Gail's Golden Filly — Marcia Ford

As the plane winging her homeward flew over Green Acres, Gail Sullivan looked out the window with excitement and anticipation. Now, at last, were behind her the years at college that had separated her from Green Acres, the sprawling horse farm where she had been raised by her father and grandfather. She was back -- to stay -- and soon she would once more be in the saddle, fulfilling a long-standing ambition to be a riding instructor at nearby Camp Luray. Home would be different, she knew, since Dad had died, but Grandad was there, waiting for her. And Goldie -- the magnificent palomino filly that had stolen Gail's heart and had been hers from the day the thoroughbred was born. Gail had great plans for Goldie, a born show winner if there had ever been one.

But even on the ride from the airport to Green Acres, Gail learns that all is far from well at home. Her grandfather has been ills, the farm is close to bankruptcy, and much of the stock has been sold. Fearfully, Gail heads for the stables, in the stall that had been Goldie's from the beginning -- and learns the heartbreaking truth. Goldie has been sold!

At first, Gail is both hurt and furious, but when she sees her grandfather, pale and shrunken and learns that Goldie had been sold in error and all attempts to repurchase her have been in vain, she vows that she herself her value. Goldie's new owner, the Sullivan's new neighbor, Mr. Ashley, cannot be invulnerable to such and offer -- and to the pleas of a pretty young woman.

But when Gail goes to see Mr. Ashley, she finds he is not at all what she had expected. Terry Ashley is young, disturbingly handsome, and quite determined to keep Goldie, since her sale to him was legal. He has already begun training her for polo -- to Gail, a grueling cruel life for a horse -- and even in the face of Goldie's obvious affection for Gail and Gail's open distress, Terry Ashley refuses to give Goldie up -- for any price.

So it is a considerable burden on Gail when at Camp Luray she discovers that one of her pupils is to be Terry Ashley's orphaned niece, the shy and awkward Connie. Feeling as she does about Terry, the girl's closest relative, how can Gail feel hostile toward Connie? But Connie proves to be both an apt student and a captivating person in her own right, and Gail finds she is becoming very close to her -- a situation Gail finds impossible when Terry Ashley begins making frequent visits to the camp -- ostensibly to check on Connie's equestrian progress.