Jasmine and Rose were having lunch at the hotel. It wasn't a happy day for either one of them. Rose had argued and argued with her parents for the past week trying to convince them to change their minds, but no matter what she said or did, she couldn't persuade them to not leave Dreamville.

Once Gavin had lost the ten horses that he had worked so diligently to break and make them good riding horses, he had been anger at everyone, especially the sheriff, who couldn't track down the horse thieves. Sheriff Teaspoon had found no evidence that the horses had been stolen. They were just missing. There were no tracks or anything that would answer their questions as to where the horses were. Teaspoon even had Buck come out and take a look, and Buck didn't find any foul play either.

It was a mystery of the disappearing horses. It had been a little over a week and still no clues had presented itself. Rose couldn't figure out who would do such a thing. She had asked about everybody in town if they had any ideas on the subject, but no one could offer much, only sympathy for the poor child who was so desperate to stay in Dreamville.

Jasmine hated seeing her daughter hurting, but Gavin had decided that they would move on to California. That's where they had been heading when they heard about people starting a new town. Gavin had always wanted to start a horse ranch, and after realizing that there were lots of wild herds in the area, he talked it over with Jasmine, and they both agreed that they would give it a shot.

Jasmine's sister, Helen, and brother-in-law, Tabort, lived in California. Her sister had wanted her to come to start a partnership in a boutique shop. Her sister described vividly in her letters how there were lots of ladies always looking for something to wear to one special event after another. Her husband had offered Gavin a position in his horse racing company. He needed someone who was excellent in training and breaking horses, and Gavin fit that bill.

Jasmine hadn't received many letters from her sister since she had wrote her about living in Dreamville. She had received a few and in every one of them her sister had almost begged her to come to California. Helen still wanted to open a shop, and Tabort could still use Gavin to train his race horses.

Jasmine and Rose ate their lunch in silence. Jasmine couldn't think of anything to say that would make Rose feel better. She knew how hard it was on her to leave her friends, especially Jesse. She knew they were close ever since the Valentine's dance. She knew Rose's heart was breaking, but Jasmine didn't know what she could do.

After lunch Rose excused herself. She rode out to the fishing hole to visit with her friends. It would be the last time she got to fish with them.

"Hi Rose," Melissa stood up with a fish dangling from her line. She tossed it into her bucket.

"Hi," Rose half-heartedly replied.

Noticing how depressed Rose was, Melissa felt sorry for her friend. She knew the McGregor's were planning on leaving Dreamville, and Rose hadn't been able to change her parents mind. "You still leaving?" Melissa inquired to confirm her suspicions.

"Yep," a short pause and then Rose continued, "It's not fair. I don't want to leave."

Melissa went over to her friend and draped her arm around her. "I wish there was something that I could do." Melissa was usually good at solving problems, but this one was just too big for her. She had wanted to talk to her sister about it because Jacy was very good at solving problems, too, but this past week Jacy had been very busy, and Melissa hadn't had the chance to speak to her.

Jesse got up from the bank and walked over to Rose. "I wish there was someway that you could stay." Jesse had been trying hard to find Gavin's horses all week. He had even skipped school on Monday to look around the area.

**********

At school that Monday Melissa had noticed that both Rose and Jesse weren't at school. Melissa had sat down at her desk and sighed. It didn't seem any use to teach class to just Jemima and Michael. And Miss Boudreaux really didn't need any teaching.

Jemima and Michael looked at their new teacher and waited. Michael swallowed. He wanted to say something to Melissa, but he just didn't know what.

Finally Melissa rose, "I know we are all feeling bad for Rose, especially Jesse. I'm sure Jesse is out trying to figure out what happen to Rose's horses. I think that we should cancel school today, and maybe if we think together, maybe we can think of something to help them find those horses." Melissa held her breath. Would Miss Boudreaux get mad because she announced canceling school today?

"I think that's a good idea." Miss Boudreaux stood up and smiled at Melissa.

"Maybe we could offer a reward for any information leading to the missing horses." Jemima suggested.

"What kind of a reward? We don't have any money?" Michael said.

"That's a good idea, Jemima, but Michael's right. We don't have any money." Melissa agreed. After a brief silence Melissa suggested, "Maybe we could get people to donate money for a reward."

"That's a good idea." Michael said, and Jemima nodded her head.

Miss Boudreaux agreed, so they all decided to ride into town to ask their friends if they would donate some money for a reward. Before they could split up in town though, they ran into Mr. Simmons who decided to put up $500.00 for any substantial information leading to the whereabouts of the missing horses.

All five of them gathered in the newspaper office to tell Kimberly about the ad that they wanted to run. But after all was said and done, all they could do was wait and hope that someone would tell them what they wanted to know.

**********

The rest of the afternoon Rose fished with her friends. It wasn't as fun as it had been in the past. Michael, Jesse, Jemima and Melissa just didn't know what to say to Rose. At least not anything about her leaving. They mostly talked about the fishing.

After everyone had at least three fish, they decided to call it quits and pack it in for the day. Rose didn't want it to end though, but reluctantly followed them to the horses. Jesse escorted Rose home, and Michael rode to town with Melissa and Jemima. After dropping Jemima off at home, Melissa and Michael sat in front of the newspaper office. They didn't say much, but both knew that the other was unhappy because Rose was leaving town.

Jesse and Rose reined their horses up about a fourth a mile from Rose's home. "Rose if only we were older, and I had a good job then we could get married, and you wouldn't have to leave."

"Uh huh." Rose nodded her head. She had been wishing the same thing. "I hate good-byes." She solemnly said.

"Well, it's not goodbye, not for good. I will come to California some day and find you," a brief pause, "I will, Rose, I will.