Moonlight Mile (9 page)

Kim shook her head. “I'm not sure,” she said. “I was away at ballet camp most of that summer, so if they did do it, I probably wouldn't have heard about it.” She winked. “Especially after the way I tattled on them when they used Ma's best colander to collect worms for fishing.”

Nina smiled, though she wasn't really thinking about the worm incident, a favorite story among the entire family. “I can't believe I didn't know Serena was buried in St. Louis Cemetery, with all those famous people,” she said. “That's pretty cool.”

Or it would be, anyway,
she thought, her gaze sneaking back to the moon,
if not for the fact that Serena's ghost seems to be haunting me. . . .

CHAPTER

9

“THIS IS NICE, ISN'T IT?”
Nina said, settling back in the saddle. “It seems like forever since we just took a nice, easy trail ride.”

“Yeah.” Jordan was riding beside her on the wide, well-groomed park trail. “We've been awfully busy lately getting ready for the show. It feels good to just ride for a change—you know, without worrying about whether my heels are down enough or if Freckie's using his hind end properly or whatever.”

Nina nodded, closing her eyes for a second to enjoy the feel of the breeze on her face. The weather had finally
cooled down a little, and it was pleasant in the shade of the live oaks lining the path.

“The show was fun,” she said after a moment. “But I think this is my favorite part of riding. Just hanging out exploring the world with my pony. Know what I mean?”

“Sure.” Jordan shrugged. “Only I'm not sure the show was even that much fun. It was a lot of stress.”

Nina opened her eyes and glanced over at her friend. “But you did great—you and Freckie were third in our whole division!”

“Only because Freckie's a superstar.” Jordan gave her horse a pat. “Seriously, I was just hanging on for the ride. He did all the work.”

Nina knew that wasn't true. Yes, Freckles was a terrific, well-trained horse. Maybe he was even smart and experienced enough to listen to the announcer during the flat class and change gaits as commanded. But even Freckles couldn't read a course map and then steer his way through the jumps in the right order!

She didn't bother to point that out, though. Jordan wouldn't pay any attention anyway.

“So listen,” Nina said instead. “I found out something interesting yesterday from Kim. It's about Serena.”

“Really? I thought Kim was way too practical to believe in Serena,” Jordan said.

Nina laughed. “What do you mean? She has no choice to believe in her—everyone agrees Serena was a real person.”

“Okay, you know what I mean.” Jordan smiled. “She doesn't believe in the haunting stuff and all the rest.”

Nina didn't respond to that. “Anyway, now I guess I can prove she was real in case anybody has any doubts,” she said. “Because Kim says Serena's buried in St. Louis Cemetery.”

Jordan glanced over, looking surprised. “You mean
the
St. Louis Cemetery?”

“Uh-huh.” Nina nudged Breezy with one heel to steer him around a fallen tree branch on the trail. “Isn't that cool?”

“Yeah.” But Jordan wasn't paying much attention anymore. She was peering ahead, her expression concerned.

Nina looked that way too. They were approaching an open grassy area. Half a dozen little kids were shrieking and running around. Nina saw a ball fly out and across the path, with all the kids in hot pursuit.

“Looks like a game of keep-away or something,” she commented.

Jordan looked tense. “Do you think Freckles will spook if that ball comes too close?” she said. “Maybe we should turn around and go back the other way.”

For a second the image of Breezy spooking at that cat and mouse flitted through Nina's mind. But she immediately banished the thought. That had been a once-in-a-­lifetime thing—the extra excitement of the show combined with bad luck.

“Don't be ridic,” she told Jordan lightly. “Neither of these guys is going to bat an eye at something like that. They're city ponies, remember?”

“I guess you're right.” Jordan still looked nervous, but she took a deep breath and kept her horse at Breezy's side as the two equines walked on.

When the girls reached the lawn, the kids were
halfway across squabbling over something. None of them even glanced at the horses.

“Good,” Jordan muttered. “Let's get through here before they come back this way.”

“Chill out,” Nina said with a laugh. “They could bounce that ball off Freckie's head and he still wouldn't—”

Before she could finish, one of the kids let out a shout. There was the sound of a foot connecting solidly with rubber, and a moment later the ball came flying toward them.

Nina tensed, waiting for Breezy to spook as he'd done at the show. But all her pony did was glance at the ball as he ambled on.

Whew!
Nina relaxed, smiling at her own reaction.
See? I was right—it was just the crazy show atmosphere making Breezy
edgy before. Now he's back to being his normal, perfect self.

She leaned forward to give him a pat. Meanwhile one of the little kids was racing over to retrieve the ball, chased by one of his friends.

“I'll get it!” the first kid yelled.

“No, me!” the second cried, spurting past the first and kicking it before his friend got there.

“Hey, careful!” Jordan exclaimed as the ball rolled toward the horses.

It bounced off Freckles's leg; he jumped but then stayed still. Then the ball rolled under Breezy's right forefoot just as he was taking a step.

“Watch it, Breeze-man,” Nina exclaimed as her pony stumbled.

Breezy tried to catch himself, but the ball shot out and hit his other foreleg, causing him to stumble again—and this time land heavily on his knees. Nina was tossed forward onto his withers, where she scrabbled to hold on to his mane and neck. But it was no use—as her pony struggled to regain his feet, she felt herself slipping sideways. . . .

“Oof!” she grunted as she hit the ground, landing on her hip and one arm.

“Nina!” Jordan yelped. “Oh my gosh, are you okay? Nina?”

“I'm fine,” Nina gasped, the wind knocked out of her by the fall. She rolled aside as Breezy finally managed to scramble back to his feet. He stood there, breathing hard and looking confused.

The little kids had already grabbed their ball and run away without a backward glance. Nina glared after them as she climbed to her feet and grabbed Breezy's dangling reins.

“Are you hurt?” Jordan sounded almost hysterical. “Should I call nine-one-one?”

Nina glanced over, realizing that her friend had her cell phone in her hand with one shaky finger hovering over the keypad. “No!” she said. “I'm totally fine. I didn't even hit my head.” She touched her riding helmet, then brushed some dirt off her pants. “It's no big deal.”

It wasn't—at least that was what Nina was trying to tell herself. She was fine, and so was Breezy. And it wasn't as if she'd never fallen off before. When she'd first learned to ride, she used to joke she spent more time on the ground than in the saddle. That was a slight exaggeration, of course—thanks to her years of dance training, Nina had excellent balance. But those years of dance had also taught her to be physically fearless when trying new things, and she'd come off often enough to get over any fear of falling she might have had.

But this was different.
Breezy never stumbles,
she
thought uneasily.
Isn't it kind of strange that he did—just when I was thinking how perfect he was? Just when I was convincing myself that the whole Serena thing was a figment of my imagination?

“Do you want me to call the stable?” Jordan still had her phone in her hand. “Or should I get off and hold him while you catch your breath?”

“No, I'm good.” Nina checked her girth, then walked Breezy a few steps to make sure he really was okay. He seemed fine, so she swung back into the saddle. She forced a smile as she glanced over at Jordan. “I'll just tell Great-Aunt Serena not to let it happen again,” she quipped.

Jordan gasped. “Do you think Serena had something to do with this?” She didn't give Nina a chance to respond. “Of course she did! Duh, I totally should've realized it myself. Oh, Nina—this is getting really scary now! What are you going to do?”

“Do?” Nina gave Breezy a nudge to start him walking. “I'm going to finish this trail ride, that's what I'm going to do.”

“No, I'm serious!” Jordan urged her horse forward to
catch up. “You have to do something about this Serena situation before it gets even worse. I mean, you could be in danger, you know?”

Nina rolled her eyes, trying not to shiver at her friend's words. “What am I supposed to do? Call someone in to do an exorcism?”

“Maybe,” Jordan replied seriously. “Or maybe you need to look into this whole voodoo thing, you know? Maybe there's someone who could help you, like, banish Serena's evil spirit or something.”

Nina rolled her eyes again. “Please.”

“No, listen, this could seriously work.” Jordan stared at her. “If voodoo is what's giving Serena the power to hurt you, maybe you need to fight fire with fire!”

“Let's not get crazy here,” Nina said firmly. “I'm not hurt, okay? And I'm pretty sure the whole Serena thing is all in my head.”

Jordan cocked her head. “
Pretty
sure?”

“Totally sure,” Nina corrected. “Anyway, like I was saying, I just found out she's buried in St. Louis Cemetery. I think I'll go there and see her grave—maybe talk to her
a little, apologize for using her life for a silly costume.” She smiled. “Put my mind at ease. Psychology, not voodoo, you know?”

Jordan looked unconvinced. “I guess it's worth a try. Do you want me to come with?”

“Sure, that would be great,” Nina said. “I might not believe in ghosts, but it's still kind of creepy being in a cemetery all alone.”

“Not that you're likely to be alone at St. Louis,” Jordan pointed out. “You'll probably be fighting hordes of tourists to get to Serena's grave.”

Nina laughed. “True. Come on, let's get these guys back to the barn, and we'll head up there right away.”

Twenty minutes later, Breezy and Freckles were back in their stalls eating hay and the two girls were heading for the exit. On the way, they passed one of the grooms. He called out a greeting.

“Where are you two off to?” he asked with a grin. “Looks like you're in a hurry.”

“St. Louis Cemetery,” Nina replied. “We, uh, want to check it out. Um, school project?”

The groom glanced at his watch. “Hope it's not due tomorrow,” he said. “Because St. Louis closes at three, and it's past four thirty now.”

“What?” Nina traded a glance with Jordan. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. My brother used to be a tour guide there.”

“Oh.” Nina's shoulders slumped. “Okay, thanks. You just saved us a trip.”

As the groom hurried off, Jordan stared at Nina. “The voodoo shops stay open late,” she said. “And I know one we could try—it's a real one, not one of the junky tourist traps. We could go over there right now.”

“That's okay,” Nina said with a smile. “We'll just hit up the cemetery right after school tomorrow.”

“See anything?” Jordan asked.

Nina was peering at yet another half-illegible slab of stone. “Not yet,” she said, straightening up. “I can't really read this one, but the date of birth definitely doesn't match.”

She looked around. It was Friday afternoon, and she
and Jordan were deep in St. Louis Cemetery, surrounded by a maze of crypts and mausoleums. In New Orleans the water table was very high, which meant most burials were aboveground. St. Louis Cemetery looked more like a miniature city of marble and stone than a regular burial ground.