Contents
Chapter 1: Sky Meadow Farm
Chapter 2: A Bucketful of Trouble
Chapter 3: Tallyho
Chapter 4: A Well-Dressed Fox
Chapter 5: Angry Protests
Chapter 6: A Poisonous Picture
Chapter 7: Something Crops Up
Chapter 8: Shopping for Leads
Chapter 9: Wired for Danger
Chapter 10: A Very Sharp Note
Chapter 11: Horsing Around
Chapter 12: George’s Near Miss
Chapter 13: Dancing with Disaster
Chapter 14: The Party’s Over
Chapter 15: A-Hunting We Will Go
Chapter 16: Morning Glory’s Best Moment
1
Sky Meadow Farm
“I bet that jump’s three feet tall!” George Fayne exclaimed, pointing to a large post-and-rail fence in the middle of the outdoor riding ring. She flashed Nancy Drew a challenging look. “Think you can get Hopscotch over it?”
“Let’s see,” Nancy replied, her blue eyes sparkling. Turning toward the fence, she urged on the glossy bay mare, her adrenaline pumping as she saw the fence looming ahead. Hopscotch lifted off the ground, and Nancy leaned forward, taking the fence with ease. Exhilarated, she guided Hopscotch to the side of the ring. “Made it! Your turn, George.”
“I was afraid you’d say that,” George said, and grinned. “Oh, well, here goes.”
Nancy watched George sail over the fence on the horse she was riding, a coppery chestnut gelding named Lancelot. At the other end of the ring, their friend Laura Passano cantered on Morning Glory, the largest and friskiest horse of the three.
“Wow!” George said as she pulled up next to Nancy. “I’d forgotten how much fun riding can be.”
Tucking a lock of her reddish blond hair back up under her helmet, eighteen-year-old Nancy glanced over at her friend. Dark-haired George loved sports and outdoor activities. She was the perfect guest at a horse farm, Nancy thought.
“I’m glad we decided to take Laura up on her invitation,” George said. “I just hope we can relax and ride horses—not solve another mystery.”
Nancy chuckled, then made a face. “Solving a mystery is the last thing on my mind,” she promised.
Nancy had earned quite a reputation as a detective in her hometown of River Heights. Wherever she went, she always seemed to land in the middle of a mystery, as both she and George knew only too well.
“You guys hungry?” Laura asked as she rode over to Nancy and George. “I think it’s about time for dinner.” She stroked Morning Glory’s soft black mane as he pawed the ground. “Let’s go in. I can tell the horses are hungry, too,” she added.
“Now that you mention it,” George said, her eyes lighting up, “I’m starved.”
Nancy glanced down the hill to the barn, a large red building with a pitched roof. Surrounding it was a lush pasture, where five or six horses grazed calmly on the dark green grass.
“Hopscotch is the best,” Nancy said to Laura as they started back to the stable. She patted the mare’s silky neck.
“I thought you two would get along,” Laura said brightly. “And how did you like Lancelot, George?”
“He’s beautiful, and he’s easy to ride,” George said. “Everything about this afternoon has been perfect. It’s just too bad Bess couldn’t come.” George’s cousin, Bess Marvin, was Nancy’s other best friend.
“Well, Bess couldn’t miss the benefit party for the River Heights Children’s Museum,” Nancy pointed out. “Especially considering that she and her mom organized the whole thing.”
“I guess she’s excused, then,” Laura joked.
Laura hadn’t changed much since Nancy had last seen her, two summers ago, when the Passanos came to River Heights to visit Laura’s aunt. She was still sweet and friendly, Nancy thought. When Laura had written to invite Nancy and her friends to visit the Passanos’ horse farm in Maryland, the River Heights girls eagerly accepted. Nancy and George had arrived that day, and Laura immediately took them riding.
Outside the barn door, the three girls dismounted, and Laura gave Morning Glory an affectionate hug.
“Was Morning Glory born here at Sky Meadow Farm?” Nancy asked, admiring the horse’s gorgeous pitch-black coat, broken only by the white star on his forehead and his two white socks. His dark eyes looked alert as he held his head up proudly.
“We do breed horses for hunting and showing,” Laura replied. “But our foals are still too young for me to ride. And my old horse, Dundee, isn’t up to going on long fox hunts anymore. One day I saw Morning Glory at a breeder’s in the area, and I fell in love with him. Unfortunately, everyone else around here wanted him, too. My dad and I outbid everyone and won him last spring in an auction—it was pretty fierce.” Laura paused, then frowned. For a split second, Nancy thought Laura seemed troubled.
