Horses Her Way Read online

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Meet the Wind Dancers

  CHAPTER 1: Swim Team

  CHAPTER 2: Make Like a Tree and Leave

  CHAPTER 3: Let Sleeping Frogs Lie

  CHAPTER 4: Dandelion Fields Forever

  CHAPTER 5: Beauty Parlor

  Art Smart

  Preview: A Horse, Of Course!

  Copyright

  For Shoshana and Marco—Sibley Miller

  To “baby” Michael—for Web camera inspiration. Ah ha HA!—Tara Larsen Chang

  To Muriel and Myron for your wholehearted support since the day we met—Jo Gershman

  Meet the Wind Dancers

  One day, a lonely little girl named Leanna blows on a doozy of a dandelion. To her delight and surprise, four tiny horses spring from the puff of the dandelion seeds!

  Four tiny horses with shiny manes and shimmery wings. Four magical horses who can fly!

  Dancing on the wind, surrounded by magic halos, they are the Wind Dancers.

  The leader of the quartet is Kona. She has a violet-black coat and vivid purple mane, and she flies inside a halo of magical flowers.

  Brisa is as pretty as a tropical sunset with her coral-pink color and blonde mane and tail. Magical jewels make up Brisa’s halo, and she likes to admire her gems (and herself) every time she looks in a mirror.

  Sumatra is silvery blue with sea-green wings. Much like the ocean, she can shift from calm to stormy in a hurry. Her magical halo is made up of ribbons, which flutter and dance as she flies.

  The fourth Wind Dancer is—surprise!—a colt. His name is Sirocco. He’s a fiery gold, and he likes to go-go-go. Everywhere he goes, his magical halo of butterflies goes, too.

  The tiny, flying horses live together in the dandelion meadow in a lovely house carved out of the trunk of an apple tree. Every day, Leanna wishes she’ll see the magical little horses again. (She’s sure they’re nearby, but she doesn’t know they’re invisible to people.) And the Wind Dancers get ready for their next adventure.

  CHAPTER 1

  Swim Team

  Splash!

  Two of the three fillies, Kona and Sumatra, were standing ankle-deep in the gentle water of a creek near their apple tree house.

  Sirocco, on the other hand, was splashing around smack dab in the middle of the creek.

  “SIR-OC-CO!” Kona and Sumatra neighed indignantly at their fellow Wind Dancer.

  “What?” Sirocco said innocently as he joyfully thrashed in the water.

  “This was supposed to be just a morning romp,” Sumatra reprimanded the unruly colt.

  “Right,” Kona agreed. “To get our last taste of the creek before it gets too cold.”

  She glanced up at the tree branches that were hanging over the creek. The leaves were already turning golden yellow and russet red as autumn approached.

  “So what’s the problem?” Sirocco asked again.

  Splash, splash, splash!

  Now came a sweet sing-songy voice from the bank of the creek: “You’re not romping, Sirocco! You’re positively wallowing in the water!”

  This was Brisa, curled up on a perfect little mound of emerald moss. Her long, blonde mane shimmered. Her coral-pink coat gleamed. And the jewels in her magic halo danced around her.

  Sirocco rolled his eyes at the pretty little filly.

  “I don’t know why it matters to you, Brisa,” he said. “You haven’t come anywhere near the water.”

  “Of course not!” Brisa said, widening her already huge eyes. “A damp mane? A matted tail? Hooves covered with creek silt? I don’t think so.”

  Kona looked down a little sheepishly at the white socks on her forelegs. They were, indeed, mottled with mud.

  Sumatra’s pale green tail did look wet and stringy compared to Brisa’s flowing blonde one.

  And Sirocco was a complete mess!

  But Sirocco didn’t care if he was dirty!

  And he didn’t think his friends should care, either.

  “C’mon,” he scoffed, using his nose to send a splash Kona’s way. “It’s our last dip of the season. Live a little!”

  The splash hit Kona right between the eyes. She gasped in shock.

  And then—she grinned.

  “Don’t dish it out,” she taunted, pulling her foreleg back, “if you can’t take it.”

  She kicked the water with all her might. A tiny tidal wave careened toward Sirocco and soaked his mane through.

  “Ha!” he shouted. He began kicking water with all four of his legs.

  “Ahh!” Sumatra shrieked, laughing as Sirocco soaked her next. “I’ll get you!”

  She swatted at the creek with her tail, sending water droplets everywhere.

  “Eek!” Brisa cried. She fluttered her wings hard and rose into the air. “You guys are going to get me all dirty!”

  She hovered hesitantly above the creek.

  “Aw, come on in, Brisa!” Sirocco called out. He batted his wings against the water, sending a great, silty spray up toward her.

  “Eek!” Brisa cried again, darting higher into the air. “I brushed my mane with two hundred strokes so I’d be twice as beautiful today. You’re going to mess it all up!”

  Sirocco looked around. There was nobody at the creek besides the Wind Dancers, a few dragonflies, and some minnows.

  “Nobody here cares what you look like!” Sirocco bellowed.

  “I care,” Brisa said simply. And with that, she turned and began flying away.

  “Don’t be angry with us, Brisa,” Kona implored.

  “Oh, I’m not angry,” Brisa assured her friends, fully meaning it. “Anger causes scrunched-up lines around the eyes.”

  That only made Sirocco roll his eyes.

  “I’m just going to take a nice, clean cruise around the meadow,” Brisa called as she flew. “I’ll be back when you all are done making messes.”

  “You’re seriously going to miss our last swim of the season?” Sumatra yelled after her.

  “Better pretty than gritty!” Brisa called with a laugh. Then, after one last glance at her frolicking friends, she was gone.

  * * *

  “Tra, la, la, laaaaaa!”

  Brisa sang sweetly to herself as she bobbed aimlessly above the dandelion meadow. She was so busy enjoying the breeze and the sun glinting on her halo of jewels that she barely paid attention to where she was flying.

  Until suddenly, she spotted a familiar redbrick building right in front of her!

  “It’s Leanna’s school!” Brisa chirped to herself excitedly. “If anybody always looks as pretty as I do, it’s Leanna! I’ll just peek into her classroom and see what she’s up to.”

  Brisa fluttered over to the open classroom window and peered inside.

  “That’s our girl,” Brisa whispered to herself upon seeing Leanna. “And she’s as pretty as always!”

  But Brisa was a little wistful. She so wished Leanna could see—and admire—her beauty as well.

  Before Brisa could get all sad about her invisibility to people, though, Leanna’s teacher clapped her hands and made an announcement.

  “Class,” she said. “For our art lesson today, please draw something that you find beautiful.”

  “Ooh!” Brisa squeaked. “It’s the perfect assignment!”

  “Draw something lovely from the natural world,” the teacher continued. “A tree, clou
ds in the sky, an animal, whatever you like.”

  “That’s easy!” Leanna and Brisa said at the same time. Brisa giggled at the jinx, as Leanna hurried to the art supply station. She returned a moment later with a tray of pretty pastels and some thick, white paper. Then she began to draw an animal with four elegant legs, a proud arched neck, upstanding ears, a mane, a tail.…

  “It’s a horse!” Brisa cried triumphantly.

  She watched Leanna’s busy hands, waiting for her to add sparkly wings, a pretty coat, and a magic halo to her picture.

  “I wonder if she’s drawing me,” Brisa whispered to herself, hoping to see Leanna color her horse coral pink and surround it with magic jewels.

  To Brisa’s surprise, Leanna colored her horse a chestnut brown, with a braided mane and tail and a pattern on her rump. But not a single jewel!

  I guess Leanna chose to draw one of the big horses, Brisa thought to herself sadly, referring to the Wind Dancers’ no-nonsense, non-magical friends who lived in a paddock at the edge of the dandelion meadow. Not that the big horses aren’t pretty, too. But I wonder why—

  “I wish—” Leanna whispered to herself, interrupting Brisa’s thoughts. Brisa’s silky ears perked up. She found herself flying inside the classroom to get closer.

  “I wish,” Leanna repeated under her breath, “that I could draw a Wind Dancer along with my horse. But my teacher would never believe that a tiny, flying horse exists in nature. She’d think I made it up!”

  Brisa grinned. So Leanna hadn’t forgotten about her and the other Wind Dancers!

  Leanna carefully colored her horse’s eye brown. Then she said, “Done!”

  “Oh,” Brisa whispered in disappointment, as she fluttered back through the window and into the sunshiny day.

  “I understand why Leanna couldn’t draw a Wind Dancer. And her horse is pretty. But why not make it even prettier! Why on earth not?”

  As Brisa flew back toward home, she gazed around her. Suddenly, she felt like she was looking at the world with new eyes!

  And the little idea she’d had for Leanna was turning into a full-fledged brainstorm! And from a brainstorm, it quickly grew into an actual plan! It was the best she’d ever had!

  And I want to get started on it right away! Brisa thought to herself in excitement.

  Whinnying happily, the filly twisted in the air and flew as fast as she could back to the dandelion meadow.

  CHAPTER 2

  Make Like a Tree and Leave

  “I think I still have some mud caked in my hooves,” Sumatra said, peering down at one of her not-so-clean legs. She, Kona, and Sirocco had just finished their dip in the muddy creek.

  “And I cannot seem to get all these snarls out,” Kona admitted, frowning at her knotty mane and tail.

  The fillies looked expectantly at Sirocco.

  But Sirocco just hummed contentedly and did a couple of happy loop-de-loops—until he saw Kona and Sumatra staring at him.

  “What?!” he demanded.

  “Don’t you feel a little scruffy, too?” Kona asked him.

  “Naw,” Sirocco scoffed. “I feel good!”

  The dirt-flecked butterflies in his magic halo nodded in agreement.

  “If you ask me, a horse shouldn’t fuss too much,” Sirocco went on. “It’s more important to have fun! Preferably, fun that involves mud.”

  “Don’t let Brisa hear you say that,” Sumatra said dryly. “She might throw one of her magic jewels at you.”

  “And make her magic halo one jewel less pretty?” Sirocco scoffed. “I don’t think so—ow!”

  Sirocco stopped short in the air as something hard thunked him on his flank.

  “What was that?” Sirocco yelled, looking up at a red maple tree.

  Something caught Kona’s eye and she flew to investigate.

  A pretty, cranberry-colored leaf lay on the grass. When Kona flipped it over with her nose, she gasped.

  Firmly attached to the leaf was a sparkly silver gem.

  A gem that Kona recognized!

  “Brisa did throw a jewel at you, Sirocco!” Kona said. She peered up at the tree.

  “Brisa?” she called.

  The branches rustled and suddenly, out popped Brisa’s pink-spotted nose.

  “Oh, hi there!” Brisa cried in surprise, poking out from a tree branch. “You’ll never guess what I’m doing!”

  “Let’s see,” Kona said. “Are you … using a bucket full of pinesap to glue your magic jewels to this poor tree’s leaves?”

  Brisa frowned.

  “No, of course not,” she said. “Pinesap is way too sticky. It might get in my hair. I’m using birch sap.”

  Sumatra’s mouth dropped open and she stared, aghast, at Brisa.

  “What?” Brisa said innocently—as another ruby leaf suddenly plummeted from the tree and thwapped to the ground.

  “Brisa!” Sumatra, Kona, and Sirocco all sputtered together.

  Thwap! Another leaf hit the dirt.

  “What?” Brisa said again.

  “Why in the world would you glue jewels onto perfectly fine leaves?” Sumatra wondered.

  “That’s just it,” Brisa said. She gazed up at the tree dreamily. “These leaves are only fine. But they could be fabulous. So, I’m helping them along with my jewels.”

  “You’re dressing up a tree?” Sirocco asked in astonishment.

  “Isn’t it beautiful?” Brisa sighed, as she attached jewels to a few more leaves. Then she flew backward to survey her work. The tree did glint and glitter in the autumn sunlight.

  It also lost three more gem-encrusted leaves.

  Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!

  Brisa didn’t notice.

  “See,” she pointed out to her friends, “now the tree glints and sparkles in the sunlight. I’ve made it almost as pretty as me!”

  “I’m sure the tree is truly grateful,” Sirocco said sarcastically.

  “I hope so!” Brisa said earnestly. “Making it pretty was hard work. I just hope I don’t look as tired as I feel.”

  She fluffed up her tail as—thwap, thwap, thwap—three more leaves went down.

  “Brisa, are you NOTICING ANYTHING?” yelled Sumatra.

  “What?” Brisa asked in alarm. She peered over her shoulder to inspect her coral coat. “Do I have birch sap on my coat? Leaves in my mane? What?!”

  Indignantly, Sumatra pointed at the fallen leaves with a front hoof.

  “Oh!” Brisa exclaimed as she eyed the sizeable scattering of bejeweled leaves lying on the grass beneath the tree. “Oh, look! A pile of jewel-ly leaves! Oh, wouldn’t you just love to jump in them? Except we’d get all messy, of course.”

  “Say no more!” Sirocco yelled. He dive-bombed into the leaf pile and emerged with red leaves—not to mention twigs, acorns, and a couple of bugs—twisted into his mane. He and his halo of magic butterflies laughed.

  “Sirocco! You’re even more dirty now!” Brisa cried. “Don’t you care?”

  “Brisa!” the colt called back teasingly. “Don’t you care about having fun? Don’t you care?”

  Brisa faltered for a moment. She gazed down at Sirocco. He did look really happy.

  But he also looks pretty scraggly, Brisa reminded herself, and I just couldn’t let myself go like that—

  “Um, excuse me, pretty filly,” Sumatra said, interrupting Brisa’s thoughts. “I wasn’t pointing out the leaves because they’re fun to jump in! There’s something wrong here!”

  “What’s that?” Brisa asked, looking at Sumatra in confusion.

  Thwap, thwap, thwap, went three more leaves falling to the ground.

  “Those leaves are on the ground,” Sumatra said, pointing at the steadily growing pile on the grass, “but they’re supposed to be on the tree.”

  “But isn’t that what fall means?” Brisa said, blinking her long, dark lashes. “Leaves fall to the ground?”

  “Yes, but that’s after they’re ready to fall on their own,” Kona said patiently. “The leaves have just chang
ed color. It’s not time for them to drop yet.”

  “Oh!” Brisa squeaked. She hung her head. “And here I thought I was doing a good thing. I wanted to decorate all the other trees in the meadow by nightfall.”

  “Well,” Kona said gently, giving Brisa a comforting nose nuzzle, “maybe you’ve learned a lesson from this.”

  Brisa nodded seriously.

  “Oh, I sure have,” she said. “I’ve learned that … I’m going to have to find something else to beautify!”

  Suddenly, her pretty brown eyes sparkled with an idea.

  “And I know just the thing!” she breathed.

  “Brisa,” Kona protested, “that isn’t exactly what I meant—”

  But before she could finish her sentence, Brisa had become a pink blur, flying eagerly toward the forest at the edge of the dandelion meadow!

  CHAPTER 3

  Let Sleeping Frogs Lie

  “What do you think she’s going to do now?” Sumatra asked Kona and Sirocco in alarm, as Brisa disappeared into the trees.

  “Well, whatever she does,” Kona said hesitantly, “we know Brisa means well.”

  “Meaning well isn’t going to save some poor, unsuspecting trees,” Sumatra said.

  “Or flowers or birds or bugs or…” Sirocco’s voice trailed off as he imagined all the forest inhabitants that Brisa might try to make beautiful.

  The three Wind Dancers looked at each other with wide eyes.

  “Let’s go!” Sirocco said.

  The trio zipped into the woods, hot on Brisa’s trail, but they weren’t quick enough. Their pretty friend was nowhere to be seen.

  “Listen for tra-la-la-la-ing,” Sumatra suggested as they flew deep into the forest.

  “Or the tinkle-tinkle-tinkle of magic jewels,” Kona said.

  “Or the utter silence of a filly staying perfectly clean,” Sirocco added with an eye-roll.

  But then he stopped short in mid-air.