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    Razor's Edge
    Razor's Edge
    Razor's Edge
    Ebook100 pages1 hour

    Razor's Edge

    By Nikki Tate

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Travis and his best friends Ryan and Jasper live for the thrill of watching their horses race. When a thief starts hacking off the tails of Standardbred horses stabled at Blackdown Park, suddenly the track isn't such a great place to hang out. Things get even more unpleasant when a troubled girl comes between Travis and his friends. Travis has to make some tough choices, but how can he stand by his friends when he no longer trusts them?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOrca Book Publishers
    Release dateOct 1, 2009
    ISBN9781554695232
    Razor's Edge
    Author

    Nikki Tate

    Nikki Tate is the author of more than 30 books, most of which are for children and teens. Her Footprints title, Deep Roots: How Trees Sustain Our Planet, received several award nominations and was named by the New York Public Library as one of 2016’s Best 100 Books for Kids. She lives in Canmore, Alberta.

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      Book preview

      Razor's Edge - Nikki Tate

      Razor’s Edge

      Nikki Tate

      orca sports

      ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

      Copyright © 2009 Nikki Tate

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

      Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

      Tate, Nikki, 1962-

      Razor’s edge / written by Nikki Tate.

      (Orca sports)

      ISBN 978-1-55469-167-8

      1. Horses—Juvenile fiction. I. Title. II. Series: Orca sports

      PS8589.A8735R39 2009 jC813’.54 C2009-903045-4

      Summary: Travis and his friends train and race horses at a harness-racing track. When someone starts hacking off the horses’ tails, Travis must solve the mystery before he loses everything he has worked for.

      First published in the United States, 2009

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2009928874

      Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

      Cover design by Teresa Bubela

      Cover photography by Getty Images

      Author photo by E. Colin Williams

      Orca Book Publishers

      PO Box 5626, Stn. B

      Victoria, BC Canada

      V8R 6S4

      Orca Book Publishers

      PO Box 468

      Custer, WA USA

      98240-0468

      www.orcabook.com

      Printed and bound in Canada.

      Printed on 100% PCW recycled paper.

      12 11 10 09 • 4 3 2 1

      For Bill and Marian Young

      contents

      chapter one

      chapter two

      chapter three

      chapter four

      chapter five

      chapter six

      chapter seven

      chapter eight

      chapter nine

      chapter ten

      chapter eleven

      chapter twelve

      chapter thirteen

      chapter one

      What the—?

      I step into the stall and run my hand along Romeo’s back and over his rump. The handsome gray gelding looks back over his shoulder. I reach for his tail. Or rather, the place where his magnificent cream-colored tail used to be. Someone has cut the whole thing off.

      Ryan! Get in here!

      My buddy Ryan’s hulking form fills the stall doorway. Travis, why are you yelling? We can’t afford another vet— He stops mid-sentence and steps into the stall beside me. What the—?

      That’s what I said! Who would do something like this?

      Ryan turns slowly, studying the mess of wood shavings, manure and bits of dropped hay.

      I already looked, I say. There’s not a single hair left.

      Ryan shakes his big head from side to side. It doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone steal a horse’s tail?

      Hell if I know.

      Stupidly, we both look around the stall again.

      It’s gone, man. Like really gone. Ryan jerks his head toward the open stall door. What about the others?

      I just got here. I came in to get Romeo’s feed tub and— We both stare at the horse’s scraggly stump of a tail.

      Ryan moves toward the door. I’m right behind him. I grab a manure rake from where it leans against the wall in the barn aisle.

      Hey, Finnegan, Ryan says, unlatching the next stall door in the long row. Show me your backside, buddy.

      Still clutching the rake handle, I follow Ryan inside.

      I guess whoever did it doesn’t like black tails, he says.

      Finnegan swings his rear in my direction. His black tail swooshes behind him. It’s long and full, reaching well past his hocks.

      What about Dusty Rose?

      Ryan is about to push past me again when he spots the manure rake in my hands. I’m holding it in front of me, trying to look dangerous.

      What are you doing? The mucking can wait…

      Uh…

      Ryan’s eyebrows push together. Then he laughs. Good to know you’ve got my back!

      We check on our other two horses. Dusty Rose and Dig in to Win are both fine.

      What was so special about Romeo’s tail? I say when we’re back out in the aisle.

      Ryan shrugs. He’s the only gray horse in this barn. And his tail was long and thick.

      True enough. When Romeo is flying along at full speed, he carries his tail high enough that it whips around my hands when I’m driving. We had actually talked about wrapping it so it didn’t get caught up in the sulky during a race. The lightweight racing carts the horses pull are dangerous enough without extra interference from an out-of-control tail.

      Does Jasper know yet? I ask.

      Not yet. He’s probably at The Bog.

      I’ll go find him, I offer. I need another coffee. Do you want anything?

      Ryan shakes his head. I’ll get started here.

      Sure enough, Jasper’s at The Bog, the coffee place the horsemen use at Blackdown Park Racetrack. It’s not nearly as fancy as the restaurants and casino over in the grandstand. The coffee tastes like swamp water, but the café is handy and at this hour of the morning, anything hot and caffeinated goes down well.

      The youngest partner in our harness-racing business is impossible to miss. He’s six foot five and stick skinny. As usual, Jasper’s wearing a saggy black T-shirt. Before he even turns around I know the kind of thing that will be on the front. Jasper’s tastes run toward skulls, spiders and blood-dipped daggers.

      When the three of us stand together, it’s like someone took the average of the other two to get me. I’m not as tall as Jasper or as big around as Ryan. My hair is lighter than Jasper’s thick dark mop and not as wild as Ryan’s blond curls.

      The reserve where Jasper lives is right next to the track, so you’d think he’d get to the track first every morning. Wrong.

      Hey, Jasper!

      Hey, Travis. When Jasper turns away from the counter, I am eye-to-eye with three bubble-headed aliens staring back at me from his chest. As usual, he looks like he crawled out from under a rock.

      You’re not going to believe what happened to Romeo.

      What’s wrong?

      He’s fine. Well, fine in a bald kind of way.

      What are you talking about?

      Someone stole his tail.

      Jasper laughs, a huge loud laugh that shakes his whole body. Yeah, right.

      No, I’m serious. Someone cut it off.

      Romeo’s tail? Jasper can’t stop laughing. Good one! April Fools’ Day to you too!

      April Fools’ Day? He’s right. Today is April first. Jasper, this is no joke. His tail is totally gone! I doubt he’ll believe me until he sees for himself.

      Jasper fights hard to pull himself together. That’s crazy!

      Yeah, it is crazy. But that’s what happened. I tell Jasper the whole story, and by the time I’m done he isn’t laughing anymore.

      What kind of sicko would chop off a horse’s tail? he asks.

      All I can do is shrug.

      chapter two

      We need to win a race so you can buy new boots, Ryan says, poking the butt end of a driving whip into a hole in the heel of my rubber boot.

      We need to win a race so we don’t have to sell a horse, Jasper says. He runs his finger down the page in his notebook.

      Jasper

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