EXCERPT and GIVEAWAY
Mary's Song
(Dream Horse Adventure Book 1)
(Dream Horse Adventure Book 1)
by Susan Count
Mary's Song is the first book in the Dream Horse Adventure series by Susan Count. Get your copy for only $0.99, the perfect gift for the horse lover in your life! Also available: Selah's Sweet Dream (read my blog post).
Mary's Song is currently on tour with BeachBoundBooks. The tour stops here today for an excerpt and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
Mary’s heart breaks over the pending destruction of a beautiful, but damaged filly. When life is not fair, the courageous challenge the obstacles.
Twelve-year-old Mary was disabled at the age of four by the same virus that took the life of her mother. While she longs to have a horse of her own, she’s limited to reading horse books. A talented artist, she spends her days on a blanket in the grass sketching the horses at the farm next door. She falls in love with one of the foals and is outraged to learn the filly is considered worthless as it was born lame.
Mary befriends and enlists the help of twelve-year-old Laura, whose family owns the horse farm. Against the better judgment of the farm manager, a brief reprieve is negotiated for the foal’s life. The girls conspire to raise money to save her, but time is running out. Sadly, it appears the expensive surgery the foal needs has little chance to correct her problem anyway. Mary isn’t about to give up. She sacrifices what she holds dear, including the trust of her papa, to gain her heart’s desire. Will she lose everything in her struggle to save the foal?
Excerpt
Chapter One
In the year 1952
“Maybe today?” Twelve-year-old Mary gripped the arm of her wheelchair with one hand and the bedrail with the other. Her weight balanced on the edge of the bed, and she inched forward onto her feet. Her legs trembled and buckled. As her knees slammed onto the wood floor, she grabbed desperately for the dresser, but snatched instead the crocheted covering. When it ripped away from the dresser top, her favorite carved horse sailed across the room, careening into the wall. One of the Morgan mare’s legs and its ornately carved black tail snapped off as it ricocheted under the bed.
Ignoring the pain in her knees, she peered under the bed. The rest of the disfigured horse lay out of her reach. Already sprawled across the floor, she scooted to retrieve the severed pieces and cradled them in her hands. “I have to hide you.”
Papa would be so angry if he saw Mama’s horse was broken. Heavy footsteps rushed toward her.
“Lame and worthless. Just like me.” She slipped the broken horse into her skirt pocket. She struggled and strained to pull herself up off the floor, but collapsed as Papa burst into her room.
“What happened? I heard a commotion… Mary?” He dropped to his knee beside her. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
“I lost my balance when I tried to stand. I’m fine.”
“Let’s get you off the floor, shall we?” He lifted and placed her on the bed. “I think it would be best to call the doctor.”
“I’m fine!” Mary said a little louder than she intended. “The hot rock therapy didn’t help.”
Papa sat on the bed and took her hand. “Don’t give up. We’ll find a therapy, my Mary. We’ll never stop trying.” He patted her hand. “You sure you’re all right? Maybe you should lie down.”
“I said I’m fine.” But she looked out the window instead of into his eyes. She would never be all right. “Can you take me outside now?”
“If you’re sure. Let’s get you out in some fresh air.” He dropped a paper-wrapped bundle of carrot pieces in her lap.
Mary tucked her long dark hair behind her ears. Gathering her sketchpad and pencils to her chest, she drew a deep breath and nodded.
In a practiced motion, he slung her blanket over his shoulder and scooped her from the bed.
“I want to believe I’ll walk someday, but sometimes, I just can’t.” She tossed him a hint of a smile. He carried her through the colonial house, past the white porch pillars, and across the field. He was so strong it made her feel safe. He was certainly the most handsome papa in all the world.
The white oak had not leafed yet, so he placed her blanket in the shade of the pines out of the warm Texas
“At least you get to enjoy them. I have to go now.” He kissed the top of her head. “Have a nice day. Mr. Joe is working in the gardens, so when you’re ready to go back to the house, holler for him.”
“Will you be gone long?”
His face tensed, and his dark eyebrows pulled together. He looked over the meadow, frowning. “Only a few days this time.”
“I wish you didn’t always have to go. I miss you so much.”
“I know it’s hard on you. If it makes you feel any better, I don’t like leaving you either. But I have business in New Orleans , and then I’m going to Destin , Florida
Her temper flared, and she slashed a big ugly squiggle across the sketchpad. “Not another one, Papa! You thought the medicine man would be the miracle cure. He danced and chanted and kept me in a dumb teepee for two days. Magic smoke. And for what?”
“Well… it wasn’t one of my better ideas.”
“I thought Mrs. Tate was going to faint when you told her where we’d been. She walked around the house all day shaking her feather duster and muttering ‘pagan gods’, something about never taking another day off, and praying real loud to God asking him to forgive you.”
“Glad I missed that, but I’m not giving up. I’ll consider any opportunity to heal you.” He straightened his vest and tucked his thumbs in its little pockets. “If this technique can offer us hope, we have to try. The clinic would float you in emerald-colored seawater. Then they’d take you to the ‘Fountain Of Youth’.”
Her shoulders slumped with an exhale. “I don’t need to get any younger. I need to walk.”
“And walk you shall. That is just the name given to the spring by the explorer who discovered it.” He patted her hand. “Sketch me several poses of the filly beside the dappled gray mare while I’m gone. What is it about her that always draws my eye?”
“She’s special! I sketch her the most. The other foals will scatter, but she seems to want to be with me. If she was on this side of the fence, I think she’d be in my lap.” Mary flipped to a clean paper. “It’s her eyes. Our souls connect when our eyes meet. Don’t you think they look like dark chocolate?” Mary warmed at the thought. “She is my favorite. What a character. She hides behind her mama sometimes and plays hide and seek with me.” A frown wiped the smile off her face. “I think there might be something wrong. She limps sometimes.”
Papa checked his watch and frowned. “Hum, that can’t be good. Say, when I get home, I will have a little something special I ordered for you. Don’t ask me what it is and ruin the surprise.”
“No fair! Is it a book on the Lipizzaners?”
“You’re a bad guesser.”
“Whatever it is, I’ll love it.”
Papa grinned, tossed a piece of chocolate in her lap, and left.
“Thanks!” She waved and sailed a few carrot offerings over the fence to the gathered herd. They rushed to grab the bribe. With ears flattened, the horses jostled, shoved, and charged at one another to gobble the carrots. When the treats were gone, the mares went back to grazing. As the foals cavorted in circles around their dams, Mary inhaled the delight of being in their company. To draw a foal, she took a snapshot with her mind and sketched it in a great flurry. After capturing the likeness, she fussed with the details and the shading. A twine-wrapped portfolio she kept in her library bulged with sketches. Each sketch was a secret wish to ride, wild and free, someday.
She imagined herself cantering across a meadow polka-dotted with pink flowers. Her hair streamed behind her. Her arms held wide as if to soar. The palomino horse moved in response to her thoughts. A smile lifted and softened her face.
Mary shifted her useless legs to balance the sketchpad better. “It’s not just a dream.” The filly cocked her feminine head to the side and peered at the curiosity in the grass. Mary stared back, hoping the filly would hold the pose long enough for her to soak in every detail. The dark graphite pencil seemed to flow on its own, and soon the rough outline of the curious baby splashed across the paper.
“I will sketch you every minute until Papa comes home with my surprise. It might be—could be—a horse.”
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Praise for the Book
"An excellent and engaging book from start to finish. A must read." ~ Amazon Review
"Susan Count knows how to write about horses, family, friendship, love, faith, and sacrifice. Her true-to-life characters easily engaged me in wanting to know more about them and how their conflicts would be resolved." ~ Geoffrey W.
"A genuinely touching story about friendship and recovery. I strongly recommend this to anyone looking for a good horse book perfect for middle age girls!" ~ Amazon Review
About the Author
One day ... I began to write with no preconceived ideas about anything. I’d read what I had written the day before and add another scene to the adventure. No one could have been more astounded than I was when it turned into a book. The whole process gave me great joy and restored my spirit after a season of loss. My motivation was my desire to bless one particular young lady with a story to show her a love relationship in a family, with the Lord, and with a horse. I truly thought the story would remain in a drawer until she was old enough to read it. Surprise.
I write at an antique secretary desk which belonged to the same grandmother who introduced me to horse books. The desk has secret compartments and occupies a glass room with a forest view. Bunnies and cardinals regularly interrupt my muse, as do my horses grazing in a clearing.
Though I am a rider and lover of horses, I make no claims of expertise in any riding discipline. I hope that my research keeps me from annoying those who would know.
The only thing more fun than riding might be writing horse adventure stories.
Saddle up and ride along!
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card or PayPal cash.
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