Saving Destiny (9781743437285)

by Wood, Karen

  A Trickstars Adventure with Ruby, Lexie and Kit, the fantastic trick-riding triplets

  Ruby’s terrible premonition about Destiny comes true when the colt is taken from them by Chance's original owners. With Chance and Grampy both heartbroken, the Trickstars follow Destiny to the Silver Mountains. But saving Destiny depends on the help of friends in unexpected places.

  Also by Karen Wood

  The Diamond Spirit Series

  Diamond Spirit

  Moonstone Promise

  Opal Dreaming

  Golden Stranger

  Brumby Mountain

  Jumping Fences

  Rain Dance

  Under the Flame Tree

  First published in 2015

  Copyright © Text, Karen Wood 2015

  Copyright © Illustrations, Astred Hicks 2015

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

  Allen & Unwin

  83 Alexander Street

  Crows Nest NSW 2065

  Australia

  Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

  Email: info@allenandunwin.com

  Web: www.allenandunwin.com

  A Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available from the National Library of Australia

  www.trove.nla.gov.au

  ISBN 978 1 74331 908 6

  eISBN 978 1 74343 728 5

  Cover and text design by Astred Hicks, Design Cherry

  Cover and text illustration by Astred Hicks

  Typeset by Astred Hicks, Design Cherry

  www.diamondspirit.net

  Contents

  1 The Warning

  2 Stolen Horses

  3 Journey to the Silver Mountains

  4 The Light in the Night

  5 A Strange Clue

  6 Eavesdropping

  7 The Crystal Ball

  8 The Commissioner’s Stables

  9 The Chosen One

  10 Destiny’s Choice

  Ruby woke with a start. It was cold. She shivered and peered through the gap in the curtains. Outside it was dark and silent. Icy vapour lifted off the frost.

  In the next bed, Kit slept with her arms around a big lump of golden fur, but beyond her, Lexie tossed about and muttered in her sleep. Her sister was having a bad dream. Maybe that was what had woken Ruby. The triplets often felt each other’s dreams.

  Ruby slipped out of bed and tiptoed down the hall. The fire in the lounge room had died to a pile of white ashes with a few red embers glowing underneath. She added some logs and rubbed her hands together to warm them.

  The flames took hold of the new timber and whooshed to life. At the same moment, Ruby heard the scream of a horse. Her mind flashed with a vision of a black colt. It was snared by ropes and struggled wildly against them. ‘Destiny!’

  As quickly as this vision came, it was gone again. Ruby was left staring at the flames that licked around the logs in the fireplace. She touched the golden necklace at her throat. Ever since she had received it as her special ninth birthday gift, it had brought her visions of the future – and it had never been wrong. Now, no matter how the fire warmed the room, Ruby could not shake the chill that ran through her.

  It had been six months since she and her sisters had rescued a neglected white mare from the Silver Plains horse auctions. They had named her Chance. The only clue to her background was the colour of her eyes and the streak of black through her forelock, which told them that Chance was descended from a line of amber-eyed gypsy cobs known for their trickery and smarts. Only weeks later, the mare had given birth to a black colt with a silver mane and tail, and huge feathery feet. Grampy had named him Destiny.

  Ruby pictured Destiny now, dancing around on long legs, snorting and plunging and striking out at the air. He would shake his finely dished face and roll his amber eyes at the girls while they sat on the fence watching. The young colt knew how to put on a show. He loved attention.

  Grampy said he was the most magnificent gypsy cob he had ever seen. Destiny had brought Grampy out of a long sad spell; the two would spend hours playing together, and even the stone fruit harvest had gone well for Grampy this year, with a bumper crop and good prices. Grampy said Destiny had brought good luck.

  The colt was happy and healthy. And most of all, he was loved. So what did the strange vision mean?

  Ruby tiptoed quietly back to her room. In the trickle of moonlight that shone through the half-opened curtains, she took her grandmother’s leather-bound diary from the dresser and held it in her hands. She sat down on her bed and slowly opened the cover.

  A rush of chilly air swirled out and her curly black hair blew around her face. The air was so cold it felt as if it had blown straight off the Silver Mountains, many kilometres away. In her mind, Ruby heard Levinia’s voice.

  Pay attention to your dreams, Ruby. They are sent to warn you.

  Ruby peered outside again. The sky was starting to lighten. But it would be no ordinary day, she could sense it.

  When she stood and slipped into her dressing-gown, she noticed that Kit was missing from her bed. Shoddy the labrador continued snoring, his golden head on her pillow.

  Ruby padded to the kitchen and found her sister sitting at the table sipping a cup of hot chocolate. ‘You can sense it too,’ said Ruby.

  Kit nodded. ‘I dreamed about the colt. He was frightened.’

  ‘I dreamed about him too.’ Lexie appeared in the doorway of the kitchen in her pyjamas. ‘He was cold and lonely.’

  The three girls looked at each other.

  Destiny. Where was he? Was he okay?

  They all rushed to the front door at once. Ruby hopped across the frosty front lawn as she pulled her boots on.

  ‘The gate’s open,’ said Kit, pointing to the paddock where the colt’s mother grazed quietly, shrouded by early morning mist. ‘I can’t see Destiny.’

  ‘He’s probably let himself out again,’ said Lexie. ‘He is so naughty.’

  Destiny had been escaping at every opportunity. He could open locks with his teeth and had walked in the front door on more than one occasion, looking for Grampy.

  ‘I’ll check behind the house,’ Ruby said. ‘You guys check the barn and make sure he hasn’t been stealing hay again.’

  She ran through the rose arbour that dripped with melting frost, past the leafless peach trees that looked like skeletons in the mist. ‘Destiny,’ she called anxiously. ‘Destiny, where are you?’

  She pushed aside the branches of the elm tree and waded through the knee-high grass that never got mown. She checked beneath his favourite apple tree. No sign of him. She ran back to the barn.

  Lexie and Kit stood in the doorway with their arms folded. Ruby could feel their relief.

  ‘Is he okay?’ she said.

  ‘He doesn’t look too cold and lonely,’ Lexie said dryly.

  ‘Or frightened,’ said Kit.

  Ruby laughed. ‘He’s just grabbing an early breakfast,’ she said.

  Destiny had broken three bales of hay and scattered them about the barn.

  ‘What are we going to do with you, Destiny?’ said Ruby.

  ‘Put a padlock on his gate,’ said Lexie.

  ‘Grampy already did that,’ said Ru
by. ‘He just jumped over it.’

  ‘Put him in the stable at night,’ said Lexie.

  ‘He jumped over the stall door too.’

  ‘Tie him up to a tree?’

  ‘He can untie knots with his teeth.’ Ruby took a rope and walked to the colt. But when she tried to put it around his neck he reared up and paddled his legs in the air. Then he skittered away and hid behind the haystack.

  ‘Come here, you naughty horse,’ said Ruby.

  ‘I’ll go and get Grampy,’ said Lexie. ‘He’s the only one who can do anything with him.’

  ‘Then let’s clean up this mess and go and make some pancakes,’ said Kit. ‘I’m starving!’

  Grampy arrived minutes later and led the colt back to the paddock. Destiny jumped and danced beside him. When Grampy let him go, he raced around his mother, whinnying and squealing. Chance swished her tail peacefully and kept eating.

  Ruby gave the mare a pat. ‘You knew where he was all along,’ she smiled, and headed back to the house.

  In the kitchen, Lexie tossed a pancake so high it nearly stuck to the ceiling. ‘Power pancakes,’ she said. ‘I put extra blueberries in them.’

  But no matter how good the pancakes smelled, Ruby couldn’t work up an appetite. Outside the sky was grey and lumpy like cold porridge. It was starting to rain.

  ‘Finish your breakfast and get dressed for school,’ said Analita.

  Grampy looked at his watch. ‘Your mother and I have to take the brussels sprouts to market today. I won’t have time to drive you in.’

  Ruby got dressed and followed Kit and Lexie to the bus stop. She took a last glance back at the horses as the bus took off. They seemed perfectly fine.

  Further ahead, a police car drove towards them. Ruby twisted around as it passed. She saw the car turn into Windara.

  Her heart nearly stopped. What could the police possibly want?

  The bad feeling followed Ruby all day. She was plagued with cold chills and could barely sit still in class.

  ‘Do you need to go to the sick bay?’ Mrs Alamango finally asked.

  ‘I just need to go home,’ said Ruby. ‘Something is wrong. There was a police car.’

  ‘The police talk to citizens all the time,’ Mrs Alamango replied. ‘If there was anything seriously wrong, I’m sure they would have rung the school to let us know.’ She tapped a finger on the maths test in front of Ruby. ‘Only one hour until home-time. Try to get your test done.’

  Ruby looked at her sisters. Lexie stared blankly at her test paper. Kit’s fingers trembled around her pencil. As soon as the bell rang, all three girls sprinted for the bus.

  ‘I wish this bus would go a bit faster,’ said Kit. Sometimes her empathy for animals was so strong she could feel their pain. Right now, she looked very uncomfortable.

  When the bus finally rolled around the corner and Windara came into view, they saw Chance pacing frantically up and down the fence. Her coat was wet with sweat and she had worn a deep track along the fence line. She stopped every few strides and whinnied loudly.

  ‘Where’s Destiny?’ Ruby’s ribs tightened around her heart as panic set in. If the door had not held her back, she’d have leapt from the bus before it even stopped. Finally it hissed open and she sprinted up the driveway.

  Chance cantered along the fence after her.

  ‘Maybe he let himself out again,’ said Lexie, running behind Ruby. ‘He might be raiding the hay again.’

  Ruby ran to the barn to check. The hay bales were undisturbed.

  Chance pawed at the gate. She shook her head impatiently.

  ‘What is it, Chance?’ said Ruby. ‘What happened?’

  The mare pawed harder at the ground. Ruby dropped her eyes and saw tyre marks in the mud. ‘A car was in here?’ Grampy never drove any of the farm vehicles into the horse paddocks. She took a halter from the fence, put it on Chance and opened the gate.

  The mare charged out of the paddock and dragged Ruby off towards the driveway.

  ‘Hey, wait for me!’ She pulled at the mare’s rope. But Chance only went faster, towing Ruby behind her.

  The mare stopped at the road, nickering in a low, confused rumble. She stamped her foot on the ground and then pushed her nose into Ruby’s tummy.

  ‘Destiny wouldn’t go out here,’ said Kit from behind her. ‘He only ever roams around the farm.’

  The girls looked back to the house. Analita had emerged and was walking towards them.

  ‘I thought you were going to the markets with Grampy,’ said Ruby.

  ‘The police took Destiny,’ her mother said in an empty voice. ‘They brought a trailer and they took him away.’

  Inside, Grampy paced about the lounge room. His steel-grey hair stuck up on either side of his head. ‘They said Chance was stolen,’ he said. ‘She had been missing for months. Someone heard about her going through the horse sales and told the police. They eventually followed the paper trail to us.’

  ‘That makes no sense,’ said Ruby. ‘Who’d steal her, only to dump her at the sales?’

  ‘I don’t know, but a Magnifico horse is a handful to anyone but their special person,’ Grampy said. ‘She may have been more trouble than she was worth to them.’

  ‘But who is the true owner?’ asked Ruby. ‘And why did they take Destiny and not Chance?’

  ‘Perhaps the mare is too old; she is no longer valuable to them.’ Grampy became agitated again. ‘Obviously the legal owner is not Chance’s special person, either.’

  Ruby felt a pang of sadness for Chance. Maybe her special person had died or gone away. And now her foal had been taken from her.

  ‘Poor Chance,’ said Kit, as though reading her mind.

  ‘Where have they taken him?’ asked Lexie.

  ‘To the Silver Mountains,’ said Analita, casting her eyes out the window to the west. ‘That’s all the police would tell us.’

  ‘We have to go and find him,’ said Ruby.

  ‘And do what?’ said Grampy. ‘He doesn’t belong to us. He never did.’

  ‘In his heart, he is yours,’ said Kit, turning her special gold bracelet around on her wrist. It helped her sense the horses’ feelings. ‘He’s not happy. I can feel his spirit breaking. And poor Chance is so upset.’

  Grampy gave a long, deep sigh. ‘We can’t go to the Silver Mountains.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘The Hexleys live there. We buried the hatchet, I don’t want to go digging it up again.’

  ‘We’re not scared of the Hexleys,’ Lexie scoffed. She put her hands on her hips and tossed her dark plaited hair with one hand.

  ‘There are other people too.’

  ‘Like who?’ said the three girls together.

  Grampy’s mouth tightened. He didn’t answer.

  ‘Please, Grampy,’ Ruby begged. ‘We have to make sure he is okay.’

  ‘It’s nearly winter solstice,’ said Analita. ‘Maybe the new owners will be at the Silverton street parade.’

  ‘There will be ten thousand people at that street parade,’ said Grampy. ‘Even if the owners were there, we would have little hope of finding them.’

  ‘What street parade?’ asked Ruby.

  ‘The entire town of Silverton is taken over by artists and musicians and performers,’ said Analita. ‘The streets are blocked off to traffic and lined with market stalls. Everyone wears fancy dress. On the Sunday they have a big street parade. It’s all to celebrate the winter solstice.’

  It sounded amazing. Normally Ruby loved street parades. But today she was more interested in finding Destiny. ‘All the local people will be there,’ she said, thoughtfully. ‘Maybe we could ask around.’

  ‘Sometimes local gossip is the best way to find someone,’ said Analita.

  ‘Hang on a minute,’ said Grampy. ‘We’re not going to any street festivals. We have brussels sprouts to pick and broccoli to plant. We have no money to pay for a hotel. Even if we did, they would all be booked out by now.’

  ‘They reserve hote
ls for the parade entrants,’ said Analita. ‘If the girls rode in the parade, we could stay for free.’

  Suddenly three sets of eyes were on Grampy. ‘Can we ride in the parade?’ Ruby asked.

  ‘The shortest day of the year,’ said Grampy, as he looked out the window at the coming rain. ‘It’s in one week. I wonder if it’s too late to enter.’

  Ruby held her breath. Nothing was ever a pushover with Grampy. He could be a very tough nut to crack. But this was Destiny they were talking about; the horse that had made Grampy happy. The horse that had made him dream again. She looked at the empty expression on her grandfather’s face and knew he felt the same as everyone else in the room.

  They had to get Destiny back.

  Days later, Ruby sat between Lexie and Kit in the back seat of Grampy’s truck as it puttered along the highway towards the Silver Mountains. Shoddy lay at their feet, panting softly. In the front of the truck, the radio crackled and the windscreen wipers flipped back and forth. In the back, the four horses travelled quietly.

  Ruby sat in the back seat trying to come up with a Trickstars routine for the street parade.

  She held Grandma Levinia’s diary on her lap and carefully turned over the handwritten notes. There were letters and memoirs, detailed recipes for herbal remedies and loads of instructions for trick riding.

  ‘The event organisers said there were three other horse entries in the parade,’ said Grampy.

  ‘We might see them at the registration yard on Saturday,’ said Analita. ‘All the participants have to sign on before they to go in the parade on Sunday. Perhaps they have heard about Destiny.’

  ‘We could ask around at the market stalls too,’ said Ruby.

  ‘Poor little guy,’ said Kit.

  Silence fell inside the truck and all that could be heard was the broken strains of music coming from the radio. Ruby watched the rain-soaked countryside roll past.

  By afternoon, they had reached the foot of the Silver Mountains. The truck began to climb up a steep, windy road. Before long, Kit squealed. ‘Snow!’

  There were clumps of it on the side of the road. The silver-barked trees behind them were dusted with white. The higher into the mountains they drove, the thicker the snow became. ‘I hope the horses aren’t getting cold,’ said Kit. ‘Maybe we should stop and put some rugs on them.’