The Challenger Read Online Free PDF Page B

the I-told-you-so’s from everyone who said this was a job better done from a helicopter.” Brynna put Jeep into a quick walk up the trail and Sam followed.
    How deep was Lost Canyon? Sam had only ridden in a few miles, but she’d seen the Phantom there and imagined some back entrance to the canyonfrom the Calico Mountains.
    Sam watched Ace’s ears. The gelding was alert, but he wasn’t showing the excitement he usually did when they were near other mustangs.
    The canyon walls narrowed, putting them in shadow as they rode on. They passed a cottonwood tree that had managed to survive with its roots sunk in the cleft of a rock. Down at River Bend, cottonwoods and aspens still showed leaves of gold. Here, the altitude and weather had stripped the cottonwood of leaves. Its gray branches were cracked and bare.
    Sam pulled her jacket closer. The lack of sun and the wail of wind around the rocks made her shiver.
    As they approached the overlook to Arroyo Azul, Sam realized she was actually leading Brynna to a place where she might find the Phantom.
    Sam wouldn’t think of showing anyone the stallion’s haven in the Calico Mountains. Not Jake, Dad, or even Jen, but Arroyo Azul wasn’t a secret. Brynna already knew where to search. With Sam’s help, Brynna would find him sooner, without the swooping racket of helicopters.
    Besides, Brynna was trying to protect the mustangs, not catch them, and that made all the difference.
    â€œRemember the young black horse you mentioned? The Phantom’s son, you thought, who took over the herd while Karla Starr had the Phantom?” Brynna glanced over her shoulder to see Sam nod. “Iwonder if he’s still with the herd?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Sam mused. “The Phantom must have driven him out once, because he was with a bachelor band. But then he was back with the herd when the Phantom was gone.”
    â€œHorses try to stay with their family herd,” Brynna said. “I wonder if he was in charge or just hanging around because his father wasn’t there to drive him out?” Brynna said.
    â€œHe thought he was in charge.” Sam recalled how the young horse had pranced and threatened. “But the lead mare didn’t seem convinced he was the boss.”
    All at once, the trail widened. Sun struck them and Ace seemed to trot on tiptoe.
    â€œWe’re getting close,” Sam said, and then they stopped. Even the saddle horses stared at the vista that suddenly appeared on their left.
    Sandstone cliffs were stacked like rows of seats in an amphitheater, and a turquoise stream marked the bottom of Arroyo Azul. Horses moved like wind-up toys, dwarfed by the distance between the trail where Brynna and Sam sat their horses and the bottom of the arroyo.
    Ace gave a short snort and Jeep echoed it. Both geldings grew tense as they listened for sounds from the horses down below.
    â€œWe have to go down closer to watch,” Sam said.
    â€œWhy? They’re here, and I’ve got a good enough idea of where they are that I can check our maps andsee if they’re on BLM or BIA land.”
    â€œThere’s got to be a path down,” Sam said, “and we’ve got to take it. Look.”
    Sam pointed as Ace and Jeep whinnied.
    Silver against the pink-gold sandstone, the stallion stood silent, but he saw them. Sam’s heart swelled with excitement.
    Though he stood a half mile away, across thin air, the Phantom flipped his heavy mane and tossed his head in greeting. He saw all of them, but he was welcoming her.
    She wanted to call back to him, using his secret name, but she didn’t. She wanted to fly across the canyon, circle his neck with her arms, and hug him, but she couldn’t. Not even if she were standing beside him.
    Sam ached with what she’d lost.
    Before he’d been betrayed by humans, the stallion had let Sam stroke his sleek hide and bury her face in his mane. Before, she’d