black planet with weasels and prairie dogs, and a million miles of grass, and you can see your folks, but they can’t see you. Like there’s this invisible wall between you and them. The sun and daylight is there, and everyone going about doing the normal stuff, crying because you vanished and they think you’re dead. If only you could let them know you’re OK. But you can’t because you’re locked inside this nightmare world …”
“… And eventually you give up like all the other victims who have ever vanished into the hole,” Kirstie finished off. “You turn into a prairie dog, barking and whistling in the night, and are never seen again! Thanks for that cosy little bedtime story, Lisa!”
Pedaling slowly over the uneven track that would take them to the Circle R, the joke fell flat. The sky was too vast, the thing they were about to do too serious for them to stay lighthearted. And then the ranch itself came into sight; first the long, straight fences at the boundary of Donna Rose’s property, then the house at the end of the dirt road.
“Are we absolutely sure that this is what we want to do?” Lisa stopped and put both feet on the ground. There was still time to turn around and go back.
“Certain,” Kirstie told her. She got off her bike and propped it against the fence, ready for a quick getaway. This was going to be tough and scary, and there would probably be trouble at the end of it. Suddenly she felt guilty about having dragged her friend into it. “Honest, Lisa, you can stay here and keep watch. I can go ahead by myself!”
“Do I look as bad as you?” Lisa stared her in the face, taking a deep breath and deliberately ignoring the offer.
“White as a sheet,” Kirstie confirmed. “With big, starry eyes. Like you’re so frightened you can hardly swallow, and your heart’s practically jumping through your rib cage!”
“That’s me!”
“Me, too!”
Tilting back their heads, they both looked up at the sky. A million pinpricks of stars shone; the moon was a nibbled silver disc disappearing behind a wisp of gray cloud.
“Ready?” Kirstie asked, taking the flashlight out of her jeans pocket and striding toward the ranch.
The horses stood at attention in the meadow behind the barn. Their eyes gleamed, their coats glinted in the moonlight.
“One, two, three, four, five …” Kirstie counted out the hardworking sorrels used by Leon, TJ, and Jesse. She and Lisa were crouched beside the barn. The smell of creosote from the freshly painted wall filled their nostrils.
The nearest horse turned his head, ears cocked. His face looked black in the shadows, but there was that gleam of white as he rolled his eyes.
“There’s Moonpie!” Lisa pointed out the gray gelding in the far corner of the field. He was wearing a head collar, staring over the north fence at the hills beyond Renegade, the start of the foothills that eventually became the Rockies.
“He looks weird in this light!” Kirstie whispered. Like a dream horse, a pale shadow.
“And Skeeter!”
Kirstie followed the direction of her friend’s pointing finger to see the black-and-white paint break into a trot away from the main bunch. He joined Moonpie by the fence, as far from the crouching girls as he could get.
“Do you reckon they’ve seen us?” Lisa shifted position.
“Yep.” No doubt about it. The horses had smelled and heard them from the beginning. They’d been alert, watchful, and ready to react at the first sign of danger.
“Should we move?”
“Nope.” Not until they were sure that Midnight Lady wasn’t in the meadow. Once they’d checked it thoroughly, they would have to edge nearer to the ranch house and start searching inside the barn. Meanwhile, Moonpie and Skeeter seemed to be unsettling the five other horses, who broke out of their group and scattered to the far corners. Their hooves pounded over the turf, sounding to Kirstie and Lisa’s oversensitive ears like a roll of thunder.
Kirstie
“… And eventually you give up like all the other victims who have ever vanished into the hole,” Kirstie finished off. “You turn into a prairie dog, barking and whistling in the night, and are never seen again! Thanks for that cosy little bedtime story, Lisa!”
Pedaling slowly over the uneven track that would take them to the Circle R, the joke fell flat. The sky was too vast, the thing they were about to do too serious for them to stay lighthearted. And then the ranch itself came into sight; first the long, straight fences at the boundary of Donna Rose’s property, then the house at the end of the dirt road.
“Are we absolutely sure that this is what we want to do?” Lisa stopped and put both feet on the ground. There was still time to turn around and go back.
“Certain,” Kirstie told her. She got off her bike and propped it against the fence, ready for a quick getaway. This was going to be tough and scary, and there would probably be trouble at the end of it. Suddenly she felt guilty about having dragged her friend into it. “Honest, Lisa, you can stay here and keep watch. I can go ahead by myself!”
“Do I look as bad as you?” Lisa stared her in the face, taking a deep breath and deliberately ignoring the offer.
“White as a sheet,” Kirstie confirmed. “With big, starry eyes. Like you’re so frightened you can hardly swallow, and your heart’s practically jumping through your rib cage!”
“That’s me!”
“Me, too!”
Tilting back their heads, they both looked up at the sky. A million pinpricks of stars shone; the moon was a nibbled silver disc disappearing behind a wisp of gray cloud.
“Ready?” Kirstie asked, taking the flashlight out of her jeans pocket and striding toward the ranch.
The horses stood at attention in the meadow behind the barn. Their eyes gleamed, their coats glinted in the moonlight.
“One, two, three, four, five …” Kirstie counted out the hardworking sorrels used by Leon, TJ, and Jesse. She and Lisa were crouched beside the barn. The smell of creosote from the freshly painted wall filled their nostrils.
The nearest horse turned his head, ears cocked. His face looked black in the shadows, but there was that gleam of white as he rolled his eyes.
“There’s Moonpie!” Lisa pointed out the gray gelding in the far corner of the field. He was wearing a head collar, staring over the north fence at the hills beyond Renegade, the start of the foothills that eventually became the Rockies.
“He looks weird in this light!” Kirstie whispered. Like a dream horse, a pale shadow.
“And Skeeter!”
Kirstie followed the direction of her friend’s pointing finger to see the black-and-white paint break into a trot away from the main bunch. He joined Moonpie by the fence, as far from the crouching girls as he could get.
“Do you reckon they’ve seen us?” Lisa shifted position.
“Yep.” No doubt about it. The horses had smelled and heard them from the beginning. They’d been alert, watchful, and ready to react at the first sign of danger.
“Should we move?”
“Nope.” Not until they were sure that Midnight Lady wasn’t in the meadow. Once they’d checked it thoroughly, they would have to edge nearer to the ranch house and start searching inside the barn. Meanwhile, Moonpie and Skeeter seemed to be unsettling the five other horses, who broke out of their group and scattered to the far corners. Their hooves pounded over the turf, sounding to Kirstie and Lisa’s oversensitive ears like a roll of thunder.
Kirstie
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