Hannah's Bright Star

  That night, after supper, Hannah bundled up and went outside to bring Bart in for the night and give him his hay. It was clear and cold, so she’d put on a knit hat and gloves and her warmest coat. When she got to the pen, she stood there and watched Bart in the moonlight.

  Louanne was wrong. He wasn’t ugly. Not at all. Just like Elsie had said, he was different, but not in a bad way. Just … different. Bart turned his head and stared right at Hannah. And then, he walked toward her. He stopped, just inches away from the fence, and still he looked at her.

  “Hey,” she said. “How’s it going out here? Kind of cold, isn’t it?”

  He blinked.

  Hannah reached out and scratched his head between his longish ears. As she continued to scratch, he moved his ears forward a bit and swished his tail a couple of times, clearly enjoying it.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I haven’t been very nice to you. I mean, I haven’t been terrible, but I haven’t been nice either. I feel bad, and I want to make it up to you. I think I’m going to start by giving you a new name. Once I figure out what it is, of course.”

  “He likes you.”

  Hannah jumped a little, startled by the voice she hadn’t expected to hear in the quiet of the night.

  “I don’t know about that,” Hannah said as she gave Bart’s muzzle a final pat, before she turned around to face her grandpa. He had his hands stuffed into his red-and-black-checkered wool coat. On his head, he wore the old straw cowboy hat he rarely took off.

  “Did I ever tell you the story of Spot?” he asked Hannah.

  “I don’t think so.”

  He walked closer. “When I was a boy, we had a dog show up at our place one day. Just out of nowhere, there he was. No collar on him, but he looked well taken care of. Clean and well fed. We lived way out in the country, you know, and it seemed like we would have seen him before if he lived nearby. Still, we went around and asked everyone and no one knew anything about him. So Pop said we could keep him, but I really didn’t want to keep him.”

  “How come?” Hannah asked.

  “Because I tell you what, that dog was the ugliest thing you ever did see. Pop thought he might have been a cross between a Jack Russell and a Pomeranian, but it was just a guess. All I knew was that dog was one strange-looking animal. Someone in the family, I don’t remember who, called him Spot one day and it stuck. As soon as that dog showed up, he was like one of the family. He’d follow any one of us around the farm, never straying far, and it was like he’d lived there his whole life.”

  “How old was he?”

  “Hard to say. Grown, though, not a puppy, that’s for sure. Shortly after we got him, we had a tragedy occur. My older brother, John, was killed in a hunting accident. We were all torn up about it, but my mother, it really knocked her for a loop. There were days she wouldn’t get out of bed. But you know who stuck by her, never left her side, except to eat and go to the bathroom?”

  “Spot?” Hannah said.

  “That’s right. He’d get up on the bed and lay with her, and we’d call and call and try to get him to come outside and do chores with us, but he’d have none of it. He wouldn’t leave her side unless he absolutely had to.”

  Hannah’s grandpa reached up and wiped at his face. Was he crying, she wondered? She’d never seen him cry. Since it was hard to see in the darkness, she couldn’t know for sure.

  “I bet she liked that,” Hannah asked. “Spot sticking by her, I mean.”

  “Oh, yes. I remember, I peeked my head into her room one day and saw her stroking his little head. I think he helped her more than any of us could really understand. He may have been nothing special to look at, but that dog had a heart bigger than a lot of people I know, that’s for sure.”

  He let those words hang in the darkness for a moment before he waved his hand at Bart and said, “Anyway, you want some help bringing him in?”

  She shook her head. “No. I can do it. Thanks, though.”

  “You’re welcome. Good night, sweetheart.”

  “Good night.”

  Grandpa turned back toward his house while Hannah went into the pen and led Bart to his stall in the barn like she’d been doing every night since New Year’s Eve. After she fed him his hay, she gave him another pat and walked out into the quiet night.

  As she made her way back to her house, she stopped and looked up at the sky. She found Orion’s Belt again and thought about what Elsie had said, about stars and magic and being alive.

  And that’s when she decided to name the mule something magical. Something beautiful. He’d ended up here, with the Crawfords, through no fault of his, and maybe Hannah didn’t understand why and maybe she’d been mad about it at first, but that didn’t mean she had to stay mad.

  “Good night, Stardust,” Hannah whispered. “I hope you like your new name.”

  “I’m sooooo happy to see you,” Crystal said, throwing her arms around Hannah. “It feels like forever since I saw you last.”

  “Just two weeks, silly,” Hannah said, as the girls turned and walked down the hallway toward their locker.

  “Well, that’s two weeks too long,” Crystal said, looping her arm through her best friend’s. Crystal looked amazing in a white-and-purple floral dress with a jean jacket over it, and her new blue cowboy boots to complete the look.

  “I love them,” Hannah said, pointing down. “Super cute. Is the dress new too?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Crystal said. They stopped at their locker. “My grandma loves to shop, you know. She took us to the mall and we shopped the after-Christmas sales.”

  “Sounds fun,” Hannah said as she worked on the combination. “I was hoping for some new clothes —”

  “But Santa brought you a mule instead,” Crystal teased. “Lucky you. Have you come up with any brilliant ideas as to how to get rid of him? The mule, I mean. Not Santa, obviously. Santa’s a keeper, as long as he brings us cute boots.”

  Hannah opened the locker door and hung her backpack on one of the hooks inside. “His name is Stardust. Please don’t call him ‘the mule’ anymore, all right? It sounds bad.”

  Crystal stuffed her backpack into the locker too, then spun around and put her hand on her hip. “I know, it does sound bad, because it is bad, and I’m so sorry you have to deal with this. You deserve better.” She paused. “Wait. I thought his name was Bart.”

  Hannah shrugged and stuffed her hands in her jean pockets. “It was, but I changed it. Look, it’s not as terrible as you make it sound.” She remembered what Elsie had said. “He’s just different, that’s all. There’s nothing wrong with being different, is there?”

  “But a mule is kind of like a donkey, and donkeys are kind of …”

  Before Crystal could finish her thought, Hannah spoke up. “A mule is half horse too you know.”

  Crystal didn’t look impressed. Hannah threw her arms up in the air, exasperated. “It shouldn’t even matter what he is! He’s an animal who wants what all of us want.”

  “A cute pair of boots?”

  Hannah shook her head, smiling. “No. To be loved. For who he is.”

  “So are you telling me you suddenly love him? Just a few days ago, you said —”

  Hannah leaned up against the open locker door, her arms folded across her chest. “No, of course I don’t love him. But I feel sorry for him.” She groaned. “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know what to think or how to feel. The whole situation is so messed up.”

  Before Crystal could respond, she heard the words “Hi, Hannah.” She looked past Crystal to find Elsie standing there.

  “Hey, Elsie,” she replied. “You know Crystal, right?”

  “Yeah. Hello.”

  “Hello,” Crystal said. “We were just talking about you. Riding Bart. Er, I mean, Stardust.”

  Elsie’s eyes got really big and her mouth opened in surprise. “You gave him a new name? Oh my gosh, Hannah, Stardust is beautiful. I love it!”

  Hannah smiled. “Figured you would. Ki
nd of have you to thank for it, with all of your talk about magic and stars the other night.”

  “Can you scoot over, please?” Crystal said, stepping forward. “I need to get my books.”

  “I better get going.” Elsie gave a little wave. “I’ll see you guys later.”

  “Bye,” Hannah said. Crystal didn’t say anything.

  “Why do I get the feeling you don’t like her very much?” Hannah asked.

  “Because I don’t,” Crystal replied as she bent down, searching the bottom of their locker. “What happened to my pencil? I can’t find it. Do you have an extra?”

  Hannah grabbed her pencil case from her shelf. “But you don’t even know her.” She opened the case and got a pencil out. “She’s a really nice girl. Just shy is all.”

  Crystal stood up and took the pencil out of Hannah’s hand. “I just don’t think she’s my type.”

  This didn’t make sense to Hannah. Not her type? “What does that even mean? You don’t have to marry her, you know.”

  Crystal leaned in. “Have you heard about her family’s money problems?”

  Hannah held back a groan, and stared at Crystal. Not her too?

  “Crystal, please don’t be like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like … the queen of small-town gossip. Louanne Dodger holds that title, and to be honest, I think the crown looks much better on her.”

  Before Crystal could respond, the bell rang, telling the girls they had five minutes to get to class. Hannah went to work gathering her books.

  “Are you mad at me?” Crystal asked after Hannah slammed the door shut.

  “No,” Hannah said. She put her arm around Crystal. “But you shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Elsie’s a sweet girl. I promise.”

  “All right. I’ll take your word for it.”

  “Please, don’t just take my word for it. Get to know her. You’ll see what I mean.”

  Crystal didn’t say anything as they walked down the hallway. Hannah told herself Crystal was letting the advice sink in, even though she knew that probably wasn’t it at all.

  On Wednesday, when Hannah got home from school, she found a letter from Mia waiting for her. She heated up some apple cider, grabbed a box of vanilla wafers, and went to her room to read the letter.

  DEAR HANNAH,

  HAPPY NEW YEAR! DID YOU HAVE A FUN WINTER BREAK? WHAT DID YOU GET FOR CHRISTMAS? YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE WHAT I GOT. A KARAOKE MACHINE! IT’S SO MUCH FUN. MY FRIENDS AND I HAVE BEEN HAVING A BLAST WITH IT. MY MOM EVEN GETS IN ON IT SOMETIMES AND BELTS OUT A TUNE.

  THEY JUST ANNOUNCED THE SPRING PLAY AT SCHOOL, AND LACY BELL THINKS I SHOULD TRY OUT. CAITLIN HAD SO MUCH FUN IN HER FALL PLAY, I’M KIND OF THINKING ABOUT DOING IT. THEY’RE DOING “THE SWORD IN THE STONE” AND THANKFULLY, IT’S NOT A MUSICAL. I MIGHT LIKE TO SING IN MY HOUSE WITH FRIENDS, BUT THERE’S NO WAY I WANT TO GET ON STAGE AND SING IN FRONT OF A WHOLE BUNCH OF STRANGERS. I HONESTLY DON’T KNOW HOW CAITLIN DOES IT!

  ARE YOU HAVING FUN WEARING THE BRACELET? LIBBY TOLD ME IN A LETTER THAT SHE’D MAILED IT OFF FOR YOU TO WEAR. I WONDER IF WE’LL EACH GET A CHANCE TO WEAR IT AGAIN BEFORE CAMP STARTS UP AGAIN IN JULY. I’M SO EXCITED TO SEE WHAT CHARMS HAVE BEEN ADDED SINCE I LAST SAW IT.

  I’M NOT REALLY A FAN OF JANUARY AND FEBRUARY. THEY’RE SO BORING. I JUST WANT JULY TO HURRY UP AND GET HERE SO I CAN SEE YOU, CAITLIN, AND LIBBY AGAIN. IT’S GOING TO BE SO AWESOME WHEN THE FOUR OF US ARE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN. I CAN’T WAIT!!

  WRITE ME BACK WHEN YOU CAN, AND TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CHRISTMAS OR ANYTHING ELSE EXCITING THAT’S GOING ON. I MISS YOU!

  YOUR CABIN 7 BFF,

  MIA

  Hannah set the letter down and let out a deep sigh. Of course Mia wanted to know what she got for Christmas. And Libby would probably want to know too. She knew she needed to write both of them and tell them, but not today. Her feelings about Stardust were too mixed up and she had no idea what to say about him. So for now, she just wouldn’t say anything.

  It was much easier that way.

  * * *

  Hannah had a Mane Attraction meeting that night. The club tried to alternate between educational meetings and riding meetings, where they got to spend time with real, live horses, and tonight was an educational one. Just like always, Mr. Crawford dropped Hannah off at the meeting and then went bowling for a couple of hours with some of his friends. When she walked in the room, a few minutes before seven, everyone looked at her and stopped talking.

  “Hey, y’all,” she said. “Am I interrupting something? Want me to step out so you can finish whatever it was you were discussing?”

  Carson, tall and gangly, stood up and put his hands in his jeans pockets. He always wore plaid, button-down shirts and his black felt cowboy hat. On someone else, this look might have been cool, but on him, it looked like he was trying too hard.

  “We were talking about you, actually,” he said.

  “Talking about how I’m sweeter than cotton candy?” Hannah asked, trying to be funny. “Sweeter than a piece of peach pie? Sweeter than sweet tea on a hot summer day?”

  No one laughed. Hannah crossed her arms. “All right. I guess not. So tell me, what were you saying?”

  Just then, Elsie walked in and stood next to Hannah. “What’s going on?”

  “Carson was just going to tell me what they were saying about me,” Hannah explained. “Apparently Beauty by Design isn’t the only place where gossip is king.”

  “We weren’t gossiping,” Darren said. “We were having a discussion.”

  “About what?” Elsie asked. “Tell us. We’re part of the club too, you know.”

  “Sorry I’m late,” Mr. Brody said as he rushed into the room carrying a cardboard box. “My mother called me, and while I love that woman dearly, it’s hard to get her to stop talking sometimes.”

  When he got to the front of the room, he set the box down and said, “What’s going on? It’s not like y’all to be so quiet.”

  “Nothing,” Carson said, taking his seat.

  “That’s not true,” Hannah said with a scowl. “They were discussing something before Elsie and I got here, and we want to know what it was.”

  “Is that so?” Mr. Brody said. “Well, by all means, please enlighten us. I’m curious too.”

  No one said anything for a moment. Then Darren spoke up. “We don’t think Hannah should be in the club anymore. She’s got a mule, not a horse. They’re not the same thing.”

  “I kind of agree,” said a girl named Rose. “When we ride in the Valentine’s Day parade like we do every year, it’s gonna look weird if she rides with us.”

  “Yep. They’re right. She don’t belong here,” Carson said. “Not with a mule.”

  Hannah felt sick to her stomach. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. As she tried to think of how to respond, Elsie spoke up.

  “She does too belong,” Elsie said. “She belongs because she loves horses just like the rest of us. It’s not like she got a lion or a tiger or a bear for Christmas. It’s a mule, which is half horse, and which you can ride just like a horse. Stardust is just as good, if not better than a horse, trust me. I know because I rode him the other day.”

  “Why don’t you two girls take a seat,” Mr. Brody said. Hannah and Elsie did as he asked. “I agree with Elsie as far as the club goes,” he went on. “Anyone is welcome, whether they own a horse or not. The only requirement, as we’ve said all along, is that members must have a love of horses.”

  “What about the parade?” Mary Beth asked. “Won’t it look strange for the 4-H horse club to have a mule there?”

  Hannah almost told the group that she didn’t want to ride with them anyway. After all, she hadn’t ridden Stardust by herself, let alone with a group. But she was curious as to what Mr. Brody had to say about it. Did he think Stardust should be allowed in the parade or not? She wanted him to say that it would be just fine for Hannah and Stardust to join the group. For once, she wanted to feel like it wasn’t a big deal
that she had a mule instead of a horse. If he’d just say that she could ride Stardust in the parade, then maybe she would stop feeling bad about the whole thing.

  But that isn’t what he said.

  “I need to give the parade some thought,” Mr. Brody said as he rubbed his chin. “Please understand, Hannah, this is nothing personal. It’s just that whatever decision is made sets a precedent for the club. I may even need to consult with the regional 4-H advisor and see what she has to say about it.” He looked directly at Hannah. “I’m sorry. I’ll have a decision for you at our next meeting, all right?”

  Hannah gave him a little nod. Although she and Elsie sat in the back of the room, and she could only see the backs of everyone’s heads, she imagined all of them smirking with triumph.

  “Okay,” Mr. Brody said as he clapped his hands. “Time to start our meeting. I have a horse-judging video for you to watch, and after that, we’ll play a trivia game. And of course, as always, we’ll have treats and social time at the end. It’s gonna be a fun evening!”

  The way things had gone so far, Hannah wasn’t so sure about that.

  Elsie pulled Hannah into a corner after they’d grabbed cupcakes at the end of the meeting. The other kids were gathered around someone’s phone watching the latest and greatest video featuring an adorable rabbit. Mr. Brody was talking to a couple of the parents who had come to help for part of the meeting.

  “I’m so sorry about what they were saying,” Elsie said softly. “That wasn’t nice. At all.”

  Hannah peeled the liner off of her chocolate caramel cupcake and set it on the small plate. “Well, you have nothing to be sorry for. Actually, I wanted to say thank you for sticking up for me. That was really sweet of you.”

  Elsie’s eyes narrowed. “Mr. Brody better let you ride in the parade. I’ll be furious if he says you can’t.”

  “I’m not even sure I want to ride in the parade,” Hannah said, tearing off a piece of the cupcake and eating it. “Mmmm, this is really good. Try it.”