Destiny and Stardust (14 page)

Issie nodded.

“OK,” Avery said, “I think he's calmed down now. Talk to him, Issie. Ask him to move forward and take a lap around the arena…That's good! See how his ears are swivelling? He's listening. Now ask him to canter.”

When Issie put her legs on the big, black horse he objected a little, but Issie didn't lose her cool. She softened her hands, whispered softly to the stallion and tried again. Destiny gave a snort, arched his neck, and instead of battling her, he flung his right leg out into a perfect smooth canter transition.

“Excellent, excellent. Now you're talking!” Avery said. “This is good progress. Are you ready to ask him for more? Here's where the lesson really begins…”

Over the next two hours Issie slowly gained Destiny's confidence. They began moving around the arena in perfect harmony, the stallion cantering on her command and then halting again with the lightest touch of the reins.

“Now ask him to turn left, now right…” Avery called to her from the seats up above the arena. “Good, good, excellent! That's enough for today. You can get off now – and take his saddle and bridle off too. We're done.”

There was a clapping noise from the other side of the arena and Issie looked up to see Stella, Kate, Dan and Ben.

“That was amazing!” Stella said. “I totally held my breath when you were getting on him! And then when he reared up, I was sure you were going to fall off!”

Issie grinned up at her friends in the seats above her. “Have you guys been there the whole time?”

“Pretty much the whole time,” Kate said. “Avery said we could watch as long as we didn't disturb you.”

“Well, you're disturbing her now,” Avery grumped at the girls. “Isadora, don't dawdle. You need to put Destiny away for the night.”

Avery turned to the other riders who were now leaning over the sides of the round pen watching. “If you lot have all fed your horses then you can head back up to the house and help Hester. She's getting dinner ready. There'll be plenty of time for chit-chat when the food is on the table.”

Everyone was so desperately hungry after the day's adventures that they wolfed down their meals before beginning to talk about the breaking-in of Destiny.

“I still can't believe I actually rode him!” Issie said, shaking her head.

“You two made great progress today,” Avery agreed. “But I wish we had another day up our sleeves. We don't know how Destiny will behave outside the round pen in the open countryside, or what will happen when he meets the wild herd again.”

Issie nodded. She had suddenly lost her appetite – and it wasn't because she had already eaten two helpings of roast chicken. Avery was right. It was easy to ride Destiny in the round pen. The real test would be riding him outside where there were no fences to stop him. Although she guessed they would find out soon enough.

“I was wondering,” Stella said as she heaped a third helping on to her plate, “do we have a plan yet? I mean, I know Issie is going to ride Destiny and he'll hopefully lead the herd. But is that it?”

Avery cocked an eyebrow at Stella. “You're right, of course, Stella. I think we all agree that a plan is needed.” Avery paused. “And luckily for us, Aidan has one. A rather good one actually. We should talk about it now, since we'll need to leave early in the morning again. So gather round everyone. Here's what we're going to do…”

As Aunt Hester brought out dessert Avery and Aidan explained the plan to the others. There was much nodding and frowning as the riders talked it over. Then they began to use whatever was on the table – dessert spoons, pudding bowls and cream jugs – to mark out a strategy map so they could figure out the details.

“Just pretend I'm the sugar spoon…” Stella shouted out at one point, moving the spoon across the table. “What about if I go over here by the teapot…”

“No! No!” Kate said to her. “You need to be back here on the place mat with the rest of the dessert spoons…”

They carried on like this for quite some time until they all felt certain that the plan would work. Then, when Hester suggested they should all go to bed, ready for an early start, no one argued. As the riders headed for their rooms, there was a mood of optimism in the manor.

“Do you really think we can pull this off?” Issie asked Tom as she stood up from the kitchen table.

Avery looked down at the dishes sprawled about in front of him. “I don't think ponies are quite as easy to manoeuvre as teaspoons,” he said, “but yes, yes, Issie, I think we have a very good chance indeed.” He smiled at her. “Now, get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day. I can't have my alpha horse exhausted before we even begin.”

Issie smiled and climbed the stairs to her room. She washed her face, brushed her teeth and put on her pyjamas before climbing beneath the soft cotton sheets of the enormous four-poster bed. Then she lay there silently, taking one last, long look at the portrait of Avignon above her fireplace before she turned out the light.

The crunch of car tyres on the limestone driveway woke Issie up. She could hear car doors slamming and the sounds of whispered conversations just outside the front door of the manor.

This was ridiculous! She knew Avery wanted to get an early start, but it wasn't even light outside. She didn't want to get up yet; she was still half asleep.

Issie sat bolt upright in bed. That wasn't Tom's voice she could hear downstairs. She listened again and felt a sudden chill as she realised who it was.

Flinging herself out of bed and wrapping a dressing gown quickly around her, Issie sprinted across the landing and down the stairs. She flew out the front door and crashed straight into Cameron, making him drop his clipboard.

“Good Morning,” the ranger said stiffly as he bent down and picked his paperwork up.

“What are you doing here?” Issie blurted out. “It's not even light yet!”

“We're making an early start. My men are assembling here at the manor. We'll be out of your hair shortly.”

“What do you mean you're meeting here?” Issie demanded.

“Your aunt agreed to it,” Cameron shrugged, “take it up with her.” He turned away and scribbled something down on his clipboard, making it clear that the conversation was over as far as he was concerned.

“Aunty Hess! Aunty Hess!” Issie raced frantically through the house.

“I'm out here!” Hester called from the back porch.

Issie found Hester out by the boot rack pulling a single pink Hunter wellington on to her foot, the one that didn't have a cast on it.

“Isadora, dear. Why are you still in your pyjamas? We need to get a move on, you know!” Hester said.

“Aunty Hess, did you tell Cameron that his men could all meet here before they began the cull?” Issie panted. She'd been hunting the whole manor for her aunt and she was clean out of breath.

“Yes, dear. I did,” Hester said matter-of-factly.

“Aunty Hess! How could you? Why would you help them?” Issie was furious.

“Help them? I'm doing nothing of the kind. I just wanted to have one more chance to get them together and reason with them about this whole cull business,” Hester said. “Now, where is Cameron – the front porch? Ask him to come into the kitchen, will you? I'll make us all some tea.”

When Issie went back to the front of the house to find the ranger she saw another three cars had arrived in the driveway. Five men, all dressed in the same uniform as Cameron, were now gathered in conversation on the front porch. All of them were carrying guns.

“Aunt Hester would like to talk to you,” Issie told Cameron. “She's made a pot of tea if you'd like to come in.”

The ranger nodded, then he turned to his men. “Wait here for me. We'll set off as soon as it's light. This won't take long.” And with that he followed Issie inside.

“Ah, Cameron!” Hester greeted the ranger. “Cup of tea?”

“Thanks, Hester,” he replied gruffly, sitting down at the kitchen table.

“Cameron,” Hester continued, “I know it's going to seem like a dreadful waste of time for you, now that you've got your men out so bright and early, but the thing is, we're going to bring the rest of the herd in today. It's very good news actually – we've come up with a way to find homes for them all. My niece's riding instructor is very well connected with the International League for the Protection of Horses and he's kindly going to help us find new owners for all the Blackthorn Ponies.”

Hester sat down opposite Cameron and poured the tea before continuing, “We had planned to have the herd back here at the farm already, but we've had a few setbacks. Still, we're going to bring all the horses in today. So you needn't bother with the cull. If you want to go out now and tell your men they can go home, that would be lovely…” Hester paused. “Naturally they're welcome to come in and have a cup of tea before they go home. I've put the jug back on and—”

Cameron shook his head. “I'm sorry, Hester. I can't do that.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Hester said. “If they'd prefer coffee, of course, I can make a pot—”

“No, Hester. I mean, I can't call the cull off. It's going ahead as planned. You've already delayed us so many times now. We've had petitions and Conservation Trust meetings and lawyers meetings. Then your niece tries to sidetrack us with all this talk of a Grimalkin – some mythical creature that my men have been wasting their time over…”

Issie couldn't believe this. “I didn't make it up! The Grimalkin is real…” she began. But Cameron hushed her with a sullen glare and continued.

“So we don't find any trace of this ‘Grimalkin'. And then you tell us you can catch the horses. You promised you'd catch the herd and bring them home to your farm if we just gave you more time. Friday was the deadline and today is Friday. There's a limit Hester and you've reached it. My men are here to do their job. None of us wanted this cull to happen, but it is going to happen. You can't stop it now; it's too late. We're taking our guns and we're going out there. I'm sorry, but it's got to be done.”

Hester stared at the ranger. “Cameron. I'm asking you. As a friend. Please – give us just a little more time. What difference will one more day make? It means nothing to you but it may save these horses' lives. Isn't there anything you can do?”

Cameron looked down at the mug of tea in front of him and sat in silence for a moment. Then he looked up at Hester. “I can't give you the day,” he said with a glint in his eye, “but I can give you a couple of hours to get a head start.”

He turned to look at Issie. “I think my men could do with a big, hearty breakfast before we head out there to look for the herd. Issie, if your aunt wouldn't mind serving us up some farm eggs and bacon, and perhaps doing us a few of her famous griddle scones… and then after that we'll spend some time consulting our maps and doing a bit of a rifle check… well, it could take us a couple of hours before we're ready to set off.”

He looked at his watch. “It's six a.m. now – all that should keep us busy until about eight a.m…”

“Thank you, Cameron,” Hester said.

“Yes, thanks,” Issie said.

“Are you still here?” Cameron looked sternly at Issie. “I thought you would have been out there saddling up your horses by now. You don't have that much time.”

“I'm gone,” Issie said as she raced for the door.

Dust clouds billowed up as the horse truck belted along the Coast Road heading for Preacher's Cove. Sitting in the front seat, Issie looked at the speedometer and then checked her watch. It was nearly seven a.m. “Come on, Aidan!”

“I'm driving as fast as I can. We'll be there in less than five minutes,” Aidan snapped back at her.

Issie and her friends had made the most of the ranger's two-hour head start. Instead of setting out on horseback for the cove as the ranger had assumed they would, they had loaded their horses into the truck.

All the horses were on board except Dolomite. Since Issie was riding Destiny it had been decided that Stella would ride Blaze and Avery would ride Paris. “We need Blaze's speed and agility; it will come in handy for the muster,” Avery reasoned. “Besides, it will keep Destiny happy in the horse truck if Blaze is at his side.”

Issie looked back now through the window of the truck cab. She could see Blaze and Destiny standing side by side in their partitions, the stallion craning his neck around to get closer to the chestnut mare.

“How many of the Blackthorn Ponies do you think you can fit in here?” Issie asked.

“It's big enough to take seven horses the size of Dolomite, so I dunno, about fifteen if we're lucky,” Aidan said.

Issie looked worried. “It's not enough, Aidan,” she sighed. “That still leaves maybe ten horses that won't make it on to the truck.”

“We can herd the stragglers home,” Aidan said. “There's six of us on horseback. We should be able to manage the ones who are left behind.”

When they reached Preacher's Cove Aidan parked the horse truck at the top of the hill.

“Let's get them off quickly everyone,” Avery said. Issie moved swiftly inside as soon as the ramp was lowered, hurrying to untie Destiny's ropes. “Easy, Destiny, good boy,” she murmured. The black stallion was in surprisingly good shape after the journey. He seemed to take the truck ride in his stride.

“Good lad, Destiny. Come on, we're here now…” Issie said. Destiny picked his hooves up neatly and precisely as he marched down the ramp of the truck. At the end of the ramp the black horse lifted his head high and scanned the horizon. His nostrils were flared wide as he sniffed the air.

“Do you think he'll be able to find his herd?” Issie asked Aidan.

“His instincts are strong. He'll find them,” Aidan said. “Let him go wherever he wants. All you have to do is get on him and hang on.”

Is that all I have to do?
Issie thought to herself. Aidan made it sound so easy. Had he forgotten that this was a wild stallion? Just yesterday she had ridden Destiny for the very first time. Now here she was, taking him out alone on to the open plains to reunite him with his herd.

“I'd better go saddle him up then,” Issie said.

“Do you want help?” Aidan asked.

Issie shook her head. “It's better if I do this alone. You go and help the others.”

Issie went to the truck and grabbed her saddle. Then she returned to Destiny's side. The stallion was shifting about nervously, his nose still high in the air. Was it the scent of his herd that had captured his attention? Issie wondered.

She moved very deliberately and slowly as she put the saddle on Destiny's back and did up the girth. The horse didn't flinch as the strap tightened around his belly. “Good lad,” Issie breathed softly. She drew the bridle up gently over his face now and quickly did up the straps, then pulled on her helmet and fastened her chin strap. She checked the girth one last time.

“All ready?” Tom Avery appeared at her side. “Do you want a leg up?”

“Uh-huh, I guess so,” Issie said.

Avery took Destiny's reins in one hand and offered the other hand to Issie for a leg up. She put her knee in Avery's hand and with a quick bounce she leapt up into the saddle. Avery was still holding the reins. He seemed reluctant to let go.

“When you find the herd, let him take control,” Avery instructed. “He'll do what comes naturally to him. Then all you need to do is guide him back towards the cove. Get the herd to follow you down to the sea and then we'll do the rest.”

Issie nodded. She straightened the peak on her helmet and took up the reins. She noticed that her hands were trembling a little.

Avery noticed too. “You know, Issie, you don't have to do this,” he said gently.

“I know. I'm not scared, Tom, honest,” she replied.

“Remember,” Avery said, “you're the alpha.”

“I'm the alpha.” Issie smiled at him. Then she wheeled the stallion around to face the road.

“I'll see you soon. Be ready for me,” Issie called back. And with that, she clucked the stallion into a canter, riding him swiftly up and over the crest of the hill, along the Coast Road that would lead her to Lake Deepwater.

As they cantered along the Coast Road Issie steeled her nerve and let the reins go slack so that the big, black horse was in control.
Give him his head
, she thought,
let him find his own way. He will lead me to the herd.

Destiny immediately sensed his freedom and broke into a gallop. Issie wrapped her hands tight in his mane and clung on.

As the stallion veered off the Coast Road and began to skilfully pick his way across the rocky terrain at full gallop Issie fought the urge to snatch back the reins and slow him down. Destiny was going far too fast.
If he stops suddenly
, Issie thought,
I'll go flying over his head
.

At that very moment Destiny gave a sudden lurch to the left to avoid a large rock and Issie felt herself sliding uncontrollably to one side. For a moment she was sure she was going to fall. But she managed to hang on to the hank of mane that she had tangled in her hands and in a couple of strides she had righted herself again.