Chapter One Emily sniffled and put a bookmark in the book she was reading That poor little horse All it wanted was to live in the wild but they captured it and took it away from its mother Her twin sister Grace burst into the room fanning herself with one hand Whew it’s hot out there She took a sip from her purple water bottle and crossed the room As she neared Emily’s bed she slid to a halt Are you crying Noo Not really Sniffling didn’t count as crying did it Grace swiped a finger under Emily’s eye and waved it in front of her sister’s face Then why is my finger wet Grace asked in a triumphant voice Well maybe I was a little Emily admitted Her sister would keep pestering until she had an explanation for the tears so heaving a sigh Emily said I’m reading a story about mustangs that run wild and how they’re rounded up and sold off I just read the part about a helicopter swooping in to scare them so men on horseback could capture them One was a baby and they took him away from his mom That sounds sad Grace jumped on the bed and picked up the book She never just sat on a bed she bounced up and down It made Emily seasick if it was possible to be seasick on land Why read it if it makes you cry I hope it has a happy ending Emily said The other books in this series do
Flipping the book over Grace read the back cover It doesn’t say what happens at the end But the author owns mustangs she rescued so I guess she knows what she’s talking about She does I didn’t read that part Let me see Emily took the book from her sister and read the back cover Look at this she has a website for herself but there’s also one for the mustangs I’m going to go check it out She headed for the family room to use the computer and Grace trailed after her Grace’s cat Chances followed them down the hall meowing until Grace picked up the fluffy white Persian and scratched her behind the ears I wanted you to come outside and play soccer with me Grace said to Emily Thought you said it was hot Emily said Not too hot to play soccer Besides you don’t have to do anything Grace said Just jump around in front of the goal while I shoot Sighing heavily Emily sat in the desk chair and turned on the computer No thanks The last time she’d played goalie Grace had drilled a ball right into Emily’s stomach Not on purpose but still Aww Em you know that was an accident Grace defended herself I wasn’t trying to hit you My foot slipped Pictures of the wild mustangs popped up on the Bureau of Land Management’s website and Emily clicked on the gallery to see all the mustangs Here they are These are all the ones they’ve rounded up for adoption Why do they round them up Grace asked How come they don’t just let them stay wild
Emily clicked on the online gallery of the city closest to them before answering In the book the rescuers said there’s not enough grass to feed all of them If they don’t find homes the horses won’t have enough food Grace leaned in for a closer look Ooo I like that one And that one And look at this one with the white on its face And the black one Emily tilted her head to the side to see where Grace was pointing but her sister’s head blocked her view Grace usually got overly enthusiastic about things Um Grace Emily said you’re in my way I can’t see anything Grace backed up a little Sorry but they’re just so cute Which one are you going to adopt Emily studied them one by one and her sister was right They were all so beautiful It would be hard to pick only one I guess I should check out what I have to do She clicked on the requirements and her heart sank You have to be eighteen or older Do you think Mom and Dad would do it for me Sure why not They let the rest of us adopt animals in need Why wouldn’t they let you help one of the mustangs Grace offered Grace’s breezy answer calmed Emily Okay so let me read the rest of the information Emily said They had a lot of rules about corrals shelters and transportation She took a notepad from the desk and jotted down the important points Near the bottom of the page she stopped What’s this about payment She checked around on the site Oh you have to bid on them and the auction is closing soon
That night at dinner Emily’s anxiety about her parents response prevented her from asking about the mustang auction Grace kept elbowing Emily but every time she got up her courage to speak someone else started talking When are you going to ask Grace’s whisper was loud enough for everyone to hear Mrs Ramirez raised an eyebrow Did you have something you wanted to ask Emily Emily nodded and launched into an explanation Once she got
