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'So how come we never went house hunting, Grampa?' Katy inquired, wondering why they had bought the house sight unseen. 'We normally drive out there before deciding on a house to buy. In fact, that's the only fun part of moving.'

'It was highly recommended by a friend of one of my friends, and we were sent a videotape of it. We didn't show it to you because we wanted it to be a surprise.' Grampa maneuvered the truck around another curve. Katy, who had woken just barely long enough to hear her grandparents discussing the new house and ask her question, fell back against her pillow and tried to sleep again. The constant rumbling of the truck created a cadence that served as a lullaby. Katy was soon fast asleep again, dreaming about horses, one gray mare in particular.

The moving van was slowly making its was through a winding path of houses that ended in a dead end road with only one other house in sight, a smaller white one fairly close on the other side of the road. The truck pulled into the long driveway of a big white house. The lawn was very green, making the house look even whiter. With about two acres of land, it had a large swimming pool, a sun house, a spreading porch that hugged the Victorian-style house, a shed that looked just like a little barn, and a large flower garden with fruit trees surrounding it. The field behind the house had horses scattered all over the land.

Katy yawned and sat up. When she saw the house and yard, her eyes widened. 'Is this really ours?' she asked incredulously, alert at once.

Her grandparents laughed at the surprised expression on her face. 'Of course it is. Now hop out so you can help me unload this stuff,' her grandfather said.

Katy opened the door and raced around the house to explore the premises first hand. The backyard was graced by a fishpond with several surrounding weeping willows. In the distance, Katy could see that the spreading horse facility sported several riding arenas and lots of paddocks. She reached the front of the house again in time to see her grandmother opening the front door. The older woman disappeared inside, and a moment later one of the double garage doors opened with barely a sound.

Suddenly Katy remembered Precious, who was locked in her carrier in the truck that they were towing. She pulled the puppy out and hooked a green leash onto the dog's white collar. Then she led the puppy into the house. She took note of everything as she explored the first level of the beautiful house, still half-afraid that she was dreaming.

The kitchen was spacious with lots of white cabinets and green marble counter, and it even had a built in kitchen table for two. One end had a sliding door that led onto a screened-in patio with a wrought iron patio set and flowers everywhere. Everything was sparkling clean. It had a large window on one side of the kitchen, and there was an island in the middle. The real estate agent had thoughtfully placed a bowl of fruit in the middle of it. Katy snagged a Granny Smith apple from the bowl and headed into the dining room.

The room had a light hardwood floor and a set of shelves made of wood that matched the floor on one wall. There was a large living room and a TV room with more bookshelves. The main bathroom, located next to the dining room, was decorated entirely in blue, from the shower to the walls, tiles, toilet, and sink.

The house, though made with Victorian styles in mind, was very modern and no more than five years old. Everything was exquisite, and Katy counted three floors and thirteen rooms. There was a kitchen, TV room, living room, dining room, and bathroom on the bottom floor; there were three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the second floor of the house, and storage space and two bedrooms were on the upper part of the mansion.

Finished with exploring the downstairs division of the house, Katy let Precious lead the way up the first flight of stairs to a room at the very end of the hall. Katy slowly opened the door and gasped at what she beheld.

The room was spectacular. The walls were a bright white, and there was dark green trim around the bottom of the room and around the door, closet, and windowsill. On the border around the top of the room ran a long line of chestnut, gray, bay, and black horses, dancing and leaping. There were images painted right onto the walls, from rearing Arabians and jumping warm bloods to Thoroughbreds in full gallop. Katy loved the whole theme of it and was delighted with the match it would make with her furniture.

The carpet was a dark hunter green, as were the closet doors and the trim around it. There was a window with a window seat that looked out over the yard and field. The seat had four green cushions on it that matched the carpet and trim. Around it were bright curtains with horses prancing on them. The white ceiling fan spun quietly when Katy flipped the switch. It was then that the girl noticed the bathroom. Without even searching out the rest of the room, she headed straight across the floor to it and stopped in the doorway. It was a full bathroom with all the embellishments and even a narrow window. Katy was delighted to see that the wallpaper was covered with all different colors and breeds of foals, dancing, playing, sleeping, and standing. The shower curtain had a huge horse jumping over a log in the middle of a field on it! The counter was made of green and white marble. The floor had linoleum with carrots and apples on it, and the lining in the drawers had horses printed on it. Katy walked out of the bathroom, still mesmerized by all the characteristics of her dream room.

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