herded before."

Maxine smiled gently. "You'll catch on. Now git." she added as she shooed her outside. Nalani obeyd.

Everyone looked up when she came out. Dallas for a minute, then turned to Ely. "Lets get going. The cowboys should meet us there."

Ely gave a short nod, and his sons stood and followed him and Dallas.

Nalani followed quietly, reviewing what Quinn had just told her about cattle. Their big, have horns, the cows are very protective of their calves, the bulls are nastily temperd, but he'd said she probley wouldn't meet one yet. He'd also told her to be gentle with the calves, esspecialy the yellow ones. Yellow were rare.

"Nalani!"

Nalani snapped her head up and bumped into a fence post. She looked up and saw Cade, the others ahead of him. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"You might want to wake up before you hurt yourself." his voice had a slight teasing tone that made Nalani flush. She should have been watching where she was going, not daydreaming.

"I ment to do that." straighting herself up, she brushed past him. She swore she saw his smile grow, but it disapered quickly.

"Nalani! Cade!" Dallas barked.

Nalani and Cade ran to catch up with the others. Time to get to work.

                                                               ~^~^~^~^~

Nalani collasped on the floor of the foreman house. All day she and the others had been herding cattle down to a newer part of Lehua High Pasture, where the cattle would have better grazing. The cattle had mooed in protest and a few had refused to budge, so Dallas would send eaither her or one of Ely's sons to get the cow or steer moving.

She'd never been more tired in her life. Dallas and Ely where the only ones who held their heads up on the walk home. Everyone else let their heads hang.

"Tough day?"

Nalani looked up and saw Maxine with a sympathetic smile on her face. She groaned. "Yeah." Then a thought struck her. "How come you didn't come?" she asked.

"I'm kept as a house pet for the Latoeas. They won't let me work." Nalani caught a hint of sadness in the older dogs eyes.

Before she could ask why, Dallas and the others came in. Maxine trotted over to Ely and gave him a nuzzle.

Nalani cast a look at Dallas out of the corner of her eye. He was frowning at the window. She slowly got up and walked over to him.

"Dallas?" she asked timidly.

When Dallas turned, she caught a hint of suprise in his eyes. It disapeered so quickly, Nalani swore she imagend it.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him.

He turned back to the window. "Storms coming."

Nalani looked out the window. A few grey clouds darted the sky, but they didn't look like storm clouds. "Are you sure?"

Dallas gave a short nod. Since he didn't seem to want to talk anymore, Nalani went back to her corner.

She heard the mustang whinny from her corral.

Don't worry gir.l. I'll be there soon, she told the mare silently.

                                                          ~^~^~^~^~

Nalani crpet out of the forman house. No moon glowed agsint the sky tonight, but she still found her way to the mares corral. The mare greeted her witha low neigh.

"Hey pretty gir.l." Nalani said softly. The mare tossed her head and snorted.

Nalani laughed quietly. "Your right, you need a name. I can't call you gir.l forever."

Nalani watched the mustang closely. Kaniloa had wrote that he had never named her. Nothing seemed to suit her. As Nalani watched the mare, her thoughts drifted to Zanzibar, the mares grand-sire. He had been a sorrel with a perfect star under his forelock. The mare was a spitting image of him, down to the white star under the forelock.

"I think you should be named after your grand-sire, but Zanzibar's more of a name for a stallion, not a mare." Nalani said softly. "How about Zanzia instead?"

The mare gave a low whinny. "I'll take that as a yes." Nalani laughed quietly. She turned when she thought she heard something from the foremans house. Had someone woken up and noticed she was gone? "I'd better go Zanzia, I'll be back." she promised.

                                                        ~^~^~^~^~

A loud bang rang throught the night. Nalani's eyes shot open and she lept to her feet. "Huh? Who? What?" Nate's mumbling came from the back of the house. "It's just the storm Nalani." 

Nalani turned around. Squinting, she saw Maxine standing in the darkness. "Go back to sleep. It'll be over in the morning."

Nalani settled herself down again. Something nagged at the back of her mind that there was something else wrong, not just the storm. But sleepiness overuled the nagging voice and she drifted asleep again.

She wasn't alseep for long when another bang rang through the night. A shrieking neigh followed. Nalani jumped up. Zanzia! She bolted out the door.

"Nalani wait!" Dallas's voice called after her as she ran into pelting rain. The rain was cold and wind blew it into her eyes. A bolt of lighting lit up the ranch yard long enough for Nalani to find the mares corral. Shrieking, the mare kicked the fence. Nalani proped herself up agsint the lower rails of the corral.

"Shh, it's okay gir.l. Calm down." Nalani could barley hear herself over the wind and rain.

Zanzia paid no heed and kicked the fench again. The vibration jolted through Nalani's paws and legs. Lighting bolted across the sky again. Zanzia neighd shrilly and kicked the fence again. Something crac.ked. Lighting lit up the sky again. Nalani watched in horror as the mare kicked the fence and broke it. Nalani jumped back as Zanzia reared, then bolted.

"No!" she screamed.

Nalani started running after her, but something brushed past her, nearly knocking her over. She could barley make out who it was, but the lighting lit up the sky and she saw Cade running in the direction Zanzia had went.

She started after him, when something grabbed her and turned her around. She could barley hear Dallas's voice. "Are you pupule! You can't go after that mustang! She nearly killed you!"

"She was scarred!" Nalani shouted.

"She's dangerous!"

"Dallas! This isn't the time! That horse could hurt it's self!" Ely's voice shouted. Nalani couldn't see Dallas's face, but she thought she herd him mutter something. "Nalani, go on in. We'll find her." Ely's voice was right next to her now.

She opened her mouth to protest, but something in his tone told her not to. With a sigh, Nalani turned and went to the house. Maxine greeted her with a sympathetic smile. Nalani shook herself dry and went over to the window facing Zanzia's coarral.

Remebering what Dallas had said, she turned to Maxine. "Whats pupule?"

Maxine smiled a little. "It means crazy."

                                                            ~^~^~^~^~

It was dawn when everyone but Dallas and Cade came back. Nate's hat had leaves sticking to it and everyone else was splatterd in mud. Nalani's heart sank. Zanzia wasn't with them.

"Where are Dallas and Cade?" Maxine asked.

Ely looked tired, but he gave a tired shrug. "Dallas went up toward Sky Pasture, while me and the boys searched the other pastures. Don't know where Cade went."

Maxine's eyes reflected worry for her youngest son. Nalani felt awefull. Even if Zanzia had broken out herself, she felt somewhat resonsible.

"I'm going to go look for her." she declared.

Ely shook his head firmly. "No way, let Dallas handle this. He's been around horses, and this ranch, his whole life." The tone in his voice said that was the end of the discustion. Nalani sighed.

Dallas didn't return until late afternoon. His paws were caked with so much mud, Nalani couldn't see the black on them. Zanzia wasn't with him eaither. He looked tired and, not angry but, disapointed?

He didn't say a word as he enterd the house. Something told Nalani she shouldn't follow and ask if he had even seen Zanzia. Instead, she sat outside and waited, hoping Cade had found her.

Cade didn't show up until dark. When he did, Nalani's heart lurched. His white coat was spalterd with mud, small bur like things, and, blo.od ? His head hung low and his once sandy colored paws, now dark brown, dragged in the sand. She didn't notice Zanzia wasn't with him until he spoke.

"I found her up at the edge of the forest, but I lost her."  Was he choking, or holding back tears?

Before Nalani could say anything, Maxine came out. "Oh Cade, your a wreck!" Ely and Dallas joined her. After being orderd by Dallas and his father, Cade reluntecly went in. After they all disapeered inside, Nalani starred out at the forest. She knew what she had to do, and she'd do it, first thing in the