Rising Star Read online

  Rising Star

  Karen C Webb

  Copyright © 2014 Karen C Webb

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  Smashwords edition

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

  Watch for : Dream of echoes

  by karen c webb

  amazon breakthrough novel

  awards quarterfinalist

  coming soon

  For Sue and RUSTY

  Chapter 1

  Selena wasn’t really interested in being an extra in whatever movie they were filming this time. It didn’t pay anything, it was just for the fun of being on the set of a movie. Most of the town of Los Estrellas, most of the county even, were so used to it by now, that everyone pretty much ignored all the commotion with each new cast and crew that came to town. Countless movies had been filmed in New Mexico the past few years. She assumed Hollywood had found a cheaper, more welcoming market in her small town for making their movies.

  But her friend Beth had begged her to go. She had known Beth since kindergarten and they had barrel raced together and rode their horses down every trail along the Rio Grande since they were small.

  “But this time is different,” Beth begged her. “They need people to bring their horses and ride them in the movie. They need a whole crowd of horses and riders, galloping together across the desert.”

  Selena stared at her short, curly-haired friend as she thought about it. She wasn’t too keen on crowds, even though she’d rode Rusty, her beautiful sorrel gelding, in front of crowds at rodeos around the valley and she’d even taken first place barrel racing at the county fair last August. That had been quite some crowd. She smiled as she remembered the excitement.

  “Okay.” She made up her mind. “I guess I’m in.”

  “Yay.” Beth jumped up and down with delight. “It’ll be a blast. You’ll see.”

  “I really doubt that, but it’ll get Rusty out of the yard. We’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t even practiced on the barrels.”

  “I haven’t had Tripp out much either, but school will be out soon and we’ll have all summer to barrel race and trail ride.”

  They parted ways at the bus stop; Beth lived south of the school, a little closer to town, while Selena took the school bus north, where homes and farms were a little more scattered. Her family had an acre, with a small horse barn and a large corral for Rusty. The acre was fenced and grassy and Selena often turned him loose on it to graze. She stared out the window as the yellow bus lumbered its slow way north. If not for Beth dragging her out to rodeos and now to a movie set, she would probably be a recluse, hiding away in her small room. It wasn’t that she was shy, no, not at all. She was just a bit of a loner, always wrapped up in her own thoughts. She enjoyed hanging out with her classmates and the kids at the rodeos. But, even in a crowd, her mind was apt to drift away, into one of the stories she was working on. She had been writing since she was young, and when she got her head tied up in her own make-believe, it was hard to pull her mind back to reality. She seemed to drift through life, almost as if she were at the edge of life, looking in.

  Rusty pawed the air with his right hoof and swung his head as he saw her walking up the long drive. He had a way of putting his head near the ground with his chin tucked down, then tossing his head high, his orange mane flying. It was his way of greeting her and telling her he was hungry.

  Selena tossed him a flake of alfalfa and stood with him, scratching his favorite spot on his withers while he ate.

  “You wanna be in a movie, Rusty?” She said softly as she scratched him. He seemed to pay her no mind, but Selena saw his right ear flick back toward her, listening to her voice. “I bet you could be a big movie star, huh boy?”

  She spent a few minutes with him, then went inside to make herself a sandwich. Her home was a very modest, very small, single-wide trailer sitting smack in the middle of the acre. She had always thought it was pretty old and ugly and she was a little embarrassed by it when she had friends over. The white paint was faded from the desert sun and a hail storm a few years ago had beaten the paint off it in places, leaving behind neat, round blotches of bare, grey metal.

  She took the sandwich to her room, plopping down in front of her small, second-hand computer. Her mother had bought it from a coworker and, though it wasn’t much, Selena had spent countless hours in front of it. She’d been writing fiction novels since she was young and she worked on the current one whenever she had a minute to spare. She was working on a detective series, with a teenage girl as the lead character. She had started the series three years ago, when she was fifteen and now, she was beginning to wonder if it would ever be finished. It seemed as if the older she got, the less time she had to work on her stories. Between homework and rodeos and trail rides with Beth, there was very little time to sit down and concentrate on it. She read through the last chapter she’d written, then picked up where she’d left off. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed, her mind lost to another place and time as she deftly led her character, Trish, through clues and adventures and even romance. Selena was so caught up in the lives she’d created, she didn’t hear the car pull into the drive or the front door slam when her mother arrived home.

  “Selena,” her mother sounded angry. “You haven’t done your chores, your school books are still on the table and it’s your turn to cook dinner.”

  “Sorry, mom. I’m coming,” Selena called as she quickly saved her work on her old computer. She had completely lost track of the time while she lost herself in the life of Trish. She enjoyed writing so much, she promised herself she’d devote at least an hour a day to it. Of course, it was a promise she’d made before, but it was always easier said than done.

  “What were you doing in there, if you weren’t doing homework?” Her mother nodded her head at the schoolbooks on the table.

  “Oh…I’m working on an English paper. I have it saved on my computer.”

  “I see,” her mother said, buying the lie without question.

  Selena felt bad lying to her mother, but she was a little embarrassed. She had never shared her stories with anyone; as far as she knew, her parents didn’t know she had ever written anything. It was one thing to lose herself in her stories, but the thought of other people reading them was hard to imagine. What if everyone laughed at her?

  Chapter 2

  Selena loaded Rusty into the horse trailer Saturday morning and hurried to pick up Beth and her horse, Tripp. She used her father’s battered old pickup to pull the trailer and, as she drove, she could see Rusty push open the small door on the front of the trailer and poke his head through. The door had never latched correctly and Rusty had quickly figured out how to push it open and hang his head out. He looked like a huge puppy in her side mirror, with his head hanging out an open car window, his orange mane flying in the wind.

  Beth helped her load Tripp in beside Rusty and they set out for Santa Fe, or somewhere nearby, Beth told her.

  “You just have to follow the yellow signs with a CW on them,” Beth said. “It should be just south of Santa Fe, out in the desert.”

  “Got it,” Selena said.

  They found the location without any trouble. The small, yellow signs were taped to the post of every stop sign they approached, poin
ting the way to every turn.

  “Oh. Look how many people,” Beth said as they bounced across the desert and parked beside several other horse trailers.

  “Yeah, it looks like a madhouse,” Selena answered. Beth’s excitement was catching and Selena felt a knot of tension begin in her stomach.

  They quickly saddled up their horses and loped them around for a bit, warming them up as they did at rodeos, before joining the crowd of twenty or so other people, sitting on their horses and chatting. There were people of every age milling about on their horses, as crew members scurried around, setting up cameras and lights and microphones. Even though quite a few movies had been shot in their area the last few years, Selena felt the excitement working through her body as she watched the crew. It was one thing to see film crews everywhere around the town, but she had certainly never been a part of it. Rusty felt her excitement too and he danced around a little until she rubbed his neck to quiet him. She had heard a little about this movie, but honestly, she hadn’t paid much attention to what it was about or even who was in it.

  “Do you know who’s in this movie?” she asked Beth.

  “Matthew Mason,” Beth answered impatiently. “Remember, I told you last week. He is incredibly hot. And Brittany Toomes has the female lead.”

  Selena barely knew who either of them were. She only had a vague recollection of what Matt Mason looked like. She didn’t spend a lot of time in front of the TV, preferring instead to be racing across the desert or around the barrels on Rusty’s back. She’d had a huge crush on Paul James when she was younger and she’d watched all of his movies through her teenage years. His blond, California boy looks and sparkling blue eyes were enough to turn any girls head. But those days were long behind her now. Between horseback riding and writing her stories, she had very little time for TV.

  Eventually, the crew finished setting up and an older lady with her hair in a bun and glasses hanging from a chain around her neck came over to the riders. She was carrying a clipboard and she studied it as she walked.

  “Okay,” she said as she approached. “We’ve painted a white line way over there on the grass.” She pointed behind the group and all heads turned collectively as they looked where she pointed. “We need all of you to start from there and run your horses past us here. You’ll find another white line west of us way down there,” she said as she pointed in the opposite direction. “After you cross that line, turn around and meet us back here. We may need to do it several times, or until the director says he’s happy with it.”

  Selena and Beth turned their horses, following along as the group headed off toward their mark. They spun their horses around just past the white line and as everyone lined up behind it an older man on a big paint horse said, “I’ll count to three, and then we all take off, okay?”

  Everyone nodded and watched the gray-haired man for his cue.

  “Okay,” he said. “One…two…three…GO!” Twenty-five horses leapt across the line like racehorses from a starting gate and Selena tightened her legs around Rusty as he took off. She was caught in the middle of the pack of flying hooves, but as the horses ran, the pack began to break apart as slower horses dropped back, faster ones moving on ahead. Rusty stretched his neck out as horses ran alongside him. He had racehorse blood in his background and his nostrils flared as he struggled to catch the leaders. Three horses were still in front of him and Selena moved him slightly left as he overtook the first one, a small black mare with a young girl on her back. Now there were two horses in front of Rusty and Selena tried to slow him down. They were, after all, supposed to be running together in a pack past the cameras, not participating in an old-school horse race, where spectators made side bets.

  But Rusty was having none of it, he shook his head as she pulled on the reins and she saw he was running quickly up on the heels of a big bay gelding. She steered him left again, before he could clip the heels of the bay, causing both horses to fall and taking their riders with them. Rusty fought for his head again as they passed the big bay and he set his sights on the remaining horse. It was the big black and white paint with the old man who had yelled ‘Go.’ The paint had a half black, half white tail and it was flying like a banner as Rusty closed the gap between them. She could hear the thunder of galloping hooves behind her, but she dared not look back. It took every ounce of her concentration to guide Rusty at breakneck speed across a desert dotted with sagebrush and gopher holes. One misstep could mean a painful fall, not to mention the twenty-three sets of hooves that would trample them if they went down.

  She steered Rusty to the right as he closed the distance on the paint horse. Rusty stretched his neck further and gave it everything he had. As far as he was concerned, it was a race and he was determined to win it. Selena could just see a blurry throng of people watching from the sidelines on her right as they passed the set, Rusty running neck and neck with the paint. She had given up on trying to rein him in and had instead leaned forward over his neck, moving with him as he ran. They became almost like one entity as they passed the paint horse and moved out in front, his long orange mane mingling with her long auburn hair. His gait was so smooth at this flat-out gallop, Selena’s body didn’t seem to move in the saddle as she leaned forward, causing them to look like one flying orange creature.

  “Who is that?” The director asked as they raced by, raising his voice over the sound of thundering hooves. He pointed at Selena and Rusty as he asked and the lady with the clipboard looked down at her notes, trying to decipher between twenty-five sets of names.

  “It looks like Pegasus,” he said before the lady could answer. “Taking that young girl with him as he flies through the air. Could you bring her over when we’re done filming? I’d like to meet her and her flying horse.” He didn’t take his eyes from Selena and Rusty as he spoke.

  “Sure, Don,” the grey-haired lady answered, still studying her clipboard, still not sure which of the names belonged to the young, auburn-haired beauty.

  They ran through the scene once more, the horses grouping together better after the first run took the edge off their energy. Rusty still fought for the lead, but Selena was able to hold him to the middle of the pack this time, never giving him the chance to pass the horses in front of him. Beth ran near the rear both times. Tripp was plenty fast enough, but he was lazy and he didn’t always look where he was going, causing him to stumble occasionally; hence, the name Tripp.

  The girls were back at their trailer, unsaddling their horses, when the lady with the clipboard walked over. She offered her hand to Selena first, then to Beth.

  Selena wiped her sweating, dirty hand on her jeans before taking the ladies hand and shaking it firmly.

  “I’m Lenoir Rhodes,” the lady said. “The director, Don Broward, asked to meet with you.”

  “Really? He wants to meet us?” Beth asked excitedly.

  “He asked to meet with Selena and her flying horse, but I’m sure he would enjoy speaking with both of you.”

  Beth’s face fell a little, but she held her smile frozen in place as she faced Selena. “You go ahead. I’m going to rub Tripp down and walk him around a little to cool him off.”

  “Beth, you have to come with me,” Selena said. “This whole thing was your idea.”

  “No. You go ahead, Selena. You look a lot more like a movie star than me, anyway.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Beth only shook her curly head and stared at her feet as the older lady led Selena away.

  Selena was quiet as she followed Lenoir toward the crowd of people, leading Rusty along behind her. She was a little hurt and confused by Beth’s attitude. They had always done everything together and she didn’t see why Beth was acting hurt now. Well, she kinda did, but if the director had asked to meet with Beth, Selena wouldn’t have cared.

  “Will your horse be afraid around so many people? It’s a lot of noise and excitement for an animal.”

  “No. Rusty is used to crowds at the rodeos
and we ride in the Christmas parade every year. He always seems to enjoy the noise and excitement.”

  Rusty was, in fact, watching the cast and crew members as they hurried about, moving equipment and shouting to each other, but he only seemed to show a casual interest.

  Don Broward stood as they reached him. He had been sitting in a tall chair with his name on the back, studying a clipboard. He dropped it on the seat as he took Selena’s hand.

  “I’m Don Broward,” he said with a warm smile.

  “I know,” Selena answered. “I recognize you from your old movies, before you became a director. “I’m Selena Summers and this is Rusty.”

  Don reached out and scratched Rusty’s head. Rusty was itchy from running and sweating and he put his head down, rubbing it against Don’s jeans, nearly bowling him over.

  Don laughed genially. “He sure is friendly for a horse that was barely touching the ground a little while ago.”

  “Yeah. I’ve had him for years. He thinks he’s a dog, most days.”

  Don laughed. “Well, Selena, the reason I asked to meet you is, I would like to offer you and Rusty a part in this movie, if you’re interested?”

  Selena felt a pain in her chest, it was as if her heart stopped for a second and then took off again, too fast. Don watched the bewildered look on her face and added quickly, “It’s a small part, not many lines. What I need is someone who can ride, and looks good doing it.”

  “I don’t know, Mr. Broward. I’ll have to talk to my parents. Will it interfere with school?” Did she really want to be in their movie? Did she really even care? She didn’t voice her thoughts, but she did feel a little excitement at the prospect of having a real part in a movie.

  “We can work around your schedule since it’s a small part. We can shoot after school and weekends if need be. Should only take six weeks or so. It pays forty-two thousand.”