Gypsy Gold Read Free Page B

be out on this hillside where anyone could see him,” Sam insisted.
    â€œBut look down the hill at all that vegetation,” Jen said. Then, she added, “I’m thirsty. I wish we hadn’t eaten those biscuit sandwiches.”
    â€œNot me,” Sam said. Though the biscuits stuffed with cheese had been salty when you had nothing todrink, they’d tasted great and Sam knew those calories had helped keep them going all day.
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    â€œDid you hear that?” Jen asked. She grabbed Sam’s arm and held her still.
    Sam winced at the strength of Jen’s grip.
    The ground beneath their boots had hardened. Off to their left was a grove of cottonwood trees. That meant they were near water, but Sam didn’t hear it flowing. Even when she concentrated with her eyes closed, she heard nothing but a breeze and maybe the far-off howling of coyotes.
    â€œThis way,” Jen said. She shrugged her backpack into a more comfortable position and stepped off the path.
    â€œWait! You were the one—”
    Jen peered through the darkness, then strode off through the short, crunchy grass.
    â€œUh-uh,” Sam said. “No. We can’t leave the trail.”
    â€œJust for a few yards,” Jen called back.
    â€œI bet that’s what the Donner party said,” Sam muttered.
    â€œWhat?” Jen asked, but her steps didn’t slow and the blond braids bouncing against her back finally faded from view.
    Should she follow Jen? Half her brain said there was no sense in both of them getting lost. The other half reasoned that since it was full dark now and they had their sleeping bags, it would be a good idea tomake camp off the trail and keep searching for the horses at dawn.
    Besides, Sam thought as she hurried in the direction she was pretty sure Jen had taken, she was a loyal friend.
    Brush cracked underfoot and she was looking down, trying to be careful where she set her boots, when Jen’s outline loomed up in front of her.
    Automatically, her hands came up to keep from running into her friend.
    â€œSam!” Jen whispered urgently. “Listen.”
    Finally Sam heard it. The melody could have been made by waving branches and soprano winds, but the sounds recurred in patterns. A bit lower than the other sounds, a human voice was singing.
    Chills drizzled down Sam’s neck.
    I’m not going over there.
    She’d already opened her mouth to warn Jen that this was too weird, when she heard a stamp and a familiar snort.
    â€œThat’s Ace,” Sam whispered.
    Suddenly her feet didn’t hurt and she’d changed her mind about going on. She slipped past Jen and rushed through the blackness as if magnetized to her horse.
    Jen followed so closely, Sam hoped she wouldn’t stomp on her heel and make them both fall. But neither of them stumbled and the grove around them began showing more clearly. Sam saw bark andleaves as they crept up on their horses.
    After a few more steps their mounts’ silhouettes took form. She could tell that the horses were still saddled.
    Silly’s flaxen mane and Quarter Horse conformation showed first, but Ace was there, too. Silly blocked most of the firelight, but a bit of brightness touched Ace’s bay coat and the white star on his forehead.
    Sam sucked in her stomach and held her breath as she stepped over a rock.
    Jen moved so quietly, Sam couldn’t even hear her. With only a few more yards left between them and the horses, there was no reason for their silence. The horses didn’t seem to care that they were coming.
    Ace and Silly must be tired, hungry, and ready to be caught, or they would have bolted. They had to have sensed the girls’ approach, but both horses kept their heads high, ears pricked toward the singing cowboy or camper or whatever he was.
    And it was a he. Sam could hear that much.
    Just a few more steps. Then she could grab Ace and go.
    But gooseflesh prickled all over her body as Sam realized