Eye of the storm, p.7
Eye of the Storm, page 7
part #2 of Sky Horses Series
Erin turned to Tor. ‘How do I get there?’
He stamped a front hoof. ‘Through the hidden gateway we discovered by the aspen tree.’
Leaving Chloe and Mistral on the rocks, Erin squeezed into the cave. Tor dissolved and flowed in beside her. It was too small a space for him to turn into his horse shape, but she could feel his presence like a cool wind swirling around her as she flew down the dark tunnel to the second cave.
This cave was bigger than the first and Tor turned back into his solid earthly horse shape. On the floor there was a perfect circle of moonlight. The hidden gateway, Erin thought.
‘Get on my back,’ Tor told her softly.
A thrill ran through Erin. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined riding Tor. She took hold of his long mane and vaulted on. His back felt warm and strong, his arched neck rose up in front of her, his long mane covering her legs.
Tor whickered and stepped into the circle of light on the floor. Suddenly they were swirling round and round in a golden haze. For a moment the only solid thing seemed to be Tor’s body. Erin flung herself forward on his neck, holding on tight, as night and day, ice and sunlight – the very fabric of the world – seemed to blur and spin around her.
CHAPTER
Twelve
They landed. Erin blinked and sat up on Tor’s back. They were standing in a cloud meadow. There were jagged mountains and forests in the distance, valleys and streams. But Erin hardly noticed the landscape. She was staring at the sky horses in front of her.
She had seen them many times before through the stones, but in real life they were ten times more beautiful. They reminded her of Kestrel with their large dark eyes and dished faces, delicate legs and pointed ears. There were foals, mares, young stallions, all standing still. Tor walked forward with Erin on his back. ‘This is my kingdom,’ he told her.
‘Oh wow!’ Erin gasped. ‘And there’s Snowdance!’
The beautiful mare came trotting forward, her hooves seeming to dance across the ground. She touched noses with Tor. ‘This is Erin,’ Tor said.
Snowdance whinnied in greeting. Erin slid off Tor’s back. The ground was white and springy beneath her feet. She looked at the stallion. She knew she should be as quick as she could. ‘Shall I start?’ she asked, feeling almost shy.
‘Yes.’
Erin took the healing stone out of her pocket and walked towards the first group, four mares and foals who were all lying down, their muzzles resting on the ground. Murmuring soothingly, just as she had done to Kestrel when he was injured, she moved among them, touching the stone to each of them, one at a time, until she felt it turn from cold to warm. After each horse, she paused to recharge it, holding it in her hands, concentrating hard, thinking healing thoughts. The difference it made to the horses was noticeable. As she stepped back from each one, they raised their heads, looked around, pricked their ears and got to their feet.
Other horses started to crowd round her. Soon she was lost in a sea of grey bodies and swirling manes. She stroked and patted, touched the stone to horse after horse. They tossed their heads as the stone’s magic worked.
Erin turned to Tor at last. ‘That’s it.’ She looked about. The cloud land was now a very different place than when she had arrived. The horses were grazing, trotting, the foals playing, the mares nuzzling each other and scratching each other’s necks. Their eyes were bright and calm and happy.
Tor walked over to her. ‘Thank you,’ Tor said softly. His eyes met hers and Erin instinctively knew it was time to go. She got on to his back and wrapped her hands in his mane. He cantered forward, his neck arched, his ears pricked. Erin could see the magical gateway in front of them. It looked like a giant hagstone made out of clouds. For a moment the cloud world swept by and then she felt Tor gather himself up and leap into the air. Clutching his mane, they soared through the gateway and then they were gently spiralling down and down in a golden haze until they landed in a clatter of hooves. Erin blinked in the darkness of the cave as Tor stopped.
‘We’re back,’ she whispered, realizing they were inside the cave.
‘Yes,’ said Tor. ‘And it is time to say goodbye.’
Erin slipped off his back and looked at him. The moonlight was still flooding through the hole in the cave roof. She could see the sadness shining in his eyes.
‘But not goodbye forever, Tor. We can keep this gateway open. Only Chloe and I know about it now Marianne’s gone. I know we mustn’t come to the cloud world, but you and Mistral could come here and see us sometimes.’ The words tumbled desperately out of her even though she knew in her heart what Tor was going to say.
‘No, Erin. The gateway must be sealed. The two worlds should not mix.’
‘But we won’t come through. You can come to us. It’ll be all right,’ said Erin, her voice rising. She couldn’t bear to say goodbye to Tor forever.
‘It won’t,’ said Tor gently. ‘Who knows who else Marianne told about this gateway. She lived for many, many years. We cannot take the risk that someone else will use it. You must seal it and keep it sealed, just as your mother did before you.’
Erin looked at him. He really meant it – she was going to have to close the gateway. ‘But… but I can’t say goodbye to you!’ she burst out desperately.
‘You must. You have Chloe, your family.’ Tor stepped forward. ‘We’ll still be able to talk through the hagstones. Even if we cannot see each other in this way, we will still be part of each other’s lives. I will watch you down here, and you can watch me in the skies.’
‘But I don’t want to just watch you! I want to see you,’ Erin whispered, tears starting to prickle in her eyes. After all they had been through, to lose him, to never see him again…
A sob burst from her.
Tor touched her face, but didn’t speak, and then she really knew that she was going to have to say goodbye. She flung her arms round his neck and, burying her head in his long mane, started to cry.
Tor nuzzled her shoulder tenderly until her sobs slowed down. She took a deep, trembling breath and rubbed away the damp on her face with the backs of her hands.
‘We should go, Erin,’ he said softly. ‘Chloe and Mistral will be wondering where we are. It is not quite goodbye yet.’ He swirled into mist. Moving slowly, her thoughts in turmoil, Erin walked along the tunnel, sensing him beside her.
‘You’re back!’ said Chloe in relief as Erin squeezed out past the rockfall. ‘Is everything OK?’ she asked, seeing Erin’s face.
Erin didn’t know what to say. She felt numb, like her heart had been frozen.
Tor formed out of the mist beside her. ‘The sky horses are healed, Chloe. The skies are calm. Without you two, this could never have happened.’
‘I’m just glad everything’s OK now.’ Chloe looked uncertainly at Erin. ‘It is OK, isn’t it?’
Erin forced the words past the lump in her throat. ‘We… we can’t keep the gateway open,’ she said, not able to meet Chloe’s eyes.
‘We have to say goodbye, Chloe,’ Tor added quietly. ‘It is the only way.’
Mistral walked over and nuzzled them and Erin realized Tor must have already told him. ‘I’ll never forget you,’ the foal said to them both.
‘But I don’t want you to go!’ Chloe burst out, tears springing to her eyes too as she hugged him fiercely.
Tor walked over to her. ‘We have to.’
Erin put a hand on his neck, her gaze running over his head, his body. She didn’t want to stop looking at the two sky horses, didn’t want to imagine a time when she couldn’t see them any more.
‘Thank you for everything,’ said Tor, nuzzling Chloe.
Chloe stroked him. ‘G-goodbye, Tor.’
Tor stepped towards Erin and put his muzzle to her forehead. ‘When you look up, I’ll be there,’ he said softly. ‘Always.’
Fresh tears filled her eyes. She tried to hold them back, but they spilt silently down her cheeks.
Tor turned to Mistral. ‘Come!’
The two horses reared up. For a moment they were silhouetted against the starry sky. Then they swirled into mist and swept past the rockfall in a glittering haze for the last time.
Come back! Erin cried in her mind.
But the sky horses had gone.
‘So that’s really goodbye?’ whispered Chloe as if she couldn’t quite believe it.
Erin stared at the cave, her heart aching. ‘Yes.’
Trying to block out her unhappiness, she knelt down and opened her bag. ‘Let’s seal the gateway,’ she said numbly. Now Tor had gone, she just wanted to do what she had to do and leave. She took out the diary, the silver bowl, the crystal bottle, the pot of earth, the candle and the feather.
She led the way into the cave and through to the gateway. Then, laying out the things she needed, she followed her mum’s instructions in the diary, trying not to think about Tor or Mistral. Trying not to think about anything. She finished by holding the hagstone in the centre of the circle of moonlight.
‘Be sealed,’ she whispered. The silver circle shivered and then was still.
‘That’s it,’ Erin said. ‘It’s done.’ She stared at the gateway for a moment. ‘I’m… I’m going to miss them.’
‘Me too.’ Chloe looked at her in the moonlight. ‘But I know you’ll miss Tor more.’ She took a deep breath. ‘At least you can still talk to him with your weather weaving, Erin. He’s right, it isn’t goodbye forever. And although I know it’s going to be horrible not seeing him and Mistral, at least Marianne’s gone. There won’t be any more great storms now and there are lots of fun things we can still do – stardust stuff in the evenings and riding Kestrel and Ziggy in the day.’ She took Erin’s hands and squeezed them. ‘It will be OK.’
Erin slowly smiled at her. ‘Yes,’ she said, believing her as always. ‘It will.’ And she knew it was true.
Afterwards…
Dear Mum,
I know I haven’t written much the last two weeks, but it’s been so busy! I thought everything would be quiet after Tor and Mistral had gone, but then Xanthe, Allegra’s mum, invited me and Chloe to stay with her and Allegra for three nights. I met all of Allegra’s friends and Xanthe showed us how to start using different stardust magic. Her ankle’s getting better now. We learnt loads. Xanthe told us we have higher powers. I’m not very good at using mine yet, but Chloe can make invisible shields. She’s really good at that! When we got back we found out that there’s a pony club show on this weekend so we’ve been practising for that too. Kestrel’s brilliant at jumping! And Ziggy’s the fastest at all the gymkhana games. Anyway, I’d better go now because Chloe and I are going to the stables early and then Chloe’s coming back here for a sleepover tonight. Tomorrow we’re going to bath the ponies for the show. I can’t wait to tell you about how it goes. More soon, I promise!
Erin and Chloe rode on to the beach. It was early in the morning and the sands were empty apart from a few dog-walkers. The sun was just rising in the sky, its rays glittering on the water. The tide was going out. The sand was damp and firm beneath the ponies’ hooves.
Erin sighed happily. The whole summer was stretching out ahead. Kestrel and Ziggy tossed their heads, their bits jangling. They wanted to gallop.
Chloe looked challengingly at Erin. ‘Race you to the breakers!’
Erin didn’t even bother to say yes. ‘Ready, steady, go!’ she shouted, throwing herself forward on Kestrel’s neck.
The two ponies raced along the beach, their hooves pounding on the sand.
Erin glanced upwards. Overhead, a white cloud in the shape of a stallion was flowing across the sky.
When you look up, I’ll be there, Tor’s voice echoed in her head.
She smiled. He was there, just as he had said.
For always.
Table of Contents
Cover
About the Author
Books by Linda Chapman
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Sky Horses
CHAPTER One
CHAPTER Two
CHAPTER Three
CHAPTER Four
CHAPTER Five
CHAPTER Six
CHAPTER Seven
CHAPTER Eight
CHAPTER Nine
CHAPTER Ten
CHAPTER Eleven
CHAPTER Twelve
Afterwards…
Linda Chapman, Eye of the Storm
