affectionately like he had with Autumn then nibbled at the end of her blond ponytail That’s not hay silly said Emily with a giggle pulling her hair free It was a good thing Grace and Emily wore their hair differently A lot of people had trouble telling them apart otherwise Although Natalie had no difficulty knowing which of her twin sisters was which they had fooled everyone at school once by switching clothes and hairstyles for a day But you couldn’t spend much time around Grace and Emily without seeing the differences between them Emily was as careful as a cat while Grace was as bold as a leaping Labrador Still they had both changed a lot since they’d been adopted into the Ramirez family three years ago Emily was more willing to try new things and Grace had learned to stop and think before acting sometimes Speaking of sisters Where’s Abby asked Natalie At twelve and a half the oldest of the four girls Natalie did her best to keep the others out of trouble between the time when they got out of school and their mother got home from Sugarberry Animal Hospital where she was a veterinarian Their dad worked around the ranch but he was often out running errands or busy with a million other things She’s in the kennel of course said Emily You know she’s not crazy about horses like we are and she can hardly tear herself away from Cocoa’s puppies Natalie wasn’t surprised Abby spent pretty much every spare minute
with the ranch’s rescue dogs and even more now that Cocoa the cocker spaniel had given birth to six adorable puppies That reminded Natalie to update the Second Chance Ranch blog later that night The puppies wouldn’t be old enough to adopt for another month but hundreds of people had followed the story of Cocoa’s rescue from an abandoned building scheduled for demolition They were sure to be curious how she and her puppies were doing Right now though Natalie needed to get Tango settled into his new home He followed her willingly into the stall The other horses were outside where they spent all day and sometimes clear nights roaming the farm’s fifty acres of pasture Natalie slipped off Tango’s halter and stepped back He circled the stall a few times pawing at the deep bed of shavings Then he craned his head high and whinnied loudly Natalie heard a distant reply from one of the horses in the pasture He seems a little restless said Emily Can’t we let him out to run around with the herd asked Grace We don’t know how he’ll act around other horses yet said Natalie We can let him out later when Mom and Dad are around Natalie’s parents trusted her with a lot of responsibility for the animals and she tried to think carefully before making any decisions Grace looked disappointed but Emily nodded in agreement They watched as Tango circled once more then lowered his head with a sigh and grabbed a mouthful of hay Anyway thank you for getting his stall ready but now it’s homework time said Natalie
The girls were allowed to ride and help in the barn for an hour after school Then it was study time until dinner Emily put away the wheelbarrow hung up her pitchfork and headed inside without argument Grace hung over the half-door of the stall and watched Tango eating his hay The pattern of his coat looks like a map doesn’t it she said I wonder if he was treated badly by his last owners like Picasso But he’s got such a nice halter with his name on it so I guess someone loved him once Do you think we can ride him Grace had a habit of asking more questions than anyone could answer at once especially when she was supposed to be doing something else Look he’s got shavings in his tail already she went on Our teachers barely gave us any homework today so I’ll just give him a quick grooming before hey she cried as Natalie pried her off the stall door Tomorrow said Natalie Right now you need to study for your math test How’d you know I have a math test she demanded Emily said so Grace sighed Of course she did She made a face and then trailed reluctantly off toward the big white farmhouse Natalie lingered for a moment outside of Tango’s stall It was her night to cook dinner and she needed to make sure Grace actually did her homework and Abby hadn’t gotten so wrapped up with the puppies that she’d forgotten her other chores But it was hard to tear
herself away from the new horse Grace was right his coat did look like a map of a mysterious unknown land Natalie wished her best friend Sophia were here to see Tango Sophia loved horses but she had moved to Boston six months ago They still talked and texted as much as they could But it was hard to keep up with half a continent between them Natalie whistled a few notes Tango looked up from his hay and stepped forward to sniff at Natalie’s outstretched hand She smoothed his long forelock out of his eyes revealing a perfect white star in the middle of his chestnut forehead Natalie had outgrown her old pony Rockette last year She’d sold her to the family of an eight-year-old girl who was already winning a lot of junior barrel-racing prizes with the quick little mare just like Natalie had done since she was eight Natalie had been hoping to find a bigger horse to show this summer but none of the rescues that had come to Second Chance Ranch since then seemed like the right fit And Natalie didn’t want to buy a fancy show horse and take up space that could be used to help an animal in need But Natalie was sure that Tango would be as wonderful to ride as he was to look at She could already picture herself on him galloping down the chute of a rodeo arena and circling the barrels at lightning speed Natalie gave Tango a final pat then switched off the lights and headed for the house It really did seem like she’d finally found the dream horse she had been waiting for
