The Skeleton Horse

by Maya Grace

  “So this is where you can hide your books, Ella,” said Gran. “And anything else that you kids want to be sure stays safe.”

  For just a moment, Ella wanted to climb into the chest herself. And close the lid. And stay in there forever—or at least until Gran, Rowan, and Jack returned to say that they’d beaten the undead mobs. That the Overworld had been set right again.

  But instead, she closed the lid with a creak. “I’ll get my books,” she said, climbing back into the dark tunnel before anyone could see the worry clouding her eyes.

  CHAPTER 3

  “I can’t see!” Ella squinted into the darkness, trying to keep up with Rowan’s glittery armor as she led the way across the dark field.

  “Jack, give her more potion,” called Gran from behind.

  When Ella stopped, Jack bumped right into her, his armor clanking. But as Ella took a swig of the ­carrot-flavored potion of night vision, she was grateful to Jack. Without him, she’d be blind as a bat in this darkness. Gran was saving the torches for later, when they would hopefully find shelter and try to sleep.

  As Jack crouched down to return the bottle to his backpack, Ella’s heart squeezed. He looked tiny in his oversized armor. Ella had enchanted the armor with Unbreaking, but would it be enough to protect him?

  She shook her head, trying to shake off the worry. Jack had proven that he could take care of himself. He had journeyed alone to the jungle to find his ocelot, and he had survived—thanks to his potions. He’ll survive this, too, Ella assured herself. But she started walking slower, making sure Jack could keep up.

  As the potion took effect, Ella’s eyes adjusted. Now she could see Rowan clear as day up ahead, her diamond chestplate twinkling in the moonlight. Rowan held her horse saddle out in front of her like a shield, and kept her ears trained for the whinny of the horse she hoped to tame.

  Instead, they heard the low groan of a zombie—and a few grunts. Wherever the zombie had spawned, it was not alone. “Where are they?” As Ella swung her head side to side, Taiga growled at her feet.

  “Shh,” said Gran in a steady voice. “We can outrun zombies. Don’t fight unless you have to.”

  Rowan whirled around. “Wait, what? I thought that was our goal—to kill hostile mobs. Isn’t that why we’re out here?”

  “We’re out here to build an army,” said Gran firmly, “so that we don’t have to fight alone. The sun will take care of the zombies—as long as we still have a sliver of sunlight each day. So save your potions and your weapons. Steer clear of the zombies, and stay calm.”

  Stay calm? How? Ella quickened her pace—and up ahead, Rowan did, too.

  “Good girl,” Jack crooned into the darkness.

  For just a moment, Ella wondered if he was talking to her. Then she remembered the ocelot that was trailing Jack.

  “Ocelots keep creepers away, right, Gran?” he asked.

  “That’s right,” said Gran. “Lucky is going to be our good-luck charm.”

  Suddenly, Rowan stopped walking and dropped her gaze toward the ground. “Do ocelots keep Endermen away, too?” she whispered.

  Ella looked up—just long enough to catch the purple eyes glowing from a few yards away.

  “Don’t look!” Gran warned. “Ignore him, and he’ll ignore us.”

  Ella forced her legs to keep moving and her eyes to look down instead of up. But her heart thudded in her ears. “Stay calm,” she whispered to Taiga. “We’re not going to fight unless we have to.”

  Taiga whined, but he did as he was told.

  “Good boy,” she whispered.

  Finally, they’d made it over the hilltop—and the Enderman hadn’t teleported toward them. Ella blew out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding, just as thunder rumbled overhead.

  “No!” Rowan cried. “Not a storm. Not now!”

  Gran caught up with her. “The rain will take care of the Endermen,” she said. “And we’ll find shelter soon.”

  “But my horse!” Rowan cried.

  “Your horse will wait for you,” said Gran, reaching for Rowan’s arm. “It’s time to look for shelter.”

  Jack spotted the farm first, which made Ella wonder if he’d been sneaking extra potion of night vision. The farm had been abandoned for a while—Ella could tell by the dried-up crops in the fields, the broken fence line, and the burned-out structure that had once been a house. What had happened to the farmer? Ella tried not to think about that as she followed Rowan toward the barn.

  “Wait!” called Gran. “Watch for mobs inside.”

  That’s when a crack of lightning lit up the sky, and the clouds opened up. As rain poured down, Rowan didn’t wait—she pushed open the barn door. And then screamed.

  Ella heard the thwack of Rowan’s bow and then a grunt. By the time Ella made it inside, Rowan had dropped the zombie with a single arrow. She was standing over the mob, looking victorious.

  “Well done, Rowan,” said Gran as she stepped into the darkness of the barn. “Did the zombie drop anything?”

  Rowan studied the ground and wrinkled her nose. “Carrots and potatoes.”

  “Gather them up, girls,” said Gran. “You never know when our food supply might run low.”

  As Ella stepped over a steamy mound of rotten flesh, her stomach turned. She gathered a few potatoes, still warm to the touch, and put them in Gran’s canvas sack.

  As thunder rumbled overhead and raindrops beat against the roof of the barn, Gran lit a torch. Soon, hay bales were arranged like beds. With Taiga beside her, Ella could almost close her eyes and imagine that she was back home in Gran’s mansion. Almost.

  But when a crack of lightning hit the ground nearby, she sprang off the hay. Taiga did, too.

  “Did it hit the barn?” asked Rowan.

  Gran was already running toward the barn door. “Let’s hope not,” she said. “We don’t need any more fires.” She pushed it open, just a little, to check the ground outside.

  That’s when Taiga tore through the gap and disappeared into the darkness.

  CHAPTER 4

  Ella didn’t think—she just ran. Out of the barn. Into the darkness. Into the storm.

  The potion of night vision had worn off long ago, and she could see nothing—except for a blinding beacon up ahead. She stumbled toward it, ignoring Gran’s calls to come back.

  “Taiga!” Ella cried. She listened for his bark, but heard nothing.

  As she fumbled toward the blue beacon, she suddenly realized that it was moving. Toward her. And that it wasn’t a beacon at all.

  The barn hadn’t been struck by lightning. A creeper had! And the super-charged creeper was about to blow.

  Ella whirled around to race back toward the barn. But I can’t! she realized. I’ll lead the creeper right back to my family!

  Instead, she raced past him, giving the creeper a wide berth. And then Taiga was at her heels, barking and snapping at the creeper.

  “No!” Ella cried. “Don’t get too close to it!”

  She felt the explosion before she heard it. The hairs on her arms stood straight up, and then her body lifted off the ground—as if an ocean wave had reached onshore and swept her off her feet.

  BOOM!!!

  Her ears rang with the sound. Then she was falling. And the world went silent.

  * * *

  “Ella!”

  Gran was tapping her cheek.

  As Ella sat up on the hay bale, every muscle in her body ached. Then she remembered. “Taiga!”

  “He’s safe,” said Jack. “See?”

  Loyal Taiga was right there beside Ella. As he lunged forward to lick her face, Ella squeezed her eyes tight with relief.

  “You’re safe, too,” Gran said soothingly. “Somehow.”

  Even Rowan looked impressed. “You didn’t have a diamond chestplate,” she said, stroking her own armor. “How are you not hurt?”

  Ella wiggled her fingers and then her toes. “Enchanted armor,” she said. Her face spread into a smile. “Enchanted
with Protection.” Then she glanced down at her feet. “And boots enchanted with Feather Falling.”

  “You really fell,” said Jack, his eyes wide. “But wait, why didn’t Lucky keep the creeper away?”

  “Maybe she did,” said Gran, squeezing his shoulder. “Lucky probably kept that creeper out of the barn. And Ella led it away from us.” Gran’s smile was full of gratitude—and something else. Pride.

  Gran is proud of me, Ella realized. Her throat suddenly felt tight.

  When Gran said they should try to get some rest, Ella scooted sideways so that Jack could sit next to her. She tried to think of happy things, like being back in the warm kitchen of the mansion, with Gran making applesauce and singing along to the jukebox.

  But while Jack drifted off into a peaceful slumber, Ella lay awake, staring up at the shadowy rafters of the barn.

  * * *

  “You know what’s even more cool than a super-charged creeper?” Jack asked.

  Now that the rain had stopped, they were walking again, but Jack wouldn’t stop talking about what had happened the night before.

  “What’s even more cool?” asked Ella, taking his bait.

  “Skeleton horses,” Jack announced. “When lightning strikes a skeleton horse, it can spawn skeleton horsemen—like three or four of them.”

  “What’s cool about that?” Ella asked. She’d seen spider jockeys before, skeletons that ride spiders. Somehow, the idea of a skeleton riding a skeleton horse seemed even spookier.

  “Actually,” said Gran, “skeleton horses are incredibly fast—most of them are faster than minecarts. If we had skeleton horses, we could cross the Overworld much more quickly.”

  Rowan’s eyes lit up, but Ella shook her head. No thanks, she thought. Taming a regular horse was scary enough, even with her enchanted boots.

  Then she saw something—a column of smoke rising over the hill. “Is that a barn on fire?”

  Rowan squinted into the darkness. “How could anything be on fire during a rainstorm?” she said.

  As they crested the hill, they could smell the smoke.

  “There was a fire,” Gran said solemnly. “Most likely many small fires. The storm put them out.”

  Now Ella could see more clearly. “That’s not a barn,” she cried. “That’s a village!”

  Gran nodded. “Indeed.” But she didn’t show any signs of heading downhill toward the village.

  “Should we help them?” Ella asked, imagining all the villager children who had just lost their homes.

  Gran hesitated, then shook her head. “It’s too late. And remember, Ella—you can’t help someone who believes you’re the enemy.”

  A memory flooded Ella’s mind: Gran being thrown into jail by villagers who believed she was a witch, just because Gran could communicate with animals. And it had happened before. Villagers had turned against Ella’s own parents during the last Uprising.

  It could happen again, Ella knew. To us—Rowan, Jack, and me—because we talk with animals, too. She reached down to give Taiga a squeeze.

  “How did the fires start?” Jack asked. His eyes were so wide now, Ella could nearly see the burned-out village reflected inside.

  “Probably a zombie siege,” said Rowan as she tightened her grip on her bow. “Zombies pour into a village, burst into flames at daybreak, and then burn down the whole village with them. Right, Gran?”

  Gran didn’t have to nod. Ella could tell by the expression on her face that Rowan had gotten it right. So where were the villagers now? Had they burned in their own homes? Or had they been driven out into the night, where mobs had destroyed them?

  Ella scanned the hillsides, wondering if any villagers had survived—hoping that some had survived.

  Then she heard the whinny of a horse.

  CHAPTER 5

  “Rowan!” Ella raced after her cousin into the darkness, but her armor weighed her down.

  Rowan had run through a thin patch of trees. Ella followed, dodging branches and ducking under limbs. When she finally broke through into a clearing, she stopped with a jolt.

  Brave, red-headed Rowan stood in the clearing—in the middle of a herd of horses.

  Taiga whined, circling Ella’s feet.

  “No!” Ella whispered. “Stay here. Those horses are wild.”

  None of the horses had saddles. None had bridles or ropes. Ella could see the whites of their eyes and practically smell their fear. As Rowan made her way through the herd, the horses whinnied and sidestepped away from her.

  Except for one.

  The cocoa-brown bay studied Rowan just as intently as she studied him. When she took a step closer and held out her hand, the horse nickered and shook his mane.

  “It’s okay,” Rowan said soothingly. “Remember me? I’ve been waiting for you for so long now.”

  Is this Rowan’s horse? Ella wondered. She watched as Rowan stepped closer. She reached up to stroke the horse’s neck, which gleamed in the moonlight. He snorted, blowing out a hot breath of air.

  But when Rowan stepped closer still, he lowered his head toward hers. He smelled her hair. And then he sighed, as if giving in.

  Rowan pulled the horse’s head gently downward, into a hug. Then, smooth as can be, she tied a lead rope around his neck.

  “Ella!” Gran’s voice broke the magic of the moment. “Get the saddle!” Gran pointed toward Rowan’s saddle, which sat at the edge of the clearing.

  “Me?” Ella’s voice rang out so sharply, every horse in the clearing turned to stare. One stomped the ground, as if warning her to stay away. How could Ella carry a saddle through a herd of wild horses?

  “Rowan needs it!” Gran explained. “To tame the horse.”

  But Ella’s feet felt rooted to the earth. So Gran did it herself. She lifted the saddle and carried it toward the horses. Was she whispering something to them? Ella strained to hear. Whatever Gran was saying worked—the horses stepped away, clearing a path for her.

  As Gran handed Rowan the saddle, she took the lead rope from Rowan to hold the horse still. Then Rowan ever so slowly raised the saddle onto his back. She tightened the saddle and then reached for the horn.

  As Rowan pulled herself onto the horse’s back, Gran darted safely aside—and Ella sucked in her breath. She felt Jack’s hand slide into hers and heard twigs snapping overhead. His ocelot was up there in the branches, watching too.

  Instantly, Rowan’s horse reared. But she hung on tight. “It’s okay,” she told him. “It’s all right. You know me, remember?”

  The horse settled down into a trot, carving a wide circle around the clearing. He bucked only once more. By the time Rowan had ridden him all the way around, back toward Jack and Ella, the horse was hers—Ella could tell.

  “You did it!” Ella cried.

  “I did it.” Rowan wrapped her arms around her horse’s neck and squeezed tightly.

  “What’s his name?” asked Jack.

  Rowan smiled. “Victory,” she said, as if it were the sweetest word she knew. “Because that’s what he’s going to bring us. Victory is going to lead the way.”

  Victory nickered in agreement.

  Rowan stroked his mane lovingly and gave his neck a pat. Then she sat up straight. “Your turn to tame a horse,” she announced.

  When Ella realized her cousin was staring at her, her stomach dropped. “I can’t,” she said.

  “You can,” said Rowan. “Watch Gran.”

  Ella swiveled just in time to see Gran throw a lead rope around the neck of a chestnut-colored horse. She made it look so easy! But Gran doesn’t have a saddle, Ella realized. Can she tame the horse without one?

  Ella watched in amazement as Gran led the horse toward a tree stump. She stepped up onto the stump and then quick as a flash, mounted the horse—bareback.

  The chestnut horse reared, trying to toss Gran off. It bucked wildly, trying to shake her off its rear.

  “It’s going to hurt Gran!” cried Jack.

  Taiga whined and panted, willing E
lla to let him go help their grandmother.

  “No!” Ella cried. “The horse will trample you!” But would it trample Gran, too?

  Again and again the chestnut horse bucked. But Gran hung on. Finally, the horse quieted down. Ella saw the moment when it relaxed its muscles, sighed, and lowered its head. Yes!

  Gran slid off its back and led the horse toward Jack and Ella. Gran was still breathing heavily, and her forehead glistened with sweat. But her grey eyes shone bright. “Do you want to ride her?” she asked Ella. “Or will you tame your own?”

  Ella knew what Gran wanted her to say. Yes, I’ll tame one! Of course I will! But as her gaze drifted back to those wild horses, fear bucked in her chest.

  Gran must have noticed. Was that a flicker of disappointment in her eyes? She held the rope toward Ella. “The mare will be tough to control without a saddle,” said Gran. “We’ll need to find one soon. But until then, I think she’ll follow Rowan’s horse wherever we go.”

  The chestnut mare was already straining at the rope, eager to follow Victory.

  Ella reached for the rope, grateful that she wouldn’t have to tame a horse of her own. But as something whizzed overhead, the horse reared, ripping the rope from Ella’s hands.

  Gran ran for the horse. Jack let loose a shriek. And Ella turned to see a spider jockey stepping out of the woods.

  The spider’s eyes glowed red, and the skeleton on its back had raised its bow again.

  And pointed its sharp-tipped arrow.

  Directly at Ella.

  CHAPTER 6

  “Climb on!”

  As Victory galloped out of the darkness, Rowan swooped down from the saddle and offered Ella her hand.

  Without thinking, Ella grabbed it. She grasped the saddle with her other hand and scrambled onto Victory’s back, just as a barrage of arrows flew overhead.

  “More spider jockeys!” cried Gran. She had already pulled Jack up to safety on her chestnut mare.

  But what about Taiga? Ella’s heart clutched with fear. Could the wolf keep up—without getting hit by a skeleton arrow?