She unhooked it from the board and led him out of the shack, into the light rain. Ivy didn’t want to make Lucky jump the fence so she walked along it until she found a rusty gate. It creaked open and Lucky stepped through.
‘Now, how to get home?’ Ivy wondered, but Lucky seemed to want to pull her off to the left.
Ivy looked where Lucky was heading and saw a clear trail marking.
‘Yes!’ Ivy said. ‘Clever Lucky.’
Chapter Eleven
‘What should we do?’ Rebecca said, clearly distraught.
‘I think she’s gone looking for Lucky,’ Olivia said. She knew her sister felt responsible and that Ivy wouldn’t be able to sit around doing nothing.
‘But she doesn’t know her way around those woods!’ Mr Vega declared. ‘We have to find her.’
‘We can’t let Ivy get lost!’ Olivia cried, her stomach doing a triple flip.
Just then, there was a clap of thunder.
‘There’s a storm coming,’ Rebecca said. ‘We’ve got to act fast.’
Knock, knock.
Someone was at the front door!
Olivia, Rebecca and Mr Vega rushed down the hall and Olivia flung open the door. It was Brendan, looking damp and worried. His black hair was sticking to his pale face and his boots were caked in mud.
‘I had two missed calls from Ivy but now her phone is off.’ He shivered on the porch. ‘Her phone is never off. Something’s wrong, so I got my parents to drop me here.’
Rebecca looked as stormy as the sky but didn’t say anything.
Olivia was even more worried seeing the state he was in. ‘Something is wrong. Ivy’s missing.’
‘Come in; come in,’ Mr Vega said, while Rebecca stayed silent.
Brendan stepped into the hall and wiped his feet on the mat. ‘I know I’m not exactly welcome,’ he said to Rebecca, ‘but I had to find out what was happening.’
‘I can tell you what’s happening,’ Rebecca snapped, blocking his way down the hall. ‘Because of you, my niece is wandering in unfamiliar woods looking for a lost and frightened horse with a storm on the way. You never should have been alone with Ivy in the stable.’
Olivia was stunned at Rebecca’s outburst. They were all upset, but there was no reason to take it out on Brendan.
‘Rebecca, please,’ Mr Vega said. ‘Brendan is a good kid; he’s just worried.’
Brendan looked miserable at having caused all this tension.
‘Of course you would defend him,’ Rebecca snapped. ‘He’s just like you.’
Mr Vega took a step back. ‘What does that mean?’
Rebecca’s eyes flashed. ‘It means he will take Ivy away from her family – just like you took Susannah.’
‘Stop!’ shouted Olivia. She couldn’t take it any more.
Mr Vega’s face was white with shock – even more than normal. ‘Is that really what you’ve thought all these years? Rebecca …’
But as he took a step towards her, holding out his hand, the house was rattled by another huge thunderclap and the sky outside glowed from the lightning.
Brendan turned on his heel and ran at full speed into the woods. ‘Ivy!’ he shouted.
‘Brendan!’ yelled Mr Vega, but he was gone.
Olivia started to run after him but Mr Vega grabbed her by the shoulders. ‘You are staying put. This is nearing crisis. We have two children out in the woods with a dangerous storm coming.’ He turned to Rebecca. ‘No matter what you may think of me, we need to focus on that.’
Rebecca nodded mutely. Olivia wondered if she was realising that she had practically driven Brendan out into the storm. ‘I’ll call the sheriff.’
Olivia closed her eyes as another thunderbolt hit. Please let everything be OK. Please!
Ivy was struggling to see from all the water pouring down her face. She wasn’t going to relax her grip on Lucky’s lead for anything, which meant she only had one hand free to wipe the rain from her eyes.
‘Stay dark; gonna block out the light. I wear my sunglasses at night.’
Ivy had sung the chorus about a hundred times but it kept Lucky and her steadily moving forwards along the trail, which was turning into a little stream.
Her coat was soaked and so were her jeans. Rain was dripping off Lucky’s mane. Ivy had hoped the trail would lead them back to the ranch, but so far there hadn’t been any sight of her aunt’s home.
Then, an old barn came into view. It didn’t look recently used, but it was shelter and would do until the storm calmed.
She led Lucky inside the empty building, singing the whole time. There were several leaks in the roof, so the floor was wet, but at least there was some shelter.
The heavy rain sounded like pebbles beating down on the rickety roof. Soon, Ivy started to shiver in the wet and cold.
‘You must be cold, too,’ she said to Lucky and the horse swung his head towards hear and nuzzled her shoulder.
Ivy was stunned. It was like Lucky was giving her a hug. Carefully, still holding on to the lead with one hand, Ivy put her other arm around the white horse.
The thunder clapped and Lucky stiffened, so Ivy sang louder.
‘Ivy?’ came a muffled but familiar voice from outside.
‘Brendan?’ she called back.
‘Ivy!’ he shouted, sounding nearer and Lucky started getting skittish.
‘Wait! Don’t come in!’ Ivy called, in between singing.
‘What do you mean?’ He was right outside now.
‘I found Lucky and I’m scared he’ll bolt if you frighten him.’