Welcome to The Horse Hill. Katie's father one day brings home a horse. Nine-year-old Katie and twelve-year-old Aaron can't believe it. They've always wanted a horse. But their only temporally taking care of him. (A fancy word for it is fostering) They really want to keep him but they can't. Can they find him a forever home?

Chapter 1

Katie Manly lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Then she got up and ran downstairs. "Mom," She said."Why can't I have a horse?" "So, every morning we have to talk about this?" Mrs. Manly asked. Mrs. Manly was a dog person and she was afraid of horses. But the rest of the family loved horses. Just then Katie's older brother, Aaron, came down. "Every morning 'til we get a horse." He said. Then Mom gave them a stern look that meant 'subject closed'. They got the message. There would be no horse talk this morning. "Where's Dad?" Aaron asked. "There was a crime in Fetta." Mom said. Mr. Manly was a police man. Mrs. Manly was a weather woman.

"Maybe instead of a horse we could get a dog?!" Mom said, cheerfully. "Anyway, you two need to eat and get ready for school." She continued. "I hope Dad gets home before we leave." Katie said. "Me too." agreed Aaron. Then they heard a knock on the door. "Dad's home!" Aaron and Katie cried. They ran to the door and opened it. "Oh!" Katie whispered. There, right in front of her, was a beautiful chestnut horse. "Meet Justin."

Chapter 2

"Jim!" Mom exclaimed. "Yes, I know. But Ken had him and on my way home said He couldn't take care of him." Dad explained. Katie patted Justin. She still couldn't believe they had a horse of their own. "Girly, hello! Earth to Katie!" Dad called. "Huh!" Katie snapped out of her daydream. "We only fostering this guy. Sorry." Dad said and gave her a hug. "Now off to school, you two." Mom said and ushered them out.

"I so wanted to keep Justin." Katie told Aaron on their way to school.

"Me too. But ya' know." Aaron said. "Yeah. Mom says we're not ready yet." Katie finished his sentence. "At least we get to have a horse temporarily." Aaron said. then they were at school. In class Katie kept thinking about Justin. She really really really wanted a horse of her own. She wanted a beautiful black and white horse. At morning meeting time she said, "This morning we got a horse. But we can't keep him forever. Just 'til he finds a good forever home."

Chapter 3

"And that's what I said." Katie said to Aaron on their way home from school. "Nice. Maybe he'll find a home." Aaron said. Katie's face fell at that. She really wanted to keep Justin. Aaron saw her face and said," When the time is right, the horse is right. And we'll know when the time is right and the horse is right." Katie kind of agreed. "You know the rhyme Mom says..." Aaron said. "Don't say it. I know. Anyway, we're home so I'm going to see Justin." Katie called

as she ran to the shed. Since they didn't have a stable they had to use their shed. If we foster more, Katie thought, we might get a barn. "Neigh!" Justin whinnied. "Hi boy." Katie softly said. Just then Mike, Aaron's friend (or used to be) came running in. "I'm going to ride my war horse!" He cried. "He's not your war horse!" Katie said and rolled her eyes. "BANG! I'll shoot you if you don't let me ride him. BANG!" Mike said and shot his plastic gun. Justin heard his loud noise and

whinnied loudly. "Stop! You're scaring Justin." Katie said. Mike put down his gun. "Justin? I met him at school." He said. "Could I ride him? But at school he wasn't a horse." That was Mike's dream. He dreams he goes to school and says at school he met that person who's name was said. Sometime he would say at breakfast he met Jimmy and at dinner say he met John. Then he said once 'It' had been said he would say 'I met more then one person at school.' Then someone would try to argue but Mom

would give that person a 'quit it' look and at bed bring out the 'Just go with the flow' lecture.

"Hmm." Katie thought aloud. "Okay." She helped Mike get onto Justin. "Yee-haw!" Mike shouted. Justin stomped his foot. "Oh, sorry Justin, boy." Mike apologized. Katie smiled. Mike really had a heart for Justin. Maybe then Mom and Dad would let them keep Justin.

Chapter 4

Mike and Katie were having so much fun, they were concerned to see Dad running from the house. "Hey, Punky Funky. Hey, Girly." He said. Good Punky Funky and Girly were normal things maybe it would be alright, Katie thought. "Shack made some signs and someone called. Their coming right now." Dad finished his sentence. Oh, No! Katie thought. She hoped they wouldn't like him.

"Oh, what a nice horse!" a lady said.

The people had come and were now admiring Justin. "I want to see how he rides." the lady's husband said. So Katie tacked him up while the grown-ups talked. "Stay, please boy. Please!" She whispered. "He all set!" The man rode him but said he rode to bumpy for him. "Good bye!" the man's wife said, waving. Mom and Dad said that was not good that they didn't want him. But Mike, Katie, and Aaron were pleased. They wanted to keep Justin forever.

Chapter 5

That night Katie made a list of good thing of having a horse.

They don't need to be house trained.

Katie thought that one was correct. It was a advantage for sure.

You can ride them.

That was the best part of having a horse, Katie thought.

Their super fun.

They are super fun, Katie thought. Oh, but Mom would say puppies

are fun too. Katie thought about it for awhile. Then Aaron came in. "Why aren't you to bed." He said. Katie looked at the clock. It was 9:00. "Okay. night." Katie said. She lay down on her bed wide awake. But she must have fallen asleep because when she opened her eyes again, the clock read 7:23. Katie jumped out of bed, got dressed, and bounced downstairs. She threw herself into her seat and wolfed down her food.