The Sea Pony

by Paula Harrison

  “It’s working!” Grace grinned widely. “It’s really working!”

  “Fools, what have you done!” cried Lady Cavendish. “The beasts are escaping!”

  The men hauled the net in faster.

  Two more sea ponies broke free from the net.

  “That’s brilliant!” Sophy called to the sea ponies.

  “I knew you could do it,” said Maya.

  Hearing the girls’ voices, Lady Cavendish peered round the main sail. “What’s going on? What are you doing here? Never mind! I’ll deal with you in a minute.” She marched up the deck, shouting at the men to pull the net in faster.

  There was a frantic neighing from below. One sea pony was still trapped inside the net. It was Grace’s favourite – the pony with the rainbow-coloured mane and tail.

  Grace’s stomach lurched. What if she couldn’t get free? For a terrible moment, she thought the poor thing would be dragged out of the water, but at the last second the rainbow pony dived through a gap in the mesh. The men pulled in the rest of the net, catching nothing but seaweed.

  “She’s free!” Grace jumped up and down as the sea pony swam to join her friends.

  “You pest of a girl!” Lady Cavendish reached Grace’s side in an instant. “There is nothing to celebrate. These dreadful animals need to be caught and contained. Now, tell me what you’re doing here AT ONCE!”

  Grace’s mind went blank. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

  “We … um … came to look for something,” began Maya.

  “But we didn’t mean to stow away,” said Sophy. “It was an accident really.”

  “An accident!” Lady Cavendish fixed her cold grey eyes on them. “I don’t believe anything you girls do is an accident. There’s something very suspicious about all of this.”

  Before she could question them further, the men with the net interrupted her. “Do you want us to give chase, My Lady? The creatures are heading towards Lighthouse Rocks but I think we might be able to catch them.”

  “Of course I want you to give chase!” snapped Lady Cavendish. “What are you waiting for?”

  The men hurried away to hoist more sails. Lady Cavendish picked up a bucket, a bar of soap and a bundle of old rags, and threw them at the girls.

  “There you are!” she snapped. “Make yourselves useful. Fill that bucket with water and start scrubbing the deck right now, otherwise I’ll have you all thrown overboard.”

  Maya nudged Grace, who was scowling, and they all got down on their knees and scrubbed the deck with the rags.

  “I don’t care though!” whispered Sophy. “I’ll scrub the deck all day as long as the sea ponies are free.”

  “I just hope they don’t work out what happened to the net,” said Maya, glancing nervously at Lady Cavendish.

  “Our plan worked!” Grace smiled. “That’s all that matters.”

  Some of the men studied the broken net. One of them found the large holes and began looking suspiciously at the girls.

  “Stop wasting time and start searching for the sea ponies!” Lady Cavendish told the men. “We MUST catch them before they get too far away.”

  The men hoisted another sail and the ship leapt forwards. The wind grew stronger, making the sails billow and the mast creak. The twelve sea ponies were spotted not far away, galloping through the water.

  Grace scrubbed the deck, wishing there was a way to persuade Lady Cavendish to turn the ship round. All the sea ponies had escaped, but what if the men hauled the net in faster next time?

  “Get that one!” ordered Lady Cavendish. “It’s slower than the rest.”

  Grace’s heart sank and she scrambled up to see what was happening. The rainbow pony had fallen behind the rest of the herd. Her hooves dragged in the water and her tail was hardly moving.

  “What is it, Grace?” whispered Maya.

  Grace dashed to the side of the ship, followed by Maya and Sophy. “It’s the rainbow pony. Look, she’s hurt.”

  A chunk of net was wedged over the pony’s legs, making it impossible for her to gallop properly. Without using her hooves, she couldn’t leap or dive. She struggled through the water, her tail dragging behind her.

  “Maya! Sophy!” hissed Grace. “I need you to distract everyone while I get into the water and help the pony. Can you do that?”

  Sophy nodded quickly. “We’ll think of something!”

  “Good luck!” said Maya.

  Grace darted across the deck, hiding behind the wooden crates as one of the crew passed by. She wanted to reach the far corner where she could slip into the sea without anyone noticing.

  Maya and Sophy ran to find the scissors they’d used on the net. Working quickly, they hacked at the thick rope that held up the smaller sail. The rope broke and one end of the sail flapped wildly in the wind. The boat slowed down.

  Sophy hid the scissors and both girls pretended they were still scrubbing the deck. Lady Cavendish began shouting orders and the crew ran up and down the boat, trying to grab the loose sail.

  Grace’s heart beat faster as she climbed on to the edge of the boat. She had to do this now while no one was looking.

  Springing into the air, she dived gracefully into the turquoise ocean. The warm water closed around her. Shoals of pink and orange fish darted out of her way. Grace swam by a golden starfish, past clumps of pale-green seaweed that swayed with the water’s current.

  Rays of sunlight broke through the surface and danced on the sandy seabed far below.

  Grace pulled upwards and swam quickly to the injured sea pony. The creature snorted and nodded her head weakly to show she was glad to see Grace.

  “You poor thing!” said Grace. “It must be awful trying to swim with this net stuck to you.” Gently, she checked the pony’s leg and found the piece of net twisted tightly around her skin. The sea pony gave a high whinny, as if it was sore.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.” Treading water to keep afloat, Grace struggled with the tangled mesh. “I wish I knew your name,” she sighed. “I suppose if one of the magical stones had worked, I’d be able to ask you.”

  The pony looked at her with bright eyes and gave another whinny.

  “There!” Grace pulled the last bit of the net away. “Now you can swim properly again!”

  The sea pony whickered in delight and shook her mane.

  “That’s OK!” Grace laughed. “I know you’d help me if I was in trouble.”

  She turned to see what had happened to the ship and gasped. While she had been untangling the rainbow pony, the creature’s friends had returned to look for her. Lady Cavendish, excited at the sight of so many sea ponies, was ordering the crew to steer towards them.

  Grace knew the ship was in real danger.

  Hidden just beneath the water was a circle of dangerously sharp rocks. The only sign of where the rocks lay were patches of white surf on the waves above. They were called Lighthouse Rocks because the lighthouse on the clifftop had been placed there to warn boats away from them.

  Grace had sailed past here many times in her fishing boat. Her cousins had always warned her to be careful. The rocks could be deadly.

  “Hey!” Grace waved her arms, trying to get the attention of Lady Cavendish and the crew. “Stop! You’re right next to Lighthouse Rocks!”

  Lady Cavendish and the crew were too busy with the sea ponies to notice her.

  “Hey!” Grace tried again. “You’re too close to the rocks. You’re going to crash!”

  Lady Cavendish had taken control of the ship’s wheel, turning it towards the rocks. Her eyes glinted greedily.

  Boom! A terrible crash was followed by an awful scraping noise. The ship shuddered and the crew ran to the side to see what was wrong.

  “Abandon ship!” shrieked Lady Cavendish.

  Her crew ignored her order. Instead they hoisted a larger sail to change the ship’s direction.

  “What are you doing, you fools!” cried Lady Cavendish. “It’s useless! The sea ponies lured
us on to these rocks. That was their plan all along!”

  The ship trembled as its wooden sides scraped against the rocks.

  Treading water, Grace thought quickly. Sophy and Maya were on that boat. There had to be a way to get help. “Sophy! Maya!” she shouted. “Where is your friend, the dragon?”

  The other girls waved back to show they’d heard and understood. Above the noise of the waves, Grace heard them whistle a strange high-pitched melody and she saw a little golden songbird swoop down to the boat.

  Grace watched anxiously. How long would it take for Sophy and Maya’s dragon to get here? Were her new friends in terrible danger? The waves pushed the ship this way and that. As it collided with the rocks it made a terrible grinding sound. A jagged crack started to form along the ship’s side.

  The rainbow pony brushed against Grace’s arm.

  “We have to do something!” Grace told her. “I know the sailors shouldn’t have used that net to catch you but I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” How she wished she had a magical stone so she could speak to the pony properly!

  The rainbow pony looked at Grace closely before diving away to join her friends. A moment later the sea ponies formed a circle and began moving in a graceful pattern. They cantered in and out of each other, keeping close but never touching. Twisting and turning, they almost seemed to stroke the sea with their beautiful flowing tails. The ocean around them started to shimmer as if magic was flowing into the water.

  Grace swam hard to keep her head above the fierce waves. She watched every move of the sea ponies’ dance. She knew the magical creatures wanted to help. She just hoped it wasn’t too late.

  With every nod of their heads and flick of their tails, the sea became quieter and the waves grew smaller. The ship lurched and bumped against the rocks a little more gently. With smooth, graceful movements, the sea ponies went on dancing.

  The twelve sea ponies galloped smoothly through the ocean. Sweeping their tails across the water, they stayed in a perfect ring. A shimmering light spread outwards from their circle and was gently washed away.

  Grace watched, holding her breath. The crew of The Royal Stickleback stopped rushing around the deck to watch too. The waves grew softer, as if the ocean was rocked to sleep by the gentle pattern of the sea ponies’ dance.

  Grace swam back to the ship. She climbed on board, helped by Maya and Sophy, and scrambled on to the deck just in time to hear Lady Cavendish telling off her crew. “What’s the matter with you?” she snapped. “Stop staring at the animals and throw the net at them. They’re all together so they’ll be easy to catch!”

  Some of the men shook their heads and others folded their arms. “No, My Lady,” one of them said. “We can’t do that. These magical creatures have calmed the sea and stopped this ship from smashing against the rocks. We can’t hurt the ponies when they’ve saved our lives.”

  “Nonsense!” Lady Cavendish glared at them. “All that silly bobbing and splashing? I don’t believe it helped at all.”

  The men still refused to have anything to do with catching the sea ponies. Lady Cavendish crossly threw the net herself, but it fell into the sea nowhere near the magical animals.

  The sea ponies danced for a long time and Sophy and her friends watched them in delight. At last, heavy wing beats sounded in the air.

  “Look, it’s Windrunner!” said Sophy, waving happily at her dragon friend.

  The huge storm dragon soared over the ship, leading a flock of smaller sea dragons. Swooping down, he landed in the ocean with a gigantic splash. The little blue sea dragons flew down to the water beside him.

  “Windrunner, you came to help us!” called Sophy.

  The green dragon bowed his huge head and gave a long growl. Lady Cavendish gave a stifled shriek and tried to hide behind the mast of her ship.

  “He’s saying that Marella the sky unicorn was too far away to come back this time,” Maya explained to Grace. “And he says that he and the sea dragons will carry everyone back to the safety of the beach.”

  The rainbow pony swam up to Windrunner and let out a stream of neighs and whinnies.

  Sophy gasped.

  “What is it?” asked Grace eagerly.

  Sophy’s blue eyes shone. “The sea ponies want to give you, me and Maya a ride all the way to the Island of Ixus as a thank-you for helping them escape from the net. They say it’s a special honour as no human has ever visited the island before!”

  Grace’s heart skipped a beat. “We get to ride on the sea ponies all the way to Ixus? That’s the most awesome thing ever!”

  “Thank you, we’d love to!” Maya called down to the ponies swimming in the turquoise water.

  Grace waved at the sea ponies to show her thanks too. Secretly she wished she could have heard their invitation herself. If only she could understand them like the others!

  “You’d better tell Lady Cavendish and the men what’s happening,” Maya said to Grace. “You’re from Cala Sands and they’ll probably listen to you.”

  “You’re right!” Grace turned quickly to speak to the crew. “Listen, everyone! There’s a big crack in the side of your ship so it’s too dangerous to try to sail back to the harbour. But don’t worry! The dragons have offered to take you back to land. They’ll carry you there safely.”

  One of the sea dragons took flight and hovered by the side of the ship. The men glanced worriedly from the girls to the dragon.

  “Go on!” said Grace impatiently. “It’s the only way you can get back to Cala Sands.”

  Hesitantly, one of the men climbed on to the dragon’s back and the creature flew off in the direction of land. One by one, the sea dragons hovered beside the ship and the men clambered on to their backs. At last all the crew had flown away. The only grown-up left on board was Lady Cavendish and the only dragon in the sea was Windrunner.

  “This is absolutely unthinkable!” Lady Cavendish folded her arms, her face as white as sea foam. “You cannot make me ride that monster. It’s not normal! I refuse! Sir Fitzroy would never permit it!”

  Windrunner rose into the air and hovered by the side of the ship so that she could climb on.

  “There really isn’t any other way back to land,” said Maya.

  “And Sir Fitzroy isn’t here,” added Sophy. “Not that he’d be able to do anything even if he was!”

  “Help! There’s a monster in the air!” cried Lady Cavendish, losing all composure.

  “I don’t think you should call the magical animal that’s saving you a monster,” said Grace. “It isn’t very nice.”

  Lady Cavendish still refused to climb on to the dragon’s back, so Windrunner swooped over the deck and seized her shoulders in his large claws. Then he lifted her from the ship and soared into the sky. Lady Cavendish squealed as they disappeared across the sea, her legs kicking in mid-air.

  “Most people don’t get a chance to fly,” said Grace. “She really ought to be more grateful.”

  The sea ponies had been waiting patiently. Now they began whinnying to get the girls’ attention.

  “Are they saying it’s time to go?” asked Grace.

  “Yes, they can’t wait to show us their island,” said Maya.

  “I can’t wait to see it!” added Sophy. “After being awake all night I thought I’d feel tired but I’m just too excited!”

  Grace dived into the calm blue sea. Bubbles streamed upwards as she swam to the surface.

  “Jump in!” she called to the others. “Your dresses will get wet but they’ll dry quickly in the sun later.”

  “OK, watch out!” Sophy jumped in, making a big splash.

  Maya leapt in too. The girls came to the surface, laughing and splashing. The sea ponies swam round them, flicking water into the air with their noses.

  Sophy laughed and flicked water back at them. Then she clapped as they swished their tails and leapt out of the water right in front of her.

  Maya made friends with a small sea pony. He nuzzled her hand and she stroked his sm
ooth coat. “That was brilliant – the way you danced to make the waves calm,” she said. “I’ve loved watching you all.”

  Grace found the rainbow sea pony at her side. “Hello, friend!”

  The pony whickered and swam round and round her in excitement. Grace laughed. “Today has already been pretty amazing and I feel like the adventure’s only just beginning!”

  The pony gave a little jump and nudged Grace with her nose. Grace climbed on to her smooth white back, ready for the magical journey to the Island of Ixus.

  Grace rode across the water on the back of her rainbow sea pony. “Sophy! Maya! This is so much fun!”

  Two sea ponies offered rides to the other girls. Sophy climbed on her pony’s back eagerly.

  Maya bit her lip. “How fast do you think they go? I don’t want to fall off!”

  “Just remember to hold on with your legs as well as your arms,” said Grace. “Come on, Maya! You’ve flown on a sky unicorn. It’s just the same!”

  “It’s not exactly the same!” said Maya, smiling a little.

  The sea ponies neighed to each other as they galloped through the water.

  At first, Grace concentrated on keeping her balance. The ocean breeze swept through her curly black hair. The broken ship disappeared behind them and for a while there was nothing but miles and miles of turquoise ocean speckled with little white waves. The sea ponies sped up and the ones leading the way made little leaps into the air.

  Grace gazed at a patch of shimmering water in the distance. It grew larger and larger until she realised it wasn’t water at all – it was the Island of Ixus. She caught her breath. Ever since she was little, she’d heard tales about the island and the magical creatures that lived there. Now she finally had the chance to see it for herself!

  The closer they got, the faster Grace’s heart raced. She could see towering hills with sapphire waterfalls sweeping down them. A lush rainforest lay beyond the bright golden beach. The shimmering water around the island was filled with fish in every colour of the rainbow.