Horsenapped! Read Online Free PDF

and just plain spectators.
    It only took a few minutes for Carole to tack up Starlight. He seemed as eager for an early-morning ride as Carole was. She led him to the door of the stable, mounted up, touched the good-luck horseshoe, and they were off.
    Willow Creek, Virginia, wasn’t a very large town. A lot of the people in and around town were involved with horses, and most of them knew one another. Both Alicia Downing and Mr. Feeney had property near Pine Hollow. It wouldn’t take Carole long to visit them, particularly since she could take shortcuts across the fields behind Pine Hollow.
    The air was still cool, giving little hint of the hot, humid day to follow. Dew hung on the grasses in the fields. It would evaporate as the morning warmed, lifting slowly above the field to meet the day. Everything smelled fresh and clean. Everything looked peaceful.
    Starlight nodded his head, eager to get going.
    Alicia’s house was across three fields and a little uphill from Pine Hollow. The short ride was a good chance to let Starlight loosen up. Carole didn’t want to tire him. He had a lot of work ahead of him with the cross-country ride later on, but a relaxed trip through an open field was something they could both enjoy.
    Carole checked her watch. It was eight o’clock when she reached Alicia’s house. She could hear a radio on in the kitchen, so somebody was up. Although Carole had been worrying all night about a plan, she wasn’t like Stevie and hadn’t come up with any clever way to do the detecting. Stevie had had lots of suggestions, but most of them involved clever and devious tactics that Carole had no faith in at all. So, Carole finally settled on the obvious. She decided to ask directly.
    She tied Starlight’s reins to Alicia’s mailbox, walked up to the kitchen door, and knocked.
    “Who is it?” came the startled response.
    “Um, it’s Carole Hanson, from Pine Hollow?” she began nervously. “I was just riding by this morning. I mean, I was exercising my horse because we’re competing later on, and I thought I’d stop by because I missed seeing you on Bodoni yesterday and I was just, sort of wondering …”
    Carole knew she was stumbling through her spiel. She sounded dumb and she couldn’t help it.
    “I’m really busy right now,” Alicia said through the screen door.
    “Well, I’m sorry to interrupt,” Carole said. She wasn’t going to be put off. “I just wanted to make sure Bodoni was all right. I mean, you left in such a hurry yesterday.”
    “He’s fine,” Alicia answered curtly. “This just isn’t a good time—”
    “Is he in the barn out back?” Carole asked, persisting.
    Alicia seemed to pause. She definitely looked uncomfortable. “Of course he is,” she said. “Where else would he be? I
really
can’t talk to you now.”
    The door closed.
    “Bye,” Carole said politely to the air.
    But she didn’t mean it because she wasn’t ready to leave. She returned to Starlight and mounted up. She rode behind the house as if she were going back through the field, but after she’d passed the barn and was out of sight of the house, she doubled back. It took only a quick look inside to confirm her suspicion: There was no sign of Bodoni.
    “What are you looking for?” Alicia’s voice came from a few feet behind her. She had followed Carole, making sure she’d gone, and now Carole had been caught red-handed snooping around the woman’s barn.
    Carole thought fast. “I just thought I could get a little water for Starlight,” she stammered. She didn’t fool Alicia, though.
    “There’s a trough in the field, Carole,” Alicia said. “And you know it’s there. You and your horse are welcome to the water. You are not welcome in my barn. I told you this wasn’t a good time for a visit. Now, please, leave.”
    Alicia stood and watched while Carole mounted upand rode away. There would be no doubling back this time, but there was no need to do it, anyway. Alicia hadn’t exactly