Mystery Rider Read Free Page B

lame than what she’d said earlier. “And when her mom called the other day, it sounded like Melissa thought we weren’t important, and that she was ready to leave anytime.”
    Colt smacked his leg. “I know. What do you say we flat out ask her what’s up? It’s not like we’ve heard from her again, and she’s supposed to be the head of our parade committee. Instead of talking about her, maybe we should be up-front about it and give her a chance to explain.”
    â€œGood idea, Colt. I’m embarrassed now that we thought all that stuff about her.” Tori peeked at Kate. “Although I have to admit, she hasn’t been the nicest or easiest person to be around in the past, so I get why Kate would be suspicious.”
    Kate expelled a sigh. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but I messed up and I know it. I’ll call her now.” She swung her legs over the side of the lawn chair and started to stand. “Wait a second. Do you hear that?”
    Colt rolled over onto his side in the grass. “Nope. What?”
    â€œShh.” Kate held her finger to her lips. “Hoofbeats. Coming this way from the same direction as the other night.”
    Colt and Tori bounded to their feet, with Kate close on their heels.
    Colt tiptoed toward the road but kept behind a fir tree. “Come on. You girls want to see, or what?”
    Now that the rider had returned, Kate was suddenly scared. What if it was Melissa, and she didn’t answer? Or what if she thought they were spying on her and never spoke to them again? Not that it would be a huge loss. They’d never been friends and had only formed a truce of sorts at the horse show last weekend. But the idea of turning Melissa into an enemy again made Kate sick to her stomach.
    She grabbed Tori’s hand. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
    â€œHuh?” Tori blinked rapidly. “It’s not like we’re doing anything bad. We only want to see who it is, right?”
    â€œI suppose.” Kate allowed Tori to tug her toward the fir tree with overhanging branches. “At least it’s almost dark again, so she’s not likely to see us hiding here.”
    Colt didn’t reply but stepped out from behind the trunk as the rider came opposite the yard. “Hey, that’s a nice horse. What’s its name? Can you stop so we can see him?”
    The rider pivoted their direction, obviously startled. Kate could barely make out a wrinkled face under the hood drawn over the head. A breeze wafted, and a long strand of white hair escaped the hood and danced in front of the rider’s face.
    Definitely not Melissa.
    Relieved, Kate called loudly, “Do you live around here?”
    Instantly the rider touched the horse’s side with a heel, sending it into a fast canter. Rocks from the gravel road kicked up behind as the pair disappeared down the road.
    Tori groaned from behind the tree. “That went well. Sheesh. Either that person has something to hide or is scared of kids. Don’t know which. But at least it’s not Melissa. I’m glad about that.”
    Kate nodded. “Did you see the white hair and wrinkled face? Creepy, if you ask me. I still couldn’t tell if it’s a man or a woman. Could you, guys?”
    Colt shook his head. “I think it might be a woman because of the size, but some men are really small too, so who knows? I hate to keep saying s he or they . If we’re going to try to figure this out, we ought to call him or her the Mystery Rider from now on.”
    â€œCool. The Mystery Rider.” Kate grinned and slapped her palms together. “Now all we have to do is solve the mystery.”

    The next day, Kate leaned her hip against a cupboard in the kitchen. “Mom, do you think I should call Melissa? It’s so weird that she hasn’t come over or called since we first talked about the parade. Tori and I wonder if