Chasing Gold Read Free Page A

“Trying to figure out where to get a real horse instead of that weird East Coast thing you’ve been riding?”
    Haley rolled her eyes. “Hardly. And even if I was, you’re the last person I’d ask for help.”
    Owen grinned. “Don’t be a hater, just ’cause Chance and I beat you at that penning last month.”
    â€œOnly because our last cow was a dud. And don’t forget, Wings and I beat you the three times before that,” Haley countered. “It’s nice to have a horse who’s good at everything, instead of one who can’t do anything except chase cows.”
    Owen snorted. “What else is there?” he said. “I’d never ask Chance to prance around in a fancy-prancy English saddle. If I did, he’d probably buck me off.”
    â€œProbably,” Haley agreed with a smirk. “Come to think of it, you’re probably better off sticking to Western. If you didn’t have the horn to hold on to, you’d probablyfall off the first time your horse broke out of a slow Western Pleasure lope.”
    Owen’s friend John appeared just in time to hear the last exchange. “Ooh, burn!” he cried, shoving Owen into the lockers.
    â€œGet out of my face.” Owen shoved John back. “What, are you thinking of trading in your cowboy boots for some tight britches, just like Haley?”
    â€œNo way!” John shoved Owen again.
    Haley rolled her eyes as the two boys continued to trade taunts while they moved off down the hall. She was glad they’d forgotten about her. The teasing about being an English rider was familiar, and normally she didn’t mind it. But today she was too tired to come up with good comebacks.
    â€œI told you, Haley!” Tracey exclaimed, rushing over with her blue eyes wide and excited. “Didn’t I totally tell you?”
    â€œTell me what?” Haley dug into her locker, wondering if she’d remembered to stick her math book in her bag before she left home.
    Tracey poked her in the arm. “That Owen so obviously likes you!” she said in a loud stage whisper.
    â€œWhat? Oh, please.” Haley sighed. Tracey had told her that—probably a million times in the past two weeks, or at least that was how it felt to Haley. What had happened to Tracey this year? When had she turned so boy crazy?
    Never mind—Haley knew when it had happened. Over the summer, at the same time Tracey suddenly became interested in clothes and makeup and the latest hairstyles. Before that, she’d been a tomboy just like Haley. In fact, the two of them had always looked enough alike that people often took them for sisters. Tracey’s light-brown hair was just a smidge darker than Haley’s strawberry blond and tended to get snarled by the wind just as easily. With their matching pointy chins and constantly sunburned noses, they’d been “two peas in a pod,” as Uncle Mike always said.
    But over the past year, some of that had changed. Tracey still had the pointy chin, but she’d cut her hair shorter and added blond highlights. She’d grown taller, too, spurting up nearly two inches and even adding the beginning of some curves to her skinny frame.
    The physical changes in Haley’s best friend were weird enough. But it was the other changes that bugged her a lotmore. Haley still wasn’t sure when she’d first noticed that Tracey was more interested in hiking through the local mall than through the woods, but it had been impossible to ignore after Tracey’s older sister had whisked her off down to “the city”—that was what Tracey had started calling Chicago—for a back-to-school haircut at some fancy salon last month.
    â€œI bet he’s going to ask you to the dance.” Tracey pulled a compact mirror out of her purse and peered into it, poking at her elaborately blow-dried bangs. “Too bad that freak John came along and