Chasing Gold by Catherine Hapka Page A

where’d that girl come from?” Danny smirked. “We don’t allow those around here.”
    Aunt Veronica shot them a sour look. “Enough, boys,” she said.
    â€œSit down, Haley,” Uncle Mike said. “Have some grub before you go.” He winked at her. “Shrimp cocktails and dainty tea sandwiches won’t fill you up after the long day you just put in.”
    Haley giggled as she slid into her seat. “I don’t think Tracey’s serving shrimp cocktails and tea sandwiches,” she said. “But thanks, I am pretty hungry.”
    She filled her plate with food. Danny watched her, his fork suspended above his plate.
    â€œCareful, Haley,” he said. “If you eat too much, you might bust out of your froufrou flowery outfit.”
    â€œDaniel,” his mother said warningly.
    Haley ignored the boys as she ate. She’d barely taken the time to wolf down a sandwich at lunchtime, and it really had been a long day. After her dressage lesson, she’d mucked out all four stalls and rebedded them, followed by various other farm chores. Then her uncle had asked her to help him stack firewood and sweep out the machine shed, and Aunt Veronica had needed help carrying things down to the root cellar. After that Haley had dashed over to the Tompkins’ to take care of their plants and cat, then rushed back to start the afternoon chores. It made her tired just thinking back on it all.
    She’d just finished her third helping of sweet potatoes when a car horn sounded outside. “Oops, that must be Ems.” Haley quickly wiped her mouth with her napkin, then jumped to her feet and picked up her plate.
    â€œLeave that, Haley.” Her aunt pulled the plate out of her hands and set it down. “The boys will clear.”
    â€œWhat?” Danny exclaimed, sounding annoyed.
    Aunt Veronica ignored him, standing up and adjusting Haley’s ponytail. “You really do look pretty, sweetie,” she said. “Have a nice time tonight, okay?”
    â€œI’ll try.” With some effort, Haley managed not to grimace. Her aunt was right—she was stuck going to this party, like it or not. She might as well at least try to have a good time.

    An hour and a half later, Haley stifled a yawn as she checked her watch for about the fifteenth time. It felt as if she’d been at Tracey’s party forever. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about all the much more important stuff she could be doing right now. She’d wiped down her dressage saddle before her lesson that morning, but there had been no time to give it a proper cleaning and oiling. And of course she hadn’t touched her jumping saddle at all. She hadn’t managedto get Wings’s mane pulled yet either, or polished her tall boots, or dug through her tack trunk for her good crop and helmet cover. . . .
    â€œHaley!” Emma danced over, holding a plastic cup of punch. “Isn’t this a blast?”
    Emma’s face was flushed, and her glasses kept getting steamed up. But she seemed to be having fun. Haley wasn’t sure why. The party seemed to consist of people standing around shouting at each other over the too-loud dance music. Only a handful of people were actually dancing. Ashley and Phil, their grade’s only official couple, were swaying together in one corner, arms wrapped around each other. Emma had been fast dancing with Tracey and a few other girls for a while, though most of the group had drifted off to pick at the snacks laid out on the coffee table, which had been pushed up against the living room wall along with most of the other furniture. It was drizzling outside, which meant everyone was crammed indoors instead of the party spilling out onto the deck as Tracey had planned, and the place felt stuffy and too warm.
    â€œWhere’s Tracey?” Haley asked Emma.
    â€œWhat?” Emma scrunched up her face and