Page 4 of Chris

God.

That just made Valeria nervous. Her heart threatened to jump into her throat. Was this possible? Would this even work?

She didn’t know.

But she had to try.

“Stop worrying,” Abril whispered, coming closer to the colt, and Valeria. “We have it all worked out, right? You went out on a horse and came back with a guard. They saw you do it. And like usual, you’re in here taking care of the horses—nothing strange.”

Right, right.

“But—”

“But nothing. They’ll see me go out on a horse,” Abril said, shrugging, “and they won’t think anything strange when they see you go into the house.”

Valeria nodded.

Except it wouldn’t be Abril taking a horse out, and it wouldn’t be Valeria heading back to the house. The girls were close enough in age, and in some ways, appearance given their olive-toned skin was the same, their stark, straight black hair both reached mid-back, and as long as someone was looking at them from behind while they sat on a horse, no one would tell the difference.

Abril had an inch of height on Valeria. Her eyes were a shade deeper brown than Valeria’s russet gaze. Her sister-in-law took after her family in appearance. Sharp, angular jaws, elongated features. Whereas Valeria had a softer, rounder face, and lower cheekbones that always showed the apples of her cheeks when she smiled.

Looking at them face to face, it was clear the two looked nothing alike. But from behind, and on a horse, at a distance?

No one would be able to tell.

“Someone has to see you come back, though,” Valeria pointed out. “Or they’ll believe you helped me get away.”

Abril shrugged as she dropped the riding helmet to the floor of the stables and kicked off her riding boots. “And they will.”

“How?”

“You know Juan?”

“Samuel’s guard?”

Her brother-in-law had a friend—friend being a loose term because Valeria wasn’t sure any of the people in this family had someone they cared about, except for Abril. Point was, Samuel preferred one guard amongst the many that looked after them at the compound.

“What about him?” Valeria asked.

Abril smirked up at Valeria. “He’ll do me a favor, okay? Tit for tat, I gave him something he wanted, and he’ll make sure someone saw me come back tonight on foot after the horse threw me off. Now, are you going to get dressed and switch clothes with me, or keep wasting time?”

Valeria had so many more questions.

What kind of favor?

What had Abril done?

“All right,” Valeria muttered.

The two of them stepped into a stable corner and made quick work of shedding their clothes. Abril dressed in the clothing from Valeria, and she took her sister-in-law’s stuff to slip on. Before long, they came out of the corner, and Valeria turned to head for the horse she preferred to ride on toward the end of the stables.

“No, take Maple,” Abril said, “he’s my horse, and that’s the one they expect me to ride.”

“But he won’t come back.”

And Abril loved Maple.

“It’s okay,” Abril said, “he will be taken care of once you get to where you’re supposed to go. I know that.”