Farley, Terri

When thirteen-year-old Samantha returns home to her family's cattle ranch in Nevada, she's nervous. She moved away two years ago to recover from a bad fall off her beloved mustang, Blackie, and she's still not sure she can get back in the saddle. She's having trouble bonding with her new horse, Ace, the other ranchers treat her like the boss's spoiled daughter, and Blackie has been missing since the day of Sam's fateful accident.

"Wild horses thrived for thousands of generations in the mountains, forests, and deserts of the American West. Their family herds existed in environmental harmony until man chose to "manage" them. Since then, every day more of America's wild horses disappear. But courageous people are trying very hard to reverse this, most notably, young people who feel a kinship with these often misunderstood creatures"--Provided by publisher.

Two years after Sam's horse Blackie threw her in a near-fatal accident, a mustang comes to Sam and she wonders if it is him all grown up.

Darby helps to rescue a wild mustang she names Hoku; but her relationship with Hoku is cut short when she must set her loose among other horses and her original abusive owner decides he wants her back.

The mustangs of Crimson Vale become stranded on a dangerous hilltop after a tsunami hits the shores of Wild Horse Island.

Ellen Carter, who grew up on Wild Horse Island, returns there to bring her daughter Darby back to California, and when Darby finds a wild mare in the forest, she tries to convince her mother to stay.

Darby and Hoku, the mustang filly she is coaching, become stranded after an eruption during an expedition to observe the island's volcanoes.

Darby and her friend Cade, trying to locate Cade's mom Dee who has been missing since a tsunami swept the island, hope Dee's pony Honi can lead them to her.

When Black Lava and his herd are sent up Sky Mountain to keep them away from polluted water, they encounter Snowfire, a white stallion that has claimed the mountain for itself, and Darby tries to intervene with the battle before Black Lava gets into trouble.

Samantha must depend on the Phantom Stallion for help when she discovers a plot to wipe out the wild horses near her family's ranch, but cannot make anyone believe her.