“Yes, you have to, Lisa!” Linda chimed in with a big smile. “I remember my first Light Ride on Meteor. It was the year that we had snow in September. We almost froze to death, but it was amazing. I think the weather’s going to be better this year, so what do you think, Lisa? I’m so incredibly impressed you got back in the saddle again! What with the accident and everything.”
“The accident?” Alex said, looking puzzled. “What, that pony that kicked you?”
Lisa bit her lip and Linda looked like she wanted to sink through the stable floor.
“Oh, sorry, Lisa . . .” she said. “I thought Alex knew.”
“Knew what?” Alex asked.
Lisa felt their eyes burning into her. She had to get out of there.
“I’ll be right back,” she said. “I just need to go to the bathroom.”
She locked the bathroom door behind her, sat down on the toilet lid, and shut her eyes. After a while, someone gently tapped on the door.
“Lisa? Are you all right?” Linda’s voice sounded worried.
“Coming!” Lisa responded, but she didn’t get up. The pipes clanked, and she saw a big cave spider scuttling across the concrete wall.
She thought about the events in the woods the other day. After a few sleepless nights, she concluded that she wouldn’t tell anyone about what happened to Starshine. She had spent hours in his stall, squeezing every millimeter of his leg, looking for something broken or sprained. Nothing. Lisa knew that she should talk to Herman. What would happen if it came out later that Starshine was injured during their ride and Lisa hadn’t told anyone? What if she—which is to say her father—had to pay the stable damages? She pushed those thoughts to the corner of her brain where she stored her secrets. It was starting to get crowded up there.
She had tried to reconnect with the healing power she discovered that day with Starshine, but it was fleeting. It ran through her fingers like sand. The magic seemed to be there, but she couldn’t quite figure out how to hold onto it.
It was past dinner time and she should have been getting home, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave the stables. Not yet. Her dad was back out on the oil platform and would be working there all week, so she was home alone. She wasn’t afraid of the dark, but the house felt empty. At night, she wandered from room to room like a restless spirit, turning the lamps on and off, checking that all the windows were closed, testing that the front door was locked.
Can you ever get used to loneliness?
Her dad called each night before he went to bed in the platform’s staff quarters. The Nox Nucleus project entailed a lot of overtime, he said. He asked her about school and the stables. He seemed happy she had started riding again, but the last time he called, he sounded stressed. Far away. His mind was elsewhere.
She got up from the toilet, washed her hands, and quickly checked her reflection in the mirror before going back out to join Alex and Linda.
“There you are!” Linda said with a warm smile.
Lisa didn’t feel so alone anymore. She reminded herself that she was among friends. It was an unfamiliar feeling indeed. She smiled back at the girls, took a deep breath and said:
“Of course, Starshine and I are doing the Light Ride!”
That night, Lisa had strange dreams. When she woke up the next morning, she couldn’t remember what they were about. That same song was stuck in her head again. Did the song belong to the dream? She didn’t just know the melody, now she knew the words to what she thought was the chorus. She vowed to figure out the chords on her guitar after school. It really was a pretty melody.
The time is now, she hummed as she got ready for school.
The time is now, she hummed as she locked the front door.
“The time is now,” she mumbled without realizing it as she ambled across the schoolyard. A boy walked past, making a circling motion with his index finger against his temple.
Lisa didn’t care. She walked toward the front steps where Alex and Linda were waiting for her.
10
Somewhere along Jorvik’s west coast, a colossal oil platform was moored at an old wharf. Large freight ships used to be built there. Now, the facility was deserted.
The platform was made of steel that was painted green and blue. A maze of pipes and staircases wound around the pyramid-shaped main building like giant, copper-green snakes. A bridge, temporary but nevertheless sturdy, connected the oil platform to dry land. Thick steel wires held the enormous structure steady next to the pier.
The searchlights carved into the darkness like hunters looking for prey. Watching. Waiting.
At the very top were the big, illuminated letters, “DC.”
This was Dark Core’s headquarters.
The waves rolled in. There was a bright flash of light in the dark, churning water. And then the portal opened.
A tall, thin man stood on a ramp up high. A dark suit and red tie could be seen underneath his long, olive-green coat. His pointy chin and crooked nose made him resemble a bird of prey. He had many aliases over the past few centuries, but most recently he was called John Sands.
In front of him was a strange contraption that was almost as tall as a small house. A round, glowing disc of fire burned like the sun in the very middle of the machine. Humming and rumbling, the machine kept the strange energy field running.
The man stared straight into the machine’s swirling colors, utterly engrossed. The light of the strange energy field revealed that his eyes were black and dull.
“He can stand still like that for hours,” said one of the two girls who had just arrived, both wearing long black coats to ward off the rain and wind. Each girl held the reins of their own black horse. The horses pawed the ground and nervously tossed their heads. One of them whinnied loudly and rather persistently.
“What’s the matter with you?” Jessica said and yanked the reins hard. The horse fell silent.
Sabine turned to her.
“I, for one, am glad HQ is moored for service. I hate having to go back and forth on those barges.”
“Mm-hmm,” Jessica agreed. “I wonder what he sees in there. . . . He says he can speak to Garnok directly through the portal. I wonder if that’s really true?”
She snorted derisively. Sabine shifted uncomfortably as she put her index finger to her lips in a discouraging gesture.
Not here. Not now.
The man suddenly turned and studied his visitors with his stone-cold eyes. Then he slowly walked down the ramp, without taking his eyes off of them. The horses’ ears first pricked up and they both straightened up taller, as if to salute him.
“Mr. Sands. You summoned us,” Sabine said, meeting the man’s gaze.
Mr. Sands gave her a tart smile. “My generals . . . my two generals. Soon, there will be three of you, and then a fourth to complete your number.”
His voice was a bit raspy, but he could still be clearly understood.
“Unfortunately,” he continued grimly, “the despicable Soul Riders have also come together. The portal has told me this. The fourth Soul Rider has arrived on the island. This very moment, they are gathering at Jorvik Stables.”
Every time he mentioned the Soul Riders, his words sputtered out in disgust.
“Garnok’s deliverance has never been closer! Nothing must go wrong now. Am I clear? Nothing!”
Mr. Sands leaned in to Sabine’s and Jessica’s faces. The rain was pouring down, but that didn’t bother him. His skin was as ashen as a corpse.
“You must act now! Stop them! I want to see the souls of those miserable horses devoured in the eternal prison of Pandoria.”
“I’m sorry it didn’t go as planned last time,” Sabine admitted. “That redhead ruined everything with Starshine.”
For just a brief moment, she resembled the teenage girl she supposedly was. Then her facial features changed and t
he hardened mask returned.
“And whose fault was that?” Sands roared. “I don’t condone failure. Neither do you—or so I thought. The horses are the foremost allies of the Soul Riders in their pathetic struggle against us. Without the horses, their powers cannot be awakened. You know this.”
“Same instructions as last time, Mr. Sands?” Jessica asked.
Sands studied them with his ink-black eyes. At first, he almost appeared to be laughing. But when he spoke again, he did so in a thundering voice that set the horses tramping about nervously again.
“You are now free to strike as you see fit,” he roared. “Strike against the horses. Strike against the Soul Riders.”
Mr. Sands raised his thin arms in the air. His white fingers were like stiff claws, and he raised them as if he were going to rip the overcast sky above him to shreds. He chanted on.
“Nothing must stop us now. Our cause is too important! Garnok is the only thing that matters! Once he is freed, this world will be mine forever! And you will finally be able to reconnect with Garnok and return to your world, ridding yourselves of your half-life here!”
He suddenly broke off. His voice was quieter now and that razor-sharp rasp came back.
“I’ve also dispatched some people to help you see to the horses. Some brawn to aid your brains. Time is short and we need all the help we can get.”
He started pacing to and fro. The horses and their owners watched him.
“Soon, very soon, the third general will be here. It won’t be long before she joins us. And then things will happen quickly, I assure you.”
Mr. Sands turned to the portal. With his hands behind his back, he stared into the portal’s pulsing, fiery energy. Little sparks erupted now and then. Just as Jessica was about to speak, he turned back to them.
“That’s all for now. No more failures. You have free rein to act as you see fit, and help is on the way.”
A few minutes later, Mr. Sands was in the back seat of a car, crossing the bridge, heading away from the platform and the wharf.
“To Pine Hill Mansion,” he snapped at the driver, who immediately sped up.
11
The next Saturday, the whole stable was giddy with anticipation. Boys and girls raced up and down the aisles with saddles, blankets, water bottles, and bulging saddlebags. Many were dressed in old- fashioned costumes. Lisa spotted several velvet cloaks and even a Jorvegian folk costume in the island’s colors of green, blue, and white. One of the riding instructors was helping a younger girl fasten a harp-shaped brooch to her dress.
Lisa looked down at the jodhpurs Linda had lent her. No one had said anything to her about dressing up. But then she spotted Alex and Linda walking toward her in normal riding gear, with thick knit sweaters over their vests, and she shot them a relieved smile.
Alex tossed Lisa a heavy sweater.
“Here,” she said. “Better dress warm. It’ll be past midnight before we reach the camp. Herman and a few of the organizers are going on ahead to set up tents for the Light Riders, so that we can go straight to sleep once we get there, if we want to. And believe me, we will want to. Last year, I was completely beat afterward. I ended up staying home with an awful cold for almost two weeks.”
“Sounds more like an extreme sport than a cozy ride,” said Lisa, who still wasn’t quite sure what the point of the Light Ride was. They were going to ride in Aideen’s footsteps and seek the Flame of Jor, the spark that, according to legend, brought life to the island. That much she knew. But where were they supposed to find it?
Alex laughed. “Served me right for riding out when I was already sick.”
Anne led Concorde out of his stall.
“Who are you going to the Light Ride with, Anne?” Herman asked.
“No one. I’m going by myself,” Anne replied quietly.
The other girls looked at each other, trying to gauge each other’s feelings.
“Ride with us, Anne!” Linda suggested.
Anne turned in surprise to Linda and smiled warmly.
“Thank you. I’d love to. If it’s okay?”
“Of course!” Lisa and Linda said in unison while Alex heaved a small sigh.
They set off as soon as the sun had begun to dip toward the tree line behind the stables. Lit torches lined the trail. Folk music could be heard coming from somewhere, and a crowd of onlookers had gathered to see the riders off. A small boy handed Lisa a bouquet of flowers. She accepted it and thanked him.
“That’s Jorvik clover,” Linda said. “If you give Starshine a couple with his evening meal when we take a break, then he won’t get drowsy.”
So much to learn, Lisa thought to herself. She put the clover flowers in her saddlebag.
The Light Ride covered many miles, so they mostly walked to conserve their horses’ energy. They stayed close together so they could talk. In the distance, they spotted a vast vineyard and a beautiful, gray stone manor.
The farther they rode, the more it felt like they were traveling out of time, away from the modern world to a mystical place where anything was possible. They rode toward the western part of the Northern Mountain Range, just beyond the large Silverglade Manor. From the summit, there was a view of Everwind Fields and a glimpse of the lights from Silverglade Village beyond it. On clear nights, you could see the lights in the castle windows.
Baroness Silverglade usually made sure the lights were turned on for the Light Ride. The castle served as a kind of beacon for the riders traveling through the rural southwest corner of Jorvik.
“Look at that!” Alex hollered as she pointed down at the dazzling fall foliage of Goldenhills Valley that spread out below them.
“What’s that black patch?” Lisa asked as she squinted at the red, orange, and yellow forest.
“It’s Cauldron Swamp,” Linda replied. “I’d recommend steering clear of it. They say it’s full of will-o’-the-wisps, the ghostly lights that lead you astray from the path so you become lost forever.”
Lisa turned around and looked at Anne, who was riding right behind her. Concorde’s ears were pricked as he nimbly moved up the hill. Lisa didn’t see why Alex thought Anne was conceited. She seemed timid and withdrawn, if anything, as though she were afraid of intruding. Lisa gave her an encouraging smile. Anne smiled back.
Several other Light Riders were nearby, but they mostly kept to their own little groups. Sometimes they were alone. Sometimes there were plenty of others forming a long line of riders. Some sang well-known traditional songs about Aideen and the long journey toward brighter times. Lisa soon started humming along. Several people took the opportunity to stop at the crest of a hill; their horses walked on a long rein and stopped to graze occasionally.
Maybe it was the singing, the lights, or the soft evening breeze, but Lisa began to feel like anything might be possible. She felt like Starshine and her friends’ horses were somehow linked together by an invisible understanding that had existed for a long time. And now that bond was slowly being transferred to their riders. Lisa thought she could see their horses exchanging glances, as though they were talking to each other. Linda had mentioned that Tin-Can and Meteor were of the fabled Starbreed. Lisa wondered whether Starshine might be, as well, and possibly Concorde, too. Were all four horses Starbreeds?
Lisa started to think back to the morning when she and her dad had arrived on Jorvik. And the near-accident in the woods with Starshine. Everywhere, there were stars. Stars, stars in your eyes.
“Wow! You have a lovely voice, Lisa!” Linda exclaimed.
Lisa stared at her. Granted, there seemed to be a song playing over and over in her head, stars, stars, stars. But she was absolutely certain she hadn’t been singing it out loud.
“It’s been stuck in my head ever since I first got here,” Lisa said.
It was time. She could feel it. It was time to finally start talking. She took a
deep breath.
“You know the morning I came to Jorvik? There was this strange glow in the sky,” Lisa said. “And the stars were so bright even though the sun was just beginning to rise. I saw something I’ve never seen before. It was like a giant star. It’s kinda hard to explain. It was so bright I thought it might blind my dad, but he didn’t even seem to notice it.”
“Star?” Linda said. “The thing I saw that same morning was like a moon. A big crescent moon. I remember, because I couldn’t sleep and had gone out to fetch the paper.”
“I saw a lightning bolt that same morning,” Alex said.
“And I saw a sun,” someone piped up from behind them. They turned around. Anne was riding along not far away.
“Come and ride next to us,” Linda said. Lisa and Alex made room so Anne could come up alongside with them.
“Starshiner, ray of sun, all the world is yours to keep,” Anne sang softly and chuckled when she noticed how the others were looking at her. “I’m sorry, I have a terrible voice. But my mom used to sing that song to me when I was little. I don’t know what made me think of it.”
“All right,” Alex said. “The sun, the moon, stars, and a lightning bolt. So we all saw different star phenomena that same morning?”
“That is so crazy!” Anne exclaimed. “There has to be a natural explanation.”
“What does Google say?” Alex asked.
Everyone turned to Linda, who giggled.
“I didn’t realize that was my new nickname. But sure, I’ll have a look.”
She held her reins in one hand and walked in Western style while she got her phone out.
“Find anything interesting?” Lisa asked after a short pause.
“I’m drowning in astrology sites with ugly nineties webpages!” Linda groaned. “All the flashing banners are going to make my eyes bleed!”
The others giggled.
Soul Riders (Book 1) Page 7
