Dark Days at Saddle Creek. Shelley Peterson

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СКАЧАТЬ field, her cozy bed, the scratched dresser and cracked mirror — she was so happy to be back at Saddle Creek Farm! She and Julia had made a deal with their mother, Eva: they would stay over with Aunt Hannah whenever there were shows. This arrangement worked well for everybody. It gave Eva a chance to be alone with her new husband, Stuart, and it allowed Bird and Julia to concentrate on the horses and the shows.

      For Bird, the chance to stay with her aunt was welcome for an entirely different reason. Ever since her mother had returned from her honeymoon a few months earlier, things had been strained. Lately, they argued about every little thing. Bird sighed. She felt much more relaxed here.

      As she dried her hair with a blue towel, she observed herself in the mirror. Her hair was growing in very nicely. It had been singed in a barn fire in June, and she’d had it all cut off and styled quite short. She liked it much better now that it was a little longer. It felt more like it belonged to her.

      Her body was starting to change, Bird noticed, but not enough to be embarrassing, like her mother, whose large breasts made every outfit look too tight. At fourteen, Bird still had a girlish look. She hoped she’d always stay that way. She didn’t feel ready to be a grown-up.

      She noted the darkness of her skin and eyes. She liked her colouring, especially in the spring, when other girls looked strangely transparent until the sun gave them substance. Eva was blond with blue eyes, as was Julia. Bird had always known she had a different father than her sister; she’d just never met him. She tried not to dwell on it, but now, drying her dark hair in the mirror, questions resurfaced. Did she get her dark eyes and hair from him? She’d always thought so, but the truth was, she had no idea. All she knew was that her father had met her mother at the Calgary Stampede, where he was a broncobuster, and that he’d disappeared shortly thereafter. She desperately wanted to know more. He was her father, after all! But Eva constantly rebuffed her questions. It was always “someday” or “not now” or “later.” Mostly, Eva just lost her temper.

      There were a few other things on Bird’s mind as she dried her hair in the mirror.

      Firstly, Alec. Bird smiled. Her reflection smiled back, happy and content. Alec was away at Camp Kowabi for the summer as a counsellor-in-training, but he was her boyfriend again. Pamela was out of the picture. For good, Bird hoped. She wasn’t going to worry about it. When Alec had gone back to camp last time, he’d left her with his favourite sweater — to keep her warm in his arms, he’d said. Bird shivered with joy and her reflected grin grew even wider.

      Secondly, and amazingly, the strange man who’d spoken telepathically at the show. She felt shivers up her arms. Would he be at the show on Friday? Was there really someone who could speak to animals in the same way she could?

      And most urgently, there was Tall Sox. Bird didn’t care how angry Hannah might be, she would try to get to the bottom of the problem with Sally’s horse. She vowed to do that the very next day, which was Sunday. Bird needed to visit this horse before he could be euthanized. Put to sleep. Killed. Vets usually didn’t work on weekends except for emergencies, so tomorrow would be her best chance.

      Bird girl. Bird’s thoughts were interrupted.

       Cody? Is that you?

       It is.

      Is there a problem? Cody was a small coyote. He always knew what was going on, and he was usually the first to alert her when there was trouble. They’d had many adventures together. How he always knew when she was there was a mystery to Bird.

      Bird released her breath.

       I’m glad to be back, Cody. And I’m glad you came to say hello.

      Bird looked out her window, but the coyote was nowhere to be seen.

      She gazed into the growing dusk and searched the field across from the farmhouse with her eyes. She could just make out two shadows. Sundancer and Charlie were at the fenceline at the far end, heads down, feasting on the refreshed August grass.

      Happily, Bird slid between the covers and rested her head on the pillow. She was proud of the way she and Sunny had ridden at the show. Tomorrow she would find Tall Sox. Next week, if he was at the show and she was lucky, she would speak to the mysterious man. Soon she would kiss the lips of her boyfriend, Alec. Within minutes, Bird had fallen into a contented sleep.

       BIRD? ARE YOU AWAKE?

      Bird rolled over to get more comfortable.

       Bird? Wake up!

      Bird sat up. She waited. Was she dreaming, or had Sundancer just called from …

       Bird!

      Sunny? What is it? She was fully awake now.

       You have human company. Look out your window.

      Bird jumped out of bed and stepped over to the window. On the ground below, somebody was looking around furtively. It was a female, and young. Bird watched as she fidgeted and fussed. She seemed very uncertain of what she should do.

      Bird removed the screen and leaned outside. “Hello?” she said quietly. “Who’s there?”

      The girl let out a weak scream and clutched her chest with her hands.

      From the kitchen below, Hannah’s dog, Lucky, started to bark.

       Lucky! Quiet! It’s all right!

      The barking stopped. If you say so. If you say so.

       Good dog, Lucky. Good dog!

      Bird spoke to the girl. “Don’t be afraid. I’m up here. In the window.”

      The girl looked up, and the moonlight revealed her face. Sally Johns.

      “Sally! Stay there. I’m coming down.”

      “Bird! I’m so glad —”

      “Shh! Don’t wake everybody up.”

      Sally nodded and slapped her hand over her mouth.

      Bird quickly pulled some clothes over her pyjamas and slipped on her runners. She crept downstairs and out the kitchen door with Lucky at her side. The brown dog raced over to Sally, who was standing under the big maple tree at the fence. He sniffed her, then took off to follow his nose.

      Sally looked like she might cry. “Bird, I’m not so sure I should’ve come. I’m scared! And I don’t have a driver’s licence!” She glanced to the end of the driveway, where a car was parked on the road. “That’s my mother’s. She doesn’t know I took it.”

      Bird guessed that Sally wouldn’t have come over in the middle of the night without a good reason. “Something new with Tall Sox?”

      Sally nodded wildly. “They’re taking him away first thing in the morning. Wanda — she’s a groom at Moreland’s — told me. I don’t know where he’s going, but they’re going to kill him, I just know it. I’ve been dying to talk to you since I heard! Can you come with me now?”

      “Do you have your beginner’s?”

      Sally’s СКАЧАТЬ