Mr. Cook smiled at her. It was a big, toothy grin and it reminded her of the mouth in a jack-o-lantern.

“How do you do, miss?” Mr. Cook asked, lifting the brim of his cap in greeting.

“I – I’m fine.” she stammered.

“Well, young miss, you don’t seem fine to me. You seem all excited, like on firecracker day.”

“Oh I am!” she replied, then turning back to her mother she exclaimed, “Mom, I found a horse! There’s a horse in the barn, but he’s all alone in the dark. The people who lived here before must have left him here, which is so mean, and we need to get a flashlight, and I think we need to feed him because…”

The look on her mother’s face was so strange that Jessica stopped talking.

“Jessica, dear, what are you talking about? Which barn?”

Jessica was confused. Had her mother not seen the barn that was right behind the house? Surely she could see it from the window if she just looked to one side.

“The barn behind the house.” she said much quieter.

“I’m sorry hon, but we don’t have a barn.”

Jessica pushed past her mother and much to everyone’s surprise jumped right up onto the counter to look out the window.

“It’s right there!” she said and pointed.

But there was no barn.

Jessica blinked. She closed her eyes, counted to five, and then looked again. There was still no barn. It should have been right there, easily visible from the window, but all she saw was empty grass, and one little tree.

“But I saw it.” she insisted as her mother lifted her down.