#1: The Big Secret (Tales of Sasha) Read online

  If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that

  this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed”

  to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received

  any payment for this “stripped book.”

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real

  people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters,

  places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any

  resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is

  entirely coincidental.

  An imprint of Bonnier Publishing USA

  251 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010

  Copyright © 2017 by Bonnier Publishing USA

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction

  in whole or in part in any form.

  LITTLE BEE BOOKS is a registered trademark of Bonnier Publishing USA,

  and associated colophon is a trademark of Bonnier Publishing USA.

  Manufactured in the United States of America LB 1216

  ISBN: 978-1-4998-0390-7 (hc)

  ISBN: 978-1-4998-0389-1 (pbk)

  First Edition 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Names: Pearl, Alexa, 1967- author. | Sordo, Paco, illustrator.

  Title: Big secret / by Alexa Pearl ; illustrated by Paco Sordo.

  Description: New York, New York : Little Bee Books, [2017] | Series: Tales of Sasha; #1 |

  Summary: “In the Tales of Sasha series debut, Sasha discovers that she really isn’t like the

  other horses in her valley when wings sprout from her back and she soars through the air!”—

  Provided by publisher.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016004446| ISBN 9781499803891 (pbk) | ISBN 9781499803907 (hc)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Horses—Fiction. | Animals, Mythical—Fiction. | Identity—Fiction. | Secrets—

  Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books. | JUVENILE FICTION /

  Animals / Horses. | JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Mythical.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.P425 Bi 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016004446

  littlebeebooks.com

  bonnierpublishingusa.com

  Contents

  1. Go! Go! Go!

  2. Head in the Clouds

  3. The Big Sneeze

  4. Up in the Air

  5. Sparkle!

  6. The Big Secret

  7. The Story of Sasha

  8. Up to the Top

  9. Flying!

  CHAPTER

  1

  Go! Go! Go!

  “Sasha! Come back!”

  Sasha’s ears perked up, but she did

  not stop running. She was having too

  much fun. She ran past her friends. She

  ran past her two sisters. Faster and

  faster. The wind flowed through her

  glossy mane. The sun felt warm on her

  back. The spring grass was bright green

  beneath her hooves.

  Up ahead, she spotted the stream. She

  did not slow down. She ran toward it.

  One . . . two . . . three! Sasha counted

  to herself. Then she leaped into the air.

  Her body felt so light it was like she

  was floating in the clouds. This is the best

  feeling EVER! she thought.

  Sasha landed on the

  other side of the stream.

  A forest of tall trees

  stood in front of her.

  “Sasha! Come back!”

  Her mom’s voice stopped her. Sasha

  knew that tone. That tone meant her

  mom was upset, and Sasha knew why.

  The horses in their valley all had the

  same rule: Never go beyond the big

  trees.

  Now she was standing in front of

  the big trees. She had never run this far

  before.

  What is beyond the trees? she wondered.

  No one in Verdant Valley knew. Not

  Mom. Not Dad. Not her teacher. Not

  her sisters.

  I hate not knowing things, Sasha thought.

  Someday I will go there. Someday I will find

  out.

  Sasha splashed back through the

  stream. She trotted to her family.

  Her mom frowned. “I warned you not

  to run too far, Sasha,” she said.

  “I’m sorry,” said Sasha.

  Mom nuzzled her with her nose. Sasha

  nuzzled back. Sasha’s mom never stayed

  angry with her.

  “Was someone chasing you?” asked

  her sister Zara. Zara was the oldest

  sister in their family. Poppy was in the

  middle, and Sasha was the youngest.

  Sasha laughed. “No. Why?”

  “You were running so fast,” said Zara.

  “Running makes me tired and sweaty,”

  said Poppy.

  Running makes me super happy, Sasha

  thought.

  She had once tried to tell her sisters

  about how great she felt when she ran.

  They did not understand. They liked

  to spend their days eating grass and

  talking. Sasha thought that was boring.

  Zara and Poppy were so different

  from Sasha. They looked different too.

  Zara was jet-black with a chestnut

  brown mane and tail. Poppy was chestnut

  brown with a jet-black mane and tail.

  Their dad called them the “flip-flop

  sisters.” Everyone could see that they

  belonged together.

  And then there was Sasha. She was

  pale gray—except for a small white

  patch on her back. Her tail and mane

  were gray too. Borrrring! thought Sasha.

  Whenever she ran, Sasha pretended

  that she was shiny silver. She pretended

  that her mane glittered. She even

  pretended that rainbow sparkles

  exploded from her tail.

  Sasha wished she looked as sparkly

  as she felt. She wished she could be a

  “flip-flop sister” too.

  “I’m putting flowers in Zara’s mane,”

  said Poppy.

  “Do you want flowers in yours?”

  asked Zara.

  “Yes!” said Sasha. “We can all wear

  pretty flowers.”

  Poppy tucked a flower into Sasha’s

  mane, but it fell out. Poppy put in another

  flower, but that one fell out too.

  “Sasha!” cried Poppy. “Stay still. The

  flowers are falling.”

  I stink at staying still, thought Sasha,

  but she tried to be like her sisters. She

  tried not to move. Then her hooves did

  a little dance. Her body wanted to go,

  go, go!

  Wyatt trotted over. Wyatt was Sasha’s

  better-than-best friend. He swatted her

  with his tail.

  “Tag! You’re it!” cried Wyatt.

  Sasha was off! She chased after

  Wyatt. All the flowers fell out, but Sasha

  did not care.

  Wyatt was fast, but Sasha was faster!

  CHAPTER

  2

  Head in

  the Clouds

  “Got you!” Sasha tagged Wyatt.

  “Let’s play a
gain,” said Wyatt. “This

  time you won’t catch me.”

  “Sure!” But Sasha knew she would

  catch him. She always did.

  A loud whinny echoed through the

  valley. The whinny sounded again. Caleb,

  their teacher, was calling them.

  “It’s time for school,” said Wyatt.

  Caleb waited in the shade of a pine

  tree. All the young horses trotted over

  to him. Zara and Poppy galloped up.

  Sasha and Wyatt went too.

  Caleb was the oldest horse in their

  valley. There were flecks of gray in his

  copper coat. He had taught Sasha’s

  parents when they were young. Caleb

  was very smart. He knew everything

  about everything.

  “Today, we will learn to walk in a

  line.” Caleb spoke very slowly.

  “But why?” asked Twinkle. Twinkle was

  always asking questions.

  “Horses walk in a line to go to the

  pasture to eat,” said Caleb. Caleb

  showed them how.

  Sasha yawned. Caleb walked as slowly

  as he talked.

  All the horses watched Caleb—except

  Sasha. She watched a butterfly flutter

  up and down. She watched a bumblebee

  buzz over a purple flower. She watched

  a red-tailed hawk soar through the sky.

  Her heart beat in time to the beating

  of their wings.

  She imagined the world from above.

  Did the air taste sweeter? What would

  their valley look like from high up in the

  clouds?

  If I could fly, thought Sasha, I would

  spread my wings like the hawk and fly to

  faraway places. . . .

  “Sasha? Sasha?” Caleb’s voice broke

  through her thoughts. “What is the

  answer, Sasha?”

  “Uh, well . . .” Sasha flattened her

  ears to her head. Her face grew hot.

  She didn’t know the answer. She hadn’t

  heard the question.

  Caleb sighed. “Sasha has her head in

  the clouds again.”

  “What’s that mean?” asked Twinkle.

  “Her head is right here on her body.”

  “That means Sasha was daydreaming,”

  explained Caleb. “Sasha, eyes on me.

  Okay?”

  “Okay,” said Sasha. She tried to pay

  attention. She really did, but her skin

  itched—right by the white patch on her

  back. That itch made her want to move,

  run, and soar. She looked up at the sky.

  She wished her head really were in the

  clouds.

  CHAPTER

  3

  The Big

  Sneeze

  “Everyone, find a partner,” Caleb told

  the class.

  Hooves pounded as they all scrambled

  to pair up. Sasha hurried to Wyatt, but

  Chester was already at his side.

  “I’m sorry, Sasha,” said Wyatt. He and

  Chester were partners.

  Zara and Poppy stood together.

  Sasha’s sisters were partners.

  Sasha turned to Twinkle. “Partners?”

  Sasha asked hopefully.

  Twinkle shook her head.

  “No?” Sasha gulped. “Why not?”

  “You don’t listen. You get into trouble

  a lot,” said Twinkle.

  “No, I don’t—” started Sasha. Then

  she stopped. She did get into trouble

  a lot. She tried to tell Twinkle why.

  “Sometimes, I feel like I’m standing at

  the starting line of a race, waiting for

  the whistle to blow.”

  Twinkle wrinkled her nose. “What

  race? There’s no race.”

  “I know.” Sasha searched for the

  right words to make Twinkle understand.

  “I keep getting an itchy feeling that

  something exciting is about to happen.

  It makes me fidget. I can’t pay attention.

  Then I get into trouble.”

  “I need a good partner,” Twinkle told

  her. “I want to get a good grade.”

  “I’ll listen. I promise,” said Sasha.

  “Please, can we be partners?”

  “Okay.” Twinkle smiled, and her

  brown eyes twinkled. That was how

  she’d gotten her name.

  “Partners need to walk nose to tail,”

  Caleb told the class. “Choose who is in

  the front and who is in the back.”

  “I’ll be in front,” said Twinkle.

  “I’ll be in back,” agreed Sasha.

  “Both partners must stay in step with

  each other,” said Caleb. “Walk together

  around the pine tree, around the log,

  and past the big, flat rock.”

  “That isn’t hard,” Sasha told Twinkle.

  They set off. Sasha kept a close watch

  on Twinkle’s hooves. She stepped at the

  same time that Twinkle stepped.

  “Right, left, right,” said Twinkle. They

  walked around the pine tree.

  Swish! Twinkle’s tail brushed Sasha’s

  face. The long hair tickled her nose. Ah-

  ah-ah . . .

  Oh no! Sasha felt a sneeze coming—a

  big sneeze.

  I’ll mess up if I sneeze, she thought. I

  can’t do that to Twinkle.

  Sasha tried to hold in her sneeze. She

  pushed her tongue against her teeth. She

  closed her mouth. Her eyes bulged. Her

  nose twitched.

  Could she do it?

  CHAPTER

  4

  Up in

  the Air

  Sasha did it! The sneeze went away.

  “Look at the cute turtles on the log!”

  Twinkle called back to her.

  Sasha couldn’t see the turtles. All she

  could see was Twinkle’s backside, and

  she didn’t want to see that! Sasha raised

  her head high and saw the hawk again.

  She watched him make lazy circles over

  the big trees.

  “Psst, Twinkle,” whispered Sasha.

  “What do you think is beyond the big

  trees?”

  “More trees?” guessed Twinkle.

  “I think there are huge, crunchy pink-

  and-purple fruits. They taste sour and

  sweet at the same time. I think there are

  tall flowers. And the flowers have faces.

  Funny faces,” said Sasha. She made a

  funny face too.

  “You’re silly, Sasha,” said Twinkle.

  Sasha didn’t think so.

  “I want to go there someday. Do you

  want to come with me?” asked Sasha.

  “Nope.” Twinkle kept walking.

  “Why not?” asked Sasha.

  “I’m happy here. My family is here. I

  don’t want to go anywhere else,” said

  Twinkle.

  Sasha didn’t understand. Couldn’t

  Twinkle feel that something amazing

  waited beyond their valley? Something

  way more amazing than learning to

  walk in a line!

  Sasha loved her family and her home,

  but she knew they’d always be waiting

  here. She dreamed of exploring.

  “The flat rock is coming up,” said

  Twinkle.

  Sasha spotted the rock. The patch

  on her back began to itch. She tried to

  ig
nore it. “Right, left, right,” Sasha said.

  The patch kept itching. It made her

  tail flick back and forth. It made her

  hooves go tap, tap, tap.

  “Twinkle,” she said suddenly, “let’s

  jump over the rock!”

  “No way!” cried Twinkle. “We’ll get

  in trouble.”

  “Come on! It’ll be so much fun,” said

  Sasha.

  “You promised to be a good partner.”

  Twinkle turned to look at Sasha. Her

  eyes were not twinkling anymore. “Go

  around the rock—not over.”

  “Around,” agreed Sasha. She shook

  her head to shake away the feeling, but

  her body still wanted to soar over the

  rock. One big leap. Up, up, up.

  No, she scolded herself. Friends keep

  promises. Sasha wanted to be a good

  friend—and a good partner. She stayed

  behind Twinkle. Then she couldn’t help it.

  She stepped out of line.

  “Sasha!” Twinkle exclaimed, as she

  twisted to look at Caleb. “Get back in

  line!”

  Sasha’s legs kept moving. Her white

  patch itched. The itching made her legs

  go faster. She trotted past Twinkle. Then

  she cantered by Caleb.

  Caleb frowned. Wyatt laughed. The

  other horses whispered.

  “Stop!” called Twinkle.

  Sasha knew she was in big trouble,

  but she couldn’t make herself stop.

  Her hooves left the ground. She leaped

  high over the big, flat rock. A soft wind

  blew through her mane. The wind grew

  stronger. It swirled around her. It pulled

  her up toward the clouds.

  What’s happening? Sasha wondered as

  she squeezed her eyes shut.