Pepper's Quest

Summary
Pepper's Quest is the sequel to Bella's Gift. "Meet Pepper, a feisty but beautiful speckled roan. When Pepper teams up with the young girl Jillian Frouda to help her find her long-lost parents, the two must trust each other in order to survive. Will they succeed in their quest?" "Capable d'appeler les animaux par la pensee, Julie a fait venir Pepper, l'etalon sauvage dont elle a reve. Avec son aide et celle de son ami loup, retrouvera-t-elle ses parents, prisonniers de la sorciere Ivenna et du geant des montagnes ? La jeune fille va devoir gagner la confiance du beau cheval pour survivre a cette quete..."
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Cade Traveler
Cade meets Jillian when she comes to live in Canter Hollow. He assists both Jillian and Conall, and provides Conall with horseshoes. He also reveals himself to be a Traveller in this story. Conall doesn't get along with Pepper, and the two often fight with one another. Conall also can't stand the smell of Pepper, so he travels ahead of them leaving marks for them to follow instead of having to be near Pepper. The two become friends by the end of the story after Pepper saves his life.

Conall
In this book, Conall begins to speak for the first time in wolf language. He stays with Jillian in Canter Hollow, trying to get used to his new, cursed horse legs. When he and Jillian leave Canter Hollow, Cade gives Conall a set of metal claws that attach to his horseshoes. Conall protects Jillian throughout the journey, and becomes injured while protecting her from Ivenna's wolves and the roc. He is healed by the mismatched magical creatures they find in the woods, and decides he wants this to be his new home.

Ivenna and her Wolves
Ivenna and her wolves threaten the Travellers for their Earth Loam. However, the Earth Loam has run out, so she threatens them to go and get more from the giants who guard it in the mountains. She taunts Jillian into going after them. When Jillian returns with Earth Loam, she breaks her promise to leave the Travellers along and instead instructs her wolves to eat the Traveller children and attack them. She is stopped by Jillian.

Jillian Frouda
At the start of the book, Jillian is attempting to learn how to use her summoning powers without the use of Ivenna's dream journal while living in Canter Hollow. Her infant memories of her Traveller parents are also beginning to surface at this time She has a dream of a strange horse, and at Conall's assistance, summons him to her. The horse, Pepper, arrives, but is extremely upset and afraid, and begins spreading pepper everywhere and making them sneeze. Cade then arrives and alerts them to the fact that Pepper appears to be a Traveller's horse. She and Conall decide to find the Traveller's and Jillian's family. They try to leave Pepper behind but he insists on coming with them, and Cade gifts Jillian his Traveller's cloak and Earth Loam that the Traveller's use to grow their plants. On the way, Conall separates from them due to Pepper's smell and personality and goes ahead of them to lead the way. They come across a number of difficulties, including flame flies that are attracted to Pepper's scent and a giant roc that attempts to grab them. They hid from the rock in peppercorn vines, and Jillian releases that Pepper has been here before and had accidentally fallen into a chasm as a young foal and lived off of the peppercorn, hiding from the roc. Suddenly, they are found by some of Ivenna's wolves, but Pepper uses his smell to startle them. They find Conall, and they barely escape the roc and the wolves, but Conall is injured. They come across a number of mismatched magical friends in the woods who heal Conall and welcome him as one of their own. Jillian and Pepper leave him behind to heal and head out again. They find the Traveller but are met by Ivenna and her wolves who have them under her control by threatening them. She reveals that Jillian's parents have gone to find Earth Loam for her in the mountains, and taunts Jillian into following them. She comes across a giant forcing two humans and two horses to gather a crystal called "quick" that makes the Earth Loam. These people are revealed to be her parents and the horses are Pepper's parents. They escape the giant using flame flies, and return to Ivenna. Ivenna tries to attack them, but Jillian uses the Earth Loam to grow plants instantly and block Ivenna and her wolves. Pepper uses his smell to fight off the wolves as well. Suddenly, the blended magical friends, Conall, and the Travellers arrive and fight her off. They then celebrate with a feast, and Jillian learns from her parents that she and Pepper were bonded from birth, explaining their connection.

Jillian's Parents
Jillian's parents are Travellers. Jillian was stolen from them as a baby. In this book, Ivenna threatens them and forces them to go looking for Earth Loam in the mountains. They are captured by the giants that live there, and forced to gather the secret crystal ingredients in Earth Loam, "quick." Their horse friends, who are Pepper's parents, are also captured with them. They escape with Jillian and Pepper's help.

Pepper
Pepper is a feisty young blue roan. He is summoned by Jillian to Canter Hollow, and travels with them to find the Travellers. Pepper doesn't like Conall, and he often tries to sabotage him and drive him away from Jillian. He is revealed to be afraid of wolves due to a previous attack, which is why he dislikes Conall. The two become friends by the end of the story after Pepper saves his life. It is also revealed that Pepper bonded with Jillian when they were both born.

Various Magical Friends
A number of magical friends are mentioned in this story, including glitterbugs, a type of golden bat called a daybat (which is never mentioned or pictured again), Cade's friend Noble the Ambassador Hound who forms a bond with Conall, a tomtomme, flame flies (which are only mentioned once and are fireflies with actual fire that burns), rose dragons, violet pixies, and a number of crossbred magical friends who, like Conall, don't fit in.

Locations
A list of locations mentioned in this book are:
 * Canter Downs
 * Canter Farms
 * Fastalon West Riverbank and River
 * Rolands Hold Arena
 * Styginmoor Castle
 * Trail's End
 * Trail's End Stables

Gallery

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