“Spirited away by the witches maybe.”
“This is no time for any of your feeble jokes, Penny Parker! That stupid horse must have wandered off while I was admiring your old valley and that rider!”
Penny remained undisturbed. “Oh, we’ll find the mare all right,” she said confidently. “She can’t be far away.”
The girls thought that they heard a crashing of underbrush to the left of the trail. Investigation did not disclose that the horse had gone that way. They could hear no hoofbeats, nor was any of the grass trampled.
“I’ll bet White Foot’s on her way back to Williams’ Stable by this time,” Louise declared crossly. “Such luck!” She sat down on a stone and put on her shoes and stockings.
“We didn’t hear the horse run off, Lou. She can’t be far.”
“Then you find her. I’ve had all I can stand. I’m tired and I’m hungry and I wish I’d never come on this wild, silly chase.” Tears began to trickle down Louise’s heat-mottled face.
Penny slid down from Bones and patted her chum’s arm awkwardly. Louise pulled away from her.
“Now don’t give me any pep talk or I’ll simply bawl,” she warned. “What am I going to do without a horse?”
“Why, that’s easy, Lou. We’ll ride double.”