Mistwalker Read Free Page A

anything, Darby thought, but she said, “I just hope they can work things out.”
    â€œAt least they’ll be on the same side of the Pacific Ocean,” Aunty Cathy said. “That’s a start.”
    Â 
    Darby stashed the boxes in her bedroom, then rushed outside. Mist was creeping in, blotting out edges of hills, and though it was still warm, Darby knew she’d feel soggy before she finished caring for Francie, the goat, and her orphan piglet, Pigolo.
    She glanced at Hoku, still tied by her neck rope at the hitching rail. Even though the filly nickered and pawed for attention, she’d save Hoku for last.
    â€œYou’re feeding early,” Jonah observed as she emerged from Pigolo’s pen.
    â€œHomework,” Darby said, which was the truth,even though she usually left her weekend homework for Sunday night.
    â€œHmm,” Jonah grunted.
    Darby didn’t stay to talk. If she did, her grandfather was sure to make a crack about fattening the piglet for Fourth of July dinner.
    Instead, she jogged to untie Hoku. Unclipping one end of the tangerine-and-white-striped rope, Darby led the filly toward her corral.
    At least, she tried to.
    â€œKu’uipo,” she crooned when the horse braced all four legs and refused to move. “That means ‘sweetheart,’ remember? If you’re going to be a Hawaiian horse, you might as well learn the language.”
    Ears pointed toward the end of the dirt road that ran past the old fox cages and her own corral, Hoku ignored Darby.
    Darby brushed the beads of moisture from her eyelashes and followed the filly’s stare, but she didn’t spot anything worth Hoku’s attention.
    â€œWhat do you see, girl?” Darby asked.
    Mist obscured the place where the road came to an end and the rolling hills began. She could picture the grassland ahead. If you went that way long enough, you’d come to a place called the fold, where ‘Iolani Ranch crested and fell like a wave of green velvet.
    Darby’s pulse pounded as she remembered Black Lava lurking among the hills. Hoku had confronted the wild stallion there. Was she remembering, too?
    But Black Lava was corralled with his herd now at Lehua High School, and Hoku looked curious, not bold and ready to chase off an intruder.
    â€œOw!”
    The lead rope jerked tight around Darby’s hand. Bones grated against each other.
    Amputation , Darby thought, but the lead rope slipped free of her hand as Hoku bolted.
    Darby cradled the hand against her ribs, but only for a second. Everyone on the ranch had warned her about wrapping the lead rope around her hand.
    Her hand ached with every stride she took after Hoku. Her filly wasn’t moving too fast. Her gait was a cautious trot. Still, the pain could have been avoided, Darby lectured herself. She’d never be so stupid again.
    She moved up along her filly’s right side, determined to snag the trailing rope with the hand that didn’t hurt. But then Hoku skidded to a stop.
    Playful as a colt, the sorrel tossed her nose in the direction of something only she could see, and gave a half buck.
    An invitation to kick up your heels, Darby thought as her eyes investigated each dip, curve, and shadow in the grass, hunting for the creature Hoku was greeting. Whoever you are, please don’t accept!
    There. A black-and-white form emerged from the mist and resolved itself into a beautiful paint horse.
    Don’t I know you? Darby asked silently.
    The strange horse gave a nicker and kept her eyes on Darby. The paint approached quietly. If Hoku went cavorting off, catching her would take all night.
    Since the horses were still assessing each other, Darby raised her left arm in tiny increments toward the lead rope.
    The last time she’d seen the horse, she’d been brindled by shadows, not blurred with dusk. Medusa, Black Lava’s lead mare, had been disciplining the pinto, keeping her in the herd with a savage bite just