Wild Girl Wild Girl Read online

“Will she win the race?”

  “Certainly.”

  “And the rider?” I asked.

  “Ai, what do you think, Lidie?”

  I knew it would be me.

  “Perfect,” I breathed.

  At my desk, I sat answering the questions in my math book, the cat curled up beside me, as Rafael began to work on the wall.

  I found the essay I’d written and ripped it into tiny pieces, watching Whirlaway dart after them. There was nothing left to wish for.

  31

  HOME

  The hay in the filly’s stall was fresh and piled up around the edges; it had the smell of a field. She raised one hoof and then the other, enjoying the feel of it underneath her.

  She’d eaten, the warm mash steaming, and had her fill of cool water.

  She was tired now after her long run, but still she put her head out the half door, curious to see what was happening outside.

  Everything was quiet, the light dim, a creature asleep near the door. Across from her was the mare, watching her, ears pricked forward.

  The mare whinnied, a soft sound, a good sound.

  The filly whinnied back, contented, and then she slept.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  First, a thank-you to my husband, Jim, for the times we spent at Belmont and Aqueduct, sunny days, happy days, with memories of that first opening day so long ago, when I began to learn about the races.

  Then, to my dear students at Clara H. Carlson, who told me more about Belmont—the cats, the chickens, that world that was just a short distance from the school.

  This book was in my mind from the time I first learned about the beautiful silks made by Antoinette Brocklebank. Every time I saw a race, those colors captured me, and I knew they belonged in a book.

  I owe a tremendous debt to Sheri Wilcox, who read this so carefully and gave me ideas, and to her father, Joseph Brocklebank, whose idea of Rafael’s race was so much better than my own, of course. I hope I haven’t disappointed them; any errors certainly are my own.

  I can’t forget my children, Jim and Laura, Bill and Cathie, Alice and Jim: my advisors, and critics, who give me joy. Their children, Jim, Chris, Bill, Cait, Conor, Patti, and Jilli, inspire me. I write for them.

  PATRICIA REILLY GIFF is the author of many beloved books for children, including the Kids of the Polk Street School books, the Friends and Amigos books, and the Polka Dot Private Eye books. Several of her novels for older readers have been chosen as ALA-ALSC Notable Books and ALA-YALSA Best Books for Young Adults. They include The Gift of the Pirate Queen; All the Way Home; Water Street; Nory Ryan’s Song, a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Honor Book for Fiction; and the Newbery Honor Books Lily’s Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods. Lily’s Crossing was also chosen as a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book. Her most recent book was Eleven. Patricia Reilly Giff lives in Connecticut.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2009 by Patricia Reilly Giff

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Wendy Lamb Books and the colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Giff, Patricia Reilly.

  Wild girl / Patricia Reilly Giff. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: When twelve-year-old Lidie leaves Brazil to join her father and brother on a horse ranch in New York, she has a hard time adjusting to her changed circumstances, as does a new horse that has come to the ranch.

  eISBN: 978-0-375-89391-9 [1. Horses—Fiction.

  2. Homesickness—Fiction. 3. Family life—New York (State)—

  Fiction. 4. Immigrants—Fiction. 5. Brazilian Americans—Fiction.

  6. New York (State)—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.G3626Wh 2009

  [Fic]—dc22

  2008047733

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