Blue Ribbon Summer Read Free Page B

He glanced up when he heard Foxy coming.
    â€œHi!” Brooke called, holding the reins in one hand as she pushed up her glasses, which had slipped down her nose as they always did when it was hot.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” Adam asked.
    Brooke shrugged. “Nothing. Just bored. Want to ride down to the creek or something?”
    â€œI can’t.” Adam shot a look toward the quiet country road, which was deserted except for a crow pecking at a leaf. “I’ve got swim team. Justin will be here to pick me up soon, so . . .”
    His voice trailed off, and he didn’t quite meet Brooke’s eye. Brooke knew him well enough to guess what he wasn’t saying—he wanted her to scram before his ride arrived, probably because Justin was a year older and one of the most popular boys at school.
    Before she could figure out how to feel about that, there was the sudden loud pop of a car backfiring at the end of the road. A second later a souped-up vintage Mustang peeled around the corner and sped toward them, engine roaring. Brooke knew the car—her stepdad had sold it to Justin’s older brother, who was in high school.
    The crow flew up with a squawk, and Foxy snorted and jumped to the side as the car screeched to a stop at the curb. “Easy, girl,” Brooke murmured, grabbing a chunk of mane just in time to stop herself from sliding off the pony’s back. How embarrassing would that be?
    Justin jumped out of the passenger seat. “Yo, Conley!” he yelled. He did a double take as he noticed Brooke and Foxy standing there. “Whoa, a horse! Weird.”
    Adam laughed. “Yeah, that’s just Brooke. She’s, like, the neighborhood horse freak. Come on, let’s jet.”
    Justin’s brother revved the engine as Adam and Justin climbed into the car. Adam’s door had barely shut behindhim when the Mustang shot off again, tires squealing as it rounded the next bend in the road.
    Foxy relaxed as soon as the car was out of earshot, though Brooke still felt tense. What had gotten into Adam lately? He’d always been her best friend—almost like a brother. But he wasn’t acting like much of a friend lately. . . .
    She shook her head, banishing those thoughts. What was the point in worrying about it? There was nothing she could do.
    â€œAt least I still have you, girl,” she whispered, rubbing Foxy’s neck. “Come on, let’s take a nice long ride along the creek—just the two of us.”

    By five o’clock that afternoon it was hotter than ever. After her morning ride, Brooke had spent the next few hours in the air-conditioned house, looking through her shelf of horse books for training ideas. Only the need to feed Foxy had forced her to drag herself back outside.
    Foxy was halfway through her grain and Brooke was outside the shed, topping off the mare’s water tub with thehose, when she heard her stepfather calling her name from the direction of the house.
    â€œHe’s home early today,” she commented to Foxy. When her name drifted across the yard again, Brooke turned off the hose and shoved it back under the fence where Foxy couldn’t reach it. The mare was still young, and had been known to play with things when the mood struck her. Those things often ended up damaged or destroyed as a result. That was what had happened to Foxy’s last fly mask, and also to a couple of grooming brushes Brooke had left within the mare’s reach. Brooke was already broke and definitely didn’t want to spend the next two weeks scrubbing upholstery at the used car lot to pay for a new hose.
    She hurried back to the house. Her stepfather was pacing back and forth in the kitchen. The twins were sitting at the table, paying no attention to their father or anything else as they argued loudly over the last cookie in the box.
    â€œAh, Brooke.” Her stepfather stopped pacing and smiled at her.