Castaway Colt Read Free Page A

filly several times each day.
    Now, Darby checked Navigator’s hooves, thanked him for not picking up rocks, and gave him a shoulder pat that told him to move off and look for dinner.
    Then Darby hung up her saddle, left her saddle blanket to air, hooked her bridle on its hanger, and strode down the road toward Judge.
    â€œGet away!” Darby called to the old horse, but she must not have sounded any scarier than she felt.
    Judge gazed at her as if he must have misunderstood. Darby pretended to scoop up a rock to throw at him.
    The sweet old horse just tilted his ears forward,trying to understand, until she felt a guilty ache.
    â€œShoo,” Darby said, then fluttered her hands toward Judge.
    Judge greeted her with a low rumble, and when she got close enough that Hoku switched her attention to Darby’s odd gestures, Judge rolled his eyes and jogged away.
    Hoku neighed after him, but the old bay kept moving.
    â€œHey, pretty girl,” Darby said.
    She smooched at the sorrel filly, counting the seconds until Hoku turned back.
    Hoku’s ears swiveled toward Darby like delicate golden leaves turning to the sun.
    Darby sighed, took a quick look around to be sure no one was watching, then tightened her ponytail.
    Hoku rushed to the fence. Her coppery chest pressed against the rails until Darby held out her hand. Then Hoku eased her head over the top rail.
    â€œOur secret.” Darby mouthed the words, but didn’t say them loud enough for even Hoku to hear.
    She’d only known for a week that the filly would come to her when she tightened her ponytail.
    She loved the secrecy of it, and the idea that Hoku had chosen this silent signal.
    Hoku dusted her lips over Darby’s palm, then snorted, as if clearing an unwelcome scent from her nostrils.
    â€œDon’t tell me you can smell that colt,” Darby said. “Besides, you’d like him. You two could play together.”
    As soon as she’d said the words, Darby reconsidered. Hoku already had a horse pal: Judge. If Darby supplied her with an equine playmate like the white colt, what would Hoku need with a human friend?
    â€œJoking,” Darby whispered.
    After feeding the filly, she headed toward Sun House, eager to tell Megan, Jonah, and Aunty Cathy about the white colt.
    In the entrance hall, Darby tugged off Megan’s scuffed burgundy boots and added them to the pile of shoes that Megan, Cathy, and Jonah had lined up, toes to the wall.
    Something fragrant wafted from the kitchen, but Darby passed it to check out the noise in the living room.
    A television news broadcast provided background for conversation, but Darby knew no one would mind if she announced her news.
    Megan and Aunty Cathy hadn’t noticed her yet when Darby began, “Hey, you’ll never believe—”
    Aunty Cathy bit through a thread from the final stitch of her sewing, held up a pair of red shorts, and asked, “What do you think?”
    Struggling to focus on the favor Aunty Cathy had done for her, instead of the colt, Darby said, “Wow, thanks.”
    Lehua High’s school colors of red and gold were still eye-catching on the much-washed shorts and gold T-shirt sitting atop a stack of freshly folded clothes.
    â€œI don’t know that I’d go so far as a ‘wow,’” Aunty Cathy said, laughing, “but you’re welcome. And they’ll do for the rest of the semester.”
    â€œHey,” Megan greeted Darby. The older girl sat cross-legged in front of the television, but her gaze was focused on the textbook in her lap.
    â€œHey,” Darby answered. “You’ll never guess what I—”
    Megan glanced up, smiled, and asked, “Are you excited about tomorrow?”
    â€œSure.” Darby tried her best not to sound impatient.
    â€œNot nervous?”
    â€œNo,” Darby fibbed.
    â€œThe best thing about school is that you get a fresh start every year,” Aunty Cathy pointed