Welcome Home! by Kristin Earhart

Author:Kristin Earhart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

“What did you just do?” Sarah cried. “You could have hurt him!”

Willa looked at her brother. His eyes filled with tears.

“It was a mistake,” she said to Sarah. “He didn’t mean to hurt Rice Cake.”

Sarah frowned. “I think you should leave. Now.”

Willa and Ben quickly stood up and turned to go. But Chipper stopped them.

“I have to bring my father his lunch,” he said. “Want to come along for the ride?”

“Sure,” answered Willa. She and Ben turned to go back into the house, but Chipper headed to the other side of the yard, toward a long wooden walkway that led to a short dock.

“We’re taking a boat?” she asked.

“It’s just a skiff. It’s okay,” Chipper said. “I’m a good driver.” Chipper handed them life jackets and leaned down to untie the boat.

Once she was buckled, Willa stepped into the front of the skiff. Her whole body wavered as the boat sloshed underneath her. She quickly sat down. “Hold on tightly, Ben,” Willa warned her brother.

Ben watched his sister from the dock. He fiddled with his straps. Ben wondered if this was allowed. What would Mom say? They were getting in a boat with a stranger—and that stranger was a kid! Chipper finished untying the boat.

Ben glanced at his sister’s back, took a deep breath, and stepped in.

“My dad’s a fisherman,” Chipper said, once they were on their way. “He takes people on fishing cruises. We’ve got to get there before they leave.” As the motor revved, the front of the small boat lifted out of the water. Willa grabbed on to her seat. The boat made its way out of a small creek into the open bay.

“So, you probably know that Assateague is over there, with the wild ponies,” Chipper told them after a while. “And this is about where the ponies come across on swim day.”

Willa and Ben both looked from one shore to the other. The white sands of Assateague looked far from the marshy banks of Chincoteague. The ponies swam it every year, even the new colts. Then many of the youngest ponies would go up to auction the next day. It was how Chincoteague’s Volunteer Fire Department kept track of the herd. They needed to keep it from getting too big. Assateague was a small island. Only so many ponies could live there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.