For Mom and Dad thank you for taking a chance on me and for all the sacrifi ces you made so I could ride horses K B For my amazing cousins Timshel and Theodora you were the heart of my childhood and I am so grateful A K
Chapter One Hanna pressed her cheek to the cool window as the clunky old Econoline van trundled off the high way Hills carpeted in evergreens and wildflower meadows gave way to a cute old-fashioned mountain town It looked like it had been pulled right out of a painting hanging in her grandma’s house one of those perfectly picturesque country villages A quaint diner sat between a candy store and a rock shop Couples walked hand in hand down Main Street And every store had a horse painted on the sign Horses It was always horses At least Quartz Creek Ranch was beautiful or it had looked that way in the brochures Hanna’s 1
mom showed her As part of the ranch experience the brochure had read youth will be paired up with a ther apy horse and given thorough riding instruction Just the thought of the horses sent shivers prickling up and down Hanna’s arms She retied her long sandy blonde ponytail for the tenth time and pulled her long legs up to her chest on the seat Everyone The brunette who had introduced herself as Madison back at the airport waved at them from the front of the van We’re almost to the ranch If you look out the window on the left side you can see our very own Quartz Creek She was one of the two head trainers at the ranch The other was driving a black guy who’d been the one waiting at the airport for her with a sign reading Hanna He’d introduced himself as Fletch spoke with a thick New York accent and wore a big cowboy hat Both trainers looked like they were in college The two girls sitting up in the middle seat shuffled over to the left side so they could look out the win dow crowding the skinny kid who’d sat down there first Hanna had claimed the far back seat thinking that was the best way to avoid attention and to get enough room for her long gangly legs But that plan had backfired 2
