by Stargazer, age 13

Emily Foster had just put Ciervo, her thirteen year old gelding, in his pasture when she heard the truck and trailer pull in and come to a stop. The young thoroughbred stallion inside let out a shrill whinny, and there was a chorus of whinnies as the eight horses on the Foster’s farm responded. Then her mom and dad stepped out of the trailer and came around to meet Emily, who had hurried to the trailer.

“He’s definitely traumatized. He’s been kicking the trailer the whole way here, and he was a nightmare to load,” her mom, Angela Foster, informed her.

“I’m not surprised,” Emily replied, hearing the constant banging. “We’d better get him out then.”

“We’ll get the ramp,” said her dad, Jim, “you back him out.”

Emily went around to the front of the trailer and entered through the door on the side. She was met by the bared teeth of the new horse.

“Oh, knock it off,” she told the horse as she untied his lead rope and gave it a tug.

“Okay, back him out,” she heard her mom call.

The horse backed out so quickly that he stumbled on the way down.

“Easy boy,” she soothed as he let out another loud whinny and rose up slightly off his front feet. “Calm down.”

“Take him to the round pen. He’ll be staying there for a while,” her dad told her.

“Okay,” she said, and led him around the side of the barn to the round pen, her parents following.

A squirrel running through the trees startled Secret, and he reared up, his hooves flashing inches from Emily’s head. “Whoa, calm down,” she said in a low voice, tugging slightly on the lead rope. Secret returned to all fours, and before he could rear again, she gave a firm tug on the lead rope and continued walking.

Secret was edgy the rest of the way. He danced at the end of the lead rope, pulling on Emily, and occasionally rose up off his front hooves. When at last he was released in the round pen, he ran to the farthest side, away from Emily and her parents.

“Dark Secret, huh?” Emily said, looking at the nameplate on the side of the leather halter she held in her hands. “He must have been abused by humans once.”

“Probably so. It looks like he’s going to be a lot of work. We’ll have to keep the younger students away from him. He’s pretty unpredictable, and he’s only four,” her mother said.

Emily nodded. Their farm, Four Rivers Farm, was a breeding and lesson farm. Teaching lessons often meant young and inexperienced kids, and they couldn’t have them around an unpredictable horse like Dark Secret, or they could get hurt.

“Let’s call him Secret for short,” Emily suggested.

“Sounds good,” her dad replied. “We’re going to go feed the horses. Why don’t you stay here and make sure Secret settles down.” Emily looked at Secret, who was now trotting around anxiously, and nodded.

“See you at dinner,” her mom said, and they walked off.

Emily eyed Secret. He really was a beautiful horse. His muscles rippled over his shiny steel grey coat as he covered the ground in what she could tell would have been a smooth, flowing trot, if he hadn’t been so tense, spooking at everything. He had a very pretty face, but it was concealed by the nasty expression he was wearing.

“What’s the matter with you, boy?” Emily said softly as Secret began to trot around nervously. “What kind of dark secret is in your past?”

**************************************

The next day, Emily did her barn chores as usual, exercising and caring for all the horses. But, even as she taught a beginner lesson, her mind kept straying back to Secret. She’d heard that off the track thoroughbreds often had problems, but she’d never imagined that they would end up with a horse so traumatized when she’d pointed out the ad for him in the newspaper.

It wasn’t like she’d been expecting a nice, calm, well trained horse, but it was something about the look in his eyes, the distrust that showed when he looked at humans. It was something that could only result from severe neglect or abuse.

That was why Emily decided to research Secret’s past.

That night before dinner, Emily started her research. First, she pulled out Secret’s papers. She noticed that at first, Secret was sold to Shady Brook Farms before he was sold to the trainer that they had got him from. She searched for Shady Brook Farm on the Internet and was surprised to find that unlike most other farms, nothing showed up on any racing news sites. She only found the Shady Brook website. When she pulled up the website, she discovered a list of horse names, all marked with either for sale or sold. She began to look up the horses on the list, looking at their bloodlines and history. She found that all of them had excellent bloodlines, and sold at very good prices at top auctions. It was strange to her that of all the horses this farm bought, hardly any of them had raced while they were owned by Shady Brook.

Then she started searching for the owners who had bought the horse and their trainers. Headlines like “Derby Winner Trainer Accused of Drugging Horse” and “Trainer Suspended for use of Illegal Drugs” began to come up for every single one. Emily knew something was up. Although she knew many trainers in the racing industry used drugs on their horses that didn’t show up on tests, she couldn’t imagine any of them using drugs that would easily get them caught.

Emily made a list of the trainers and the horses they had bought from Shady Brook and the dates of the articles. Then she searched how to contact them. Tomorrow, she would make some phone calls.  That night at dinner, Emily told her parents that she was doing research on Secret, leaving out the details. They told her that they thought it was an excellent idea, because it could help them with training Secret.

After dinner, Emily went out to see Secret one last time before going to bed. The moonlight cast an eerie glow over the farm, and Emily couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched. Secret seemed to feel it to, as he stood rigid, fixed on something. “We’ll get them boy,” she told the horse, “I promise.”

***************************************

The next morning after she finished her barn chores, Emily began making phone calls to the trainers on her cell phone. She had considered working with Secret, but decided that another day off might do him good. So, she leaned against the wall of the tack room and began calling the trainers, and managed to reach five of the thirteen of them.

She found out that every single one of the trainers she called had been accused of illegal drugging of horses after they had bought from Shady Brook.

She set her cell phone down beside her, deep in thought. What if Shady Brook Farm was drugging the horses they sold to sabotage the trainer? But if they were trying to sabotage the trainers, why did they have to sell them a horse?

Money, she realized. Money must be involved somewhere.” Emily,” she heard her mom call, “Come help with the yearlings.”

Emily got up. They were going to do some groundwork with their three yearlings; Maverick, Mira, and Selena. She got up, shoved her phone in her pocket and her list of trainers under a grooming box, and then went out to the far pasture to fetch the horses.

***********************************

Later, Emily returned to the feed room to get the horses’ feed. She put the correct amounts of grain in the plastic scoops before taking them to the yearling’s pasture. She paused to admire the unusual coloring of their yearlings this year.

Maverick was a stunning black colt with no white markings anywhere; Mira was a gorgeous pinto, and Selena a creamy champagne color. Her chest swelled with pride as she took in her and her parent’s years of hard work put into their farm and breeding. She shuddered as she thought of what those sabotaged trainers must have felt like after they had been ruined. She didn’t know if she could take something bad happening to their farm.

As she poured the contents of the scoops into the buckets, a small white piece of paper fluttered to the ground. Curious, Emily picked it up, and opened it. It read:

“Don’t go sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong or you’ll find yourself in trouble.”

Emily froze. She knew this had something to do with Secret.

*********************************

The next day, Emily had more problems focusing on her work than ever now that she knew she was under threat. She debated telling her parents, but thought they would insist that she stop her research. Her mind was in a fog all day as she tried to find a solution to her problem. When she rode their stallion, a homozygous pinto from where Mira had got her coloring, she was nearly unseated from when he spooked at something along the tree line. Even moving Secret to a small pasture could not get her mind off the note.

Finally she found time to call more of the trainers, and managed to reach the rest of the trainers. Just like the other trainers, they all said that they had been accused of drugging horses after they bought from Shady Brook. After much thought, she decided to email the Jockey Club all of her suspicions. She hurriedly packed up her things and ran up to the house.

After emailing the Jockey Club, Emily went out to say goodnight to Secret. There was a beautiful sunset, and the warm summer breeze kissed her face as she made her way out to where Secret was standing. Every muscle in his body was tense, and his gaze was fixed on something alone the tree line at the far side of his pasture.

“Whatcha looking at, Secret?” she said softly. The horse barely glanced at her.

Wanting Secret to calm down, Emily began making small circles along his neck with her fingertips and talking to him softly. Gradually, she felt the muscles in his neck relax as he lowered his head.
“That’s better,” she whispered, not wanting to startle him.

As she turned to leave, the wind shifted, and Secret whirled and bolted to the other side of the pasture, far away from the tree line. Shaking her head, she exited the pasture, where she was met by her grinning dad. He held up his camera.

“I got the best picture!” he exclaimed.

Emily looked at the screen on the camera. The picture was beautiful. It was of her and Secret standing next to each other. Her hand was resting on his neck, and both of their heads were turned looking at something in the distance. The fiery sky added to the magic.

“This is great, Dad!” she exclaimed.

“We’ll print it out tonight and hang it in your room.”

Later on that evening, Emily sat on her bed, studying the picture. She was wondering what had been scaring Secret when she realized the answer may be in the photo. She looked along the fence line in the picture, searching for fallen branches or animals that might have been causing the disturbance. Just as she decided that the answer was beyond the photo, she found it.

A man was standing in the shadow of a tree.

*********************************************

The sight of the man gave her chills. He had stood there, leaning up against a tree, watching her. The worst part of it, however, was that she had no idea where he was now. Emily didn’t know what to do. Should she go to her parents? Or would they stop her? Eventually, she decided to sleep on it.

She woke much later that night to the sound of galloping hooves, when all the horses should have been asleep. But before her mind could register what was going on, slumber claimed her again.  The next morning, when Emily came to Secret’s pasture with his feed, he didn’t show any interest like he usually did. He just stood in the corner of the pasture, and didn’t even turn his head.

Concerned, Emily jogged over to where Secret was standing, expecting the worst. And the worst was what she found. Secret stood with his head hung low and unhealthy sweat covering his grey coat. When she said his name, he didn’t even blink. On top of that, his halter was on, and his lead rope dangled, just waiting for Secret to step on it and hurt his leg. Her family didn’t even turn out horses with halters, and they wouldn’t dream of keeping a lead rope on.

“Alright, buddy, let’s get you to the barn and take a look at you.”

The walk from the pasture to the barn was miserable. Secret moved as if each step required great effort, and Emily felt sicker with every step. At the barn, Emily put Secret in a stall where he would be farthest away from the other horses, just in case he had something that was contagious, and then went to get her parents.

Her mom was teaching a lesson, so she went to get her dad, who was busy checking fence rails. “Dad, something’s wrong with Secret. We may need to call the vet.”

“Lead the way,” he responded.

Her dad looked at Secret, and, shaking his head, walked over to the barn phone and dialed. “The vet’s on his way,” he informed her.

The wait was terrible. When Emily finally heard the sound of a car pulling up, she jumped to her feet and hurried to the driveway.

“What’s the problem here?” Gary, their vet, said when he saw them.

“Our new thoroughbred’s come down with something,” her dad informed him.

“Let’s take a look,” Gary responded, and they led him to Secret’s stall.

Emily watched as the vet examined Secret, then took blood and urine samples. When he was done, he exited the stall and began his diagnosis. “I’ll have the results from the samples in tomorrow. I have to say, I haven’t seen anything like this before. Try to keep him separate from the other horses, because if this is a virus we don’t want them catching it. I’ll be back here tomorrow to check on up on him.”

Just then, her mom came up, a young girl around ten leading Ciervo close behind her.

“What’s going on,” she asked, concerned.

The three adults left, Emily’s dad explaining what had happened, leaving Emily to help the girl, Sydney, take care of Ciervo. After she was done with Ciervo, Emily turned her attention to Secret.
Emily took off Secret’s halter and hung it on the hook outside the stall. It was then that she noticed the piece of paper tied loosely to it. Hastily, she untied the loose knot and scanned the note. It read:

“We warned you.”

She knew what was wrong with Secret now. The man in the shadows must have slipped him something. But until she knew what, it wouldn’t do Secret any good.

*************************************

The rest of the day, Emily pretended everything was fine. She knew the man was watching her every move, and that if she tried to do anything, she and Secret would be in even more danger. But she had a plan. It was very dangerous, and could cause her harm, but it was still a plan. That night, after her parents were asleep, Emily grabbed a flashlight and her cell phone and headed out to the barn.
She sat down in the stall next to Secret’s. She turned off the flashlight and got out her phone.

Her plan was to catch the man, or men, in the act of drugging Secret, and record a video of them on her phone. Then she would have all the proof she needed to turn them in.

Although she was fighting to stay awake, it wasn’t long before she fell asleep. Just after midnight, she was jolted awake by the soft rustle of straw and the sound of footsteps. Quietly, Emily sat up and pressed record on her phone, then put it in her pocket. She heard the sound of footsteps, then the door to the stall that she was in opened. She made a frantic grab for her flashlight, but before she could touch it, someone grabbed her wrist.

“Don’t scream,” a male voice said as a hand covered her mouth.

She was pulled out of the barn, and towards Secret’s pasture. The man’s grip on her wrist was becoming painful, and panic overtook her. She struggled to escape, but it only resulted with the grip on her wrist becoming even tighter.

“You little fool,” said the man in a mocking tone, “You thought you could outsmart us. I guess you want to know what we’ve been giving your horse, eh? Just a dose of a drug we give those horses at the racetrack to make ‘em run slower.”

Emily gasped. The man’s hand moved up to cover her nose as well as her mouth, making it impossible to breathe. She felt her body tense up again, and fought the urge to panic.  “So I admit what I’ve been doing. But it won’t matter much longer, because you won’t be here any longer, just like your horse. But you can’t say we didn’t warn you.”

It was then that Emily realized that a second man was leading Secret. Again, she almost panicked, but remembering what happened last time, forced herself to stay calm. “Use your brain, Emily,” she told herself as black dots began to swim before her eyes. So she did the last thing she could to save herself. She bit down on the man’s hand. Hard.

“Ah!” she heard him exclaim, and at the same time the grip on her wrist loosened.

This was her chance. She hurled herself forward and sprinted toward Secret, screaming for help at the same time. She made a wild leap for Secret’s back. She made it, but the man leading her horse had grabbed her leg.

She struck out with her leg as hard as she could, and kicked the man in the throat. He released her leg.

Secret bolted. Clearly the drug that he had been given had worn off. Somewhere behind her a light turned on, and Secret exploded into a fit of bucks. Emily lost her balance and fell, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

“This is it,” she thought, as the men closed in on her.

She heard the sound of her phone saving the video, then she blacked.

*********************************

When she awoke, she was in the room of a hospital. Her head ached like crazy, and when she moved her hand to brush the hair from her face, she noticed a big black bruise on her wrist. Then she remembered. “Secret!” she gasped.

“He’s fine,” said a male voice behind her.

Her heart quickened. What if it was that man again? Her heart sank with relief when she realized that it was only her dad. He and her mom were standing next to her bed, looking like they hadn’t slept in days.

“I have a lot to tell you,” she said, and noticed a dull ache in her throat.

“We know. You have a lot to tell the police, too. They don’t know much about what happened except for what they heard from the video on your phone. From what we saw, it was lucky your dad came running out with his rifle when he did. Anyways, the police need to know everything, and then those men are on the way to jail.” Her mom told her.

“Okay,” Emily said weakly.

Her dad went to get a nurse, and after she had been checked over, the police came in. She told them everything, from what she suspected from her research, the threats, how she escaped; the whole story. Then they asked her a few more questions before leaving her to rest. She looked at her parents.

“Am I grounded?” she asked.

“No, we decided that getting this hurt is punishment enough. But do you understand that if you ever suspect anything like this ever again, you are not to keep it from us?” her mom asked, sounding stern.

“Yes,” Emily said, glad that she would not be punished.

Later on that day, Emily found out that she had to stay in the hospital for another night, because she had obtained a concussion. When her mom took her home the next morning, she ran straight to Secret’s pasture.  He was standing there, contently munching on hay. He seemed like a completely different horse from the one they had brought to the farm several days ago. When she approached, he lifted his head, his gaze fixed on her. For a second, she thought he would bolt, but instead he just lowered his head and snatched another bite of hay.

She stood and watched him for a while, and for a moment she began to wonder if he was worth risking her life for. But then she took in their barn, their 32 acres, and all their amazing horses, and decided that she would rather die than see anything happen to it. She wouldn’t trade it for the world.

***********************************

Several months later, Emily and Secret come home with a second place in their first three day event together. The men who had been drugging horses were tried in court then put behind bars. Their three broodmares: Cassie, Onica, and Reya, were all bred to promising stallions, Cassie to Secret; they had found that some horses in his background had turned out to be pretty good jumpers coming off the track. A few days after this, another off the track thoroughbred pulled up the driveway to their farm, a gorgeous chestnut gelding by the name of Chance Taker, who was part of the line of off the track thoroughbreds that the Foster family would buy to train for eventing. All was now peaceful at Four Rivers Farm.

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