Read Online Star Gazer by Chris Platt - Free Book Online Page B

from work soon. Jordan had gone over every imaginable reason for buying a lame horse. But none of them sounded better than the truth: She’d bought Star Gazer because the mare was going to the killers, and she couldn’t let that happen.
    Her mother was going to totally flip out.
    Jordan’s foot tapped uncontrollably on the wooden step and she nibbled at her fingernails. When she heard the sound of a car engine slowing down to make a turn and the crunch of tires on gravel, she burst into tears.
    Her mother quickly climbed out of the car and took a seat next to her on the stairs. “Jordan, honey, what’s wrong?” She put her arm around her daughter’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Why are you crying? What happened?”
    The enormity of what she’d done hit home. Jordan choked back a sob. Her mother was going to be so disappointed in her. Mrs. McKenzie tucked a long strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear and pulled a tissue from her purse to wipe away the tears. “There now,” she said softly. “Calm down and tell me what happened.”
    Jordan hiccupped. “I didn’t mean to, Mom, but I couldn’t help myself. They were going to send her to the killers!”
    The look on her confused mother’s face was so comical, Jordan almost stopped crying. She realized how silly her words had sounded. She sat up straight and took a deep breath. “Mom…I did something that’s going to really upset you…”
    Her mother tried to put on her I-can-handle-this face. “What did you do, Jordan?”
    The chickens clucked and pecked at their cage, filling the silence while Jordan tried to think how to word her story. There was no easy way to put it, so she just blurted it out.
    â€œMom, I bought a lame draft horse.”
    Even the chickens stopped clucking. The silence drew out so long that Jordan felt like they were frozen in time.
    Jordan’s mom tilted her head and her brows drew together. “You bought a horse? How did that happen?”
    Jordan shrugged. “There was this big beautiful draft horse at the auction,” she explained. “She was lame and her owner didn’t want her anymore, so he just dumped her at the auction and walked away. I knew just how that poor horse felt.”
    Jordan’s mom sat in silence for a minute. She studied Jordan’s face and brushed away a few more tears, then let out a deep sigh. “This is about your father, isn’t it?” she asked.
    Jordan scrunched her lips and looked down at her feet. “I don’t know—well, maybe.” She felt the tears stinging the backs of her eyes again. She needed to push away the ugly thoughts about her dad. She already felt bad enough about her rash decision to buy a horse they couldn’t afford. “The packer was bidding on her and there wasn’t anybody to save her, so I bought her to keep her from ending up in a dog food can,” Jordan said.
    â€œWhere were the Wilsons in all of this?” Mrs. McKenzie asked, the exasperation leaking into her voice. “They were supposed to be watching you.”
    Jordan frowned. “Please don’t blame Nicole’s parents, Mom,” Jordan begged. “It’s all my fault. I put up the bid card without asking them, then I begged the Wilsons to let me buy her.” She sniffed and brushed away the hair that had stuck to her hot, sticky face. “They said they’d find the horse a good home if we couldn’t keep her. They’re going to call you later to ask about your decision.”
    The hens started clucking again and Jordan’s mother studied them for a moment before speaking. “You’ve put us in a bit of a situation here, Jordan. You bought an animal that we can’t afford to keep. It was nice of the Wilsons to offer to fix this problem for you, but I can’t really ask them to do that. You created this mess, and you are going to be the