Read Online Fire Maiden by Terri Farley - Free Book Online Page B

look, well, not so demure.
    I’ll stick with my first impression, Darby thought as her cousin strode past. Duckie looks like a Viking.
    â€œAnyhow,” Darby said, shaking her head to dispel the image of her cousin, “I don’t get why horses do that.”
    She was stalling, making Ann linger outside the door of their Ecology class, because what if Mr. Silva hadn’t postponed the assignment? Ann didn’t seem to mind. In fact, despite the hot wind that whipped hair into their faces, Ann seemed no more eager to go inside than Darby.
    â€œMy mom says it’s because the horses think they’re safe at home, but my dad sees it a little differently,” Ann said. “He says it’s a choice between ‘the devil you know and the devil you don’t know.’”
    Darby tried to puzzle that out.
    â€œI guess no matter how bad it is in the stall with a fire burning toward them, they still think it might be better than what’s on the other side of the door,” Ann explained.
    Darby looked at the classroom door. Ann had given her the perfect opening to admit what she’d done.
    â€œSpeaking of…” But Darby couldn’t make the confession. “I mean, that’s not true for all horses, is it?”
    â€œWell, this is the first barn fire I’ve ever seen,”Ann admitted, as two girls, almost late for class, slipped past them, “but I think—no. You’ve got to remember that most of our horses are rescues. They’ve had bad experiences with people. But if the horse really trusted you—like Hoku does you—I think it would know you wouldn’t make it walk through fire!”

Chapter 7
    â€œP op quiz, pupils!” Mr. Silva was flapping around in his white lab coat when Darby and Ann came into class.
    The bell still echoed inside the classroom, but Mr. Silva was wasting no time.
    Darby stared at the blank board. How could Mr. Silva do this to her? And then his words registered.
    â€œPop quiz?” Darby’s whisper joined a student chorus of horror.
    â€œThe delayed start gave you two extra hours to study. Or sleep.” Mr. Silva pointed his index finger and swept it from one side of the classroom all the way to the other. “Judging by the fifty percent of you who didn’t turn in your online homework, and mynearly empty in-basket, I’d say it was the latter.”
    â€œIt’s not bad enough we nearly died in an earthquake?” Ann moaned.
    â€œMiss Potter, feel free to elaborate on your near-death experience in the essay portion of the quiz,” Mr. Silva said. He paused a minute, looking from Ann to Darby and back to Ann, before handing her a stack of papers to pass back. “I must say I’m surprised at your lack of concern for your team project.”
    When the science teacher strode to the next row, the girls faced each other.
    Certain she’d turned gray with guilt, Darby blurted, “I can explain—”
    Ann said, “Here’s the thing—”
    Darby felt dizzy with blame, but Mr. Silva interrupted before she could finish her confession.
    â€œNo talking during the quiz,” he commanded.
    Ann didn’t say another word. Just the same, while Darby worked on her quiz, she felt Ann’s lingering glare.
    The quiz on volcanoes included two extra-credit questions about the epicenter and Richter scale measurement of this morning’s earthquake. If the radio report and Megan’s friend Elane had been right, Darby was, too. And she could use those extra-credit points.
    Once she finished, Darby turned her quiz facedown, but she didn’t look at Ann. Instead, she used her fingertip to draw an invisible, endless spiral on her desktop.
    â€œAll is not lost,” Mr. Silva said as he collected the quiz papers. “Given this morning’s extraordinary circumstances, those students who handed in their work on time will receive bonus