Soul Riders (Book 1)

by Helena Dahlgren

  They were both quiet for a bit.

  “Hey Linda,” Lisa said. “Meteor. What breed is he? I can’t quite place him . . .”

  “He’s a Starbreed like Tin-Can. Here on Jorvik, they have every type of horse in the world and then some. Meteor is one of the then somes!” She laughed and stroked Meteor’s side. “They’re still trying to figure out their exact ancestry. Some hippologists believe that Starbreeds like Meteor and Tin-Can are distantly related to some rare ancient horses that originated on the island.” She smiled conspiratorially. “Some people even say that the Starbreed horses have magical abilities.”

  Lisa just nodded to indicate she was listening, but what could she possibly say to that? She could only agree that both Meteor and Tin-Can looked unique. Their eyes, their vibrant color. Then somes, like Linda said.

  Linda told her more about the horses, the stables, and how everything worked. Lisa discovered she liked listening to Linda’s voice. She helped clean Meteor’s bridle and bit and noticed how natural it felt. She remembered how much she used to like this part of riding. The everyday stable chores. Fixing things around the stables, cleaning the tack—she could still smell the beeswax—and picking out hooves. The little tasks that were more important than the big events outside the stable walls.

  Yes. She had missed it.

  They kept talking.

  “Other than Meteor, it’s mostly lesson horses here,” she said. “Tin-Can belongs to Herman, but Alex has kind of become Tin-Can’s owner. Alex stayed on here after coming for a summer camp when things were bad at her house. I guess Herman wanted to encourage her to keep riding.”

  “Sometimes I wish I’d had someone like Herman after the accident,” Lisa admitted. “You know, someone to persuade me to carry on. But everyone just tiptoed around me, all scared.”

  “Scared?” Linda said. “Of what?”

  “Death, I guess,” Lisa replied. “Being around it. Some people seem to think it’s contagious.”

  She noticed Linda’s pitying glance. “Alex seems like a blast,” Lisa added, quickly changing the subject.

  “She really is,” Linda replied. “Alex is one of my very best friends. She stays here at Jorvik Stables for the most part. She actually lives in one of the summer camp rooms up in the main house. Herman is so kind in the way he thinks of both riders and horses. He’s always on the lookout for the perfect match, and he really found it with Alex and Tin-Can. Did you notice that they even look a little bit alike?”

  Yes, Lisa knew exactly what she meant. Suddenly, they were interrupted by a loud snort.

  “And here they are!” Linda shouted, and waved to Alex, who was leading Tin-Can toward them. Both were out of breath, and Tin-Can’s thick coat, which made him resemble an Icelandic horse, was curly with perspiration.

  “We could both use a shower!” Alex hollered and laughingly pretended to wring out her T-shirt. Then she took off her helmet.

  “What about you two?” she continued. “What are you up to? Talking about the lovely Sabine again?”

  “Shh! She might be lurking about here somewhere!” Linda said, glancing around the stable. “After all, sneaking up on people seems to be her specialty.”

  “When people aren’t sneaking up on her,” Alex responded.

  All three of them were in agreement. There was something seriously fishy about Sabine.

  Alex walked off with Tin-Can and Linda continued to take care of Meteor. Lisa decided to explore the stable at her own pace. Sunshine trickled in through the grimy windows. Hay dust swirled through the air. She slowly made her way down the aisle.

  She heard a deep whinny from one of the stalls as she neared the end of the stable. A curious head popped out. At first, Lisa instinctively backed away, but something in the horse’s eyes reassured her. His eyes were so mild. Blue like the ice of a glacier. He seemed to be studying her, as though he could see straight through her. Her fear evaporated when their eyes met. Suddenly, her breathing slowed. She felt warm and calm. That hideous feeling of gasping for air, of drowning inside herself, that she normally expected in such a moment didn’t occur.

  She gingerly walked up and stood close enough to touch the horse’s extended neck. He was as white as snow, and his mane, which she first assumed to be gray, was actually a very special shade of blue.

  She almost stopped breathing.

  Lisa opened the stall door, stepped inside and closed it behind her. A ray of light shone through the half-open window, and her heart fluttered as she took in the entire horse. Big hooves, a blue-tinted muzzle. He was a large horse, majestic in the way he moved.

  She couldn’t believe it—this was the horse from her dreams. And his name was—she opened the door a little and leaned out to read the sign she missed when she entered—Starshine.

  “Hi there, Starshine,” she whispered.

  She should have been afraid, but all she could feel was warmth and affection for the horse as he put his head close to her and snorted. Lisa gently touched his muzzle. It was silky smooth and warm.

  The horse snorted again and stuck his warm, heavy head into the crook of her arm. She let out a giggle and thought to herself that he was behaving like a love-starved puppy, despite being so big, such a lot of horse.

  An electric warmth rushed through her. It was like a buzzing electric current, but painless.

  Lisa scratched Starshine behind the ears, and he closed his eyes in pleasure. She stroked his glistening coat while he whinnied softly. He nudged her with his head when she paused briefly.

  Lisa smiled. Just like with the stable chores, she’d forgotten how good it felt just to be around horses. How everything else—stress, bad teachers, and classmates that ignored her—just fell away.

  Had she forgotten it, or suppressed it?

  Trembling slightly, she put her arm around the horse’s warm neck and patted him. Starshine stepped in even closer and blew air into her face. He smelled of hay and warm stable and something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

  Suddenly, Lisa was talking to the horse in a voice she didn’t recognize.

  “Hiya handsome, how are you today?”

  I sound like I’m in love, Lisa thought. Completely out of it. She had never been in love, not really, but judging from what she’d read and seen in movies, she could guess that it was something close to what she was feeling right now.

  It was not infatuation. But it was certainly something. All she knew was that she wanted to stay with this feeling a little while longer. It was as if the rest of the world had been erased. All that remained was Lisa and Starshine and the inexplicable, electric warmth between them.

  “Ah, there you are, Lisa!”

  Lisa was startled as she turned around and realized Herman was standing outside Starshine’s stall.

  “I see you’ve found yourself a new friend,” Herman said with delight. “He’s big,” he continued in a tender tone, “but when he meets someone he likes, he’s a real love puppy, as you can tell.”

  Then Herman looked at her apologetically. But why?

  “I’m so sorry, Lisa, but I have to get Starshine ready and take him to the paddock now,” he said. “A nice young lady is waiting to take him for a test ride. She came by yesterday and spoke to me about riding here at Jorvik Stables. Her name’s Sabine. Beautiful name. Maybe you know her from school?”

  Lisa shuddered. “Um . . . Sabine . . . ?”

  “Yes. Very nice, did I mention that? And polite. It’s not often you meet such a polite young person these days.”

  Lisa felt like the ground was opening up beneath her. They couldn’t possibly be talking about the same Sabine . . .

  “She was only interested in Starshine,” Herman continued. “She was very clear about that. Starshine’s not exactly a lesson pony, and I told her as much. But with the right rider, he can blossom. Sabine feels like a perfect ma
tch . . .”

  Sabine? Nice? Lisa thought. She could barely manage to suppress a snort of disapproval.

  She was completely confused. It was almost as though Herman was under some kind of spell.

  Herman tacked up Starshine and led him outside. Lisa followed them, feeling helpless.

  Linda and Alex were standing outside and saw them exiting the stable. Lisa mouthed to them, “Come quickly. Sabine! Come on.” She hoped her friends would understand what she was trying to tell them.

  Alex and Linda managed to pick up on the fact that something was wrong. They followed her and Herman away from the stable.

  Sabine was waiting in the paddock. It really was her. Apparently she was everywhere on this island. Starshine, who was calm as a cucumber a minute ago, shied and whinnied shrilly as Sabine pushed past Lisa to stand next to him.

  Starshine looked at Lisa with panic in his eyes, like he was pleading with her to help him.

  Get it together, Lisa. That’s not how horses work.

  “There, there, Starshine,” Sabine said. Her voice was harsh. “Sabine’s here now. It’s like you’ve been waiting for me, isn’t it?”

  Starshine reared up, whinnied loudly, and tried to wrench free from her and Herman. Herman fought to hold onto him. Lisa felt an uncontrollable terror and put her hands on Starshine to try to calm him. She had no idea what was happening, but she knew it wasn’t good. It was so very far from good.

  Suddenly, Lisa wished she’d had the courage to tell Linda and Alex what she’d seen in the school parking lot. Sabine’s dull, charcoal eyes.

  Lisa looked over at Herman. His eyes were dazed. Freezing cold whipped right through her. It was as though a darkness was trying to completely engulf her. Put her to sleep. She could almost feel the darkness enshrouding her like a dense, pitch-black fog.

  “What’s the matter with you, Starshine? Calm down! This nice young lady is just going to . . .” Herman’s voice was monotonous, almost robotic.

  Sabine smiled at Lisa, an empty, horrible smile that made her skin crawl. Sabine reached out for Starshine and murmured something. For a second, Lisa thought she was going to strike the horse.

  Why doesn’t Herman do something? How can he just stand there?

  “Herman!” Lisa screamed, but Herman didn’t react. “Herman! What is going on?”

  That woke Herman up. All of a sudden, it was as though he was back to his old self.

  “By the light of Aideen . . . Get away from him,” Herman shouted. His voice was powerful as he glared at Sabine. “Get out of my stables and never show your face here again!”

  Suddenly, the sun slipped behind a cloud and the temperature dropped even further. Starshine collapsed. The big, majestic horse was lying in the sand, limp as a ragdoll. Lisa and Herman leaned over him. Somewhere in the background, Lisa could hear Alex and Linda shouting. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sabine sneaking away.

  “Starshine, are you all right?” Herman panted, falling to his knees next to the horse.

  Lisa followed his lead, throwing herself on the ground next to the unconscious horse. Everything happened so fast, before her brain had time to register what was happening. Her body knew before she did. And even though she was terrified for Starshine, her hands were steady. She placed them on his clammy neck and lay down with her face next to his. They stayed like that for a minute, until Lisa felt the strange, vibrating warmth she had sensed in his stall moments before. It radiated. The birthmark on her cheek prickled and burned. A melody, at once both strange and familiar, flowed through her like a trickling brook. Without realizing it, she was humming the tune out loud.

  She continued to sing. Louder now. Pressing her hands harder against Starshine’s trembling body, she felt a flow building around her as though she were lying in a fast-flowing current. An energy rushed around her, and she felt like she could almost touch it. It shimmered blue, pink, and purple.

  Herman looked at her but said nothing. Could he see it, too? Starshine blinked one eye. Then the spell was broken by Herman’s voice. The flow dissipated.

  “Phew, I was worried there for a second. I was about to call emergency services for both you and Starshine. But it seems like everything is all right now. That Sabine . . .” Herman sounded grim. He scratched his head and looked like he wanted to say something else. Herman studied Lisa intently and then nodded to himself and looked away.

  Lisa didn’t believe in witches or spells, but how else could she explain what just happened? What was it that Sabine did to Starshine, and what had she done herself? And why was Herman acting that way? Did Sabine really do something to him?

  Her head was pounding, and she realized she was so tired she could barely get back up.

  Eventually, though, she did. She brushed the dirt off her clothes. Then she saw him. Starshine, who just minutes ago was sprawled lifeless on the ground, was now standing steady and regally next to Herman, who was holding his reins again. Starshine’s sharp, blue gaze cut right through Lisa. Everything was spinning. The world warped.

  What was happening?

  8

  Over the next few days, time stretched out like rubber bands, snapping back whenever Lisa least expected it. Slow hours at home alone were punctuated by a flood of new impressions at school, where time seemed to speed up. And then there was Jorvik Stables. When she hung out with Starshine in his stall, everything felt peaceful. She felt at home. There had been no sign of Herman the past few days. One of the riding instructors told everyone he had gone on a short trip.

  Eventually, Lisa had her new routine down. For the most part, anyway. She hung out with Linda and Alex both at school and at the stable. She still sang, but only when she was alone or with Starshine in his stall. At those times, she allowed herself to fantasize about what it would be like when she was accepted to The Jorvik Academy of Performing Arts. In her dreams, it was always when, not if.

  At night, she cleared away her father’s plate when he failed to come home for dinner yet again. He was always working. During the afternoons, in an effort to get away from the silence, the half-unpacked moving boxes, and the dust bunnies at home, she went to the stable alone.

  It was getting harder to stay away. It felt as though an invisible force was pulling her back there, again and again. It was as if there was a melody that drew her in and she needed to hear it again. It felt like something important she needed to do.

  She was still scared to think about riding, but Starshine calmed her fears and even made her feel brave.

  That night, she dreamed about riding Starshine again. Unlike the other night, this dream ended happily. They were jumping a course together. Lisa’s stomach flipped as they flew over the fences, but she wasn’t afraid. Was he trying to tell her something?

  However, she couldn’t stop thinking about the afternoon at the stable when Starshine collapsed. Thankfully, he seemed to have completely recovered. Herman had called the vet, who came to examine Starshine and couldn’t find anything wrong with him.

  And Sabine . . . Sabine seemed to have vanished, too.

  “No one’s seen Sabine lately, right?” Lisa asked. She was sitting in the cafeteria with Alex and Linda. She looked around cautiously, as though Sabine might suddenly appear if she said her name too many times.

  Everything related to Sabine made Lisa turn cold inside. She tried to push the thoughts away. They’re not rational, she told herself.

  Alex and Linda shook their heads in unison.

  “No. Nice, isn’t it, that she hasn’t been around?” said Alex.

  “Here’s something weird,” Linda said. “I was going through the binders in the stable office last night. I figured I might find something on Sabine, her parents’ number or whatever. I don’t know exactly what I would have done if I’d reached them. Maybe told them what happened at the stable. When Starshine collapsed, Sabine just left. How sick and twisted
was that?!”

  That was hardly the most twisted thing that happened in that paddock, Lisa thought to herself.

  “So, what happened?” she asked.

  “Well, it turns out the contact details she gave Herman were false. The address doesn’t exist. And Sabine’s phone number doesn’t, either. And here’s what’s really creepy,” Linda said, her eyes big and round. “I called the number, and it belongs to a cemetery.”

  Lisa could feel goose bumps spreading down her arms. She pulled her cardigan tighter around her.

  The buzz of the cafeteria was deafening. Lisa had to lean across the table to hear what the others were saying. Over by the serving counter, someone dropped a glass, and the sound of it shattering echoed through the entire room, followed by sarcastic clapping and jeering. Lisa looked up from her pasta salad and realized it was Alex’s younger brother, James, who had dropped the glass. He tried to seem nonchalant, like he didn’t care. However, when Alex got up to help her brother, she quickly sat back down when he shooed her away, clearly embarrassed.

  Alex started thinking about something that had happened after school some time ago. Something she hadn’t figured out how to tell her friends about yet. She was out riding Tin-Can one day when she heard shouts and disturbed voices coming from the football field on the other side of the meadow. One of the voices belonged to her little brother, James, so Alex urged Tin-Can to canter over. When she reached the fields, she found her brother tied to one of the goal posts with jump ropes.

  She looked around, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw a much bigger boy fleeing the scene. She recognized him from school. Not exactly a nice guy. She made sure James was okay and then rode after the culprit. She didn’t have a plan. She just knew she wasn’t going to let the bully get away. Rage seared like a hot lump in the pit of her stomach when she caught up to him as he ran down the road.