Storm and the

Silver Bridle

STACY GREGG

www.stacygregg.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2009. HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd, HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

Text copyright © Stacy Gregg 2009

Illustrations © Fiona Land 2009

Cover design copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2020 Cover photography © Shutterstock.com CBBC logo © British Broadcasting Corporation 2016

The author and illustrator assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Ebook Edition © 2009 ISBN: 9780007340705

Version 2020-08-18

For my dad, thanks for buying me a pony

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Map

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

The Pony Club Secrets series

About the Publisher

Chapter 1

Anyone who knows anything about horses will tell you that there is no such thing as a white horse. A horse is never called ‘white’. They are always referred to as grey.

Roberto Nunez shook his head and smiled at this. How silly these rules were!

He knew that horses could not be white. Yet how else could he describe the mares that were galloping towards him? These mares were as pure white as the snow that topped the distant mountains of the Sierra de Grazalema. They were as white as the stone walls that ran around the stables here at El Caballo Danza Magnifico.

Roberto Nunez’s purebred Lipizzaner mares were as white as any animal in nature could possibly be. Their colour appeared all the more startling because it was in stark contrast with the coal-black foals that ran alongside them at their feet.

Although Lipizzaner horses are famous for being white, their foals are always born pitch-black. Gradually, as the foals grow up, their colour will change. As they mature, the Lipizzaners’ dark coat will begin to prick here and there with tiny white hairs so that by the time the foals have grown into yearlings they have become steel-grey. At the age of three Lipizzaners are almost grown-up, and their coats have become even lighter, with dapples beginning to show through the dark steel on their hindquarters. In this way, their coats will keep fading until finally, at around the age of twelve, their dapples will have washed away and the Lipizzaner will be utterly and completely snow-white just like their mothers and fathers before them.

This was the way with the Lipizzaner. Roberto Nunez knew the breed well. At his hacienda, his grand estate here in southern Spain, he bred Andalusians and Lipizzaners, along with the highly strung, elegant, chestnut Anglo-Arabs that made up his internationally renowned troupe of performing horses known as El Caballo Danza Magnifico.

The mares that were galloping towards him now, driven carefully by his men, were part of his breeding herd. They had been grazing for the day out on the dry rocky hillsides that surrounded his horse stud. Nunez liked to let the mares and their young foals roam free as much as possible. It toughened them up. It gave them spirit. But always he kept a close eye on his horses. Now, as night fell, he was bringing them home.

There were about two dozen mares in this herd, all ghostly pale, with the bloom of their grey dapples fading on their rumps. Their manes and tails were hogged off—cropped short, in the style that the Spanish always kept their breeding herds. It was funny, Nunez thought, how his mares were the ones who had their hair cropped short while the stallions, the male horses of the herd, were allowed to keep their long and silky manes.

Even without their manes, these mares were great beauties. To anyone else, they would have appeared almost identical, and yet Nunez could tell them apart at a glance. He simply looked at their faces and knew them instantly, in the same way that you and I might know a friend’s face if we saw her in a crowded street.

For instance, one mare might have a Roman nose, a noble trait often seen in the Lipizzaner, while another mare would possess the dished face of the Arabian bloodlines that had also influenced this mighty breed. Some mares had the typical Lipizzaner characteristic of perfect almond-shaped eyes. Others were blessed with a smattering of the dainty freckles known as ‘flea-bites’ flecked on their cheeks.

These were Roberto Nunez’s very best mares and they had been bred with the very best of El Caballo Danza Magnifico’s stallions.

Roberto Nunez smiled now as he caught sight of one of his favourite mares, Margarita, with her pretty coal-dark eyes and her features so delicate she looked as if she might have been carved out of marble. At Margarita’s feet was a jet-black foal. The foal was all legs, gangly and awkward, and only a few weeks old. And yet already Roberto Nunez could see the signs of greatness in him that came from being sired by one of the finest stallions in Spain.

“You see him, Marius?” Nunez said to the stallion beneath him. The great grey horse shifted about restlessly at the sound of his master’s voice, and Nunez reached down and gave him a firm pat on his arched, glossy neck. “That is your son,” he said proudly.

The progeny of Marius held the key to the future of El Caballo Danza Magnifico. Roberto Nunez knew it. And this foal was not the only one. He had discovered that there was another son of his mighty stallion, born far away from Spain—in New Zealand, of all places!

His head instructor, Francoise D’arth, had received a letter from a girl called Isadora Brown. The letter said that a foal had been born to her mare Blaze and that Marius was the father! Nunez could not believe it when he heard the news. But one look at the photos of the colt that the girl enclosed removed any doubts. He was clearly the progeny of Marius, as strong and handsome as his famous sire. And with the beautiful Anglo-Arab mare Blaze as his dam, the colt would be intelligent too.

The colt’s name was Nightstorm—although in her letter the girl referred to him by his nickname. She called him Storm.

The thunder of hooves shook Roberto Nunez back to reality as the mares and foals rushed past just in front of him, heading in through the wrought-iron gates that led into the vast courtyard of El Caballo stables. As the herd ran past, Nunez searched again for Margarita and her foal and then laughed out loud as he caught a glimpse of the black colt in full flight, giving a high-spirited buck as he raced through the gates.

“You see, Marius?” Nunez murmured to the stallion.

“Your son. He is coming home…”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Issie Brown was having serious second thoughts about taking Storm away from Winterflood Farm.

“I don’t know about this, Tom,” she said, gazing uncertainly at her colt standing in his stall. “Are you sure he’s ready?”

“Absolutely,” Tom Avery said. “The journey will be no big deal. This is an important stage in his training.”

“It’s just that he’s still so little.” Issie’s voice was quivering. “He’s only just been weaned two weeks ago and he’s never been away from the farm before—”

“Issie, he’ll be fine,” Avery said firmly.

“But Tom—”

“Honestly, Isadora!” Avery couldn’t keep the exasperation out of his voice. “With the fuss you’re making you’d swear we were taking Storm halfway around the world instead of ten minutes down the road. For Pete’s sake! We’re only driving to the pony club grounds! It’s hardly a long trip, is it? Trust me, he’s ready!”

Issie sighed. “You’re right, Tom. I’m being silly.”

She had to face the fact that Storm wasn’t her baby any more. The colt was so grown-up he was already as tall as his dam, Blaze. He shared his mother’s delicate Anglo-Arabian features too, although his big-boned, powerful physique and presence owed more to his sire, Marius.

Storm was six months old now. Had it really been that long since the stormy night when the foal was born? Issie remembered it so clearly, fighting the rain to get Blaze inside, sheltering in the stable as the lightning flashes lit up the pitch-black sky. The thunderstorm that had marked the colt’s sudden arrival into the world had given him his name—Nightstorm. Issie had delivered him all by herself, and from the moment she saw the wee foal lying damp and newborn on the straw of the stable floor she had fallen in love with him.

The only living creature that loved Storm as much as Issie did was the foal’s mother, Blaze. They were so alike, Blaze and her son. Even though Storm was a bay and his mother was a chestnut, the colt’s broad white blaze that ran down his velvety nose made him look just like his mum. He was beautiful like her too, with those enormous eyes full of wonder, fringed with eyelashes that were so long they didn’t even look real.

With his fluffy dark mane and doe eyes, Storm was as cute as a baby kitten. If Issie had been left to her own devices, she would have spoilt him rotten with cuddles and treats. But Avery knew better than to let her do that. Her pony-club instructor had made it clear right from the start that horses weren’t pets to be mollycoddled and fussed over.

“That foal is going to grow into a big, strong horse one day, bigger and stronger than you are,” he told her firmly. “So don’t even think about teaching it some tricks that you might think are cute right now, but will turn dangerous later on when that colt gets older. You are training a horse to respect you right from the start.”

Issie was beyond grateful when Avery offered to keep Storm at Winterflood Farm and help her with his training. Together they began to ‘imprint’ the foal, teaching Storm to wear a halter, to lead and to stand politely while they brushed him and picked up his hooves.

Still, there were some things that Issie simply couldn’t bring herself to do. When the colt was five months old and Avery decided that he was ready for weaning, Issie knew she couldn’t bear to watch Storm and Blaze be separated.

“Can you do it, Tom?” she said, with tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t think I’ll be able to stand it. It’s better if I just stay home.”

Avery understood. “It’s a normal process for all mares and foals to be split up, but they’ll be upset for a day or so,” he said. “I think it would be best to keep Storm here at Winterflood Farm in familiar surroundings.

He’ll feel more secure if he’s in his usual field. I’ll take Blaze down to the River Paddock.”

And so on the day of the weaning Issie sat at home hugging her knees miserably and watching bad movies on TV, while Avery separated the mare and her foal for the first time.

Blaze had been frantic when she was taken away from her son. She had whinnied and whinnied and paced up and down the fenceline, with a heartbreaking expression on her face as she searched in vain for her baby. But eventually she calmed down and began to graze and make friends again with her old paddock mates Toby and Coco.

As for Storm, the little colt had bellowed for his mother solidly all day and into the night. Then, just before Avery went to bed, he heard the trip-trap of the colt’s hooves on the gravel driveway. Storm had decided that no one was keeping him away from his mum any longer and had jumped out of his paddock!

Issie couldn’t believe it when Avery called to tell her. “Well, on the positive side, at least we know now that he has the makings of a good showjumper,” Avery said. Luckily the driveway gate had been shut and Avery had caught the colt before he got too far. “Don’t worry,” he told Issie, “I’ve put him back in the magnolia paddock this time where the fences are a metre higher. I doubt he’ll get out again.”

With his attempted jailbreak foiled, Storm seemed to resign himself to his fate and began to make friends with Avery’s two horses, Starlight and Vinnie, who grazed in the paddock next to his. By the time Issie arrived at Winterflood Farm the next day she found her colt quite content with his new life without his mum, nickering happily over the fence to her.

“It’s all part of growing up,” Avery told her. “He’s becoming a horse.” Issie knew her instructor was right, but still, she worried about her colt.

Now Avery said Storm was ready for the next step—his first outing. For the past two weeks Issie had been practising with the colt in Avery’s horse float. At first she had simply got Avery to park the float around the back of the house in Storm’s paddock. She had dropped the ramp and let the colt sniff his way around it, putting one tentative hoof and then another onboard. Then, she had clipped a lead rope to his halter and led the colt all the way on and off the horse float, talking softly to him whenever he spooked or snorted, reassuring him that it was OK and nothing would hurt him.

By the end of the second week, Storm was so comfortable around the horse float that he would walk on all by himself and stand like a perfect gentleman as Issie fussed with his halter, tied up his hay net and then lifted the ramp and locked the colt safely inside. Once he was closed in she would leave him standing there for a few moments, just to let him see how it felt before she lowered the ramp and let him out again.

Today the routine would be just the same as the past couple of weeks, Issie told herself. Except today, instead of going nowhere and staying in the paddock, the horse float was attached to the towbar of Avery’s Range Rover.

“Easy, Storm,” Issie cooed to the colt. “We’re just going to go for a little ride.”

Storm lifted his legs in an exaggerated high step, wary of the leg bandages that Issie had put on him today to protect him for the journey. The colt raised his feet deliberately and precisely as he walked up the float ramp. Then he was inside and Issie was bolting the doors behind him before climbing into the Range Rover next to Avery.

“Is he ready?” Avery asked.

Issie took a deep breath and nodded. “Uh-huh. Let’s go.”

As the Range Rover rolled slowly down the driveway, Issie twisted round in her seat and stared out of the back window at the float.

“Is he OK?” Avery asked her.

“He’s fine, Tom.” Issie turned to her instructor. “I guess I shouldn’t have worried so much, but it’s his first ride in the horse float, you know?”

Avery smiled at her. “The pony club is the perfect distance—just a few kilometres. That’s a good first trip for him. It will get him used to travelling and being around other horses. It’s all about breaking him in gradually to new experiences. We start him off by taking him to pony-club rally. Let him understand that it’s not a big deal, just tether him to the float for an hour or so, let him look around, then bring him home again. By the time he goes out to compete at his first gymkhana or one-day event he’ll be quite relaxed because he knows the drill.”

Issie nodded. Then she turned back to stare out of the rear window again, keeping her eyes locked on the horse float to make sure Storm was still OK.

If she hadn’t been so busy staring straight at the horse float she might have noticed the car that was trailing behind them to the pony-club grounds. It was a black sedan with tinted windows, and it had been following them ever since it pulled out from behind the trees next to Winterflood Farm.

The black car kept its distance, travelling slowly behind them all the way to the pony club. When Avery pulled up to open the gates of the Chevalier Point club grounds, the sedan pulled over and parked out of sight behind the hedge across the road. A tinted window was lowered and a pair of binoculars appeared. Through the binoculars, dark eyes were watching Issie and her colt. They watched as Storm came down the ramp of the float, the binoculars trained directly on the colt as he looked about excitedly, letting out a shrill whinny, calling to the other horses. They saw the way Issie held the colt’s head firmly and talked to him all the time, and the way the colt responded to her voice, calming down as she handled him.

Then, satisfied that they had seen enough, the tinted window was rolled shut again and the black car silently drove off.

If only Issie had seen the car, she might have realised that there was something suspicious going on. But as the black sedan swept out of sight, she had no idea of the danger they were in. She did not know what was to come—for her, and for Nightstorm.

Chapter 2

Issie might not have noticed the black sedan, but it was hard to miss the sour-faced spectacle that greeted her as they pulled into the club grounds.

Natasha Tucker had spent pretty much the whole season at pony club trying to make Issie’s life a misery. As Avery steered the truck through the gates and Issie caught sight of the girl with the stiff blonde plaits glowering malevolently at her it was clear that today was going to be no different.

Issie knew precisely why Stuck-up Tucker had her in her sights. Ever since the Horse of the Year Show, when Issie and her skewbald pony Comet had beaten Natasha, the girls had openly been at war. Natasha was still furious that Issie’s aunt Hester had refused to sell Comet to her.

Natasha’s trainer, Ginty McLintoch, had offered Hester a huge amount of money—$28,000! But Hester had turned her down and given the skewbald showjumper to Issie instead.

Natasha didn’t take no for an answer. She always got what she wanted and, despite the fact that she kept telling Issie that skewbalds were ugly, she had decided she wanted Comet. Ginty McLintoch had approached Issie twice since then on Natasha’s behalf and offered to buy the skewbald gelding. But each time Issie said no—which just infuriated Natasha even more.

Issie would never have given up Comet. She had really bonded with the skewbald since she brought him home to the pony club at the beginning of summer. Now summer was over—and so was pony club. The weather was turning rainy and miserable and the club grounds were already getting boggy. Today would be the last rally for a while. For the next month or so, during the very worst of the weather, the club would be closed and most of the Chevalier Point riders, including Issie, had decided to spell their horses over this time, leaving them unridden until conditions improved.

Issie had been torn when she realised that bringing Storm along today meant she would miss her chance to ride Comet at the final rally of the season. She had even thought she might be able to ride Blaze to pony club today for the first time in ages. After all, Storm had been weaned so the mare was able to be ridden again. But Avery had convinced her to leave Blaze and Comet at home. It was more important, he said, to use this opportunity to give Storm his first experience of the grown-up horsey world. This was a vital part of the colt’s training, letting him get used to new sights and sounds, and other horses. Not that there was any point in trying to explain that to Natasha.

“So why are you bringing your foal to pony club? What’s the point of that?” huffed Natasha as she strode over from her fancy blue and silver horse truck where she had been standing to watch Issie unload Storm. “Trying to show off, I suppose. You always have to be the centre of attention, don’t you?”

“I am not showing off!” Issie was taken aback. “Coming here is part of Nightstorm’s training. Avery says—”

“Avery says, Avery says…” Natasha sing-songed back. She cast a glance over her shoulder to make sure Avery was still inside the horse truck and couldn’t hear her before she went on, “You know, some of us don’t care what Avery has to say. He’s just a pony-club instructor. If he was any good then he’d have his own private stables, wouldn’t he?”

“Like Ginty McLintoch, I suppose?” Issie said archly. She was fed up with Natasha banging on about her fabulous, expensive lessons with Ginty, and complaining about Avery’s ‘dated methods’.

“Ginty McLintoch says she’d never teach at a pony club,” Natasha said. “She says she’s too professional to lower her standards—”

“Natasha!” There was a call from the blue and silver horse truck and Mrs Tucker appeared on the ramp, looking flustered. “Natasha! What’s going on? Are you going to unload your horse or do I have to do everything?”

Natasha groaned out loud at her mother’s command, but she did as she was asked and walked back over to her truck, following Mrs Tucker back inside. A few moments later she emerged again leading a horse. Issie had been expecting to see Natasha’s elegant rose-grey, Fabergé. Instead, the horse that appeared was a striking chestnut, about sixteen hands high, with a glossy coat, perfectly pulled mane, flowing tail and two white hind socks.

“His name is Romeo and he’s a purebred Selle Francaise—a French sport-horse!” Natasha said proudly as she led him past Issie and tied him up.

Issie was stunned. “What happened to Fabergé?”

“Fabby’s gone,” Natasha shrugged. “He was never talented enough for me. Ginty was supposed to find me a new horse at Horse of the Year, but really there was nothing there that measured up to my needs.” Natasha said this last part with a nasty sneer and Issie knew this was a dig at Comet. “Anyway, that’s when Mummy suggested that Ginty fly over to Australia and look for a new horse to bring back. That’s where she found Romeo. She insists that Romeo is the perfect horse to take me to the national pony club champs, and—”

“Got a new horse then?” Stella interrupted as she rode up to join them. “Is that because Fabergé kept bucking you off?”

Natasha gave Stella a filthy look. “That wasn’t my fault! Fabergé is too highly strung. Ginty says that’s why we weren’t clicking.”

“Natasha, I don’t know how you can expect to ‘click’ with a horse if you just keep getting new ones every time something goes wrong!” Stella shot back.

“It’s called upgrading,” Natasha sniffed. She cast her eyes over Coco. “You know, you should really think about upgrading too, Stella. You’re so huge your legs are almost dragging on the ground on that pony. What’s the matter? Can’t your parents afford to buy you a new one?”

Stella seemed genuinely hurt by this and Natasha, pleased with the success of her put-down, decided that was the end of the conversation. “I’m glad this is the last rally of the year,” she added icily as she turned to lead Romeo away to the washing bays. “That means I won’t have to put up with you two again for the next few months.”

“God, she is such a cow!” Stella said, pulling a face behind Natasha’s back as she watched her walk away. Then she vaulted out of the saddle to stand beside her horse. “Never mind what Stuck-up Tucker says, Coco, I still love you!” Stella threw her arms around Coco’s neck, giving the mare a snuggle. Coco, who didn’t particularly like snuggles, put her ears back a bit.

“You are getting a bit big for her though, aren’t you?” Issie said gently.

It was true. The girls were fourteen now and Stella had really grown this year. Coco was only thirteen-two hands high and Stella looked enormous on her. Her legs were so long they almost wrapped right around the mare’s tubby brown belly.

“I know…” Stella said. She cast a sneaky sideways glance at Coco, as if she was checking to see if the pony was listening, and then whispered dramatically to Issie with her hand over her face. “I don’t really want to talk about this in front of Coco, but I’ve been looking in the ‘ponies for sale’ pages in PONY magazine. Mum and Dad said that I can sell Coco and get a new pony in time for summer and they’re taking me to look at this fourteen-two roan next week…”

“Stella,” Issie whispered back, “you do know that you don’t have to whisper, don’t you? Coco can’t understand English.”

“Coco understands every word I say, don’t you, Coco?” Stella giggled, stroking her mare’s forelock.

While the girls were talking, Storm had been standing obediently tied up beside them, his head held high, watching everything that was going on around him with bright, wide eyes. Mostly though, he was looking intently at Coco. He gave a high-pitched whinny and stretched to the end of his lead rope, craning his neck to get closer to her.

“Hey, Storm!” Stella said. “Do you want to say hello to Coco?”

Issie nodded. “That’s why we’re here. Tom says it will be good for Storm to socialise with other horses.”

At first, Storm stepped back nervously when Stella led Coco over. After a few moments, though, his curiosity got the better of him and he came closer, stretching his neck out so that he and Coco were touching noses. Coco responded with a stroppy squeal and put her ears flat back, trying to nip at the colt. Nightstorm skittered back to get out of her way.

“Coco! Be nice! He’s just a baby,” Stella scolded. She stood Coco still and waited for Nightstorm to try again. This time the mare reluctantly seemed to accept the colt’s presence. They nickered to each other softly, as if they were making horsey conversation, and within a few minutes they were standing quite happily together.

“Where’s Kate?” Issie wondered.

“She’s waiting for the farrier,” Stella said. “Toby threw a shoe.”

“We have to get her to introduce Toby to Nightstorm too,” Issie said. “Maybe the three of them will be best friends—just like us.”

Issie, Stella and Kate had been inseparable from the moment they met. Issie’s mum always said that the girls were so alike they must be sisters. This was kind of a joke, because the three of them didn’t actually look anything like each other. Issie had olive skin and long, dark straight hair just like her mum. Stella was a redhead with curls and freckles and Kate was tall and lanky with short-bobbed blonde hair and pale blue eyes. “Never mind looks. On the inside, where it matters, you three girls are cut from the same cloth,” Mrs Brown would say, smiling and shaking her head. “Utterly horse-mad!”

Issie looked at her watch. Quarter to nine. The rally was about to start and she was absolutely dying of thirst. She had just enough coins in her pocket to use the drinks machine in the clubroom.

“Stella,” she said, “can you do me a favour? Can you watch Storm for a couple of minutes? I want to get a drink.”

“I want one too. I’ll come with you,” Stella said.

Issie shook her head. “Tom said I shouldn’t leave Storm alone by himself.”

Stella looked at Storm, who was happily nibbling at his hay net. “He’s not alone. He’s with Coco,” she said. “He’ll be fine. We’ll only be a minute.”

“I know, but…” Issie wasn’t sure about this, but she didn’t want to be a drama queen. After all, they were only going to the clubroom.

“OK, OK!” she caved. “But we have to be quick, all right?”

The two girls raced across the paddock to the clubroom and bounded up the steps. Issie dug into her pockets and hastily fed the change into the drinks machine. She listened for the clunk-clunk, and then stuck her hand into the hole to retrieve her can of Coke.

“Ohhh, I might get some crisps too!” Stella said. “I love crisps for breakfast.” She grinned at Issie as she put her money in the vending machine.

“Come on. We better get back,” Issie said nervously. She was beginning to regret leaving Storm. Avery had been quite firm when he told her not to leave the colt tied up by himself. If anything happened she wouldn’t forgive herself.

Issie stepped out of the clubroom and looked back towards the horse float where Storm was tethered. “Ohmygod!” she said.

“What’s wrong?” Stella said. But Issie didn’t answer her. She had already leapt off the clubroom steps and was sprinting back across the paddock.

Issie could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she ran towards the horse float. Storm was standing where she had left him—but there was a dark figure next to the colt, with one hand grasping Storm’s halter.

“Hey!” Issie yelled as she ran across the paddock. “Hey!”

At the sound of Issie’s voice, the dark figure turned round. It was a woman. She was dressed in crisp white jodhpurs, long black boots and a black shirt. Her face was hidden behind dark glasses and the dramatic sweep of her long dark hair, but that didn’t matter. Issie had recognised her even before she caught a glimpse of her features.

“You came!” Issie’s face broke into a broad grin as she ran towards the woman. “I hadn’t heard anything for so long, I had almost given up!”

The woman, who had been gently stroking the colt’s muzzle, whispered something to the young horse and let go of the halter. She stepped forward to greet Issie, giving her two brisk kisses, one on each cheek, just as the French always do, before wrapping her in her arms in the most enormous hug.

“Isadora!” the woman cried. “Bonjour! It is so good to see you once again!”

Issie couldn’t believe it. It was Francoise D’arth. The famed French horsewoman, head rider of El Caballo Danza Magnifico, here at Chevalier Point!

The last time Francoise had arrived in Chevalier Point with her troupe of dancing Lipizzaners and Anglo-Arabians she had turned Issie’s world upside down.

Francoise had recognised Blaze—only she said her name wasn’t Blaze at all, it was Salome and she belonged to El Caballo Danza Magnifico. The mare had been stolen and now they wanted her back. Issie hadn’t wanted to believe her, but Francoise had proof. The Frenchwoman was amazed that she had found the mare again. Issie had no choice but to agree to return her. She was totally devastated when Francoise took Blaze away. Then, just when Issie thought she’d lost her beloved mare forever, Blaze was unexpectedly returned to her once more. Francoise claimed that “a mysterious benefactor” had paid handsomely for the mare, with instructions that Blaze be given back to Issie.

Issie had never discovered who this “benefactor” was, or why they had bought her horse back. Whoever it was, she owed them a great debt and she knew it. Blaze was hers for always now. And despite all that had happened, Issie still considered Francoise to be her friend. After all, Francoise didn’t own El Caballo Danza Magnifico—she just worked for them. Francoise loved horses as much as Issie did—she was the one who had trained Blaze and she truly understood just how special the bond was between Issie and her pony.

When Issie had found out that Blaze was pregnant and Marius was the father she had written immediately to Francoise D’arth to tell her the exciting news. Francoise hadn’t replied, but Issie figured that was because she was away on tour with El Caballo Danza Magnifico. After Storm was born, Issie had written to Francoise again, sending photos this time—and still no reply. And now, suddenly out of the blue, here she was!

Francoise turned her gaze to the bay colt. “He is beautiful, Isadora. Everything you said about him in your letters was true.” She ran her hand down Storm’s legs, feeling the strength of his bone and muscle. She could not hide the fact that she was impressed by this colt. “He is even more beautiful than in your photos. This horse is destined for greatness.”

“I’m glad you like him,” said a rather stern voice. Issie turned round to see Tom Avery standing behind her. “Well, this is a surprise!” Avery said with a tone that indicated it was not an entirely pleasant one. “What are you doing here, Francoise?”

“Tom!” Francoise smiled warmly. “It is good to see you again. It has been too long.” She stepped forward and greeted him with a kiss on both cheeks. Avery’s face betrayed little emotion as he waited for Francoise to continue.

“When I got Isadora’s letter telling me that Blaze was in foal to Marius I was so happy,” Francoise said. “Then I received the next letter, saying that a foal had been born, and well, of course I was very intrigued. I had to come and meet this colt.”

“Really?” Avery cocked an eyebrow at her. Issie noticed that he still wasn’t smiling. “Is that all, Francoise? It’s a long way to come just to say hello. I have a feeling that there is something you aren’t telling us.”

Francoise’s cheery smile faded and was replaced by a rather more serious expression.

“Oui. Yes. You are right, Tom. There is more to tell you—and much that we need to talk about.”

“I thought there might be,” Avery said. “El Caballo Danza Magnifico wouldn’t send you all the way here just to check on this colt.”

Francoise nodded. “You are right.” She looked at the colt standing in front of her. “I was told to come here and see for myself whether this young horse was indeed the son of Marius.” Francoise paused. “I was told that if Nightstorm had the same great conformation and temperament as his sire then I was to pay as much as you asked and bring him home to Spain.”

“Francoise, I don’t understand.” Issie looked shocked. “You mean you want to buy Nightstorm?”

“Oui, Isadora,” Francoise nodded. “El Caballo Danza Magnifico have told me that I must—and at any price!”

“But he’s my horse! You can’t—” Issie began, but Francoise interrupted her.

“Please, Isadora, be calm and listen,” she implored.

“The people I work for are very wealthy. They are offering you a great deal of money. This colt, your Nightstorm, is the progeny of their best stallion Marius, and you know that your mare Blaze was once their most favoured of all. You can see how valuable a colt like this might be to the stable…”

“I don’t care!” Issie said. She could feel the panic rising in her. She looked pleadingly at her instructor. “Tom? She has no right to take him away from me, does she?”

Avery’s frown had deepened, but he said nothing. Issie felt as if her throat had closed over and she couldn’t breathe. She was choking as she tried to force the words out.

“Tom!” Her voice was trembling now as she spoke. “Tell her! Storm is mine. They can’t do this to me, not again!”

Issie had every reason to be nervous and she knew it. After all, she thought to herself, the last time Francoise D’arth came to Chevalier Point I almost lost Blaze. Now the Frenchwoman was back and Issie felt her world spiralling out of control once more. Would she lose Storm too?

Chapter 3

Tom Avery wasn’t the sort of riding instructor who liked to raise his voice. He never shouted at his pupils; instead he spoke to them with measured, calm authority. It was this very same tone that he used now as he addressed Francoise D’arth.

“Isadora is right, Francoise,” Avery said. “The colt is not for sale. I’m sorry you wasted your time on this trip, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to go back to El Caballo and explain that Nightstorm can’t be bought—at any price.”

Francoise nodded solemnly. “If that is your decision I will accept it. But you do not understand everything yet—there is so much more I need to tell you both. We must talk further. May I come and see you again at the farm tomorrow?”

“There’s no point in trying to change our minds,” Avery said, “but you are our friend, Francoise, and you’re welcome any time at Winterflood Farm.”

Francoise smiled at this. “Thank you. I shall come over in the morning then, yes? At about nine?”

She glanced again at Nightstorm. The colt had begun to sense that something was going on. His nostrils were flared and he was pawing at the ground anxiously. As Issie reached for his halter to calm him, Nightstorm pulled back and let out a shrill whinny, his head held high and proud.

“Easy, Storm,” Issie soothed, stroking his muzzle as the colt trembled with excitement beneath her hands.

“He is restless,” Francoise said softly. “It is time for him to go home, yes?” She looked pointedly at Avery as she said this.

He nodded in agreement. “Yes, Francoise. You’re right. Maybe it is.”

That afternoon back at Winterflood Farm, Issie spent longer than usual grooming and feeding Storm. When she turned him out in his paddock she realised she didn’t want to let the colt go. She gave him a long, snuggly hug,scratching him on the rump the way he liked, and stroking his velvet muzzle for ages before she finally slipped the halter off his head and set him loose.

“You’re worried about him, aren’t you?” Avery said when Issie finally came back to the stables.

“Yes,” Issie said. “Aren’t you?”

“I know it must be hard,” Avery said gently, “after what happened the last time Francoise was here, and everything you went through with Blaze…But Issie, this isn’t the same thing at all. Francoise has no claim over this colt. It doesn’t matter what she says, Storm’s your horse and nothing will change that.” Avery reached over and ruffled her hair. “Now go home,” he smiled. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Mrs Brown took one look at Issie’s face when she came through the front door and knew instantly that something was very wrong.

“I get the feeling it didn’t go well at the pony club?” Mrs Brown asked.

Issie shook her head. “No, Mum, it went fine…but Francoise was there. She’s in town. She’s come to see Nightstorm.”

Mrs Brown was surprised at this. “Francoise’s in town? But I thought you hadn’t even heard from her? What does she want?”

“She wants Nightstorm,” Issie said. “She’s offered to buy him. She’s coming to the farm tomorrow morning to meet with me and Tom. We told her that Nightstorm wasn’t for sale, but she said she had things to tell us…”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” Issie said, “but whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

Mrs Brown dropped the pile of laundry she had been sorting. “What on earth is Francoise playing at? First of all she doesn’t even answer your letters and then she just turns up and demands that you sell her your horse? What time is she coming tomorrow? I can’t wait to tell her myself that Storm isn’t for sale and give her a piece of my mind!”

Issie shook her head. “It’s OK, Mum. I can handle it. It isn’t like that…” Issie couldn’t believe she was defending Francoise, but in spite of everything she was still convinced that the Frenchwoman was her friend. “Tom has already told her Storm isn’t for sale, we’re just going to talk about stuff.”

“Are you sure?” Mrs Brown arched a sceptical eyebrow.

“You don’t need me to come too? You can always call me on my mobile if you like and I can—”

“Mum, really. I’ll be OK,” Issie managed a smile. “Tom will be there to back me up.”

Mrs Brown didn’t look convinced, but she let the matter drop and didn’t bring it up again that evening.

Issie went to bed that night feeling utterly drained after everything that had happened. Once she was actually in bed, though, she couldn’t sleep. She kept thinking about Francoise’s strange comment. What did she mean when she said that she had so much more to tell them? Why was Nightstorm so important to El Caballo Danza Magnifico?

Despite her worries, she eventually dozed off, but she’d only been asleep a little while when her subconscious took over and the nightmare began. In her sleep, she tossed and turned, and vivid images flashed through her head as she relived that fateful day at the pony club. The day that Mystic died.

Mystic had been Issie’s very first horse. With his swayed back and a dapple-grey coat that had faded with age, he was hardly the best-looking horse in the paddock at Chevalier Point. That didn’t matter to Issie, though. She adored Mystic and thought he was the most beautiful horse ever. To her, Mystic would always be the horse that she had loved first, the one who had changed everything.

In her nightmare, Issie was back at the pony club, and it was the day of the accident. It was all happening again, in heart-wrenching slow motion. She saw Goldrush, Toby and Coco break loose, then panic and bolt for the pony-club gates. And then, before she could think it through, she was following on Mystic, galloping after them, trying to head them off before they reached the deadly main highway.

As they struck the road she heard the clean chime of Mystic’s horseshoes on the tarmac. The ponies were ahead of them—at any moment they might be hit by a speeding car! She rode Mystic forward, circling the three horses and driving them back up the gravel driveway to the club grounds, getting them clear of the traffic and out of harm’s way. Then suddenly Toby, Goldrush and Coco were gone and it was just Issie and Mystic all alone on the road. Issie could hear the low rumble of the truck, smell the diesel and hear the squeal of tyres as the massive vehicle tried to brake. Mystic turned to face the truck, like a stallion squaring up to his opponent, ready to fight. As he did so, he threw Issie back and out of the saddle. Issie felt herself falling. She knew what would happen next because she had been there before. She would be thrown clear of the truck, but Mystic, poor, brave Mystic, would face it head on. And he would die!

“Mystic, no! NO!” Issie screamed. She was still falling, but the ground seemed a long way away. Falling, falling and then—she woke up. Issie sat bolt upright in bed, her heart racing and her sheets soaked with sweat. She found herself gasping, trying to catch her breath, trying to fight back the tears, then giving up and crying again just like she had done that day when she’d woken up in the hospital bed and her mother told her that her pony was dead.

Issie’s mum and everyone had tried to help her get over it, but how do you ever recover from losing your best friend? And so she’d sworn she would never ride again. The idea of loving another horse had just seemed impossible.

Then Tom Avery had turned up with Blaze. He told Issie about how the International League for the Protection of Horses had found the mare half-starved and maltreated. Issie knew then that she had no choice but to take the mare on. She poured her heart into helping Blaze and, as the mare got better, Issie’s spirit recovered too.

Still, Issie never let go of her love for Mystic. And it turned out that the grey pony never let go of her either.

Issie had always known that her pony was special—but Mystic was much more special than anyone could have realised. He was like a guardian angel for Issie—and for Blaze. After the accident at the pony club, the grey gelding came back to Issie. He returned whenever she really needed him. Not as a ghost, but a real horse.

Mystic had a sixth sense for danger. He had saved Issie’s life so many times now she had lost count.

She had dreamt about Mystic before. Her dreams were often a portent of what was to come. As she sat there in bed, Issie became aware of just what the dream meant. There was big danger afoot—she could feel it. A dream like that? It meant Mystic must be here.

Issie jumped out of her bed and raced to press her face up against the window. She peered out into the inky night, trying to see down to the garden below her room. It was raining outside, and large rivulets of water snaked down the pane of glass, blurring her view. There! Something was moving down on the lawn. It was hard to make the shape out clearly in the dark, but it was something big—Issie could see the shadow moving back and forth. Was it Mystic?

Pulling on a sweatshirt over her pyjamas, Issie raced down the stairs and out of the back door into the garden.

The rain was getting heavier now and the grass was squelchy and sodden under her feet.

“Mystic!” she hissed under her breath as she peered into the darkness. “Mystic!” It was so frustrating having to be quiet, but she didn’t want to wake her mum.

Issie stood still for a moment, listening carefully. At first, all she could hear was her own heart beating. She began to doubt herself. Perhaps she had simply been having a nightmare. Maybe it didn’t mean anything after all? She held her breath now and listened again.

There! She heard it. A soft nicker, the sound of a horse, coming from the far end of the garden. “Mystic!” Issie called again, her voice strained with emotion. This time she heard the whinny quite clearly, and then came the muffled sound of hoofbeats trotting towards her across the well-mown lawn. Out of the darkness, a dapple-grey horse stepped forward to meet her.

“Mystic!”

The bad dream had left Issie so shaken-up that the sight of her pony actually standing right there in front of her made her instantly burst into tears once more. She wiped her cheeks roughly with her sweatshirt sleeve. She had to pull herself together.

“Hey boy,” she murmured. She put out her hand to touch her beloved pony and for a brief moment she wondered if Mystic would disappear again, nothing more than a misty shadow in the rain. Then she felt her fingers close around the coarse, ropey strands of Mystic’s long, silver mane, and her hands touched the soft warmth of his dappled coat.

“Hey, Mystic, did you miss me?” Issie smiled. She was so desperately pleased to see her pony, yet his presence sent a chill through her heart. Issie realised immediately that if Mystic was here, then something was wrong. Very wrong.

The grey gelding seemed tense and anxious. He turned away from the house and began to trot back down the lawn towards the far end of the garden. Issie had seen him do this before and she knew exactly what he wanted her to do. Pulling on her boots, she followed him in the darkness, heading for the gate at the end that led to the street. Issie swung the gate open, taking hold of the pony by his mane so that he stood parallel to it. Then she climbed the wooden gate to the third rung and, without a second thought about what she was doing, leapt on to the grey pony’s back.

Issie took a moment to get her balance, then tapped the pony lightly with her heels. He responded instantly, moving off at a brisk trot. As soon as they reached the grass verge of the road, Issie urged Mystic on from a trot into a loping canter. She had no saddle and the canter was less bouncy and easier to ride bareback. Issie had no reins either, but it didn’t matter. She could have guided Mystic with her legs, but she knew better than to try and steer the pony. After all, Mystic had come to her with a warning and that meant he knew exactly where he was going. All Issie needed to do was wrap her hands into his long mane and hang on.

She gripped his mane tightly and bent down low over his neck as the rain began to fall harder. She realised she had been stupid to race out in weather like this, without changing into her jodhpurs and raincoat. Already she was chilled to the bone as the wind whipped her icy skin and the rain soaked her pyjamas. It was too late to worry about that now, though. Beneath her, Mystic’s canter was almost hypnotic, rhythmic and steady, as his hooves pounded a tempo on the grass verge. There was no turning back.

Issie still had no idea where they were going. It wasn’t until they had been riding for almost ten minutes when she saw tall rows of poplar trees rising up in front of them and realised they had reached the banks of the river. As Mystic turned along the esplanade she guessed they were heading towards Winterflood Farm. She felt a chill up her spine. Nightstorm was at Winterflood Farm. This couldn’t be a coincidence—the arrival of Francoise D’arth and now Mystic? No. It was clear that all of this had something to do with the bay colt.

Beneath her, Mystic’s strides lengthened as he reached the wide grass strip that ran along the banks of the river. They had ridden this path once before in the dark and Issie had trusted Mystic then to get her there, just as she did now. Instead of trying to slow the grey pony down, she leant down low over Mystic’s neck and let him gallop. If Nightstorm really was in danger then they had to move fast. There wasn’t a moment to lose.

Minutes later, the clatter of Mystic’s hooves on the gravel driveway announced their arrival at Winterflood Farm. As Mystic slowed to a trot, Issie vaulted off his back and hit the ground running. She sprinted around the side of Avery’s house, taking the short cut past the tack room and out the back of the house. She had put Nightstorm in the magnolia paddock when they came back from pony club. Her eyes flitted across the paddock now. She couldn’t see the colt anywhere.

“Storm?” Issie’s voice was trembling as she called out to the colt. “Storm?”

She fought her rising panic, took a deep breath, pursed her lips and blew. Once, and then a second time. Storm always came when she whistled.

Issie strained her eyes in the darkness, looking for the colt. She couldn’t see a thing. She tried shouting out his name again.

This time, the lights in the house went on and a few moments later Tom Avery emerged from the back door.

“Issie? I thought I heard you…” Avery was half asleep on the back porch of the cottage, tying his dressing gown and rubbing his eyes. “What on earth are you doing? It’s the middle of the night!”

“Tom?” Issie said. “Where’s Nightstorm? He’s not in his paddock.”

Avery shook his head.

“The weather report was for thunderstorms so I moved him inside. He’s in the stables…”

Before Avery had finished speaking Issie was already moving, running hard towards the stables. Avery shouted something else after her, but she couldn’t make out what he said. All she could hear was the rush of her own heartbeat, pounding in her ears.

When she reached the stables, she realised that Avery must have gone back inside to switch on the mains for the stable lights because they suddenly flickered to life above her head. There were three loose boxes in Avery’s stables. The two at the far end were open and empty, but the one closest to the entrance was bolted shut. This was the stall that Avery usually kept Storm in, and Issie raced towards it now. With trembling fingers, she tried to open the door and was driven into a frenzy of frustration when she found that her hands were so numb from the cold it was impossible to work the bolt loose.

“Here!” A voice said. “It gets stuck sometimes. Better let me do it.” Avery was standing behind her. He was dressed in his boots and an oilskin, which he must have stopped to pull on before following her, and Issie suddenly realised how mad she must look in comparison, standing here in her soaking-wet pyjamas and sweatshirt in the middle of the night. She stood aside and let Avery step forward to work the bolt loose and swing the stall door open.

When Avery opened the door Issie felt stunned disbelief. She had been expecting to find her colt injured or sick, but instead she was staring at an empty stall.

“I don’t understand!” Avery said. “I locked him in myself!”

Maybe I’m still asleep, Issie thought, maybe this isn’t real It’s all part of the dream. She wished it were true, but the prickle of the goosebumps on her freezing skin told her otherwise. She was wide awake and she understood now why Mystic had come to her tonight. She had dreamt that she was losing her horse, the most precious thing in the world. Now, in a sickening rush, she realised the nightmare was real. Once again, she had lost the thing that was most precious to her. She was too late. Nightstorm was gone.

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