Moonlight Mile (3 page)

Nina patted the book's well-worn cover as she hurried past on her way to the overstuffed wooden wardrobe where she kept most of her clothes. She dug out a
pair of leggings and a funky beaded tunic she'd found at a flea market. Once she was dressed, she flopped onto her bed and grabbed her laptop off the bedside table. It was Friday, which meant dinner with the relatives. Nina guessed they'd be leaving as soon as her parents cleaned up the mess in the studio. But first, she wanted to make some notes on her costume idea while it was fresh in her mind.

She forgot about that when she logged on and saw an alert message flashing on her desktop. Oops! She'd totally forgotten that she'd arranged to “meet” the other Pony Posters for a chat that day.

Normally the members just left messages for one another whenever they could. With the four of them living in three different time zones, it was rare for more than one or two to be on the site at once. But every so often they liked to get together in real time, all four of them. Today was supposed to be one of those times.

“Sorry, guys,” she murmured under her breath as she quickly brought up the site.

As expected, the other three were already there. Nina scanned the messages. There were already several new ones. It wasn't long before Nina spotted her name.

[MADDIE]
OK, so are we taking bets on how long it'll take Nina to remember to show up? Lol!

[BROOKE]
Give her a few more minutes. Maybe she was late coming home from the barn.

[HALEY]
Ya, pretty sure she had a lesson today.

[MADDIE]
I know, I'm just teasing. But she'd better show up soon!

“I'm here, I'm here,” Nina said aloud. She quickly opened a text box and started typing. A moment later she hit enter and her message appeared below the others.

[NINA]
Sorry I'm late! Lost track of time, etc., boring blah blah.

[HALEY]
It's OK—ur here now!

[NINA]
Thx! Anyway, I have news: found out something fun at the barn today. There will be a costume class at my horse show next Sat!!!

[MADDIE]
Cool!

[BROOKE]
Yah. U said something about that a while ago, right?

Nina should have known that Brooke would remember, if anyone did. She was probably the quietest of the bunch, and at first that had made Nina feel as if she didn't know her quite as well as the others. But after a while, she'd realized that Brooke's mind was always working double-time even if her mouth—and typing fingers—could be a little slow. “Still waters run deep,” Gramma Rose always said. It had taken Nina a while to figure out what that saying meant, but now she thought of Brooke whenever she heard it.

[NINA]
Miss A said something about the costume class a while ago, but then we all forgot. So it was like a whole new surprise, lol!

[HALEY]
So u and Breezy both dress up for the class?

[NINA]
Right. And I already know exactly what our costume will be, and I'm super excited about it!!!

[BROOKE]
Don't keep us in suspense!

[HALEY]
Ya—spill!

[NINA]
Give me a chance to type it out, lol!

[MADDIE]
OK, but hurry! Dying to know more!

Nina nodded and typed as fast as she could, her slim fingers flying over the keys. Finally she hit enter and sat back to watch her message appear.

[NINA]
I'm going to dress as an ancestor of mine. Her name was Serena, and she lived around the time of the Civil War. She had a totally tragic life. Her fiancé joined the Buffalo Soldiers and ended up dying of cholera. According to old family stories, Serena never got over it. They say her unhappy, restless spirit haunts her descendants to this day—when everything is going perfectly right, she steps in to make it go horribly wrong.

As she scanned what she'd written, Nina's mind drifted to her mother's sculpture. But she shook off the thought. Serena was a fun family legend, nothing more. Ghosts weren't real.

[HALEY]
Whoa! Cool story!

[MADDIE]
And cool costume idea! Esp. so close to Halloween.

[BROOKE]
Totally. So what's Breezy's role?

[NINA]
He's going to be Serena's ghost horse, of course!

[MADDIE]
Duh, B. What, did u think Breezy was going to dress up as Serena's dead boyfriend, lol?

[BROOKE]
ha ha, OK, fine. So did the real Serena have a special horse?

[NINA]
No clue. But everyone rode back in those days, right? It'll be fine. I already have some cool ideas about how to make Breezy look super spooky—like braiding some gray and silver ribbon into his mane and tail, and turning his coat gray and ghostly with something. Talcum powder? Hmm, will have to experiment.

[HALEY]
I'm sure u will come up w/something! U are the most creative person I know.

Before Nina could respond, she heard her father calling her name. “Oops,” she said, glancing at the vintage cat clock on her wall. Its hands were stopped at two thirty, since Nina was always forgetting to wind it. But she didn't need a clock to know it was time to head out to meet her relatives.

[NINA]
Sorry guys, I have 2 go. Family dinner.

[BROOKE]
O right, it's Friday.

[MADDIE]
Talk to u soon. Let us know how the costume is going!

[HALEY]
And take lots of pics!

[NINA]
U know it. Later guys!

 CHAPTER 

3

“KEEP HIM MOVING, JORDAN! DON'T
let him be lazy!” Miss Adaline called.

Nina held her breath, watching as Jordan gave Freckles another kick. The pair was heading toward a small crossrail in the middle of the ring. Nina's riding class was more than halfway through their Saturday morning lesson, and they'd just spent several minutes jumping the ­obstacle from a trot and a canter. Now, after all five riders had jumped it a couple of times, Miss Adaline had decorated the standards with fake autumn leaves and added a row of small pumpkins underneath the rails.

“All the jumps at the show will be decorated,” the
instructor had explained. “We don't want your horses to be surprised by seeing something different. Successful showing is all about preparation.” Miss Adaline was a cheerful woman in her late twenties who liked to tint her chin-length dreadlocks different colors—this month an autumnal orange. She was also one of the best riders Nina had ever seen, competing not only in the hunter/jumper style she taught the students at Cypress Trail Stables, but also in saddleseat riding.

Jordan was the first rider to try the newly decorated obstacle. Normally Freckles was a steady, reliable jumper. But when he neared the jump, his ears pricked forward at the pumpkins.

“Push! Keep his attention!” Miss Adaline hollered.

“Go!” Jordan blurted out, giving her mount one more kick a couple of strides out.

The Appaloosa spurted forward, and Nina thought he was going to put in an extra-big jump. Instead he darted left at the last moment, ducking out and around the fence! Jordan wobbled and lost her stirrups, but managed to stay in the saddle.

“Sorry!” she cried, her face flaming as she fished for her flopping stirrups.

“Don't apologize,” Miss Adaline said briskly. “Just ­circle back and give it another try. This time, keep your left leg and left rein on him so he doesn't think he can do the same thing again.”

Jordan nodded, shortening her reins and taking a deep breath. Nina shot her an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up as Freckles passed at a rapid trot.

“Go, Freckie,” whispered the rider beside Nina, a slightly older girl named Marie. She was astride her own pretty gray mare, but Nina knew she'd leased Freckles before Jordan.

Freckles slowed down again on the approach to the fence. But this time Jordan kicked him more determinedly. The horse hesitated slightly, then hurled himself over the fence and cantered away smoothly.

“Way to go, girl!” Nina cheered.

Miss Adaline smiled. “Yes, much better,” she said. “Nina? You're up next.”

Nina nodded and gathered up her reins. “Wake up,
Breezy,” she said, squeezing with both calves. “Our turn.”

She sent the pony into a trot. He felt sluggish at first—Breezy liked to take any opportunity he got for a quick nap. But Nina had plenty of energy to spare, and she urged him forward with her legs, seat, and voice. By the time the pony circled toward the fence, he was moving along nicely.

Like Freckles, Breezy pricked his ears at the pumpkins. But all Nina had to do was squeeze and cluck, and one ear swiveled back toward her. His trot never faltered. A moment later he was cantering away after a smooth jump.

“Nice!” one of the other girls in the class called out.

“Yes, lovely,” Miss Adaline agreed. “Marie? Give it a go.”

Nina gave Breezy a pat as she rode to the end of the line. Jordan twisted in her saddle and smiled.

“Way to go!” she whispered. “Those crazy decorations didn't scare Breezy at all, huh?”

“Nope,” Nina whispered back. “I guess once a pony swims the Assateague Channel, it takes a lot to scare him!”

Jordan giggled, and Nina gave Breezy another pat. She
was proud of her pony. With the show only a week away, the riders were all a little nervous—and their horses had obviously picked up on that. Marie's mare had overjumped the crossrail even before the decorations went up, while one of the other horses had refused to canter the first three times his rider tried.

But Breezy had been his usual calm, consistent self.
I'm a lucky girl,
Nina thought as she watched Marie's mare veer back and forth several times before finally launching herself over the jump with about two feet to spare.
My Breezy Boy is practically perfect!

The rest of the lesson went just as well for the pair. By the time Miss Adaline called for the girls to dismount, Nina was smiling from ear to ear.

“You were awesome, Breeze-man!” she murmured into his ear as she ran up her stirrups. “That show next week is going to be a blast!”

She shivered as she thought about it, though she wasn't really nervous. Nina didn't usually get stage fright, since she'd been performing in dance recitals almost from the time she learned to walk. Performing in a horse show
couldn't be that different, right? If anything it would be easier, since she'd have such an amazing partner doing most of the work.

Besides, she didn't really care whether they won any ribbons at the show. That wasn't what it was about for her. All she cared about was letting everyone see what a spectacular pony she had!

Normally, English was one of Nina's favorite classes of the day. For one thing, the teacher liked to do lots of dramatic class readings of the books they were studying, and Nina loved acting out different roles and pretending to be all kinds of other people. Besides that, the class took place in the dormer room of the old Greek Revival mansion that had been transformed into Nina's small private school. It was fun to sit there and imagine all the interesting sights that had passed in front of these windows over the many years since the house was built.

On this particular Tuesday afternoon, though, she wasn't thinking about any of that. As the teacher gave the homework assignment, Nina sneaked a peek at her
watch, wondering if the school day would ever end.

Finally the final bell rang. Nina leaped to her feet, shoving her books into her battered canvas tote as she hurried toward the door. She headed straight for her locker, where she found her friend Trinity waiting for her.

“Ready to shop?” Trinity asked eagerly. She was a tall, lanky girl with auburn hair and freckles that dotted her face and body as thickly as stars in the Milky Way. Trinity hated those freckles and was always plotting ways to rid herself of them, but Nina thought they made her friend beautiful and unique.

“I'm ready,” Nina said. “Jordan's meeting us at the corner of Magazine and Harmony.”

The two girls joined the stream of students pouring toward the exit. Soon they emerged into the sticky afternoon sunshine.

“Streetcar or cab?” Trinity asked.

Nina consulted the clock on the bank across the street. “Streetcar,” she said. “We have time. And I want to save my money for costume stuff.”

“And coffee, right?” Trinity said. “I'm not trekking all
the way over to your part of town without hitting Jojo's.”

Nina laughed as she headed for the streetcar stop. “For sure.”

As soon as the two girls settled onto the streetcar's wooden bench seat, Trinity turned to face Nina. “So are you ever going to tell me what your costume is?” she asked, raising her voice above the clunk and clatter as the streetcar rattled down the tracks. “Otherwise even a super-­talented shopper like me is going to have trouble helping.”

“Soon,” Nina promised. “Jordan's been waiting since Friday to hear; she'll never forgive me if I tell you first!”

Trinity didn't stop trying all through the slow ride along St. Charles Avenue, just as Nina had expected. That was exactly why she hadn't told her about this shopping expedition until that day at lunch—Trinity was probably the least patient person Nina knew, and an expert wheedler and whiner. But she was also an expert shopper, and Nina knew she'd help her and Jordan find exactly what they needed for their costumes.

They got off the streetcar at Eighth Street and hurried down toward Magazine, cutting across to Harmony
halfway there. Nina moved fast, partly because Jordan was always early and partly so Trinity would be too busy trying to keep up to bug her about the costume. When she emerged onto Magazine, Nina spotted Jordan right away. She was leaning against a brick wall watching a couple of kids argue over some candy.

Jordan spotted Nina, too. “You finally made it!” she exclaimed, hurrying toward them.

“Chill, we're early.” Trinity collapsed against the wall, digging into her bag for her lip gloss. “Anyway, just so you know, Nina told me all about her fabulous costume idea on the way here.”

“Stop, I did not!” Nina gave Trinity a playful punch on the arm. “You know I wouldn't do that to you, J.”

“At this point, I don't even care,” Jordan said. “Just tell me already!”

“Yeah, spill, Peralt,” Trinity added.

Nina grinned. “Okay. So you know my family's lived in New Orleans forever, right? Well, way back in the Civil War days, we had this ancestor . . .”

She went on from there, telling the two girls about
Serena. As she talked, Jordan's eyes went wide.

“Oh my gosh,” she said when Nina finished. “I'm so not sure this is a good idea.”

“What are you talking about? It's genius!” Trinity grinned. “So we're basically looking for, like, some ghostly Civil War–type rags or something, right?”

“Pretty much.” Nina glanced at the vintage shop across the way, the reason for their meeting spot. “Although I can do the rag part myself—if we can find something that can pass for the right era, I'll make sure it looks ghostly and tattered, as if the wearer has been wandering the wild wasteland between the worlds for years and years.” She wiggled her fingers spookily at her friends.

Jordan shuddered. “Stop!” she said. “Are you sure you want to do this? You just said Serena likes to punish people in your family when they get too happy. Don't you think she'd also punish someone who uses her life story to try to win a costume class?”

Nina laughed. “You sound like my grandma,” she said. “Come on, let's shop. This place might have some stuff for your costume too.”

Jordan still looked uneasy. But she followed Nina and Trinity across the street and into the shop.

“Nina!” The shop owner looked up from folding a stack of antique handkerchiefs. She was a small woman in her fifties with close-cropped graying hair and cat's-eye glasses hanging on a chain around her neck. Nina had known her all her life, since she'd been friends with Nina's mother even longer than that.

“Hey, Miss Marie,” Nina greeted her. “Happy Tuesday.”

“Same to you, darling.” Marie's round face and enormous smile made her look like the Cheshire cat. “Remind me, Nina, when's Eva's show again? I want to make sure I'm there to cheer her on.”

“Starts weekend after next,” Nina said. “I know she'll be happy to see you there.”

Marie jotted a note on the calendar beside the old-­fashioned cash register, then perched her glasses on her nose and peered at all three girls. “Looking for something special today, ladies?” she asked.