Ghost Horse Read online

  Ghost Horse

  Emily got out of bed. She ran to the window and pulled back the curtains. In the moonlight, she could see the beautiful white horse!

  Emily pinched herself. “Ouch!” Now she knew she wasn’t dreaming. The beautiful white horse was really there!

  He started walking toward her window. But the closer he got, the paler he got.

  Emily gasped. She could see through the horse!

  “You’re … you’re a ghost!” she whispered.

  To J.D., who believes…

  and, as always, to Gwen, Charles,

  James, and Tambye,

  with all my love

  —G.E.S.

  To my parents

  —A.B.

  Contents

  1. A Nighttime Surprise

  2. The Worst Day Ever

  3. It’s Not a Dream

  4. The Ghost Horse

  5. The Secret in the Cemetery

  6. The New Librarian

  7. Moonlight’s Story

  8. The Search Is Over

  9. Moonlight’s Last Ride

  10. A Real Horse

  1

  A Nighttime Surprise

  Emily Clark opened her eyes. She thought she heard a sound in her room. She held her breath and listened carefully.

  But there was only the ticking of her bedside clock. Was I dreaming? she wondered.

  Emily pulled the covers up over her head. She didn’t like her new room in her new house in Westville. She wished she were back in her old room in her old house in Carver City.

  Emily heard the sound again. But it wasn’t in her room. It came from the backyard.

  She sat up in bed. Where had she heard that sound before?

  Then she remembered.

  “It’s a whinny!” she cried. But what was a horse doing in her backyard?

  Emily knew their new house had once been a farmhouse. She knew there were almost always horses on farms. Maybe one of them is still here! she decided.

  Emily got out of bed. She went to her window and pulled back the curtains.

  The moon lit up the whole backyard. Emily could see that there was no horse there. But the whinny sound had seemed so real.

  Emily sighed. It was probably the wind.

  But just as she started to turn away from the window, a white horse walked out from behind a tree. Emily gasped. “I did hear a horse!” she cried.

  The horse seemed to glow in the moonlight. He was the most beautiful horse Emily had ever seen.

  He walked slowly around the backyard. He made one complete circle, then he stopped.

  The horse looked toward Emily’s window. He pawed the ground and snorted. He reared up on his hind legs and whinnied some more.

  Emily could feel her heart pounding. Maybe this horse is a surprise for me, she thought.

  Her parents knew she was unhappy about moving. Maybe they bought her a horse to make her happy. Emily was sure that was what had happened. Well, it worked! She was happy now!

  She raised her window. If she called to the horse, maybe he would come to her.

  Suddenly, the horse started walking away.

  “Please don’t go!” Emily cried. The horse turned its head to look right at her.

  And then, the horse disappeared!

  2

  The Worst day Ever

  “Emily! Get up!” her mother called. “We’ll both be late if you don’t hurry!”

  Emily opened her eyes and yawned. Right away, she remembered the beautiful white horse.

  She jumped out of bed and went to the window. She pulled back the curtains. The sun was shining brightly, but Emily didn’t see the beautiful white horse anywhere in the backyard.

  Then she remembered how the horse had just disappeared. I must have been dreaming, she thought.

  She got back into bed. She wished she could stay there all day. Today was her first day at her new school.

  Emily sat in the car. She didn’t want to get out.

  “You can’t sit here forever,” her mother said. “Sooner or later, you’ll have to go inside.”

  Emily looked out the window. She bit her lower lip. All the other kids were riding bicycles to school.

  Emily had never learned how to ride a bicycle. No one rode bikes to school in Carver City. The streets were too dangerous.

  Suddenly, she was really mad. Why did they have to move to Westville in the first place? It was such a small town.

  “Emily, sweetheart, I can’t stay here all morning,” her mother said. “I’ll be late to the office.”

  Emily knew that tone of voice. Her mother was getting annoyed. In a minute, she wouldn’t be asking nicely. She would be telling Emily what would happen if she didn’t get out of the car and go into the school building.

  Emily opened the door and got out.

  “I’ll be here to pick you up after school,” her mother told her.

  “Okay,” Emily said.

  She tried to sound sad. She hoped her mother would feel sorry for her. She hoped her mother would lean out the window and tell her that she didn’t have to go to the new school after all.

  Emily started walking slowly away from the car. Her mother didn’t say anything. Emily kept getting farther and farther away from the car. She kept getting closer and closer to the front door of the school. Her mother still didn’t say anything.

  Emily heard the sound she had been dreading. Her mother put the car in gear and drove away from the curb.

  Emily could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Then she saw a girl coming toward her.

  Emily turned around quickly. She pretended to wave to her mother while she quickly wiped away the tears on the sleeve of her shirt. She turned back around.

  “Hi! I’m Julie!” the girl said. “You’re Emily! You’re the new girl in our class.”

  Emily swallowed the lump in her throat. “How did you know my name?” she asked.

  “I know everything that goes on in Westville. I’ve lived here all my life,” Julie said. “I saw you through the window. I told Mrs. Benson that you looked lost. Mrs. Benson is our teacher. She told me to come get you.”

  “Thanks,” Emily said.

  She followed Julie through the front door of her new school. Julie bounced down the hallway. Emily didn’t feel like bouncing.

  When they got to the classroom, Emily followed Julie inside.

  “Welcome, Emily,” Mrs. Benson said.

  She turned to the class. “This is Emily Clark. She just moved to our town.”

  The class all said, “Hello, Emily.”

  Emily tried to smile.

  Then Mrs. Benson showed Emily to her seat.

  “I thought you’d like to sit next to Julie,” Mrs. Benson said. “She lives only two blocks from you.”

  Mrs. Benson turned to the rest of the class. “You may all talk quietly until the second bell rings,” she added as she started writing on the chalkboard.

  “I’ll show you my new bicycle at recess,” Julie said. She gave Emily a puzzled look. “Why didn’t you ride yours to school?”

  “I don’t have a bike,” Emily said.

  Julie looked shocked. “You don’t?”

  “No, I don’t.” Emily tried to sound bored by the idea.

  “I don’t know how you’ll get around in Westville if you don’t have a bicycle to ride,” Julie said.

  Emily suddenly realized that everyone had stopped talking. They were all staring at her.

  She felt like crawling into a hole.

  All of a sudden, she remembered the dream she had. She took a deep breath and looked Julie in the eye.

  “My parents think bicycles are too dangerous,” she said. “That’s why they bought me a horse.”

  3

  It�
�s Not a Dream

  Emily was glad when the final bell rang.

  She picked up her book bag and hurried out of the classroom. She was so miserable that she didn’t even say good-bye to Julie.

  All day long she had to answer questions about her horse. What kind is it? What color is it? What’s its name? What do you wear when you’re riding it?

  Emily kept making up things.

  After a while, she forgot what she had said and what she hadn’t said. Several times, different kids had to correct her.

  What made it even worse was that Julie knew everything there was to know about horses.

  “I’d really rather have a horse than a bicycle,” Julie had whispered to her at lunch. “I can hardly wait to see yours.”

  Emily’s mother was parked in front of the school. Emily ran down the sidewalk and got into the car.

  “Hurry!” she said.

  Her mother pulled away from the curb. “Is there anything wrong?” she asked.

  “No!” Emily snapped. “I just want to go home.”

  Emily leaned back in her seat and sighed. Why did she have to go and tell Julie that she had a horse? Now everybody wanted to see it. Now everybody wanted to ride it.

  There was no way she could ever go back to that school again!

  Her mother pulled into their driveway and stopped the car. “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?” she asked again.

  Emily turned to her. “Could I get a horse?” she asked.

  Her mother blinked. “A horse?”

  Emily nodded.

  “We don’t have anyplace to keep a horse,” her mother said.

  “We’ve got a big backyard,” Emily said. “We could keep it there.”

  “I don’t think so, Emily,” her mother said. She opened the car door and got out.

  Emily followed slowly.

  When she got to her room, she looked out the window. They really did have a big backyard. That was why her parents had bought this house. She wondered if there had ever been a beautiful white horse here when her house was on a farm.

  The rest of the afternoon dragged by.

  After dinner, Emily decided to ask her father if she could get a horse. He said no, too. So Emily watched her favorite TV show in silence.

  Right before she went to bed, Emily’s father said she could call one of her friends in Carver City. She chose JoAnn.

  JoAnn wanted to know all about her new school. Emily tried to make it sound really awful, but she decided to leave out the part about the horse. She was too embarrassed.

  Finally, her father told her it was time to hang up. She and JoAnn promised to call each other every day until Emily could convince her parents to move back to Carver City.

  Then Emily went to bed. I hope I dream about the beautiful white horse, she thought as she closed her eyes.

  There were so many things she would do if she had a horse. She would feed him carrots and sugar cubes. She would ride him to school every day.

  The horse would love Emily very much. He would whinny whenever he saw her.

  He would whinny…

  He would whinny…

  He would whinny…

  Emily opened her eyes. She was sure that she had heard the whinny sound again. She sat up and listened carefully.

  Yes! There it was!

  She got out of bed. She ran to the window and pulled back the curtains. In the moonlight, she could see the beautiful white horse!

  Emily pinched herself. “Ouch!” Now she knew she wasn’t dreaming. The beautiful white horse was really there!

  He started walking toward her window. But the closer he got, the paler he got.

  Emily gasped. She could see through the horse!

  “You’re…you’re a ghost!” she whispered.

  4

  The Ghost Horse

  Emily jumped back from the window.

  Then the most amazing thing happened. The ghost horse stuck his head through the wall of her room!

  Emily’s eyes went wide. “How did you do that?” she said.

  The ghost horse whinnied softly.

  Of course! Emily realized. If a human ghost could come through a wall, why couldn’t a horse ghost do the same thing?

  Emily swallowed hard. She couldn’t believe this was actually happening.

  The rest of the ghost horse came through the wall, filling the room with a soft white glow.

  Emily could feel her heart pounding. “Hi,” she whispered. “How are you tonight?”

  The ghost horse looked at Emily and snorted. But Emily thought it sounded like a nice snort.

  She started walking slowly toward the ghost horse. She didn’t want to scare him. “You are so beautiful,” she said. She reached out her hand to pat him on the nose.

  The ghost horse stepped back shyly.

  “Don’t be afraid,” Emily said softly. “I won’t hurt you.”

  She reached out her hand again. This time, the ghost horse let Emily pat his nose. It was so soft.

  Emily wished the ghost horse could talk. Why had he come to her?

  The ghost horse knelt down on his front legs.

  “Do you want me to get on?” Emily asked.

  The ghost horse whinnied softly. “Okay,” Emily said.

  She took hold of the ghost horses mane. She swung her right leg over his back and climbed on.

  Then she took a deep breath. She tried not to think about the fact that she was sitting on a ghost.

  The ghost horse stood up and started walking toward the wall. Emily wondered what would happen to her when the ghost horse went back through it. She held on tight.

  The ghost horse’s head went through the wall. Emily closed her eyes. She was sure her head would hit the wall. She was sure she would fall off the ghost horse.

  Emily felt a cool breeze on her face. She opened her eyes. She and the ghost horse were in the backyard. Emily had gone through the wall, too!

  They passed under the trees and went through the wooden back fence. Now they were in the alley behind her house.

  Where is he taking me? Emily wondered.

  The ghost horse started to trot. Emily held tighter to his mane.

  When they reached the end of the alley, the ghost horse galloped into the middle of the street and started racing through Westville. The streetlights became blurs.

  Emily closed her eyes and held on for dear life.

  When she opened her eyes again, they were no longer in town. For the first time, Emily began to feel scared.

  After a few minutes, the ghost horse stopped galloping. He slowed to a trot. Then he slowed to a walk.

  Finally, he turned off the road and started up a narrow path.

  In the moonlight, Emily could see a large metal gate. Beyond the metal gate, Emily could see a lot of tombstones.

  “Oh, no!” she cried.

  The ghost horse had taken her to a cemetery!

  5

  The Secret in the Cemetery

  The ghost horse walked through the metal gate and started down a narrow path.

  He twisted and turned between big old tombstones, taking Emily deeper and deeper into the cemetery.

  The tree branches looked like long arms as they swayed back and forth in the wind. Emily was sure that any minute they would grab her and pull her from the ghost horse.

  Mist floated out from the shadows and danced around her face.

  Emily shivered. She had never been in a cemetery after dark before. She didn’t like it at all.

  Finally, the ghost horse stopped and knelt down. Emily slowly got off.

  Was he going to leave her in the middle of a cemetery?

  The ghost horse stood up, but didn’t run away. Instead, he lifted his left hoof and touched a tombstone.

  Emily bent down to look. She was glad the moon was bright. It was easy to read the names.

  MARY WIKKENS JOHN WIKKENS

  1925-1957 1923-1957

  “Who are these people?” Emily asked the ghost horse.

>   The ghost horse whinnied softly. Emily was sure he was trying to tell her something. But what? she wondered.

  6

  The New Librarian

  When Emily got to school the next morning, she felt like she was walking around in a dream. She still couldn’t believe what had happened the night before.

  When the kids asked her again about her horse, she said, “I rode him last night! It was a lot of fun!”

  It came out of her mouth before she could stop it.

  Most of the kids believed her. But a few of them acted like they didn’t.

  “Did you really ride him after dark?” Julie whispered to her during recess.

  Emily nodded. Suddenly, she had a great idea. “I’ll show him to you. I’ll ride over to your house tonight.”

  Emily just hoped she was telling Julie the truth this time.

  That night, the ghost horse stuck his head through Emily’s bedroom wall again and whinnied softly.

  “I knew you’d come back!” Emily said sleepily.

  She got out of bed and climbed onto the ghost horse’s back. “We’re going to my friend Julie’s house,” she said. She gently pulled the ghost horse’s mane to the left, and they rode through the wall of her room.

  When they reached Julie’s house, Emily pulled the ghost horse to a stop.

  How can I let Julie know I’m here? Emily wondered.

  It was too late to ring the doorbell. That would probably make Julie’s parents really mad.

  Emily finally decided just to ride the ghost horse through the front door.

  “Don’t whinny now,” Emily warned him.

  Emily guided the ghost horse up the front step and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was inside Julie’s house.

  She rode through the living room and the dining room and the kitchen. When she reached the back of the house, she saw three closed doors.

  One of these rooms has to be Julie’s bedroom, she thought, looking around. But which one is it?