Silver Dream by Angela Dorsey

something in return.”
    “Anything, since you’re not
telling on Grandpa,” said Cally. “Just tell me what I can do.”
    “My friend, David, is missing,”
Angelica said. “He was here last night, outside the shed, and I
just found a car behind one of the fallen buildings. I wonder if it
is his. Does your grandfather have a green car?” When Cally shook
her head, Angelica continued. “Then I think your grandfather has
imprisoned David, possibly in an attempt to keep the stolen horses
a secret.”
    Cally’s face turned white. “But
he wouldn’t.”
    “I heard him yelling at a guy
last night,” said Joanna.
    “But there’s no place to hold
anyone here, other than this shed and the house. I would have
noticed something.”
    “Unless he’s hiding David from
you. Maybe he locked him away in a closet or something,” said
Joanna.
    “I am very worried about him,
and afraid he might be hurt,” Angelica added. “We need to find
him.”
    Cally looked first at Angelica,
then at Joanna, then back to the older girl. She nodded. “You
helped me, so I’ll help you. Stay here while I look for him. I’ll
be right back.”
     

 

     
    Cally was gone for what seemed hours.
Joanna and Angelica waited behind the shed where they could look
around the corner to the house, talk to the horses through cracks
in the back wall, and yet still be protected from Mr. Thomas’s view
if he decided to come outside.
    From behind the shed, they were
also in the perfect spot to get away from him unseen. They were a
two-minute run from the fence that separated the two properties,
and as long as they kept the shed between themselves and Mr.
Thomas, he wouldn’t see them.
    However, the back of the shed
was unprotected from the sun and the sky was clear. As the morning
advanced, the air sweltered hotter and hotter. Joanna wiped sweat
from her forehead and closed her eyes against the brightness. How
delightfully cool Raven would be waiting in the shady forest. How
envious she was of him. Even the horses in the shed were protected
from the sun. If only they could wait inside… but it was too
risky.
    She leaned back against the
wooden wall and listened to the drone of a bee come closer, closer,
then fly farther away. “Where are you from, Angelica?” she asked to
help pass the time. “Do you live around here?”
    “No.”
    The answer was so short that
Joanna opened her eyes and looked at the older girl. “What about
David?”
    “He does not live here
either.”
    “So why are you here?”
    “David called me.”
    Joanna almost rolled her eyes.
That wasn’t what she meant. Angelica was so odd in that she took
everything so literally. Obviously, she’d have to word her
questions more clearly if she wanted an answer. “There must be a
reason for you and David to be here, or you’d be somewhere else,
right? And if the reason isn’t because either of you are from
around here, then how did you end up in Mr. Thomas’s yard?”
    “I came here because David was
here.”
    “So why was he here?”
Joanna tried once more, trying hard to keep her tone even and
unfrustrated.
    A crease appeared on Angelica’s
forehead. “That I do not know, and it bothers me. There is more I
do not understand in this situation as well.”
    Joanna shook her head. Angelica
really wasn’t very good at answering questions. “Like what?”
    “Like why Cally’s grandfather
stole the horses.”
    “Because he’s going senile.”
    “Yes, that is true. But there
must be a deeper reason, a reason that explains why he believes the
horses are his to take back in the first place. I do not feel he is
a bad man, therefore he would need a valid reason to justify his
actions.”
    Joanna looked out across the
field. Angelica was right. She hadn’t thought of it that way
before, but Mr. Thomas flashing back to the past wasn’t enough of a
reason for him to steal horses. He had to have reason to believe
that somehow the horses still belonged to him.
    “Also, I worry