Chapter Three
ELLIE LAY ON THE SOFA in the trailer, stroking Pip and listening to her iPod as her uncle drove home after the show. Barney had gone well in his class and been placed second, but Ellie’s joy had been slightly dimmed by the fact that, straight afterwards, a man had approached Len to discuss buying Barney for his daughter.
A deal hadn’t been finalized, but the man had made a generous offer and had arranged to visit the yard to try Barney out in a few days’ time. Ellie knew that buying and selling was part of her uncle’s business, but it was the first time that a pony she’d grown attached to at the yard might be sold.
She tried not to think about it, reminding herself of the new mare who was now in the back with the others. If horses and ponies weren’t sold, then new horses like Lexi couldn’t be bought. And maybe it would be best for Barney anyway—she knew he was the type of pony that needed to feel he had one special person who loved him, and she was so busy she didn’t have time to give him all the attention he needed now Joe had gone. He might be happier in a new home.
She glanced at the other end of the sofa where Sasha was giggling and teasing as she chatted to her boyfriend, Rob, on her cell phone. Luke had gone ahead of them on his motorcycle. Sasha shrieked with laughter and Ellie shut her eyes and lay back, turning the volume up, her thoughts turning to Joe. It was at times like this that she missed him most. If he’d been there they would have been chatting about the show or the music they were listening to, or talking about the ponies and what he’d been reading about horses in his books. Ellie thought of his smiling greeny-gray eyes and tousled sandy-brown hair. He was her best friend. For a while she had wanted them to be more than friends, but Joe had felt there were too many problems because they were cousins. Ellie realized now that it had probably been the right choice, but she did miss having Joe there as a friend to share things with. I’ll email him when I get back, she thought wistfully. See how he’s doing.
At least she still had Spirit. She smiled as she pictured the gray horse, his ears pricked, his dark eyes full of love. She would see him soon. Happiness rose up inside her at the thought.
It was early evening when they returned. The tops of the mountains rose up behind High Peak Stables, their green slopes dotted with black-faced sheep, the sun sinking down towards them. Creamy heads of cow parsley edged the grass verges at the side of the car park, nodding in the gentle breeze. Ellie stretched after the drive. It had been a long day, but thankfully the show hadn’t been too far from home. Inside the horsebox one of the horses stamped a hoof impatiently. Stuart and Helen, the two other grooms, came down from the yard to help as Len lowered the ramp. The new horse was nearest the exit. She saw Ellie and whinnied.
“So this is the new one?” said Stuart. He was an ex-jockey and had been working as Len’s yard manager for the last ten years. Helen was his girlfriend. Len had rung him from the show to tell him to prepare a stable for the mare.
Len nodded. “Should be a good working hunter if we can get her sorted out. She’s a looker all right.”
“I’ll take her in,” offered Ellie. “She’s called Lexi,” she said to Stuart and Helen, knowing her uncle wouldn’t be bothered with things like the horse’s name.
“Stick her in the barn next to Solo,” instructed Len.
Ellie nodded. Even just leading Lexi down the ramp she could feel an unhappy, anxious energy around the mare and she was longing for a chance to work with her. As she put her into the stall in the barn, the mare pushed against her as if asking her to help. “I’ll come back as soon as it’s quiet,” Ellie promised. It would mean putting off seeing Spirit, but she knew that he’d want her to help Lexi.
Hurrying back to the car park, she helped unload the rest of the horses and ponies. As she led Gem into the pony barn, with Pip dancing around her feet, there was a shrill whinny and a tiny chestnut nose poked up over the stall door next to Gem’s. Ellie smiled as Gem reached over the door and touched noses with the chestnut filly inside.
Hope, the little filly, had been orphaned a month ago. For a while it seemed that she wouldn’t survive—she had refused to eat or drink after her mother had died, but Spirit had urged Ellie to talk to her and help heal her. He had also told her to let Gem and the foal go out in the field together. The two horses had instantly bonded and now hated being separated. Ellie watched Gem, whickering like an anxious mother as he snuffled Hope’s pale, sticking-up mane and touched noses with her. Ellie let them have their reunion and then put Gem in the stall next door. “You can go out in the field together tomorrow,” she said as she put on his lightweight stable sheet for the night.
Fastening the bolt on his stable door, she let herself into the filly’s stall. The little foal was capricious and demanding but utterly cute. Ellie adored her. Hope pushed her tiny muzzle against her, eager for attention and love. Ellie rubbed her neck and felt a connection instantly open between them. It was strange with Hope. Whereas most horses had layers of memories and emotions and she often felt overwhelmed by them, the foal had only a few memories and when Ellie connected with her she just felt very intense simple emotions—love, excitement, anger …
Happiness radiated from the foal. Ellie could feel how much she liked being stroked and fussed. She wished she could stay in the stall, but she knew she should go and help with the other horses. Ellie sighed and reluctantly went to the door.
The filly put her ears back and nipped angrily at Ellie’s arm.
“No, Hope!” Ellie chided.
The foal turned her back on her and sulked as if she felt she was being deserted.
Going back on to the yard Ellie found that Carey Moss had just returned from the show with the three intermediates in her horsebox, so there was more unloading and sorting out to be done. At last all the horses were settled for the night. The grooms had left and Len had gone into the house. Luke had apparently been home but had changed and gone straight out again for the evening. Ellie had never met anyone with such energy. He worked hard all day and then went out in the evening, often not returning until after midnight, but he never seemed tired or bad-tempered in the morning and was always on the yard at 7 a.m., joking and striding about, letting Len’s ill humor slide off him.
Ellie headed to Lexi’s stall. There were two barns at High Peak Stables, one for the ponies and one for the youngsters and liveries, as well as a courtyard with ten stables around it, a wash-stall, tackroom, rug store and feedroom. Len demanded neatness and everything was perfectly ordered and tidy. Leather headcollars hung outside each stable, leadropes clipped on and neatly coiled. Brooms and shovels were stacked against walls. Rugs were folded. Flower baskets hung from metal hooks, the bright summer blooms pruned and watered.
Lexi was pacing around in her stall, looking agitated. Catching sight of Ellie, she snorted.
“Shh. It’s OK,” Ellie said soothingly as she let herself into the stable. Lexi came to her and pushed her head against her.
Ellie breathed in and out, focusing on the mare. She felt the connection open between them, like a door swinging back and she saw the same memory she’d seen before—the mare taking a cross-country jump, catching her front legs, somersaulting over, crashing down, the rider thrown clear. She felt a stabbing pain around her ears, the mare’s pain becoming her own just as it had done earlier.
I tried to tell them how much it hurt, Lexi’s thoughts came to her. Ellie saw images of her shaking her head and felt the longing for understanding, the desire for someone to listen. She saw the bridle being put on, yanked down when Lexi threw her head up. Help me.
Of course, Ellie promised her. Now you’re here you’ll be OK. We’ll make you better and when you’re ready to be ridden again, I’ll make sure you’re ridden gently.
She felt Lexi’s gratitude and touched the mare’s forehead. She concentrated on letting healing energy flow through her fingers. She knew she wouldn’t be able to cure the physical pain completely, but she would try to ease it and get her uncle to call the vet th
e next day. Lexi’s eyelids fluttered. Ellie worked her way around Lexi’s body, touching the mare at different points, feeling the energy vibrating under her fingers, smoothing it, waiting to feel the energy flowing normally before moving on to the next spot. Finally, she reached Lexi’s head again. The horse sighed deeply and Ellie felt a new sense of peace in her. The pain was still there, but it had lessened and, more importantly, Lexi now felt that someone understood.
Thank you for letting me help you, Ellie told the horse.
Stepping back, she felt the connection between them close and she let herself out of the stable. She felt tired and energized at the same time. Talking to horses, healing them, took a lot of effort and concentration but left her feeling elated and she loved it. As she passed the other horses in their stalls, she stopped to pat each one. Those she had worked with before came to their doors eagerly. She stroked them, then finally left the barn and headed up to the fields.
Ten minutes later, Ellie was standing beside Spirit. The sun had set and the night was closing in. The woods that edged on to his field were dark with shadows. Wrapping her arms around his solid neck, Ellie felt a rush of emotions, happiness and sadness combined. Sadness that he would never be on the yard, like a normal horse again, a horse she could just open a stable door and see. Happiness that he was there and she could still talk to him and touch him. If she went to his grave to talk to him in the day, he would stay invisible although she could sense his presence and hear his voice, but when it was dark and no one could see them from the yard, he would appear to her, solid and warm, looking just as he had when he was alive only healthier and stronger. Things haven’t really changed, she told herself. I just have to come out here to see him in the evenings. He’s still mine and we can still be together. The more she told herself that, the more she believed it.
Shutting her eyes, she now rested her forehead against his neck.
You’re tired. She heard Spirit’s concerned voice in her mind.
She nodded. It’s been a long day.
Let’s go into the woods. I want to hear about it.
Ellie vaulted on to his back. Wrapping her hands in his mane, she felt her tiredness drain away and a new energy fill her.
The stone wall was ahead of them. Spirit broke into a trot and then a canter. Ellie felt his muscles gather and he lifted into the air. He cleared the wall easily before landing on the soft ground on the other side. She smiled as they slowed to a walk and started to wind their way through the trees. Ellie breathed in the scent of leaf mold as Spirit picked his way around the tree roots, branches cracking under his hooves.
So, what happened today?
Ellie told him all about the show—about the classes, about Luke, about Lexi. She felt Spirit’s approval as she explained how she’d been to the mare that evening, talked to her and given her as much healing as she could.
You have a gift. She will feel much better.
I wish I could have made you better, Ellie thought.
Some damage can’t be healed, Spirit replied softly. You know that. And you did make me feel better. The end was better because you were there.
Ellie felt tears sting her eyes. She didn’t want to remember that time. It had been so black.
I’m glad you came back to me and we’re together still, she said. That nothing’s really changed.
Spirit snorted in agreement.
Where … where would you have gone? Ellie asked curiously a few moments later.
Spirit sent a picture to her mind of him standing on a beach in front of a rippling silver sea. On the far side was a distant land. He was staring towards it and she could feel the pull across the water, but as she watched him standing there, he turned and walked back towards her.
Ellie’s fingers played in his soft mane. She could feel the contentment coming from him that he was here with her now. But did he wish he’d gone to that land? Did—
Walk in the present. Spirit’s voice gently interrupted her thoughts.
Ellie sighed. He was right. He’d taught her once before that horses walk in the present, not worrying about the future or clinging to the past. It was a good way to be. She was here with him now. That was all that mattered. They carried on happily through the trees as the shadows darkened and the night birds started to call.
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About the Author
Linda Chapman grew up dreaming of being a writer and of riding in the Olympics. At least one of those came true. She has now written more than two hundred books including three very popular series: My Secret Unicorn, Stardust, and Not Quite a Mermaid. Although Chapman’s dreams of riding in the Olympics have been shelved (for now), she gives free rein to her horsey obsession by writing about horses whenever she is not writing about mermaids, fairies, or other magical creatures. She lives in Leicestershire, England, with her husband, three children, two dogs, and two ponies.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 by Linda Chapman
Cover design by Angela Goddard
978-1-4976-4254-6
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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Hopes Page 13
