The Wild One Read Free Page B

unusual? I mean, maybe it is the same horse. Maybe he’s really old.” Sam cut a green bean into four neat sections.
    â€œRemember Smoke, Blackie’s sire?” Dad asked. “That old cow pony was a mustang and he was dark as Blackie when he was a yearling. He turned gray by age five, but he was snow white by the time he died last spring.
    â€œThat’s the way it is with most white horses, if they’re not albinos, and that’s all there is to this Phantom.”
    So quick that it startled them all, Gram stood up. She lifted the coffeepot, poured a cup for Dad, and set it before him.
    â€œWho wants dessert?” Gram went to the counter and came back with a pie. She placed it on the table.
    â€œI don’t know.” Sam wondered if she could eat another bite.
    â€œNo excuses, young lady.” Gram’s thick-bladed knife split the golden crust. She served Sam along with everyone else.
    â€œAnd second, Sam,” Dad watched her over the top of his coffee cup, “we’ve watched for your colt and haven’t seen him. With all the trouble these horses are into—”
    â€œAnd Linc bein’ loco to catch the Phantom,” Jake added.
    â€œWhat he thinks he’ll do with that stud is beyond me,” Dad said, shaking his head.
    â€œWyatt, it’s clear as glass what he intends.” Gram sat down with her own pie. “Linc Slocum moved out West to play cowboy. He bought a ranch. He hired men to teach him to ride and rope. He bought clothes to look the part of a working buckaroo, but he only looks like he’s wearing a costume.
    â€œFolks still see him as an outsider,” Gram said, mostly to Sam. “So he wants a wild white stallion that stands for everything he can’t buy.”
    â€œCapturing the Phantom won’t change what folksthink of him,” Jake said.
    â€œAnd it’ll land him in jail if the Bureau of Land Management finds out,” Dad added.
    Sam fidgeted with her napkin. Linc Slocum gave her the creeps.
    â€œIf Blackie joined a herd headed away from here, it would be for his own good,” Dad said, then swallowed his last bite of pie.
    Sam thought for a minute, counting up the years. Blackie would be almost five by now. A stallion. With his mustang bloodlines, he could survive in the wild.
    â€œBlackie’s got a herd of his own, now,” she said and crossed her arms. “That’s what I think.”
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    By the time Sam left the table, the snap on her jeans was pushing against her stomach. She felt stuffed and a little sleepy, but she could hardly wait to go ride Ace. Still, she tried to be polite.
    â€œWant me to wash dishes?” she offered, then crossed her fingers. Please let Gram refuse.
    â€œNo, you better go try out your horse.” Gram stacked the dishes.
    Sam knew it wasn’t fair to leave Gram indoors, while she, Dad, and Jake escaped into the June afternoon.
    â€œMaybe I’ll unpack first.” Sam fidgeted near Gram’s elbow.
    â€œDon’t do that.” Gram slipped the plates into asink full of soap suds. “It’ll just be a waste of time.”
    â€œDon’t unpack?” Sam bit her lip. “Why not?”
    Jake slid his chair away from the table with a screech. “You won’t be staying long. That’s why not.”

Chapter Three
    S AM COULD HAVE SWORN the roast beef wiggled in her belly. What did Jake mean when he said she wasn’t staying long?
    â€œWhat Jake means,” Gram said, “is we’ll be leaving in the morning, so it makes no sense to unpack and repack.” Gram watched Sam with gentle eyes. “I’ll help you go through your clothes, though, and make sure you have what you’ll need.”
    â€œNeed for what ?” Sam’s shout surprised her as much as it did everyone else.
    â€œWyatt!” Gram tied her apron strings with a jerk. “Don’t tell me you didn’t