Chapter 1

Lucky Prescott snuggled in under her soft comforter. A fresh spring breeze blew in through the open bedroom window and rustled her new blue gingham curtains. The sun wasn’t even up yet, but it was already starting to get warm outside. Everyone was predicting that the next few months in Miradero were going to be warmer than usual, but Lucky didn’t mind. The weather made it feel as if it were already summer, even though it was still a few weeks away. Lucky couldn’t wait for the seasons to change. She was looking forward to spending the upcoming summer with her best friends, Pru and Abigail, riding their horses through their wondrous, well-trod trails before heading off to boarding school at Palomino Bluffs Riding Academy in the fall. They had it all planned out. The goal was to have as much fun as possible and go on even more horseback rides than last year. Plus, Lucky reasoned, what better way to beat the heat than feeling the wind in her hair when she broke into a gallop? Lucky was glad that her horse, Spirit, felt the same way.

After a quick yawn and stretch, Lucky quickly fell back into her sweet dreams of summer. She had barely begun snoring again when the clatter of something bouncing off her windowsill caused Lucky to bolt upright in bed. A small brown circle lay on her flowered rug, illuminated by the dim light of the early morning.

“What in the world could that be?” Lucky whispered to herself. She hopped out of bed and crouched down to inspect it. She picked up the circle and its crumbly edges began to break off in her hand. It was a biscuit! Not just any biscuit, either. It was one of Abigail’s homemade horse treats. Before Lucky could investigate any further, another treat came barreling through the window and hit Lucky right in the shoulder! The treat exploded into a hundred oaty bits and made quite the crumbly mess. But Lucky couldn’t help giggling as she shot over to the window and stuck out her head. “Abigail? Pru?” she whispered to her friends down below. “What are you guys doing here? It’s practically the middle of the night!”

“Lucky, did you completely forget our plan?” Pru whispered back. Lucky racked her brain. Admittedly, her mind still felt a bit foggy with sleep.

“Plan?” Lucky replied. “Were we going to have a slumber party?”

“No! We’re going on a dawn trail ride. I’ve been promising Boomerang that we’d watch the sunrise from his favorite spot for weeks!” Abigail answered, a little too loudly for the hour. “And we brought breakfast.” She patted the top of her wicker picnic basket. Lucky licked her lips, imagining what baked goodies Abigail had created this time. She knew it was still dark outside, but Lucky couldn’t help it. Whenever she woke up, she was immediately in search of a snack. It also didn’t hurt that Abigail’s knack for baking and sweets was unparalleled in Miradero.

“Oh yeah! Of course,” Lucky replied with a grin. “Just give me two seconds and I’ll see you downstairs!” Abigail and Pru gave a little cheer and clapped their hands in delight. “Shhh!” Lucky called out. She had already asked her dad and stepmother, Kate, for permission a few days ago, but she didn’t want to wake them or her new baby sister, Polly. Once that baby woke up, she was all sorts of adorable trouble.

“Okay, it’s been two seconds!” whisper-shouted Abigail in between fits of giggles. “Hurry up, Lucky!”

Lucky quickly dressed in her favorite outfit: saddle-worn jeans and a white top. But she waited to put on her shoes. She was careful to carry her cowgirl boots down the stairs, lest they clunk too loudly on the wooden steps. She grabbed her satchel and swept silently through the kitchen, tossing three crisp Rojo Delicioso apples, a block of cheddar cheese, and a canteen of water inside. Then she was out the door.

By the time Lucky, Abigail, and Pru arrived at the stables, Boomerang and Chica Linda were already making happy snorting sounds and pawing at their stall doors. Even Spirit had arrived and was pacing back and forth. Clearly, the horses were just as excited as the PALs and were gearing up to stretch their legs to ride free on the open trail.

“Don’t worry, Boomerang,” Abigail assured her pinto gelding with a loving pat. “We’ll be out there in no time! Well, maybe a little time because you’re not wearing your saddle yet. But it won’t be much time. Anyway, I’m probably wasting time right now talking about time this whole time.…” Abigail giggled and then nodded to Pru. “Let’s saddle up!” The two girls sprang into action, giving their respective horses a short brushdown and securing soft blankets at the top of the horses’ withers. Then they took the brown leather saddles off their racks and began to wrap the straps around the horses’ midsections. Spirit was actually a wild and free horse, so Lucky never used a saddle to ride him.

As Pru tightened the buckles on Chica Linda’s saddle, Lucky ran her fingers through Spirit’s silky mane. Even when he got little tangles in it, Lucky was always impressed by how soft it was. “There you go, Spirit. Ready to ride?”

All three horses whinnied and kicked in response. Luckily, the barn was far enough from the Granger house that they didn’t wake anyone. Lucky, Abigail, and Pru hopped on their horses and took off for the trails. Shivers of excitement ran down Lucky’s spine as the fresh spring air hit her face. What a thrill!

By the time the girls reached the crested ridge of Hideaway Hill—one of the PALs’ favorite secret spots—the sky was changing into a canvas of brilliant orange and three shades of pink.

“Over here!” Pru exclaimed as she lay out a blue-checked blanket. There was just enough time to set up the picnic breakfast before the sun began to peek over the horizon. Lucky was just about to bite into a warm biscuit slathered in butter when she felt a familiar muzzle and warm breath snorting in her ear. Spirit had bent down, sniffing her to signal that he was hungry, too.

“Whoops. How could I forget?” Lucky laughed. She reached inside her satchel and tossed the apples to Boomerang, Chica Linda, and Spirit. Three crunches later and the apples were completely gone. “Look, Spirit!” Lucky pointed at the painted sky. “Isn’t Miradero beautiful? I hope we get sunrises like this at Palomino Bluffs.”

“I’m sure we will, but we’ll probably be way too tired from all our new classes to wake up and see them,” Pru replied. “But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. Have you seen all the new pins the Frontier Fillies have to offer?” Pru pulled a booklet from her bag and began to flip through it. “There are so many new activities to try! They even have dressage! Do you think I can earn the advanced pin?” Even though Pru was new to the sport, she’d had lots of experience training horses in the rodeo style.

“Absolutely!” Abigail chirped through a bite of cheese. “Your dressage skills have gotten better and better, Pru. Soon, you’ll be a rodeo and dressage champion. You’ll be so famous that people will want your autograph and Chica Linda’s hoof-stamp.”

“We’re going to need a pretty big ink pad for that.” Lucky nodded in agreement. “But I’m sure we can find one.” If it hadn’t been for some sneaky behavior on the part of one of the other competitors, Pru might have won her recent dressage competition. But that was all in the past. Now the PALs were looking ahead—and their future in the Frontier Fillies and at Palomino Bluffs Riding Academy looked as bright as the sunrise!

“What else can we try? Oooh, look Boomerang! Intermediate mane-braiding!” Abigail called out. Boomerang responded with an exasperated snort. The three girls leafed through the pages of the booklet together, circling the activities they were interested in.

Suddenly, Lucky’s eyes landed on a gold emblem that looked like a sheriff’s badge. On it were the words Trail Trainer. Lucky pointed excitedly. “Trail Trainers!”

“What’s that?” Abigail scrunched her nose inquisitively.

“I actually don’t know,” Lucky admitted. “But whatever it is, I think we need to do it. It looks official and important. Just look at that shiny symbol.”

Pru cleared her throat and read aloud: “‘To become a Frontier Fillies certified Trail Trainer, the Frontier Filly must display the utmost poise and proficiency for horse training. Candidates will complete and present a demonstration to prove that they have mastered the necessary skills for training an unfamiliar horse. Some example tasks include: cleaning hooves, bathing, haltering, leading, and groundwork as well as various more advanced voice commands associated with riding horses, packhorses, performing horses, and draft horses.’”

“An unfamiliar horse?” Abigail asked. “Like Boomerang in a silly costume? He definitely has experience as a performing horse from when he was in the El Circo Dos Grillos with Pru.”

“I think that it means you can’t use Boomerang.” Pru shrugged. “That way they know you can train any horse instead of just the one you already have.” She pointed at the booklet. “Whoa. It also says here that Trail Trainers get all sorts of cool privileges like first pick of campsites at Jamborees.”

“What? That’s incredible! We have to do it,” Abigail insisted. “From PALs to Trail Trainers!” She held up her water canteen in a “cheers” motion. But nobody joined in.

“Wait a second… you have to be able to train any horse?” Lucky’s excitement began to drain out of her. She regarded Spirit. Watching him stand there with his strong muscles and his kind face gave Lucky a sense of pride. But he was a wild horse. Lucky had certainly learned to ride him, but not in the usual way. It was as if they had their own language, and it was anything but traditional. She couldn’t really call it “training.” In fact, Lucky had never really learned to properly train a horse at all.

“What’s wrong, Lucky?” Pru asked, reading the conflicted expression in Lucky’s eyes.

“It’s just that… maybe you and Abigail should try to become Trail Trainers without me. You two have experience in traditional training. Spirit and I have… our own way of doing things.” Lucky slumped down. “That’s probably not what they’re looking for.”

“Lucky, are you even hearing yourself?” Pru replied. “Spirit is a wild horse and you ride him without a saddle! That’s amazing! I think you can definitely handle learning some basics. Plus, Abigail and I will teach you.”

“Really?” Lucky brightened. “Even if we have to start with the super-easy stuff?”

Abigail nodded and smiled. “I think we all could use a refresher. We can start first thing tomorrow! Maybe not this early, though…” Boomerang and Chica Linda stomped the ground in agreement. Spirit nuzzled Lucky as if to say he liked the idea, too.

Pru, Abigail, and Lucky all cheered. It was settled. They were going to ace the Trail Trainers test, and they were going to do it as they did everything—together. Now all they had to do was find some willing horses to teach. “Come on!” urged Lucky. “Let’s go find Kate! Maybe she’ll let us borrow Tambourine.”