Sea Horses Read Free Page B

smiled uncertainly. Then she nodded at the ponies. ‘Are they all yours?’
    ‘Yes. Well, my mum and dad's, anyway. Like horses, do you?’
    ‘Oh, yes!’ Tamzin thought of the statue and added wryly, ‘Real ones, anyway.’
    ‘Do you ride?’
    She shook her head. ‘I've never learned. But I'd love to.’
    The boy grinned. ‘Then you've come to the right place! We own the stables up the valley. Are you here on holiday?’
    Tamzin shook her head. ‘I've come to live with my nan while my parents are in Canada,’ she told him. ‘Her house is in the valley too. It's called Chapel Cottage.’
    ‘Oh! Then your nan must be Mrs Weston, the artist.’ The boy looked surprised. ‘We're neighbours, then.’ He jumped down from his saddle with an ease that Tamzin wistfully envied. ‘My name's Joel Richards. What's yours?’
    ‘Tamzin Weston.’ One of the ponies, which was almost pure white with just a hint of dapple grey, pushed its muzzle towards her, and she reached out and stroked it. The pony whickered; she felt his breath on her hand, and his warm, friendly, animal smell tickled her nostrils.
    ‘He's lovely,’ she said. ‘What's he called?’
    ‘Moonlight,’ Joel told her. He pointed to the others one by one. ‘And that's Pippin, that's Jester, and the one I'm riding is Sally-Ann.’ Moonlight was nuzzling Tamzin's coat now, hoping for titbits. ‘He's a greedyguts too!’ Joel added. Then: ‘What did you mean about only liking real horses? Your nan paints them, doesn't she? Don't you like her pictures?’
    ‘Oh, they're brilliant! It isn't that, it's…’ Tamzin stopped as she realized that she had been just about to blurt out the tale of the grey stone statue to a complete stranger. She shrugged. ‘It's a long story.’
    ‘I've got plenty of time.’ He saw her doubtful expression. ‘No, really. You look as if you want to talk about it. So tell me.’
    To her own surprise, and almost before she realized what she was doing, Tamzin did tell him. Joel listened as she described how she had broken the statue, and how Nan had reacted. As she finished she pulled out the fragment she had found in her pocket, saying, ‘I'm supposed to have picked up every piece. So I'll have to take this back to Nan before she finds out it's missing, or I'll be in trouble all over again.’
    She held the fragment out to show him. Moonlight had been standing quietly, half dozing in the way that horses do, but as Tamzin's hand passed close to his nose, his head suddenly jerked up. His ears went back, his nostrils flared and he shied away with a squealing noise that sounded partly like fear and partly like anger.
    ‘Moonlight!’ Hastily Joel grabbed at the reins as it seemed Moonlight might break free and bolt away. ‘Steady, boy, steady! What's the matter?’
    Tamzin stared at the pony, then at the piece of the broken statue. ‘It was this,’ she said in a small voice. ‘He saw it, and he didn't like it.’
    ‘Oh, come on!’ Joel had calmed Moonlight down and was stroking his nose. ‘It's only a bit of stone. Here, give it to me.’ He took it and held it out towards Moonlight. ‘There you are, boy. That's all it is, look.’
    Moonlight did look, and with a shudder he backed away, snorting.
    Joel was astonished. ‘You're right; he doesn't like it. All right, Moonlight, all right.’ He shoved the fragment at Tamzin. ‘You'd better put it away where he can't see it again.’
    An unpleasant thought came to Tamzin. Animals had a sort of sixth sense, didn't they? They knew when something was not good to have around. Suddenly she had a powerful urge to be rid of the fragment, not to have it near her any more.
    She heard her own voice say, ‘I'd rather throw it away.’
    Joel shrugged. ‘Well, throw it away, then.’
    ‘But Nan…’
    ‘She won't know if you don't tell her.’
    That was true. Tamzin tried to convince herself that she was being silly, that a mere piece of stone couldn't possibly do her any harm. But there