Wild Honey by Terri Farley

Author:Terri Farley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2006-09-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Why was he staring at her while he was talking about horse thieves?

Sam’s hands turned cold. Her arms felt like they’d frozen and then she shivered, even though the temperature must have reached ninety degrees.

She must have been giving off invisible icicles, because when Preston finished giving directions for the gauntlet and everyone else stood up to get ready, Jen reached over, grabbed Sam’s hand, and squeezed it with concern.

“Don’t panic,” Jen said quietly. “He looked at you because—”

“I wasn’t imagining it, then?” Sam said, wishing Preston’s stare had been produced by her paranoia.

“Definitely not,” Jen said. “But I’m convinced it’s because Sheriff Ballard told him about Hotspot’s disappearance and your role in it.”

“Wonderful,” Sam sighed. “Just because I tried to help your boyfriend—”

“Don’t go there,” Jen snapped, but she took Sam’s hands and pulled her to her feet with a sympathetic smile. “Go pick up those marachas and jitterbug ’til you’ve terrified every horse here.”

“Jitterbug?” Sam asked, but Jen gave her a shove between the shoulder blades, and she went.

Each horse ran the gauntlet alone, while the other riders lined up facing each other. Preston had explained that the point was for each horse to ignore the noise and visual distraction and listen to his rider, so those in the gauntlet used kazoos, plastic bags filled with aluminum cans, pom-poms, and other things to create chaotic rows for the horses to pass between.

Preston had gone to his truck cab and retrieved a bunch of helium-filled balloons he’d bought in Darton. When he gave them to Mrs. Allen and instructed her to stroll near the horses, she looked as pleased as if he’d handed her a bouquet of roses.

Though Sam started out feeling silly waving a pink pool noodle in one hand and a maraca in the other, it was fun. By the time her turn came, Ace had been watching for nearly an hour. He survived his trip through the gauntlet easily. When Preston dismissed the volunteer riders, Sam had managed not to think about the Phantom’s lead mare for at least fifteen minutes.

Dallas had left with Ace and Amigo. Sam, Jen, Darrell, and Jake were piling all the desensitization gear into boxes and the adults were talking nearby when Sam saw Mrs. Allen do something strange.

She released the balloons one by one and when they’d all floated away, colors dimmed to black dots in the sky, she looked sadly at Sam. Then she turned to Preston.

“I’ve got to show you something,” she said. “It’s in the barn.”

Sam felt as if red ants covered every inch of her body. Jen dropped the plastic pipe she’d been picking up and Jake slowly put his thumbs in his pockets. Only Darrell didn’t halt his movements and stare.

No! Sam wanted to leap the clutter between her and Mrs. Allen and clap her hand over the old lady’s mouth. But she trusted Mrs. Allen. She couldn’t be about to do what Sam’s paranoid mind was thinking.

Black skirts swishing back from her boots, Mrs.

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