Here are the first 13 again:

Vatar could not contain his elation. A joyful whoop escaped his lips as he cantered away from the herd with the other two boys. They were going to get away with it! The herdsmen had no reason to suspect their real plans or to try to stop the boys.

Torkaz returned Vatar’s grin, confident, as always, that his plan would work.

In his joy, Vatar leaned forward, urging his horse to go faster. Torkaz and Fenar recognized the challenge to a race. Soon the three boys were galloping across the open grassland.
But Vatar did not keep the lead for long.