Chapter 12 – Where Horses Dare
It had been a busy night in The Caves since Jack had revealed his plan to the Council of Horses. The horses had stayed up planning all through the night, swapping ideas and tactics. Faris, Jack and Holly had finally slept for a few short hours from lunchtime, when the sun was high in the sky on the ceiling of the cave. So much had been happening Faris hadn’t even had chance to ask Jack about the sky-ceiling or how it worked.
He’d probably just say it’s ‘magic’ anyway… Faris had told himself as he dropped off to sleep.
Faris woke up as the sun set. The cave ceiling shone beautifully in pinks and reds, before fading to darkness and filling with stars. By the time moon rose on the magical sky-ceiling Faris, Jack, Holly and a number of the other horses had left the valley cave behind them are were moving quickly through the passageways of the cave system towards The Surface.
During the day Holly had flown out of the cave system disguised as an eagle and had travelled far and wide before she had been able to locate the Great Irish Racing College. High in hills about three miles from the racing college she had also found a suspicious looking cave – it was the ideal spot for the Spriggans to be holding the kidnapped horses.
Back in the caves the large group of horses (and Faris) was now heading towards the south exit of the cave system, which was the one that came closest to the racing college. A short time later Faris found himself stood behind Jack as the south entrance to The Caves slid open in front of them. The cool night air rushed into the cave as the horses and Faris moved quickly out into the trees surrounding the entrance. The thick, rock door shut silently behind them.
“We’ll meet you back here in four hours,” Jack told the other horses in a whisper. “Good luck,” he told them as they set off. The horses nodded silently and moved off into the trees, disappearing into the thick darkness in seconds.
“See you later Holly,” Faris murmured to the faerie as she flew after the other horses. She turned and waved to him before disappearing into the darkness. Just before she disappeared, he heard a crackling-pop sound and saw that she had transformed into a familiar-looking owl.
“And then there were two.” Jack said quietly, glancing at Faris. “Come on. It’s about three miles to the racing college, it’ll take us a while to get there two-legs.”
Faris nodded and followed Jack into the dark wood. As he walked behind Jack through the dim landscape he thought about everything that had happened to him over the past few days. In just a short time Faris’s life had changed completely – he had been alone with no future, no family and no friends. And now he was a key player in a top-secret rescue mission with his new best friend. All in all, things seemed pretty good to Faris.
Just as long as the plan works he thought to himself, increasing his pace to a brisk trot in order to keep up with Jack.
Jack’s plan was for Holly to lead a group of horses to the cave she had found, where they thought the Spriggans were hiding the kidnapped horses. At the exact same time Jack and Faris would be carrying out a surprise ‘jail-break’ of Mooncoin and the other horses being held at the racing college. When the Spriggans left the cave to kidnap Mooncoin and the others (as Jack presumed they would have to) Holly’s team would rescue the other horses from the cave. By the time the Spriggans reached the college Jack and Faris would have done their part and Mooncoin and the other horses would be safe. Maybe then the Spriggans would realise, just a little too late, that they had been double-crossed by the horses – but Spriggans aren’t too bright so they might not even figure that out at all!
It was safest for the horses to carry out the plan under the cover of darkness, to avoid the humans, and so they had had to wait for nightfall. This might have been safer, but it meant that everything had to go to plan because Mooncoin and the others were being sold at auction the very next morning!
An hour later Jack and Faris were making their way swiftly through open field towards the high spectator stands of the racing college that were just about visible in the distance. They kept close to the hedgerows at the edges of the fields. The high, prickly bushes provided them with some cover, just in case there were any unwanted eyes looking out for them. In the next field they came to a group of sheep that were huddled close to the hedge, which forced Jack and Faris to walk through the centre of them.
“Baaa-bbaaaaaa,” one of the sheep said.
“What’s he bleating about?” Jack asked, pretending not to be interested.
“He wants to know where we’re going,” Faris told Jack. “It’s a secret,” he said to the sheep.
“OK. I was just asking,” the sheep bleated back at Faris. “Be careful. There have been ugly little fellows around these fields the past couple of nights.”
“Really? Thanks!” Faris said. The sheep must have been talking about the Spriggans.
Faris and Jack pressed on towards the college.
“You sound really silly when you’re speaking sheep you know?” Jack said huffily. “Baa-baaa, nonsense.”
“In that case you probably wouldn’t be interested in knowing that the Spriggans have been in this area the past couple of nights scouting out the racing college then would you?” Faris said casually, knowing full well that Jack would be very interested. “You know, because I sound so silly speaking sheep.”
Jack’s eyebrows rose in interest. “Really?”
Faris shrugged his shoulders. “It’s what the sheep said.”
“Yeah well, I didn’t say they never had anything useful to say did I?” Jack mumbled.
“No you didn’t. In fact, I think you called them jumper growers, but that’s by the by…”
Jack pretended not to have heard him. “We’d better get moving, we don’t want the Spriggans catching up with us.”
Faris and Jack Page 13