A Forever Friend Read online

  Kate did the same with Starbuck. Soon both ponies and their riders were calmly walking away from the barn.

  “See you later, Amos,” Willa called back.

  Willa took the lead. The plan was to walk along a few roads until they got to a path that would take them straight to the beach.

  “Where are the cars, Willa?” Kate called.

  “It’s the middle of the week,” Willa called back. “Most of the heavy traffic on Chincoteague is on weekends.”

  A few cars slowed down as they passed the girls, careful not to startle the horses.

  Willa smiled to herself as she listened to the soft hoofbeats. Kate was doing a good job riding Starbuck. And Starbuck was doing a good job caring for Kate—as promised.

  When the girls reached the beach, they were greeted by the sound of rustling waves. Only a few beach towels dotted the sand since it was still early in the day.

  Willa tugged on Buttercup’s reins until she came to a stop. Kate did the same, stopping Starbuck. The two ponies stood side by side facing the water. This was a dream come true for Willa, and she hoped Kate felt the same way.

  Willa gazed out at Assateague Island across the bay, its tall, wild grasses swaying in the summer breeze. Sarah was there now learning all about the wild ponies. But for the first time that week, Willa didn’t miss Sarah as much.

  “Look, Kate, there’s Assateague,” Willa pointed out. “Where Starbuck was born.”

  “Cool,” Kate said.

  But when Willa looked at Kate, she wasn’t looking at Assateague or the bay. She was too busy steering Starbuck around Buttercup.

  “Kate, what are you doing?” Willa asked.

  Kate didn’t answer. Instead, she thumped Starbuck’s side with a hard kick. Starbuck gave a startled neigh. She then lifted her tail—and took off.

  Chapter 9

  WILLA SAT FROZEN IN HER saddle as Kate galloped Starbuck down the beach. Hadn’t they made a deal with Mom and Dad not to gallop the ponies? What was Kate thinking?

  “Kate!” Willa shouted as she steered Buttercup in Starbuck’s direction. “Slow down. Slow Starbuck down.”

  Kate didn’t pull back on the reins. Her hold on the reins was loose. Too loose. And the way she bounced in the saddle was totally out of sync with Starbuck’s rhythms.

  A sick feeling came over Willa—a feeling that something bad was about to happen. And suddenly . . .

  Kate screamed, toppled out of the saddle, the rein still in her hand. As she fell, she gave Starbuck’s mouth a sharp jerk.

  “Oh nooo!” Willa cried. A sand dune softened Kate’s fall, but she could see the whites of Starbuck’s frightened eyes as she reared up and groaned.

  Willa had to help Starbuck. Not wanting to startle Buttercup by galloping, she jumped out of the saddle. Then with Buttercup in tow, Willa hurried down the beach to her pony in distress.

  Kate was still clutching the rein when Willa reached them. Grabbing the rein, Willa loosened the slack. Starbuck’s ears flicked back and forth before letting out a deep breath.

  “Easy, easy,” Willa softly repeated. When she was sure Starbuck was calm, she inspected her mouth. Running her hand along Starbuck’s lips, Willa was relieved not to find any cuts or scrapes.

  “I don’t know how it happened, Willa,” Kate finally said from her spot in the sand. “Starbuck just took off like a jet.”

  “After you kicked her hard,” Willa said pointedly. “We promised my parents we’d walk the ponies on the beach. Why did you gallop Starbuck?”

  Kate was silent, but she gave Willa a small smile.

  Willa wasn’t smiling. With Buttercup’s and Starbuck’s reins in one hand, she reached down to Kate with her other. “Here. Let me help you up.”

  “With horse spit all over your hand?” Kate refused. “No, thanks.”

  “Horse spit?” Willa asked.

  “Your hand was in Starbuck’s mouth,” Kate explained as she pulled herself up from the sand. “And see? I’m fine.”

  “You could be hurt and not know it,” Willa said. “If you have your phone, we can call Mom and Dad.”

  “I’m fine,” Kate repeated. “Let’s just ride the ponies back to the barn.”

  Willa shook her head. After what just happened, Starbuck could still be jumpy.

  “No, Kate. We’re going to walk the ponies home,” Willa told Kate. “I mean, I’ll walk them.”

  Kate nodded as if to say fine. “I am so over horseback riding anyway. No wonder I switched to gymnastics.”

  Kate walked sulkily ahead of Willa and the ponies. By now Willa’s head was spinning with all kinds of feelings. Did she push Kate to like horseback riding when she wasn’t ready? Then again, it was Kate who took advantage of Starbuck’s trusting nature.

  And by doing that, Willa thought sadly, she took advantage of me.

  The walk along the road was awkward and quiet. Until Kate turned to say, “I thought you were going to wear flip-flops today instead of sneakers. To show off your pedicure.”

  Willa stared at Kate. Flip-flops for horseback riding? Was she serious?

  “It’s a good thing I didn’t wear flip-flops today,” Willa declared. “I wouldn’t have been able to run and help Starbuck.”

  Kate stared back at Willa. She faced forward to hide her hurt and continued walking.

  As they continued farther up the road, the girls passed the Starling house. Willa could see Mr. Starling busily working in the garden.

  “Well, hi there,” Mr. Starling called. “How was your ride on the beach?”

  Willa didn’t want to tell Mr. Starling what really happened. She was pretty sure Kate didn’t either.

  “It was great, Mr. Starling,” Willa called back, forcing a smile. “Buttercup was a sweetie as usual.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Mr. Starling remarked.

  The Starlings’ front door swung open. Ben and Chipper stepped outside sipping bottles of lemonade through straws.

  “Inventing is thirsty work,” Chipper declared.

  “I’ll bet even Thomas Edison needed lemonade breaks,” Ben said after a long slurp.

  “Inventing?” Willa asked, scrunching her brow. “What are you guys inventing?”

  “It’s called the Starling/Dunlap Zipster,” Chipper announced proudly.

  “Dunlap/Starling,” Ben told Chipper. “You promised.”

  “The what?” Willa asked.

  “Only the most amazingly awesome obstacle course in the world,” Chipper explained, “with its own zip line.”

  Willa smiled. So that’s what Ben’s rope and lumber was for. It sounded awesome.

  She wondered if it really would work.

  “Come on, Willa, Kate,” Ben called. “Try out the Zipster. You won’t be sorry.”

  “Unless it isn’t safe,” Kate murmured.

  Mr. Starling smiled at the girls. “I helped out and rode it myself. It’s safe and pretty amazingly awesome, like Chipper said.”

  Willa was curious, but Starbuck’s whiskers tickled her arm as if to say, Remember us?

  “We want to get the ponies back to the barn first,” Willa said. “Maybe we’ll check it out later. Right, Kate?”

  “Maybe,” Kate said, her eyes cast downward.

  Why is Kate the sad one? Willa wondered. She was still kind of angry at Kate for totally disobeying her parents and doing whatever she wanted. Starbuck—and Kate—could have been badly hurt.

  The girls continued on their way home, Willa still holding both reins. Riding the Zipster sounded like fun. But after their terrible morning on the beach, Willa felt their friendship would never recover.

  Why did I ever agree to ride the ponies on the beach? Willa thought sadly. What was I thinking?

  Chapter 10

  BY THE TIME WILLA GOT both ponies back to the barn, she was exhausted. There was work to do, unsaddling and sponging them off, which she did all alone. Kate had gone straight to the house.

  Willa wondered if Kate was mad at her for being mad w
hen she galloped Starbuck? That thought made Willa even more annoyed at Kate.

  Her chores done, Willa sat in the backyard under a tree, where she had dropped her backpack. The last thing she wanted to do was go inside the house. How could she tell her parents what had happened? How could she admit to her mom that she was right to be worried?

  Shutting her weary eyes, Willa leaned against the tree. She could feel herself drifting off to sleep when—

  “Hi.”

  It was Kate.

  Willa’s eyes popped open. She turned to see Kate standing few feet away. With a sigh, Kate plopped down next to Willa. She opened a tube of lip gloss and squeezed it all over her lips.

  “Coconut pineapple,” Kate explained. “But for some reason I taste banana.”

  This time Willa gagged at the gross smell. Lip gloss, lip gloss, lip gloss.

  “Why do you keep doing that?” Willa demanded. “To look older? More glam? Because Alexa does it?”

  “None of that,” Kate answered. “There’s something about my braces that makes my lips dry. They get crazy chapped, even in the summer. It is so painful and annoying.”

  “Oh,” Willa said. She had no idea Kate’s braces made her lips dry. No wonder she needed so much lip gloss.

  “And don’t worry about telling your parents what happened on the beach,” Kate said, “because I already told them.”

  “You did?” Willa turned to stare at Kate. “What did you tell them?”

  “The truth,” Kate said. “I told them it was my fault for galloping Starbuck on the beach. And it wouldn’t happen again.”

  “Thanks.” Willa smiled. She hadn’t expected Kate to take responsibility but was glad she did.

  “I really am sorry, Willa,” Kate admitted. “I was just showing off on Starbuck, to prove that I could ride too.”

  “You don’t have to show off to me,” Willa insisted. “We’re friends.”

  Kate plucked a piece of grass, twirling it between her fingers. “I know we are, but ever since I got here, I saw how much you’ve changed since you left Chicago.”

  “I’ve changed?” Willa asked, surprised. “Me? In what way?”

  “You’re amazing with horses and riding,” Kate explained. “You’re an expert on Chincoteague and Assateague. You even like doing your disgusting chores.”

  Willa couldn’t believe her ears. She thought Kate had changed since Chicago. All this time Kate was thinking the same about her.

  “You’re different too,” Willa admitted. “You’re so into clothes all of a sudden. Everything you wear matches and is so . . . trendy.”

  “Thanks.” Kate smiled. “I did start liking clothes this year. I think I might want to be a fashion designer when I grow up.”

  “You do?” Willa asked, surprised at Kate’s plans.

  “What do you want to be?” Kate asked.

  “Maybe a vet,” Willa replied. “Like my grandma Edna.”

  “You’d make an awesome vet,” Kate remarked.

  “And you’d make an awesome fashion designer,” Willa declared with a smile.

  The friends high-fived. And in that instant, any differences between them seemed to disappear. They caught up on everything they missed from each other’s lives: Kate had won third prize at the school art fair. Willa had helped her grandma Edna deliver a baby colt. Kate had gone to her first Chicago Cubs game, and Willa had learned to kayak. As they talked, Willa pulled out the sandwiches her dad had packed for the beach, for a picnic-style lunch. They were so busy chatting and chewing that Willa didn’t notice Dad strolling over from the house.

  “Good news, girls,” Dad called. “One of our guests needs to leave early so guess who’s agreed to check in?”

  “My parents?” Kate guessed with a smile.

  Dad nodded. “For the last two nights of your vacation.”

  “Kate, that is so cool,” Willa exclaimed. “Now everybody will be together.”

  “It is cool,” Kate agreed. “But if it’s okay with you, I’d still like to stay in your room.”

  “Of course it’s okay,” Willa said.

  As Dad headed back to the house, Kate asked, “What should we do now? Ride that Zipster your brother invented?”

  “For sure.” Willa nodded. “But there’s something else I’d rather do first.”

  “More horseback riding?” Kate asked carefully.

  “Nope,” Willa said as they both stood up. “I want you to show me everything you and Alexa learned in gymnastics.”

  “You do?” Kate asked, surprised.

  Willa nodded. “We’ll go to the pasture where the grass is nice and soft. After that we’ll try the Zipster—but only if we are one hundred percent sure it’s safe.”

  “Hey, I’ve already taken one giant fall today,” Kate joked.

  “And if you fall again,” Willa said with a smile, “I’ll be right there to lend a hand . . . without horse spit.”

  As they raced each other to the pasture, Willa knew she and Kate would always be friends. No matter what. She also knew they would always have the most awesome memories. And now, they had two more days to make more.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thanks to the entire Aladdin team for bringing this book to life. Karen Nagel’s enthusiasm and humor make any project a pleasure. Thanks to her and to Fiona Simpson for trusting this lifelong city girl to imagine life on Chincoteague Island. Much thanks to Kristin Earhart for her wonderful vision of Misty Inn and its characters. Her knowledge and love of horses were incredibly helpful and inspiring. Thanks also to Serena Geddes, whose illustrations bring so much sparkle to the series, and to Laura Lyn DiSiena, for beautifully designing the book. Last but not least, a huge thanks to my family and forever friends—you’re always there to lend support and an occasional ear for my ideas, day or night.

  JUDY KATSCHKE is the author of many books for young readers, from Ready-to-Reads and chapter books, to middle-grade fiction and nonfiction. She lives in New York City.

  Marguerite Henry’s Misty Inn is inspired by the award-winning books by MARGUERITE HENRY, the beloved author of such classic horse stories as King of the Wind; Misty of Chincoteague; Justin Morgan Had a Horse; Stormy, Misty’s Foal; Misty’s Twilight; and Album of Horses, among many other titles.

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  Read all of

  MARGUERITE HENRY’S

  books!

  #1 Welcome Home!

  #2 Buttercup Mystery

  #3 Runaway Pony

  #4 Finding Luck

  And coming soon:

  #6 Pony Swim

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN

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  First Aladdin hardcover edition October 2016

  Text copyright © 2016 by The Estate of Marguerite Henry

  Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Serena Geddes

  Also available in an Aladdin paperback edition.

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  Book designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena

  The text of this book was set in Century Expanded.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2016936155

  ISBN 978-1-4814-6986-9 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-6985-2 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-6987-6 (eBook)