Fire Maiden by Terri Farley

squinting past her. “’Less you’re under the boss’s supervision.”
    â€œJudge,” Darby repeated.
    What could she say that wouldn’t sound stuck-up, like she believed she was too good a rider for the older gelding, who’d sailed across the Pacific Ocean as Hoku’s buddy?
    â€œOkay,” she said finally. But she didn’t move. She had been riding for only a few weeks. She had no right to feel insulted. But how had she gone from the possibility of riding Hoku yesterday to Judge?
    Sensing her bewilderment, Kit spoke up.
    â€œI’ll give him a quick brushing and tack him up. You get Hoku’s gear,” he said. Then, with a joking tone, Kit turned toward the horses. “C’mon, Judge, you old slacker. Your vacation’s over.”
    Judge must have understood. His fuzzy ears pricked forward. He shouldered past Navigator and pressed his face into Kit’s shirt, inhaling his scent as if the cowboy was all his.
    Darby hurried to Hoku’s empty corral. A flapping sound made Darby look up.
    She stared into the branches of the ohia tree, looking for pueo , the round-faced owl. She could see a dangling branch that might have broken when the earth shook, but no bird.
    Stop wasting time, she reminded herself.
    Darby grabbed Hoku’s halter and lead rope, gave a quick wave, just in case the Kealoha family’s guardian animal was up there, offering its approval, then raced back to the tack shed.
    A few minutes later, Kit shifted the cinched-on saddle, then considered it from in front of the horse to make sure it was centered. He tied Hoku’s orange-and-white lead rope and halter on with saddle strings, then linked his hands together and nodded at them.
    Darby would rather mount from a sidehill, but she took Kit’s offer. Placing her left boot in his hands, she sprang into the saddle.
    Judge gave an excited snort and tossed his head. As his mane flipped against his neck, Darby smelled the conditioner Kit had sprayed on Judge’s mane, so he could brush out the tangles.
    â€œLegs forward,” he said, then adjusted the stirrups of the first saddle Judge had worn since he arrived in Hawaii.
    Kit waved her off without advice, as if she were a seasoned rider. Darby liked that, but she was still feeling a little hurt that Jonah had moved her down to a gentler horse for something that wasn’t her fault.
    She glanced back over her shoulder at Navigator, who’d rejoined Biscuit. She reminded herself that she’d seen Kit, Cade, and Kimo, maybe Jonah, too, riding yesterday, and none of them had been thrown.
    If Navigator had sensed the coming earthquake,so had the other horses. Maybe Jonah had a point after all.
    â€œThat doesn’t mean I have to like it,” she complained to Judge.
    But the Nevada gelding wouldn’t let her dampen his mood. He arched his neck and neighed as they wound down the path to the lower pastures.
    All of the other horses stopped grazing to stare at him, so Judge set his hooves in a flashy jog.
    â€œYou’re allowed to show off,” Darby told him. His gait was easy and smooth and Darby could picture him circling a herd of cattle, though he had simply arrived on this ranch and been put out to pasture.
    As Darby leaned forward, Judge turned an ear to listen.
    â€œI love you,” Darby told the old gelding.
    My heart’s just up for grabs when it comes to horses, she thought.
    With a smile on her face, Darby rode down to catch Hoku.

Chapter 10
    H oku came along as if she remembered that Darby had made her promise to earlier that day. She was still a little spooky, spending at least ten minutes sniffing Judge, who must look different with a saddle and rider. The gate that Kit had left open got the same treatment, as if Hoku’s senses had been sharpened by spending time with a community of horses.
    Once she’d decided to enter her corral, Hoku gulped her hay and lowered herself to the ground,