Elska

by Catherine Hapka

  “He has a white star, just like Bell,” Katie said. “And look, two white legs.”

  “He's a fine-looking Morgan horse. Strong like his dam. Handsome like his sire,” Papa said. “Soon he'll be able to pull the plow and the carriage.”

  “Papa, may I name him?” Katie asked.

  He nodded.

  “I name him Bell's Star.”

  “That's a grand name for such a small foal,” Papa said.

  “One day he will be grand, I know,” Katie said, scratching my fuzzy mane. “He'll lead the St. Albans parade like Mr. Jones's Morgan horse.”

  “Let's hope he grows up to be as grand a worker as Bell,” Papa said. “Our farm needs a Morgan that can pull a plow, not lead a parade.”

  I nuzzled Katie's arm. I didn't know grand or parade, but I wanted to show her I no longer thought she was danger.

  “Oh, Papa,” Katie sighed, her breath tickling my whiskers. “I love him already.”

  “We'll give Bell a day of rest,” Papa said. “Then it's back to work tomorrow.”

  Work. There was that word again. That morning, with Katie's arms around my neck, I thought nothing more of it.

  But soon I would know what it meant.

  About the Author

  Catherine Hapka has written more than 150 books for children and young adults, including many about horses. A lifelong horse lover, she rides several times a week and appreciates horses of all breeds. In addition to writing and riding, she enjoys all kinds of animals, reading, gardening, music, and travel. She lives on a small farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania, which she shares with a horse, three goats, a small flock of chickens, and too many cats.

  About the Illustrator

  Ruth Sanderson grew up with a love for horses. She drew them constantly, and her first oil painting at age fourteen was a horse portrait.

  Ruth has illustrated and retold many fairy tales and likes to feature horses in them whenever possible. Her book about a magical horse, The Golden Mare, the Firebird, and the Magic Ring, won the Texas Bluebonnet Award in 2003. She illustrated the first Black Stallion paperback covers and has illustrated a number of chapter book horse stories, most recently Summer Pony and Winter Pony by Jean Slaughter Doty.

  Ruth and her daughter have two horses, an Appaloosa named Thor and a quarter horse named Gabriel. She lives with her family in Massachusetts.

  To find out more about her adventures with horses and the research she did to create the illustrations in this book, visit her Web site, www.ruthsanderson.com.

  Text copyright © 2009 by Catherine Hapka Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Ruth Sanderson

  All rights reserved.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Hapka, Cathy.

  Elska / by Catherine Hapka; illustrated by Ruth Sanderson. — 1st ed.

  p. cm. — (Horse diaries)

  Summary: Around the year 1000, the Icelandic horse named Elska is born

  and learns about life and her role in the herd, as well as love and friendship,

  when she rescues the girl to whom she originally belonged.

  Includes facts about Icelandic horses and Iceland.

  eISBN: 978-0-375-89253-0

  1. Iceland pony—Juvenile fiction. 2. Iceland—History—To 1262—

  Juvenile fiction. [1. Iceland pony—Fiction. 2. Horses—Fiction.

  3. Iceland—History—To 1262—Fiction.] I. Sanderson, Ruth, ill. II. Title.

  PZ10.3.H2258 El 2009 [Fic]—dc22 2007022109

  v3.0