The Lucky Horseshoe

by Chloe Ryder

  The boat lurched again. The sea rushed closer. For a split second, time seemed to stand still, with the boiling water beneath them and the wind roaring above. With a shudder, the boat righted itself, smacking down and creating a spray of water to match the thunderous waves.

  There was only one thing to do. Someone had to climb the mast and free the rope before the ship capsized or sank.

  Me, thought Pippa, knowing she was the most agile. She took a deep breath as she gathered up all her courage. Forget how high the mast is, she told herself as she sprinted across the deck. Look up. Never down.

  You can do this.

  Chapter 3

  As Pippa climbed the mast, Stardust called out, “Pippa, be careful!”

  Pippa nodded but didn’t dare look back at Stardust. She focused on her hands as she pulled herself up the mast. The boat pitched and rolled on the sea, as if it was trying to shake Pippa off. She climbed higher even though her clothes were soaked and her hands so cold it was hard to get a grip on the mast. Water dripped from her wavy hair and she could taste salt on her lips.

  “I can do this!” Pippa said as she took one tentative step at a time, until at last she reached the hook-like cleat. The wet rope was wound tightly around it and stretched taut by the billowing sail. Pippa’s fingers were frozen and clumsy. Gritting her teeth, she struggled with the rope, loosening it from the cleat with her fingernails. Just when she thought she couldn’t untie it, the rope came free.

  “Yay!” Pippa’s heart soared as the mainsail collapsed, flopping onto the deck like a stranded jellyfish.

  “Hooray!” came the call from below. Stardust’s cheer was the loudest of the bunch. Without looking, Pippa gave her friend the thumbs-up.

  Climbing back to the deck was much easier with the mainsail down. The waves were still huge and the wind wild, but the boat felt more stable. Pippa reached the deck and collapsed, panting as she got her breath back.

  “What luck you were here. We couldn’t have done that without you,” said Captain Rascal, clapping Pippa on the back. “Pirates, take her downstairs. Give her a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate.”

  “Wait!” cried Pippa as Stardust started to hustle down the cabin stairs. “What’s that, to the left of the boat?”

  “Left!” screeched the parrot. “Left is for landlubbers. Pippa’s a landlubber.”

  “What’s that, to the port?” Pippa corrected herself.

  A short way from the boat, two heads bobbed in the water, watching Pippa with big eyes.

  “Triton and Rosella!” Pippa felt a tingle of magic pass through her as Triton, the green seahorse, and Rosella, the pink one, swam toward The Jolly Horseshoe.

  “Hello, Pippa, lover of ponies,” said Rosella, softly. “We hear you’ve come to return the luck to Chevalia.”

  “With Stardust and the pirate ponies,” said Pippa, her face turning as pink as Rosella’s skin.

  “So modest,” said Triton in his singsong voice. “Throw us a line and we’ll tow you out of this storm.”

  “Really? Thanks!” Pippa looked to Captain Rascal, who pointed with a hoof to the rope Pippa needed. She threw it overboard and Rosella caught it in her mouth. Triton swam to help her and together they towed the boat to a place where the sea was calm and the sky bright blue.

  “Thank you!” called Pippa.

  “You’re welcome. Our magic is too strong for Divine; she couldn’t steal our luck, so we’re giving it to you.”

  Pippa felt another tingle, like a soft breeze.

  “Use our luck wisely, Pippa.” Triton and Rosella dipped their heads and, with a flick of their delicate ears, swam away.

  The tingling feeling grew stronger, then gradually it faded. Pippa smiled. She felt so lucky and full of hope. Triton and Rosella were magic! With their help, she could restore the luck to Chevalia.

  “Land ahoy!” shouted Captain Rascal.

  “Chevalia!” Stardust and Pippa cheered, rushing to the deck rail, their eyes pinned to the shore, searching for gold and the unlucky horseshoe.

  “That’s too tiny to be Chevalia,” said Captain Rascal. “Fetch me my telescope, Pirate Hoofpick.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.” A tiny chestnut pony saluted smartly and trotted below-decks. Minutes later, he came back with a telescope.

  Something in the corner of Pippa’s eye caught her attention. She turned her head and stared at the now flat sea. What had made it ripple like that?

  Captain Rascal peered through his telescope. “Well, I never,” he muttered. “I don’t remember that island being there.”

  There was a loud bang and the boat juddered. Stardust’s brown eyes widened as she gripped Pippa. “What was that?”

  “Cow sharks!” roared Captain Rascal. “Well, I’ll be a parrot’s papa! Cow sharks are attacking the bow. Stand by to repel these scurvy attackers.”

  “Cow sharks!” Stardust’s white coat turned even whiter.

  Pippa ran to the bow and blinked in surprise. Four cow sharks were circling in the water. She hung over the side, fascinated by these strange creatures. The cow sharks each had a triangular fin that stuck out of the water. Their bodies were gray-blue and resembled a shark, but their tails were long and cowlike with a fluffy tip, which they used to swat at the seaflies circling above the water around them. The cow sharks had the head of a cow, big with velvety ears, large eyes, and soft black noses. Their mouths were more frightening, shark-like with rows of huge teeth that glinted in the sunshine.

  The cow sharks swam in an orderly group, taking turns to bite the bow of the boat. Each time one took a mouthful, the boat swerved erratically.

  “Help!” squeaked Stardust. “We’re going to be eaten alive.”

  Captain Rascal strode down the deck. “Prepare to fire the cannons!” he ordered.

  The pirate ponies swung into action. Running to the lockers at the rear of the boat, they pulled out a stash of heavy iron cannonballs.

  “Form a chain!” called a pirate with a gold ring in one ear.

  “Don’t be a pain, form a chain,” echoed the parrot.

  The pirate ponies formed a long line that stretched from the lockers all the way along the deck to the cannons. Deftly they passed the cannonballs along the pony line, where the end pony, a tall black horse with one wooden leg, popped them into the cannons.

  “Take aim!” the captain ordered. “Prepare to fire, and . . .”

  Pippa had been staring into the water. Something about the cow sharks bothered her. What were they doing? Pippa had studied sharks last year in science class and recalled that when sharks attacked, they formed a circle around their victim, who was usually in the water. She’d not heard of them attacking a boat before, at least not a big boat like The Jolly Horseshoe.

  “Wait!” Pippa cried. “Hold your fire.”

  Chapter 4

  “Excuse me!” Captain Rascal almost fell over in surprise. “Who’s the captain around here?”

  “You, of course.” Pippa reddened. “But the cow sharks aren’t attacking us. They look like they’ve got something stuck in their teeth.”

  “Stuck in their teeth, that’s Pippa’s belief,” chirped the parrot in a disbelieving voice.

  “They do!” said Stardust. In her excitement she leaned too far over the edge of the boat. Pippa grabbed hold of her and pulled her back before she toppled overboard.

  “Thanks, Pippa. It’s seaweed!” Stardust added breathlessly. “They’re using the ship’s bow like a giant toothpick to remove the seaweed from their teeth.”

  “They’ll never get the seaweed out like that!” Pippa stared around the boat thoughtfully. She’d once gotten a piece of apple stuck between her teeth, and it had been very irritating until Mom had given her a strand of dental floss to remove it. What could they use to help the cow sharks? The closest thing to dental floss was rope, but that was too thick, even for the enormous teeth of the cow sharks. As Pippa’s eyes traveled the boat, they came to rest on a lifeboat, suspended above the deck. Her face broke
into a smile.

  Pippa ran to the lifeboat and took out a wooden oar. She carried it to the ship’s bow, calling “Come and help me!” to Stardust as she passed.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Watch,” said Pippa, “and hold on to me, so that I don’t fall overboard.”

  Stardust wrapped her hooves round Pippa’s middle as she leaned over the side of the boat.

  “Hello, cow sharks,” Pippa called out. “Line up and I’ll help you to clean your teeth.”

  The cow sharks’ eyes widened in surprise.

  “It’s a girl!”

  “That’s not just any girl, Velvet,” whispered the smallest cow shark. “That’s Pippa MacDonald!”

  “You’re right, Daisy!” replied Velvet, who had two small horns. “I’ve always wanted to meet her. Aren’t we lucky that she’s out here on the open seas!”

  Obediently, the cow sharks formed a line with Daisy in front.

  “Open wide and say ‘ah,’” said Pippa, repeating what the dentist told her on her last visit. Carefully, she angled the oar into the waiting cow shark’s mouth and scraped out the seaweed trapped between her teeth.

  “Oooh, that feels better,” mooed Daisy. The cow shark ran her long, rubbery tongue over her teeth. “Thank you, Pippa.”

  “Thank you, Pippa,” chorused the other cow sharks after Pippa had cleaned their teeth.

  “This is our lucky day,” said Velvet. “We were very lucky to swim into Pippa MacDonald.”

  “Thank you,” said Pippa. “It’s a lucky day for me too. I’ve always wanted to meet a cow shark.”

  Stardust threw her a puzzled look.

  “I would have if I’d known they existed,” Pippa whispered.

  Velvet continued. “Have you come to hear the music?”

  “Music?” Captain Rascal’s ears swiveled with interest. “What music? We love a good sing-along, don’t we, pirate crew?”

  “Aye, aye!” roared the ponies.

  “Then you must visit Hoofishbofin, the island to your west. The ponies there make the best music around,” said Daisy. “We often swim by to listen to them sing.”

  “Hoofishbofin? Never heard of it,” said Captain Rascal. “Come to think of it, I didn’t know that the islands around Chevalia were inhabited by ponies. But much as we love to sing, we haven’t got time today. We’re off to find pirate gold.”

  “Then you must definitely visit Hoofishbofin,” said Velvet. All the cow sharks nodded in agreement. “Rumor has it, there’s gold on the island.”

  “Why didn’t you say that earlier? Thanks, cow sharks. Full steam ahead, pirate crew, to the island of Hoofishbofin.”

  Pippa couldn’t help worrying as they waved good-bye to the cow sharks. What if the rumors of gold were just that, rumors? They’d be better off looking for the unlucky horseshoe.

  “We won’t stay long,” said Stardust, guessing her concern. “And if there isn’t any gold, then the pirate ponies will work better for having a sing-along.”

  The Jolly Horseshoe creaked and juddered alongside the small wooden jetty on Hoofishbofin Island.

  “All ashore, me hearties,” called Captain Rascal when the hoof plank was lowered.

  Pippa’s wavy hair blew around her face as she followed Stardust ashore. She held it back with a hand as she made for the shelter of a rocky outcrop. Stardust joined her and they huddled together while they waited for the pirate ponies to disembark.

  “Listen,” said Pippa. “I can hear music.”

  It was impossible to stay still. Pippa temporarily forgot about the unlucky horseshoe as she headed toward the music, her feet dancing in time with the merry tune.

  “That music sounds just like the kind my aunt Maeve’s band plays.” Pippa hummed along, sometimes making up words to the tunes.

  As Pippa turned a corner, she stopped, clapping her hands in surprise. “An outdoor theater!”

  Tiers of seats were carved into the rocky ground around a raised circular stage, where four ponies were singing. Two were also playing fiddles, while one played a harp that was almost as tall as Pippa; and the fourth pony, a pretty golden Connemara, was keeping the beat with a small drum.

  “That’s a bodhran!” Pippa clapped her hands in delight. “Aunt Maeve plays one.”

  As they approached the stage, the song finished. The musicians bowed to each other. They laid their instruments down and the gold-colored pony shared out a pile of coin-shaped tokens. The ponies lined up to take turns at flicking the coins into a round, black pot.

  “Tiddledyhooves!” cried Stardust. “I love tiddledyhooves. Can I play?” she called, trotting on ahead.

  The ponies turned in surprise.

  “Visitors!” The golden pony had a musical lilt to her voice. “Now there’s a rare thing, to be sure. And who might you be?”

  Stardust stopped in surprise. “Don’t you know?” Her chest swelled with pride. “I’m Princess Stardust, royal foal of Queen Moonshine and King Firestar.”

  “Well, I’ll be clovered! Welcome to our humble island of Hoofishbofin.” The pony dropped a curtsy. “I’m Connie and these are my band members: Rowan on the harp, Kira and Alby on fiddles. Our band’s known as the Happy Hooves.”

  Stardust curtsied back. “Nice to meet you. Now, please can I play tiddledyhooves?”

  “To be sure.” Connie tossed a token at Stardust. It glittered as it spun through the air. “Your friend can play too, if she likes. It’s a long time since I’ve seen a real girl!”

  “Wait!” Pippa caught the token aimed at Stardust. She held it out in the flat of her hand. “Look!” she breathed. “It’s not a tiddledyhoof. It’s a gold coin.”

  “Shiver me horse bones!” Captain Rascal trotted over to the black pot. “I thought I recognized this pot. It belonged to my granny, the great Captain Scallywag. The cow sharks were right. There is gold on the island. Great Captain Scallywag’s pot of gold.”

  Chapter 5

  Connie threw back her head and laughed. “You’ll be telling me that this old thing is your granny’s horseshoe next!” She pointed her hoof at an ancient horseshoe on the ground. “Anyone want a throw? Whoever gets it the farthest wins the game.”

  Stardust wrinkled her nose. “Eew! I’m not touching that.”

  Something stirred in Pippa’s mind. “Can I see?” she asked, holding out her hand for the horseshoe.

  Connie passed it to her. Pippa’s heart thumped with excitement as she examined the green-tinted shoe.

  “Careful,” said Captain Rascal. “Hold it with the two ends pointing upward or else the luck will run out.”

  “Thanks.” Pippa righted the horseshoe and handed it back to Connie. “I thought it might be the unlucky horseshoe,” she explained. “But it feels quite normal. The green stuff is moss, not magic.”

  “But the pot of gold did belong to my granny,” Captain Rascal insisted. “I can prove it. Her initials are engraved on the bottom.” He tipped the pot over. “There, CS. Captain Scallywag.”

  “Please, can we have it back?” Stardust gave Connie a winning smile.

  Connie almost fell over, laughing. “Whatever for? Don’t you have everything you need at the royal castle?”

  “It’s not for me.” Stardust’s ears turned pink. She quickly explained how they needed to find the unlucky horseshoe to return Chevalia’s stolen luck and find the gold to pay Divine, to stop her from stealing their luck again.

  When she’d finished, Connie let out a relieved sigh. “You don’t need gold to keep your luck. You need attitude!”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Let me tell you a story.” Connie beckoned for everyone to come closer.

  Pippa, Stardust, and the pirate ponies shuffled forward, eager to hear Connie’s tale. Pippa was squashed between Captain Rascal and Stardust, but Connie had started and she didn’t dare move for fear of missing anything.

  “A long time ago, when I was a youngster, I came from a faraway place inhabited by humans and where ponie
s were kept as pets.”

  A gasp rippled among the pirate ponies.

  Connie nodded. “It’s true. Many of those humans were good people.” She smiled at Pippa, who flushed. “Sadly, my human was young and selfish. It wasn’t long before she tired of me. Her visits became less frequent. Often she forgot to feed me, and she never brushed me or cleaned my hooves. But I never stopped hoping that one day my luck would change and I’d find a better life. And one day my luck did change. There was a storm that ended in a rainbow. Shortly after the rainbow appeared, a kind-looking girl with long black hair came to my field. She was shocked at how thin and dirty I was. When my human arrived on a shiny new bike, she asked to swap me for the kind girl’s lucky-gold-coin necklace. It was obvious that the necklace was special to this girl, but my owner took the necklace and cycled away. It was the last time I ever saw her. The kind girl patted me and promised that she’d give me food and shelter. Then she went away.”

  Connie’s eyes misted at the memory. “I didn’t have to wait long. Soon after, a beautiful silver, winged pony flew over my field. She hovered in front of me as she told me all about Chevalia, a magical place where every horse had plenty to eat and a warm stable to sleep in. She said she’d come to take me there, and she rubbed her nose against mine. Poof! In a puff of glittery gold smoke, suddenly, I had wings too. I flew away with the pony.”

  Connie paused. “We were nearing Chevalia when we flew over Hoofishbofin. Someone was playing music and it seemed to call out to me. I couldn’t stop myself. I flew down and the moment my hooves hit the ground, my wings disappeared. I didn’t mind. I fell in love with Hoofishbofin immediately after I landed. The ponies were so welcoming and there was plenty to eat. I joined a band and now, all these years later, I’ve formed my own band.” Connie paused to wipe a tear from her eye. “Here’s the thing. I had terrible luck but then it suddenly got much better. You can’t steal someone else’s luck, but you can help your own along. If you work hard and believe in yourself, then the good luck will eventually find you.”