by Stacy Gregg
Destiny had been waiting, watching them and deciding what he would do next. Now, as Issie and Mystic got closer, the black horse began to run. Destiny had a bigger stride than Mystic. He should have been able to outrun the little grey gelding. But Mystic had the element of surprise on his side. The little pony had already gathered speed and was now in full gallop. He had gained too much ground for the stallion to get away from him that easily. Mystic swiftly caught up to the big, black horse. Issie could feel him grunting and heaving with the effort of keeping pace with the stallion. The two horses were racing now, and Mystic was giving his all to stay neck-and-neck alongside Destiny.
Galloping hard, Mystic moved closer and closer to the black stallion. When the horses were matching each other stride for stride, Issie, who had been leaning low over Mystic’s neck, suddenly sat up straight. She untangled her hands from Mystic’s mane and then let go so that she was riding with no hands at all, her right arm held outstretched, her left hand tucked into the sling. Only her natural balance now kept her on Mystic’s back.
Issie thought back to that day in the round pen when Aidan had tried to teach her the Flying Angel. She hadn’t been able to do it then. Could she really do it now? There was no round pen out here on the open plains. She was racing at a wild gallop against an unpredictable stallion, and she had an injured arm. Even if she made the leap, would she be able to hang on?
Issie took a deep breath. There was only one way to find out.
“Now, Mystic!” she shouted at the pony. The grey gelding lengthened his stride and got even closer to the black stallion so that the two horses were almost brushing up against one another. Issie looked over at Destiny, then her eyes lowered to the ground below her. She saw the hooves thrashing beneath her and for a moment she felt sick. She couldn’t do this!
Yes, you can, she told herself firmly. Just don’t look down. In fact, don’t look at anything! Issie turned in the saddle to face Destiny. She put out her hands and began the countdown. Ah-one, ah-two, ah-three. She shut her eyes and screwed them tight. Everything went black and she held her breath and took a flying leap.
There was a split second as she left Mystic’s back when she felt absolutely nothing underneath her except for a rush of air and the thunder of hooves dragging her down. Then she felt her right hand grasp the leather of Destiny’s saddle. She opened her eyes and began pulling herself up, dragging herself on to the black horse. Forgetting about the pain in her arm she clung on desperately with both hands, hooking her left foot into the stirrup and swinging her right foot high over the back of the saddle. Her hands hurried to find the reins. There they were! She took them up very gently so she wouldn’t spook Destiny. She wasn’t making that mistake again. Slowly, carefully, she pulled the black stallion to a canter and then slowed to a trot.
It took her moment to realise that she had done it. And then there she was. She was back on Destiny! The black horse was hers again.
Issie steadied the stallion to a halt and looked around. Mystic was nowhere to be seen, but the Blackthorn Ponies were still with her. They had followed Destiny when he ran and now they stood there, all of them with their ears pricked and their expressions alert, watching the black stallion, waiting for him to decide what they would do next.
“Easy, Destiny,” Issie spoke softly to the big, black horse. “We need them to follow us. You have to lead them. Do you think you can do it?”
Did the stallion understand her? Did he know that she was trying to save his herd? Issie didn’t know, but Destiny did seem to listen to her voice this time as she coaxed him on. Issie circled wide around the herd, slowly edging Destiny closer towards them, driving the ponies forward.
Issie was pretty sure they were heading in the right direction. Still, when they rounded the corner and she saw the Coast Road and Preacher’s Cove ahead of them her heart soared. They were almost there! She pushed Destiny on to quicken his pace now, overtaking the herd and sweeping around to the right, driving them down the road towards the sea.
“Not much further, Destiny,” she breathed to the stallion. “We’re almost there…” They were coming up to the brow of the hill that led to Preacher’s Cove. They were going to make it.
As Issie and Destiny reached the hill she could see Avery, Kate, Stella, Dan and Ben all mounted on their horses. The riders were in position, their horses almost hidden by the bushes at the top of the ridge next to the fallen tree. The Blackthorn Ponies didn’t blink at them as they galloped past. They thundered straight down the road, heading towards the green grass and shady trees at the bottom of the hill.
When the ponies were safely past the fallen tree Issie heard the low rumble of an engine starting up and the graunch of gears and crunch of tyres on the gravel road as Aidan reversed the truck down the hill. As Aidan backed the truck up, manoeuvring it deftly into position, Avery rode forward on Paris and waved directions. Aidan kept driving back until the truck was wedged right in between the steep cliff on one side and the fallen tree on the other. The tree and the truck together created a total road block. The cove was completely closed off now. The only way the Blackthorn Ponies could possibly escape was the same route they took last time – by jumping up and over the fallen tree trunk.
“Tom!” Issie shouted to her instructor. “The tree! They can still hurdle it and get out again.”
“Don’t worry. We’re on it!” Dan yelled out as he and Ben quickly helped Aidan lower the back ramp of the horse truck. The two boys ran inside the truck and emerged carrying a large bundle of what looked like a fishing net. As they unwound the tangled heap and stretched it out, Issie realised it was the old net from the tennis court back at Blackthorn Manor.
Moving quickly, Dan, Ben and Aidan strung the net up – using ropes to attach it to the truck at one end and tying it to the tree roots at the other. The net ran all the way across the top of the fallen tree. It was at least a metre high and bordered by two huge green bands. The ponies would see it quite clearly and there was no way that even the cunning Blackthorn Ponies would manage to jump over this obstacle. They were trapped.
“What happened to you?” Avery had noticed Issie’s makeshift sling.
“I’m OK, Tom, honest,” Issie insisted. “I can still ride.”
Avery looked at her uncertainly.
“Please, Tom. I’m fine. And we don’t have time to argue. We still have to get the horses on to the truck.”
“All right then,” Avery conceded. He turned to the others. “We’ll split into two groups. Issie will take Stella and Kate with her down the left-hand side of the cove. I’ll ride down the other side with the boys. We’ll close in on the herd from either direction, driving them back up the hill. With the tree blocked off now they’ll have no choice. They’ll have to go up the ramp and on to the truck.”
Issie nodded at this and set off down the hill at a canter on Destiny, with Stella and Kate close behind her on Blaze and Nicole. They had almost reached the flat, grassy area at the foot of the hill when Destiny let out a shrill, commanding whinny, calling to his herd.
The buckskin mare responded to his call, nickering back in return.
“Issie, they’ll follow Destiny back up the hill. Take the lead and we’ll ride behind you,” Stella called to her.
Issie rode Destiny in a sweeping circle, breezing past the buckskin, and the mare instantly picked up the stallion’s lead and fell into step behind him, with the other ponies in hot pursuit.
“Excellent! They’re following you. Head for the truck!” Avery shouted.
Dust rose up as the ponies cantered back up the dirt road with Issie and Destiny in the lead. At first the noise of the thundering hooves was so loud that Issie didn’t notice the four-wheel-drives pulling up at the brow of the hill behind the horse truck. It wasn’t until she heard the slamming of car doors and saw Cameron and his men grabbing their rifles and manoeuvring into position along the steep banks of the cliff that she realised what was going on.
“Tom!” Issie cried bac
k over her shoulder.
“I see them,” Avery replied. “Don’t worry about it; there’s nothing they can do. Keep going.”
They were just a few metres away from the truck now. Surely the rangers wouldn’t shoot and risk hitting one of the riders? Cameron had no choice. He had to give them a chance to get the horses on to the truck.
Issie looked up at the uniformed men who had clambered over the tennis net and were arranging themselves with their guns on the fallen tree. She could see two more rangers climbing up the steep banks to the right, hanging on to tree roots to hoist themselves up with their guns strapped to their backs.
Not much longer now, not much further, Issie thought to herself.
As Issie approached the foot of the ramp she slowed Destiny down to a trot.
“Bring him over here,” Aidan instructed, leaping forward to direct her to the side of the ramp.
The rest of the herd had slowed down too and were boggling nervously at the truck.
“Don’t give them time to think!” Aidan yelled back at the riders. “Get in behind them now and herd them forward.”
“Yee-hah!” There was a cowboy whoop as Ben and Dan rode up on Tornado and Scott, driving the herd forward. The buckskin mare snorted in shock and took a wild leap, cantering up the ramp and into the truck. As she did so, the others followed.
“Keep them moving!” Aidan commanded, bolting the ponies one by one into the partitioned booths in the truck as the boys herded more ponies onboard. Occasionally one would escape their clutches, leaping off the side of the ramp and cantering back down the hill to rejoin the others underneath the trees down by the sea. It was Stella and Kate’s job to drive the stragglers up the hill once more to join the herd moving on to the horse truck.
“How many have we got in so far?” Issie shouted out to Aidan.
“Thirteen!” Aidan yelled back. “Do you think we should raise the ramp now?”
Issie nodded. “I guess so. At least that’s half of them.”
“The rangers are here. We need to move fast,” Aidan said. “If we can round the others up and get them penned maybe we can…”
He was interrupted by the sound of screaming.
“What’s going on down there?” Avery shouted.
Stella, who had been trying to herd the stragglers back up the hill, was underneath the trees at the far end of the cove. She was trying desperately to hang on to Blaze, but the chestnut mare was going crazy. Stella screamed as Blaze reared straight up in the air, throwing her backwards on to the ground.
“Stella!” Issie began to ride towards her. But instead of looking pleased to see her friend, Stella’s face was white with fear as Issie approached.
“Don’t!” Stella squealed. “Issie! Stay back!”
Issie was confused. What was wrong? Why didn’t Stella want her help?
“In the trees!” Stella yelled. “It’s in the trees!”
Issie looked up into the pohutukawa branches above her head. She saw a dark shadow moving, a black blur silhouetted against the blue sky. And then she heard it. The low rumble of the feline growl. So that was what had made Blaze rear!
Issie peered up nervously into the trees above, trying to see where the Grimalkin had gone. She could still hear its growl. She knew it was close.
“Where is it?” Stella said, her eyes flicking nervously over the trees above them. “I don’t see it any more. Where is it?”
A bloodcurdling yowl drew their attention from the trees above, followed by the sickening squeal of a horse.
“Blaze!” Issie screamed. The chestnut mare squealed again and gave an enormous buck as a big, black cat the size of a mountain lion leapt on to her back and sunk its claw into her haunches.
Blaze let out a terrified whinny as she felt the claws sink in. She kicked out desperately, trying to free herself from the predator on her back.
“Blaze!” Issie screamed again. She rode Destiny towards the mare. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she did know that she had to try and save her horse.
She had almost reached Blaze when Aidan overtook her on Diablo. “I’ll get her. You stay back!” he shouted at Issie as he rode straight at Blaze.
When he reached her he tried to grab the mare by the reins. But Blaze was terrified and bucking like a bronco to get the cat off her back.
With one huge final buck Blaze managed to throw the big cat loose. The Grimalkin turned immediately to new prey, his eyes on Aidan and Diablo. It drew back its lips in a deep, grumbling snarl, revealing a set of long, white fangs.
“Issie, get Stella and Blaze out of here!” Aidan yelled.
“But, Aidan…”
“Do it!” Aidan commanded.
Issie jumped down off Destiny and rushed forward. She had just enough time to pull Stella to her feet before the Grimalkin leapt to attack again. This time the black cat threw itself through the air at Diablo, its gleaming white teeth were bared as it lunged at the horse’s neck.
Diablo went up in a half rear to meet the big cat and just and he did so Issie heard the gun fire. Two shots rang out one after the other, echoing through the cove. Issie turned to see Ranger Cameron perched up on the hill behind them. His face was white with shock. The rifle was raised in his hands.
“Blaze?” Issie yelled, utterly terrified. She ran forward. Where was her horse? In the darkness underneath the trees she could see the body of a horse lying on the ground and as she got closer she felt an icy chill run up her spine.
It was just like her dream. Her heart raced as she reached the point where she saw the horse fall. She was shocked to see not one, but two bodies lying deathly still on the ground.
There was the enormous black shape of the Grimalkin sprawled in front of her, lying there with its deadly jaws spread wide in a rictus smile. Next to the Grimalkin, though, was another body. The body of a horse. It was just like her dream – except she could see now that the horse wasn’t Blaze. It was Diablo.
Diablo! Issie ran towards the piebald gelding lying motionless on the ground. She had almost reached the horse’s side when she felt strong hands around her shoulders holding her back.
“No, Issie…” Avery said firmly. “It’s no use. There’s nothing we can do to help him…”
“Tom! Ohmygod! It all happened so fast. I heard the two shots and I thought it was Blaze… and where is Blaze?” Issie was suddenly gripped with panic.
“It’s OK. She’s here and she’s fine. I’ve got her,” Stella called out. “What happened?”
“Cameron shot the Grimalkin – and he shot Diablo too,” Issie called back to her.
Dan and Ben had heard the gunshots and were already off their horses at Issie’s side. They stared at the two dark forms on the ground. Dan nervously prodded the limp body of the black cat. Issie could see a trickle of red blood matted into the black fur on its chest where the bullet had entered. The great cat’s eyes were shut but its mouth lolled open, exposing two rows of white razor-sharp teeth.
A few metres away from the Grimalkin was the body of Diablo. The horse wasn’t moving. Dan gave Diablo a nudge with his foot, but the horse didn’t respond.
“Where’s Aidan?” Issie suddenly panicked. “He was riding Diablo when he was shot. Where is he now?”
“I’m over here,” Aidan called back. He was sitting on the ground under the big pohutukawa tree, looking vacant and dazed.
Issie and Stella ran over to him as Aidan tried to stand up. “I must have been knocked out for a moment,” Aidan said, rubbing the back of his head. He still looked wobbly on his feet. “What happened?”
“Diablo’s been shot,” Issie told him.
“What? But how…”
“Here’s Cameron. He knows what happened,” Issie said.
“Are you all OK?” Cameron gasped for breath. “I was trying to get a clear shot when I fired at the cat, but there were people in the way and…” Cameron stopped in his tracks when he saw Diablo on the ground. “But… I don’t see how… I wasn’t a
iming for the horse. I was aiming for the cat!” he said. There was a look of horror on his face. “I was aiming for the cat…”
Aidan wasn’t listening. He left them standing there and ran over to the horse lying on the ground. His face was ashen as he crouched down beside Diablo and slowly put out his hand to stroke the horse’s neck.
“Aidan, I’m so sorry—” Issie began.
Suddenly Aidan leapt back from the horse and stood up. When he turned around to look at the others he had a massive grin on his face.
“Aidan? What is it?” Issie asked.
Aidan looked down at Diablo. “Well done, boy,” he said. “Very good!” Then he clapped his hands together twice. “Wake up, Diablo!” he commanded.
On his word, Diablo began to stir, shaking out his mane and snorting as if waking from a nap, pushing himself up on his front legs and then rising on all fours to stand there before them, perfectly and absolutely alive.
“I don’t believe it!” Stella was stunned. “You mean he wasn’t shot at all?”
“Nope.” Aidan couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. “He was just performing his favourite trick. He’s been trained to pretend that he’s dead whenever he hears a gun fire. When Cameron’s rifle went off and he fell to the ground you thought he’d been shot, right? But he was just foxing. Weren’t you, Diablo?”
“Ohmygod, Diablo!” Issie laughed. “You crazy horse! You scared us all half to death!”
Issie, Stella and Kate all took turns to hug the big piebald while Aidan stood by, stroking Diablo’s nose and telling him how clever he was for playing dead.
“I know it gave us all the fright of our lives, but it’s exactly what he was trained to do, so I can’t tell him off, can I?” Aidan said, grinning. “I’d better go back to the truck and get him a carrot; he deserves a reward for being such a good, dead horse!”
While Aidan raced back to the truck to get Diablo his treat, Avery went to check Blaze’s wounds and the riders gathered around the body of the Grimalkin.
