Chapter 10

Lucky held tightly to Spirit’s mane as she scanned the horizon, heart beating fast. “Sandy!” she shouted. “Where’d you go, girl?” But all that she saw was the same familiar landscape of trees, winding streams, and dusty plains. Not a miniature horse in sight. How could one tiny horse get so far, so quickly? Lucky silently beat herself up for getting so caught up in her goal of becoming a Trail Trainer and pushing Sandy so hard. Everyone learned at their own pace—horses included.

And now Sandy had run away.

What would they tell Mr. Rollins once he came to see Sandy’s progress? Lucky cringed at the thought of delivering the news that not only had the three of them failed to train Sandy like they’d claimed they could, but that they were such inexperienced trainers that they’d actually gone and lost the horse!

Lucky saw Pru and Chica Linda in the distance and steered Spirit in their direction. After Sandy had run off, they’d grabbed some oats and quickly saddled up Boomerang and Chica Linda, but Lucky had been able to hop on Spirit faster. So she’d gone ahead. Caroline had agreed to stay at the ramada in case Sandy made her way back there.

“Have you seen anything?” Lucky shouted to Pru, any disagreement between them having melted away into panic. “I did a sweep of the east side, but it’s all quiet.”

Pru shook her head. “Let’s catch up with Abigail.” They took off at a gallop westward, in the direction of the canyons. When they reached her, Abigail confirmed what they already feared. There was no sign of Sandy.

“What are we going to do?” Lucky called out. “We need a plan.”

“We should do one more sweep of the immediate area,” Pru directed. “Make sure to look behind bushes and anyplace Sandy could hide.”

After searching under the brush and inside caves, the girls began to realize that the chances of finding their runaway were not great. As they trotted back to Miradero, they felt beyond dreadful. Everything seemed pretty rotten.

At least there was one thing Lucky could do to make things right. They were almost to the stables when she blurted out her apology. “I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier! I don’t know what came over me. I guess I just wanted to succeed so badly that I lost sight of what we were trying to do in the first place: help Sandy find her true calling.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Pru replied. “You were right. We were confusing her with changing everything so often.”

“And I’m sorry about running out of oat biscuits,” Abigail joked to lighten the mood. “We all make mistakes.”

The girls agreed to stay on the same page from now on—including doing something they all really didn’t want to do. They had to tell Mr. Granger that Sandy was missing. They were trying their best to muster up the courage as they approached the barn. But as they got closer, they realized they didn’t have to. Caroline met them by the trail, frantically waving.

“Lucky! Abigail! Pru!” she yelled. “Hurry! Sandy’s been spotted near the Calloway Barn!”

“We’re on it!” Lucky shouted, steering Spirit back in the other direction.