Moonlight Mile by Catherine Hapka

Author:Catherine Hapka
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

“Next, we have Nina Peralt on Bay Breeze,” the ­announcer’s voice rang out over the stable’s PA system. “They’re dressed as the ghost of Nina’s many-times-great-aunt ­Serena, a native New Orleanian with a tragic past who lived during the Civil War, and her ghostly horse.”

The audience applauded, and Nina heard a few whoops from her friends and relatives as she and Breezy cantered into the ring. Nina knew they looked great—Jordan and Trinity had helped her get ready, dusting Breezy’s coat with talcum powder to make him look ghostly and weaving the ribbons and scraps of gray, white, and silver fabric Nina had brought into his mane and tail. Nina herself looked suitably spooky in her long, tattered gray tunic, pale gray gloves, and dark breeches. A wig she’d found at a junk shop was glued to her spare riding helmet, its lank gray locks streaming out behind her as she rode.

Nina circled the ring at a canter, enjoying the cheers of the crowd. Now that she was out here, she was glad she hadn’t let what had happened earlier keep her from entering the costume class. This was fun!

Later, after all the riders had taken care of their mounts and returned to the ring on foot, the stable owner finally announced the winners of the costume prizes. Nina and Jordan ended up tied for first place in the local-interest category, while Nina also won second prize for spookiest, behind a pretty convincing Headless Horseman costume.

“Well done, baby,” Aunt Toni said, touching the colorful ribbons fluttering on Nina’s backpack. “You did good today.”

“Thanks.” Nina smiled, accepting congratulations from the rest of her family as well.

But she couldn’t help feeling a little distracted. The day hadn’t turned out quite as she’d been expecting. Normally that wouldn’t bother her—Nina loved surprises. But today she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about the things that had gone wrong. Like Breezy stopping at that fence in their first jumping class. Or the cat-and-mouse spook that had caused chaos for the entire ring. Or especially that horrible ripping sound as her breeches split down the middle . . .

Realizing that her mother was talking to her, she blinked. “Uh, sorry,” she said. “Spaced out there for a sec. What?”

“I said, are any of your friends coming to your dad’s gig tonight?” her mother said.

Nina blinked again. She’d forgotten all about her father’s show. Right then, the thought of spending that evening crammed into a dark, smoky jazz club didn’t seem as appealing as it should have.

“No, I don’t think so,” she said, suddenly glad she’d forgotten to mention the gig to Jordan and Trin and the others. She glanced at her father. “Actually, would you be mad if I didn’t make it? I kind of want to hang out with Breezy a little longer—you know, thank him for being such an awesome pony today.”

Her father looked surprised, but he shrugged. “No worries, I get it,” he said. “You go pamper that good pony of yours.”

“Maybe you can come join up with us later,” DeeDee suggested.

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