Sea Horses Read Free

moment she thought it was going to slip through her fingers and crash to the floor, but at the last instant her hands seemed to close of their own accord, and the statue was safely caught. She breathed a vast sigh of relief then, as her pulse slowed down after the panic, she looked closely at her prize.
    The horse was made of a granite-grey stone, and it wasn't at all beautiful. In fact, she thought, it was ugly, with its heavy head, ears laid flat back and savage expression. It looked… what? Tamzin fumbled for the word she wanted and found it at last. It looked cruel .
    She turned the statue over and saw that some words had been carved on its base.
    ‘ Gweetho An Men Ma …’ She murmured them to herself. Whatever did they mean? They were not like any language she had ever seen, and she could make no sense of them.
    A cold shiver went through Tamzin. Something about the stone horse was making her skin crawl. Why had she been fascinated with it, so fascinated that she had been ready to break her promise to Nan? All those feelings had suddenly winked away into nothing, leaving a sense of dread in their place. She didn't want to touch the statue any more. She didn't want anything to do with it. She just wanted to put it back and try to forget that she had ever set eyes on it.
    She turned quickly back to the cupboard, stretching up to the shelf – and the stone horse moved in her grasp.
    Tamzin gave a cry of shock, and jerked her hands up. She didn't mean to fling the statue away from her but she couldn't help it. In an awful frozen moment she saw it spinning in the air, and she knew what was going to happen.
    The statue hit the floor and shattered into pieces. As it broke, Tamzin had a second shock – for a chilly light flickered through the room and she seemed to hear an eerie, bell-like sound that was almost like a horse neighing shrilly. She stood frozen, staring down in horror at the smashed statue. The light and the sound had gone in an instant but she was certain she hadn't imagined them. What did they mean? What had she done ?
    Desperately she dropped to a crouch and started to scrabble for the broken fragments, trying to gather them all up. There were so many; she'd never find them all, she'd never –
    ‘Tamzin?’
    The voice came from the doorway. Alarmed, Tamzin looked up. She hadn't heard the car returning, but Nan was there. She was standing very still and her face had turned pale.
    ‘I…’ Tamzin swallowed. ‘I didn't mean to… I was holding it and it seemed to move , and…’
    Nan took a deep breath, then she exploded. ‘You stupid, disobedient girl!’ she shouted. ‘What did I tell you about the statue?’
    ‘I'm sorry!’ Tamzin pleaded.
    ‘What's the use of being sorry? It's broken! Oh, you fool, you wretched, meddling little fool !’ In two strides Nan was across the floor. Tamzin thought she was going to grab her arm and shake her, but she didn't. Instead she knelt down and started frantically to collect more fragments. ‘Help me!’ she snarled. ‘Pick them up! All of them. Make sure you get every single one!’
    Almost in tears, Tamzin did as she was told. She was as frightened by Nan as she had been by the weird incident. But Nan didn't shout at her again. Instead, a stormy silence hung over the room as the two of them gathered up the pieces of the stone horse. Trying to make amends, Tamzin looked under furniture and crawled into corners until at last she was certain that every fragment must have been found.
    ‘All right,’ Nan replied curtly when Tamzin said she'd found them all. Then abruptly Nan's shoulders slumped. ‘Oh Tamzin, I'm sorry I shouted at you. I didn't mean to. It was just the shock.’
    Tamzin bit her lip. ‘It was my fault, Nan. You told me not to touch it.’
    ‘Yes, I did.’ Nan sighed. ‘Look, I think it would be best if you went out for a little while. Walk down to the beach for an hour and leave me to finish clearing up. We'll both feel better by