Opal Dreaming

by Karen Wood

  DIAMOND SPIRIT

  A man Jess had never seen before stood holding

  the flyscreen door open.

  ‘Do you own an Appaloosa pony?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘It’s stuck in the cattle grid down near the old drovers’ yards.’

  Jess’s blood ran cold.

  At the start of the summer holidays, the unthinkable happens when Jess’s beloved pony Diamond has a terrible accident. Why won’t Shara, Jess’s closest friend, tell her what happened down on the river flats that day? Jess suspects the worst, and feels as though she’s lost not just one best friend, but two.

  But new friends and new horses come into Jess’s life, along with the chance to compete in the Longwood campdraft. And there’s one little filly who needs her help . . . Can Walkabout heal Jess’s broken heart in return?

  MOONSTONE PROMISE

  Jess untied something from around her neck and held it

  out to Luke. ‘Take my moonstone. They’re supposed to give

  you beautiful dreams.’

  It was a pale oval-shaped stone, hung on a thin leather strap.

  ‘Promise me you’ll come back,’ she whispered.

  ‘I’ll see you again, Jess,’ Luke said. ‘Promise.’

  After a harsh childhood spent in foster care, Luke finally feels at home on Harry’s farm, working with horses. When Harry dies, and Luke has a bitter falling-out with the people around him, he does a runner, leaving everything behind. He takes off to the gulf country in search of brumbies and finds himself camped by a river with three Aboriginal elders.

  Can a mob of wild brumbies and three wise men help Luke discover who he is and where he belongs?