Chapter 1

Horse Magic

“My jeans are trashed! Look at this rip! I knew we should have changed first!” Kim sat on the ground examining the knee of her jeans, while Darcy tried to hold back her laughter. The horses approached the twelve-year-old girls eagerly, eyeing their bulging pockets, full of baby carrots. Whenever Darcy came to visit the Millers’ farm, much of their time was spent with the herd of Icelandic horses that Kim’s family raised. She had horses of her own, but the stocky, fluffy “Iceys” captured Darcy’s heart the very first time she met them.

“Okay, I would have a little tiny bit of sympathy for you, except racing was your idea, even though you knew in your heart you were going to lose.” Darcy’s sense of humor came to life when she was with Kim. At school she was very shy, but here she could be herself. Horses were her passion, and when the Millers joined her 4-H group, Darcy and Kim became best friends in no time.

She stepped out of the way as Kim halfheartedly tossed a clump of grass at her. Darcy and Kim fed the horses their carrot treats and smoothed their hands over the wildly thick manes of the Millers’ Icelandic horses. When they’d eaten every carrot and had enough attention, the horses moved toward the hay bale thirty feet away.

“Hey! How’d you guys get down here so fast?” Emily, Kim’s fourteen-year-old sister, joined the girls at the fence. Her wavy red-gold hair hung down her back and shone in the afternoon sun.

“Hi Emily. I couldn’t resist saying hello to the horses, and Kim decided it was a good time to shred her favorite jeans, right, Speedy?” Darcy grinned as Kim stuck her tongue out at her pal.

“Oh, Kim! You really did a number on those! You should have changed clothes before you came down to the barn.”

“I know. But the horses were calling to us, seriously,” Kim’s green eyes twinkled as she teased her older sister.

“Alright, alright. You’re going to have to patch them up and call them barn pants, I guess. Too bad we don’t have Rosalie with us anymore—she’d fix them right up!”

“Well, that makes no sense, Em. If Rosalie was with us, we’d still be in the city—and we certainly wouldn’t be hanging out with horses in our own yard!” The Millers’ former life in Philadelphia was only twenty-five miles in distance, but it seemed a lot farther away.

“Wait a minute,” Darcy interrupted, “Who’s Rosalie?”

“She was our nanny ‘slash’ housekeeper when we lived in Philly. She was practically family when Mom and Dad were working constantly,” Emily explained.

“I can hardly even remember that life,” Kim reflected as she pushed her bangs out of her eyes, “We’re all so much happier here.” The girls leaned against the white vinyl fence, watching the small herd of horses and foals nibble sweet smelling hay from the huge, round bale.

“You had a nanny and everything? No way! How did your family get out here?”

“Truth?” Emily glanced over her shoulder as if a spy could be hiding behind the oak trees. “If we had stayed there, Mom and Dad would have gotten divorced. They didn’t even like each other any more. Mom was always worried about problems with her patient, or the hospital, or insurance companies, stuff like that. Dad was always yelling about some dumb client he was doing a trial for, or his partners or something. They both had their own problems, and I think they just took their frustrations out on each other.”

Kim listened as closely as Darcy—she was only seven when their family moved, so she wasn’t as aware of the situation. She tried to keep still, but the jingling of the two silver bracelets on her arm made a small ping ping noise as they hit the fence. The horses looked over at the noise for a moment, then went back to their snack.

“How bad was it, really?” Darcy wondered. “Do you think they could go from being that miserable to perfectly happy, just because they moved here? Lansdale’s not paradise, you know!”

“It was much more than just the move. I mean, the quiet and being closer to nature—seeing stars at night and stuff like that—is great; but the magic came from the horses. Mom and Dad both fell in love with them and it was like they had joined this secret club. They were constantly talking about the Iceys, studying everything they could find. It was like they were gonna build their own ‘Icey Lovers’ tree house or something!”

“You know,” added Kim, “I do remember that. They went from either not talking at all or arguing constantly, to giggling like kids planning a birthday party.”

“Yeah, and things just kept rolling along, and here we are!”

“You know what I don’t get?,” Kim confided, leaning forward to hang over the fence and letting her ponytail flip forward, “when Mom was our age, she said she used to ride ‘tall horses’ like the 4-H gang and the Equestrian Youth Group members. What made her decide on Icelandic Horses? They sure aren’t anything like the tall horses, not that I’m complaining.”

“It was definitely Prinsessa,” Emily stated, smiling at the small bay mare with the huge mane and forelock, the queen of the herd, a total Alpha mare. “It was that trip to Virginia when we visited the Trimbles’ farm. That’s where Mom fell in love with Prinsessa and the Icelandic breed. I guess she was the snowball that started the avalanche.”

“Yeah.” Kim smiled with satisfaction. “And now she’s mine.”

“Yep. Remember when we brought Prinsessa home and a month later Aríel was born?” Emily reminisced. “Mom and Dad didn’t even know she was pregnant! She’s such a little chub that she always looks pregnant.”

“Hey, don’t talk about Prinsessa like that! She’s royalty! And she can hear you, so watch your mouth,” Kim grinned at Darcy as she straightened Emily out.

“Sorry,” Emily smiled. “She may be shaped like a barrel, but she’s still the perfect horse. Anyway, it didn’t matter; Mom and Dad were so in love with Prinsessa and Aríel and Iceys in general that it didn’t take Mom long to convince Dad that they should start a hobby farm to breed Icelandic horses. Remember all that research they did? Then when they traveled around to other Icelandic farms they figured out in a hurry that these little horses are easy to keep and the best trail horses in the world.”

“Not just trail horses,” Kim interrupted, “what about jumping and barrel racing and dressage and gaited horse shows and the county fair and, and…”

“You’re right, you’re right,” Emily agreed, “which is why Mom and Dad bought Hersir, Skessa and Hela from the Trimbles. It wasn’t long before Fina and Ari were born. Then Mom and Dad had an Icelandic breeding business, and boy, were they lucky in their choices! Hersir has turned out to be the best little stallion in the world and all the babies have been perfect.” Emily beamed at the horses with pride.

“Wow, it’s so romantic, in a horse kind of way,” Darcy mused. “Why’d you get all these other ones? Drasill, Gelmir, Fálki and Kedja have been here since last spring, right?”

“Two points to Darcy for remembering all their names!” joked Emily, “Mom and Dad realized that some people were willing to buy fully trained, imported adult horses, even if they are pretty expensive. But it takes a whole year to get used to our environment and teach them the way we like to ride, which is why we still have them. They got Kedja because she was a champion in Iceland, like Hersir, and they wanted another mare to breed. Plus, Dad wanted a horse to ride.”

“Yeah, but then how come Mom’s the one who rides Kedja, who’s tall, and Dad rides Hela, who’s short and always stops to eat grass at the side of the trail?” Kim laughed. “Dad gets so annoyed when she does that. It’s funny!”

“Well, Mom’s a great rider and Kedja’s a champion mare. Dad just learned to ride and even though Hela gives him a hard time, she’s still an easy horse to ride. Dad loves her, even when she misbehaves. She just likes to see what she can get away with.”

“I love it when the babies are born, but I’m always sad when we have to sell them,” Kim said mournfully, hanging by one foot off the fence, practicing one of her old gymnastic moves.

“I know, silly.” Emily tapped Kim on the arm lightly. “But if all we did was breed and import, but never sold any, we’d run out of space and it sure wouldn’t be much of a business. Besides, they would never sell Hersir, Prinsessa, Skessa, Kedja, Hela or Aríel - they’re our horses.”

“We better get in and start our homework before dinner,” Emily announced, sounding more than just two years older than her younger sister. There were only a few school days left and then they would have the whole summer to enjoy riding, preparations for the county fair, and 4-H work nights. The girls were counting down the days to freedom. Until then, the Miller girls had to stick to their after school routine.

The trio strolled up to the house, unaware that two of the horses had left their spot at the hay bale. Prinsessa and her daughter, Ariel, watched the trio for a few seconds, then turned to face each other. Ariel bobbed her head up, then down, and headed for the pasture. Prinsessa stayed in place until the three girls were out of her sight.

Supper was an event, with the three girls sharing their summer dreams with Mr. and Mrs. Miller. Karen Miller smiled as she watched the children enjoying the steamed broccoli, marinated chicken breasts, green salad, and corn muffins.

“Thank you, ladies, for making these muffins when you got home. They add so much to the meal.”

“You’re welcome,” Emily gladly took credit for her idea. “But let’s get back to the summer plans…what do you think? Are we ready to go camping this summer?”

“We’ll talk about it,” her father answered. But his wink at Kim told the girls it was a good possibility.

Giddy about the summer opportunities just around the corner, Darcy and Kim ran upstairs to the younger Miller’s bedroom. Emily claimed dibs on the computer and dashed into the upstairs office.