Read Online Wonder Light by R. R. Russell - Free Book Online

vet see her.”
    Mr. Murley ran a finger over one of Wild Light’s little cloven hooves. “No, I suppose we can’t. Twig…”
    He didn’t say anything more, but his eyes said, There’s more, isn’t there? More that you know.
    ***
    Twig heard Mrs. Murley whispering to Casey to let her sleep. The memory of what had happened before Mrs. Murley ushered her to bed in the still-dark hours of the morning, assuring her that Mr. Murley would watch Wild Light, filtered through Twig’s fatigue. She threw the covers off and shrugged away Mrs. Murley’s protests. Twig slipped into her old shoes rather than taking the time to fumble with her boots, and followed the girls to the stable for early morning chores.
    The girls were all murmuring about the filly and about Mystery’s disappearance. Twig was quiet as she followed Casey’s directions and fed Rain Cloud. She peeked at Wild Light real quick, but there were too many people poking around her and Mr. Murley, asking too many questions.
    With the ponies fed, Mr. Murley shooed the girls out of the stable. Twig was the last one out, and she lingered on the path, gazing at the woods. How safe was the little filly, even in the daylight?
    At the edge of the pasture beyond the stable yard, movement flickered in the trees—movement that seemed to want her attention just as much as it wanted to be hidden. Movement that now made her want to stay, just as much as yesterday it had made her want to run. The wild boy.
    â€œCome on, Twig,” Taylor called as Twig drifted closer to the pasture.
    Twig shoved her hands in her pockets and tipped her head to the morning sky, trying to give the impression that she was just enjoying having a look at the day wakening over the island.
    â€œIt’s breakfast,” Casey added with a frown.
    â€œJust a minute.”
    Taylor sighed and took Casey’s hand and tugged her toward the house. When they were far enough away, Twig ran for the pasture gate, and darted across the wet grass and behind one of the pony shelters. She stepped up to the fence line and stood still and waited. The boy’s face emerged.
    â€œThe filly,” he whispered. His eyes, reddened and shadowed, were full of questions and fear.
    â€œShe’s okay.” Twig twisted her toe in the damp earth. “She’s beautiful.”
    The boy smiled a small, sad, longing smile.
    Twig looked down uncomfortably, and that was when she saw his hands. “What happened to you?”
    He held out his muddied, bloodied hands, as if noticing them for the first time. His face got hard, then crumpled. He crossed his arms, stuffing his dirty, trembling hands under his cloak.
    â€œThey’re after you, aren’t they?” She nodded toward the woods behind him.
    Twig took his silence for a yes. She wanted to grab his cloak and take him into the house and feed him hot chocolate and pancakes with apple cider syrup.
    â€œI thought you were with them at first,” she said.
    â€œNot now. But…it’s complicated.”
    â€œYou can tell me. Maybe I can help.” What had possessed her to say that? What could she do?
    He shook his head, so she shifted back to something more pleasant. “We named the filly Wild Light.”
    â€œA good name for such a wonder.”
    â€œA wonder?” Twig recalled something she’d read, a line about great signs and wonders. “You mean like a miracle?”
    â€œIs that what you call it here?”
    Twig shook her head. “I’d call a unicorn magic, here or anywhere else.”
    The boy raised his eyebrows. He folded his arms again. “There’s not a bit magic about unicorns.”
    â€œWhat about their horns?”
    â€œThat’s just how they’re made.”
    Twig raised her eyebrows right back. He didn’t think horns that appeared and disappeared were magic? She shouldn’t be surprised. This strange boy might have grown up on the