Soul Riders (Book 1)

by Helena Dahlgren

  “Let’s go up to my office,” he said.

  Lisa followed him. Her legs felt stiff, almost as if they wouldn’t obey her. They headed through the small door by the tack room and climbed a set of stairs to Herman’s office on the second floor. He closed the door.

  The office was small but cozy. It smelled like old riding gear and coffee that had been left brewing a little too long. Herman turned on the kettle and got the tea out. Before he took a seat across from Lisa, he paced to and fro for a while. He opened his mouth as if he was about to speak and then closed it again. Lisa shifted uncomfortably, barely daring to breathe. Had Herman found out what happened during the Light Ride? Did he know she had special powers? Was he never going to let her ride Starshine again? Had she committed some kind of crime?

  She pictured herself being thrown out of Jorvik Stables headfirst. Bye, Linda. Bye, Alex. Bye, Starshine, and goodbye to any sense of belonging. Tons of horrifying scenarios played out in her imagination while Herman tried to find the right words.

  Four hundred years ago, they burnt people like me at the stake, she thought. It would be so like her to discover that she had magical powers on an island that turned out to be crawling with witch hunters. Why could she never catch a break?

  He took a deep breath.

  “Look, I wanted to talk to you about Starshine. You haven’t been here for very long, but it’s impossible to ignore the fact that the two of you have a very special bond. To be honest, I’ve only seen something similar once or twice before. It’s rare. Very rare.”

  He offered Lisa a cookie and got up to fetch a couple of tea mugs.

  “I’m not wrong in thinking you want a cup of tea, am I?” he said.

  Lisa shook her head.

  “Jorvik is a bit different from other places,” Herman continued. “Maybe you’ve noticed?”

  A series of pictures flipped through Lisa’s mind like movie clips.

  The strange light in the sky when she first arrived on the island.

  Elizabeth in the forest clearing.

  Starshine’s leg—broken, then whole again.

  Sabine’s predatorial movements in the school parking lot when she thought no one was watching.

  Sabine standing in front of Starshine in the paddock.

  The runestone. Lisa’s birthmark. The dark pull from the deep forests.

  Her dreams.

  The feeling of someone watching over everyone and everything.

  Her mom in the dark woods.

  Yes, she knew what he was getting at.

  “Take our horses, for instance,” Herman said. “Our island is world-famous for them. Some believe horses first came into existence here on Jorvik—that here is their absolute origin. The horses are a big part of what’s unique about Jorvik. We have breeds you won’t find anywhere else in the world. The horses here at Jorvik Stables are no exception. You might go so far as to say the horses choose us, rather than the other way around. Just look at Starshine. He’s one of the most special horses in the stable. Well, I obviously don’t need to tell you that, do I? But I thought you might like to know some background on him.”

  Herman picked up a framed photograph from his dusty desk.

  “Aww, is that him?” Lisa said, going googly-eyed when she realized the picture was of a younger, and considerably smaller, version of Starshine.

  “It is indeed,” Herman confirmed with a smile. “He was just a little colt when we found him all alone up in Pine Hill Forest, on the other side of the Northern Mountains. He was so tiny, poor thing. He probably wouldn’t have survived out there for much longer. The forest is a vast and dangerous place for a colt. Believe it or not, there were people who actually wanted to harm him. I brought him back to the stables and, in time, he learned to trust me. To trust humans. When he was about three, I broke him in with the help of several other instructors, but we were never able to make him a good lesson horse. Not a lot of people managed to cling on for more than a few seconds—until you arrived. It’s extraordinary. He has really blossomed with you, Lisa.”

  Lisa smiled.

  “No, Starshine’s not like other horses,” Herman continued. “Maybe it has something to do with his ancestry. We do, as I mentioned, have a lot of unique breeds here on Jorvik. Some are called Starbreeds. There’s only a handful of them on the whole island. And we have four here at Jorvik Stables!”

  Lisa already knew who they were.

  “Starshine, Tin-Can, Meteor, and Concorde?”

  “Exactly right,” Herman confirmed. “We believe Starshine is a Starbreed of ancient Jorvegian ancestry. He has traits that aren’t typical for any recognized breed. A Starbreed is very picky when it comes to who rides it, just so you know.”

  Lisa thought about Starshine’s blue mane and tail, his ice-blue eyes, and the hint of blue around his muzzle.

  Herman met her eyes and smiled.

  “I’ve talked you silly now, poor girl! But that actually wasn’t why I asked you in here. I wanted to ask you to become Starshine’s groom. If you accept, you can consider him yours, more or less. You can ride him whenever and wherever you want, in exchange for looking after him.”

  “I would love to!” Lisa burst out. She leaped out of her chair. She had been expecting the worst, but this was the best news she could have received! She could barely process what Herman was telling her.

  She wanted to hug him, but they shook hands instead. It felt solemn, somehow. Herman poured them another cup of tea and insisted they eat a few more cookies to celebrate.

  “I baked them myself,” Herman said. “Vanilla shortbread, my grandmother’s recipe. Pretty good batch, if I do say so myself.”

  They really were tasty, Lisa thought, and she was suddenly aware of how long ago lunch had been. Herman looked happy.

  “Lovely. I was hoping it would go this way,” he said. “I will call your parents and let them know.”

  Your parents. Two parents. Herman obviously didn’t know.

  “It’s just me and my dad,” she said. “But he’s going to say yes. As soon as it was decided that we were moving to Jorvik, he began been trying to get me back into riding. But now he’s completely caught up in his work out on the oil platform. Some super impor- tant project.”

  She paused briefly, looked out the window, and noted that night had fallen.

  “This thing that happened a few years ago made me quit riding,” she explained. “Starshine’s the first horse I’ve been on since.”

  Herman tilted his head to the side and looked at her.

  “This is a very big deal, Lisa!”

  “Yes, I suppose it is,” Lisa said with a crooked smile. “Everything just feels so right with Starshine. He makes me forget about everything.”

  “He has that effect on people,” Herman agreed.

  They finished the cookies while Herman entertained her with stories about when Starshine was a disobedient young stallion.

  “And one time, I found him up in Carney’s vineyard, munching on grapes! His whole face was purple! He looked so guilty, the little guy. As though he were perfectly aware he shouldn’t have escaped.”

  Herman and Lisa were so absorbed in their conversation, they neither saw nor heard anything, but in the gloomy darkness of the stable yard, something was moving in the shadows . . .

  If one of them had been out in the stable yard, and had been paying close attention, then maybe they would have seen the two figures moving in the shadows. Faces half hidden behind masks, dark baseball caps, and long coats with big hoods.

  And maybe they would have heard the whispering, too. Would they have noticed that one of the shadows, the taller and bigger of the two, was holding a cell phone?

  “Boss, it seems like there are still a few people around the stables. But everything’s quiet at the moment. I suggest we strike now, before they lock up for the night.”


  Someone said something on the other end of the line.

  Suddenly, a blond girl rode past on her horse, much too close. She didn’t appear to see them hiding behind the horse trailer.

  “Message received,” the one with the phone said. “We are a go. Talk to you later, Mr. S.”

  The shadowy figure slipped the phone back into his pocket and started walking toward the stable door with long, determined strides.

  15

  Linda was sitting alone in the school library. It was dark outside—even the janitor had gone home for the day. Students weren’t really supposed to stay after hours, but Linda was a regular in the library, and she knew the librarian well. She loved the library so much that she had been trusted with the alarm code so that she could visit whenever she wanted. She had been in there a long time and she was starting to feel it. She was tired—she felt it everywhere, deep inside her bones and marrow. She rubbed her eyes.

  Something was gnawing at her. It was trying to seize her and drag her off to who knows where. It was hard to resist the instinct tonight that there was something important just beyond her reach that she should know.

  She yawned and continued to flip through Jorvik Anno 1920, the thick, dusty book the librarian got out for her before she left. She was working on an essay which was supposed to have “a local angle,” and Linda had decided to research the Jorvik Hippological Institute and its history. She thought it was a great way of combining her homework with pleasure—she could finish her essay while learning more about the various stables on the island.

  It’s not like I have somewhere else better to be, she thought to herself, trying to push away thoughts of all the families who would be sitting down for dinner together at this moment. She felt a loneliness in her heart as she thought about how they would be smiling at each other while plates and bowls were passed back and forth. Sadly, this was not a regular part of her daily life living with her aunt.

  When her parents were each offered professorships at Oxford—we can’t pass up this opportunity, honey, you do understand that, don’t you?—the idea was for Linda to go with them. But she surprised everyone, perhaps herself most of all, and chose to remain on Jorvik. Something kept Linda here.

  Meteor.

  It was decided that she would live with her aunt. At first, it seemed like a major step, but the unfamiliar soon became commonplace. She already had her school here, and her friends at the stables. Meteor, of course. And her cat, Misty, too.

  Linda remembered how pitiful Misty looked when she first saw her, with her one intact ear and matted fur. The tiny, roughed-up creature, no more than a kitten, had turned up in the alley outside her aunt’s place one morning and refused to leave. It was still there the next morning, and the next morning after that.

  She contacted a cat shelter in Jarlaheim but eventually decided to keep the tiny cat for herself. Since then, Misty had become her true companion. She was more than a pet. A soul mate, perhaps. Sometimes, it almost felt as though Misty could tell what she was thinking. She was reminded of spiritus familiaris, the term sometimes used to explain a strong bond between humans and animals. But when Linda pictured the cuddly little cat who purred like an engine when she scratched her chin, she knew that Misty was not her “familiar.” After all, only witches had familiars.

  When she thought back to when she was younger, when her parents were always absent or lost in books and articles even when they were sitting right in front of her, she couldn’t help but think that things were maybe better now. Now she knew she was alone, aside from her friends who sometimes stayed over and her aunt who cooked dinner and planned cozy movie nights.

  There was a kind of security in this. She knew what to expect and didn’t have to feel her heart begin to race every time she was promised something, whether it was a movie, bowling, or a parent- teacher school event. We’ll be there! Of course we’ll be there!

  She no longer had to fear the disappointment she’d feel when she had to stand there, waiting for her parents.

  She adjusted her glasses and read on. It felt good to lose herself and focus on something else. The smell of old, damp paper hit her nostrils, and she thought, not for the first time, of the amazing ability books had of immortalizing knowledge.

  The page she read was illustrated with a black and white photograph of a large, imposing horse surrounded by men wearing hats and coats. Linda removed her glasses so she could take a closer look. There was something familiar about one of the men in the picture. She had seen him before, a long time ago, in another picture. No, more recently? Her brain worked frantically. She picked up her phone and swiped through her pictures until she found it. The pictures she took when they were spying on Sabine in the parking lot were blurry, since they were taken from a distance, and the view was partially blocked. She held her phone up and snapped a picture of the illustration in the book.

  Something clicked inside her when she put her phone down. Something fell into place, but how could it be right? And yet, there was no doubt about it in her mind. The man in the old photo was identical to the man who was inside the SUV when they spied on Sabine.

  Everything was the same: the nose, forehead, hairline, chin. If it weren’t for the fact that the pictures were taken over ninety years apart, Linda could have sworn it was the same man. Could it be a relative? There was far too many similarities for it to be a coincidence.

  Linda had a strong feeling her discovery was crucially important. She texted the picture from the book to Lisa and Alex: CHECK THIS OUT. We need to talk. Now. See you outside school in 30?

  16

  Lisa didn’t hear the ding of the incoming text message from Linda on her phone. Herman had just been explaining to her that you couldn’t move a Jorvegian horse off the island. If you did, it was said that it would die of a broken heart, since it quite literally lived off of Jorvik’s natural environment. For these particular horses, their environment was no less important than food, water, or air.

  Lisa made a mental note to say goodnight to Starshine before she left. Her stomach churned with excitement when she thought about how she was now the official caregiver of that lovely, wonderful horse.

  The silence was broken by a sudden loud crash that came from below, followed by a scraping sound. Perhaps it was someone accidentally tipping a wheelbarrow full of hay over? All the horses whinnied shrilly. The scraping noise grew louder. Lisa and Herman stared at each other, bewildered. They rushed out quickly, sending their teacups and cookie plate flying. They raced down the stairs, into the stable. The horses sounded panicked. Something had happened. What was going on? Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

  Lisa’s heart was beating fast. They burst through the door by the tack room to survey the scene. The stable door was wide open. Several horses were rearing and kicking the sides of their stalls. One stall was open. It was empty.

  “Starshine!” Lisa screamed.

  Herman moved toward the main door while Lisa stared into the empty stall.

  “Stop! You won’t get away with this,” she heard Herman shout in the yard as an engine roared to life. Lisa ran out. “I know everyone on this island. Do you think you can just steal a horse and get away with it?” Herman bellowed.

  Lisa caught just a glimpse of the rear lights of a trailer as it disappeared out through the iron gate at a dangerously high speed. The sound of the engine was drowned out by the banging of hooves kicking against the thick metal of the trailer.

  “They took Starshine! No!” Lisa screamed at the top of her lungs.

  Why?

  Alex came running from her room in the main house. “What’s going on?”

  “Someone took Starshine!” Herman gasped as he fumbled to find his car keys. “Come on!”

  The girls ran after him and jumped in his car.

  Herman struggled with the engine. The car was old and rusty, but it had transported him saf
ely around the island for many years. They couldn’t hear the SUV anymore, and the engine wouldn’t start. Alex leaped out and opened the hood with a bang.

  “The spark plugs. They’ve ripped out the spark plugs!” she shouted.

  Herman cursed. Then he did what he should have done in the first place. He called the police.

  Alex ran toward the stable. “Wait here,” she said to Lisa, who had climbed out of the car, as well. Minutes later, Alex came back out with Tin-Can. They had to ride bareback. There was no time to tack up. “Get on behind me. Now!”

  Alex held her hand out and helped Lisa get up.

  “Girls, please be careful, okay?” shouted Herman as he called the police on his phone. “It’s going to be all right!”

  “Are you okay?” Alex asked Lisa.

  Lisa nodded. It was scary being on a horse that wasn’t Starshine, but she had no choice. Starshine needed her help!

  Tin-Can was a strong horse and carried his two riders with ease. They galloped along the road, following the tracks left by the SUV and trailer containing Starshine. For a while, they thought they could make out the red glow from the trailer’s rear lights, but then the night went ominously dark. They stopped and looked around to listen. Lisa was fighting back tears.

  “We’re never going to catch up to them,” Alex said, rubbing her eyes. The air was filled with a sense of panic. “Herman’s called the police. They have to be able to find Starshine.”

  Lisa mumbled in agreement. Alex touched her arm gently. Lisa could feel that Alex was trembling, too.

  “What are we going to do, Lisa?” Alex whispered, her voice breaking. “He’s gone.”

  Lisa wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks. What were they going to do? She had no idea. All she knew was that they had to get Starshine back.

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “But I do know they can’t get away with this.”