The Horse Charmer (Phantom Stallion: Wild Horse Island #1) by Terri Farley

Author:Terri Farley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780060815424
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2007-05-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Darby had spent an hour sitting with her back against the fence, watching Hoku try to understand what had happened to her, when Jonah called her out of the pen.

At first she didn’t want to go.

“Let her doze while you go over to the office,”

Jonah urged her. “Cathy made ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. You can eat while you read your fax.”

“A fax for me?” Darby asked.

“From your friend in Nevada,” Jonah said.

“What surprises you? That there are fax machines in Nevada or in Hawaii?”

“That anyone would send me a fax,” Darby said.

146 E Wild Horse Island

“Well, someone did. Samantha Forster. She’s the one who knows wild horses, right?”

Darby nodded, her pulse beating like crazy at her wrists.

Sam must have learned something about Hoku’s past. And she’d notified her by fax? Darby amended her first thought. Sam must have learned something important about Hoku.

Darby almost blurted her thoughts to Jonah,

since he’d wanted to know more about the filly’s background and bloodlines, but she waited, just in case the news wasn’t as exciting as she was imagining.

They walked toward the office together. Darby assumed Jonah would have lunch with her, until he headed for the hitching rack and untied Kona.

“Aren’t you eating?”

“Later, maybe.”

Kit walked out of the office as Darby started in.

First he touched the brim on his black cowboy hat, as if he planned to keep walking, then he stopped.

“Sorry about hurting your horse,” he apologized.

“I’ve seen steers pull the way she did, but never a little filly.”

For the first time since the accident, tears stung Darby’s eyes. It didn’t matter that Hoku was young, delicately made, and a filly. Her heart was wild.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Darby said, blinking before Kit saw her tears and felt even worse. “If you hadn’t roped her, who knows where she’d be.”

The Horse Charmer F 147

Kit cleared his throat. “Thanks,” he said, then looked after Jonah. “He going to get Luna?”

Darby shrugged.

“The farrier’s on his way, and I was supposed to bring the stud up after I brought the saddle horses.”

“Since Hoku got loose—” Darby was about to

say, I think he’ll understand, but she reminded herself she was talking about Jonah. There was as great a chance he wouldn’t see why Kit hadn’t gone back for Luna, as the chance that he would.

“She has spirit. I’ll give her that,” Kit said, glancing in the direction of the round pen.

“I know it!” Darby said, feeling giddy at the compliment.

“But after all she’s been through, don’t get your hopes up too high. A lot can happen after horses are injured. They go off their feed, develop infections, and they can settle into depression, just like people.”

It was only when Kit’s eyes dropped to her hand that Darby realized she’d covered her heart. She let her hand fall to her side.

“Still, if you can keep her up and moving around, help her eat and drink, and give her something to live for,” Kit said with a grin, “you just might have yourself a horse.”

Head

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