BACK AT THE STABLE, THE HORSES WERE already tacked up. I mounted Charm and led him out of the stable.
“Happy Halloween, boy,” I said. “We’re going on a special trail ride. Are you excited?”
Charm nodded.
Laughing, I patted his neck and mounted.
We waited for all of the riders to gather in front of the stable. The Trio and Brit rode up beside Charm and me. Mike, Doug, and Mr. Conner joined us.
“If you’re all ready, let’s go,” Mr. Conner said. “Stick to the lighted path only and if you feel your horse or yourself getting nervous about any of the surroundings, please speak up and Mike or Doug will escort you back to the stable.”
“Like a loser,” Heather whispered.
We got into line and followed Mr. Conner. I was behind Brit with Heather, Julia, and Alison following me.
Immediately, I noticed the black lanterns with candles inside that looked like real flames.
“Wow,” I whispered to myself.
The entire path was lined on either side with orange twinkly lights. Skeletons, ghosts, and witches hung from various tree branches. Mr. Conner had made sure everything was at the right level so it wouldn’t spook any of the horses.
A zombie walked in front of us, weaving around the horses, and everyone laughed. This was scary-silly and I loved it.
“Hey,” said a familiar voice. Eric rode by, waving back at me as he passed us on Luna to catch up to his friend. “Happy Halloween.”
“You too,” I called.
The trail widened and I turned to Brit to say how much fun this was. But Brit wasn’t beside me.
A rider, all dressed in black, with a crimson colored mask over his face, rode toward me.
Omigod, omigod! The gossip blogger was actually right!
I started to scream, but I froze.
“Don’t be scared,” said a voice I knew. “I just wanted to say Happy Halloween again.”
The rider pulled off his mask.
“Jacob?”
He grinned back at me, the moon and the lighting casting shadows on his face.
“How did you—what are you doing out here? And you’re riding!”
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“Well, Eric and I might have told you a little white lie,” Jacob said. “Remember how we were tutoring?”
I nodded, still confused.
“Well, it had nothing to do with math. Eric was tutoring, well, I guess teaching me about riding. He taught me enough so that I’d be able to go on this trail ride with you.”
“I can’t believe you did this! You’re terrified of horses and you’re out here at night.”
“I did it for you, Sash. I wanted this to be an amazing Halloween.”
I leaned toward him, so our faces were close. “This is the perfect Halloween.”
And for the second time on Halloween, we kissed.