzle him with her new horse. Except she didn’t have one.

“Was your grandmother supposed to pick you up for something?” Jen asked, shading her eyes as Gram’s Buick rolled toward them.

It turned out that Jen’s mom had called to say Jen could go riding with Sam without coming home first. Gram looked a little nervous as she explained.

“Since you two are of a size and Sam has plenty of riding clothes, I thought that would be fine,” Gram said.

For a few seconds, Jen looked confused. Then her expression turned to hurt.

“That means my parents are fighting again,” she mumbled to Sam as they climbed into Gram’s backseat. “And they don’t want me around.”

Sam felt awful, but Jen sounded so certain. There was no point in trying to convince her that she was wrong. Sam decided she would try a different approach to cheer Jen up.

“Who do you want to ride?” she offered. “Pick any horse on the place.”

“Wow.” Jen rubbed her hands together and gave a wiggle of delight as if her parents’ problems were forgotten. “Even Popcorn?”

“Especially Popcorn,” Sam said. Jen was a good rider, so whatever choice she made would be perfect. “Brynna said HARP probably won’t get up and going until at least spring break. We don’t want Popcorn to forget everything he’s learned.”

Once they reached River Bend, the girls ran upstairs, changed into riding clothes, and talked about where they’d go.

“We could go toward War Drum Flats,” Jen said. “But if there are mustangs at the water hole, it might be hard for Popcorn.”

“Yeah, if he saw a whole herd, he might want to join them,” Sam said.

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