Night of Shadows by Marilyn Haddrill, Doris Holmes Page B

it.
    Melinda sat down on a nearby bale of
hay, propped the drawing pad on her knees, and began sketching his head. With
sweeping lines, she drew the proud arch of his muscled neck, then used delicate
strokes to capture the noble spirit in his eyes.
    She lost herself to her imagination
as she worked.
    In another time and place, this
stallion would have been destined to run free. He would have dominated any
untamed land. Yet, she felt no sadness at seeing him confined. His sleek and
well-groomed coat showed that domestication suited him. Melinda had an eerie
feeling that the stallion remained the master of his domain, even inside his
pen.
    Melinda's final drawing was superb
— not because of her own talent, but because her subject demanded perfection.
    She set the paper aside with the
idea of filling in the details later. Then, she stood and walked closer. Dazzled
by the gorgeous animal, she reached out in a slow, tentative gesture to see if
the horse would allow her to touch him.
    He apparently was accustomed to
being handled, for he made no protest as she rubbed first his forehead, then
his soft muzzle, and worked her way up behind his ears. He seemed to appreciate
the attention, for he stopped eating and stood still. She laughed softly when
he let out his breath in a long, contented sigh.
    Then, a rough voice from out of
nowhere startled her, causing her to jump and the horse to shy away.
    "Joan likes the horses, too — except
she prefers them on the track."
    Melinda slowly turned to face Mac. "You're
still angry with my sister, aren't you? Well, everyone around here keeps
forgetting one thing. Joan isn't here now. She hasn't been for days. Preston is
still asking you for money, isn't he? That has to be why you're so frustrated. And
if Joan isn't here, what's his excuse now?"
    Melinda took no satisfaction in
seeing Mac's defeated expression. But she knew Joan had been the convenient
alibi, drawing Mac's bitterness away from a younger brother who he dearly loved
and could not bear to condemn. Melinda must keep hammering at Mac, to make him
see the picture as it really was.
    "Preston got married right
after he was home from the service," she continued gently. "You
hadn't been around him very much in those years. You blamed all the changes you
saw in him on Joan, didn't you?"
    She waited patiently, until finally
Mac answered.
    "You're right about one thing.
It was never like it was before Preston left home the first time. We were good
friends back then. Life was tough, but we were — happy. That was before money
entered the picture. Back then, none of us ever dreamed we would end up so
prosperous. And it all started with this old man."
    Confused at first, Melinda followed
Mac's gaze. Then she realized he was talking about the black stallion that now
had returned to busily munching his grain.
    Taking care not to spook the
animal, Mac reached out gently to stroke the horse's neck.
    "Before Black Gold here came
along, my father was a rancher — just like most everyone else who lives around
here. When we were growing up, life was a whole lot simpler. We grazed cattle —
sometimes sheep. We had good years and bad years, but we got by okay. It seemed
like we never got ahead, though. Then one year Dad bought a little black foal
from one of our neighbors, and raised him for racing. Back then, just about
anyone could afford a quarter horse. No one really expected to win much. Racing
was more like a hobby."
    As if recognizing that a tribute
was being paid to him, Black Gold craned his head forward to receive a few more
loving pats from his owner.
    "This old boy was not only a
winner, he was a sensation. Old as he is now, he's still the country's top
quarter horse sire. We sell breeding right shares on him for tens of thousands
of dollars."
    The horse tossed his head triumphantly,
as though he understood every word being spoken. The old sire seemed so
enormously proud of himself that Mac chuckled. The rancher's face then filled
with