Flight

by Vanessa Harbour

  Herr Engel peered closely and sighed. ‘Oh.’ He waved his hand across the map. ‘We’ll have to work that out when we get nearer.’

  Kizzy raised her eyebrows.

  His guardian folded the map and tucked it into his saddlebag before tacking up Monte. The stallion swung round, snatching at some sweet grass he’d spotted.

  ‘Ouch, that’s my foot! Move over, will you.’ Herr Engel leant against the grey and pulled his foot out from underneath his hoof. He grabbed at his boot and hopped around. ‘Bloody animal.’

  Jakob walked to Raluca and started to tack him up too, keeping well out of the way. Shouldn’t they be more worried about that town? But Jakob wasn’t going to say anything. Instead he puffed up his cheeks, blowing out all the air in a deep sigh.

  ‘I assume you’re all right riding Pluto again?’ said Herr Engel to Kizzy.

  ‘Yes, do you want me to lead the others?’

  Jakob looked at her. He was torn: part of him knew it would make his life easier if they shared the horses out but, on the other hand, he wanted to prove he could do it. He focused on tightening Raluca’s girth.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, girl,’ Herr Engel said. ‘You’ve got no proper bridle or saddle; the stallions will pull you off.’

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ Kizzy flashed back. ‘We can lead three each. It’s only fair.’

  Herr Engel shook his head. The girl was determined though. His guardian wasn’t used to defiance.

  Kizzy vaulted onto the back of Pluto. ‘Hand some over, then.’ She held the makeshift rope bridle in one hand and waved the other in the air, demanding attention.

  Herr Engel gave her the lead ropes for Flavory and two of his horses, turned to Jakob and barked, ‘Hurry up. I want to get going.’

  As he handed over the ropes to Jakob, Herr Engel seemed to want to say something. Instead, he walked over to Monte and mounted the stallion.

  Herr Engel led the way, Kizzy followed and Jakob made up the rear. All the horses were skittish after their good rest, dancing and prancing. Jakob had a job keeping them all together.

  He looked down at Raluca’s leg; the stallion seemed to be moving well, no sign of lameness. Jakob felt relieved. He sat deep into the saddle. Allegra and Raluca were very different rides, but he began to enjoy himself. A cool breeze shook the branches above him. The sound of hooves echoed through the wood. It all seemed very calm. Maybe everything would be all right.

  ‘Argh!’ shouted Herr Engel. He flew out of his saddle, nearly toppling over his horse’s shoulder as Monte planted all four feet solidly on the floor.

  Jakob gasped. Raluca’s ears went flat back, his eyes rolling. The other stallions careered into Raluca’s rump, causing havoc.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ said Jakob, struggling to hang on to Raluca.

  ‘I don’t know,’ snapped Herr Engel. ‘He just stopped. Come on, you stupid animal, get a move on.’

  Monte was going nowhere.

  ‘It’s all right. I’ll go in front,’ volunteered Kizzy. ‘Maybe he’ll follow me.’

  She tried to move Pluto on. He reared up, swivelling around. She lost her grip and had to grab for his mane, but she still slipped off his back, screaming and landing unceremoniously on the ground.

  ‘Are you all right?’ shouted Jakob.

  ‘Of course!’ She jumped up, very red-faced, brushing the pine needles, leaves and mud off herself. ‘What’s the matter with them?’

  It was chaos. All the stallions who hadn’t escaped were desperate to do so. They pulled hard, rearing and bucking, snatching at their bits. Jakob felt sure his shoulders would dislocate at any moment. The horses tossed their heads backwards and whinnied, flashing the whites of their eyes, mouths foaming and necks dark with sweat.

  ‘They’re terrified of something.’ He sniffed. ‘What’s that smell?’

  A thick, sweet, rotting smell cloyed at the back of his throat.

  ‘I can’t see anything; perhaps there’s a dead deer nearby.’

  ‘Don’t just stand there, girl, catch them.’ Herr Engel seemed angrier and angrier with Monte, who swung round and round in an attempt to get away. The horse snorted in fear.

  Engel let go of all his other stallions. ‘Stupid horse, behave!’ he screamed. Then he did something Jakob had never seen him do in the whole time he’d lived with him. He lost his temper with a horse and thumped Monte hard.

  Jakob and Kizzy stared at each other.

  The stallion bolted back down the path with Engel hanging on to his mane.

  ‘Whoa!’ Jakob leant out of his saddle and made a grab for Monte’s bridle, catching hold of the reins. He managed to pull the stallion to a halt – just. The horse was frothing at the mouth, terrified.

  He couldn’t look across at his guardian. ‘Wait here,’ he said quietly.

  Focusing on Monte, he tried to scratch the stallion’s forehead. It was almost impossible with all the reins and ropes. ‘It’s fine, lad. It’ll be all right.’ The horse remained still, breathing heavily as he watched him cautiously.

  ‘Don’t know what all the fuss is about. I’m going back down the path. Bring the others when you’ve rounded them up,’ growled Herr Engel.

  Jakob barely nodded at him, swallowing his confusion, before swinging Raluca away from them. He squeezed his legs and pushed the stallion on. ‘All right Kizzy, let’s round them up. If we take them back down the path they may settle down. Then I’ll go up ahead and see what’s frightening them.’ He twisted round. ‘Can you hear that noise? There’s a very faint buzzing?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Kizzy. ‘Maybe that’s part of it.’

  ‘Could well be. Let’s get these stallions back.’

  The loose stallions had moved away from the smell. They mingled among the trees. Grateful they were mainly white horses, Jakob formed a plan.

  ‘Kizzy, lead your stallions to Herr Engel.’

  The girl nodded. ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘You’ll see.’ He smiled.

  Kizzy walked back down the path with the three stallions behind her. Jakob watched her go before checking his ropes. ‘You ready, boys? We need to get these others moving right away.’

  All the horses flicked their ears forward except Jupiter, whose ears were flat back.

  ‘Now Jupiter, don’t be difficult.’

  The stallion snorted at him.

  He turned back in his saddle and squeezed his legs gently so Raluca moved forward into the trees. Up ahead Pluto did exactly what he’d hoped. The rose-grey followed Kizzy down the path. However, Theo, Duo and a grey, Romana, stayed among the trees. If one of Jakob’s horses went the wrong side of a trunk, they’d all be in a right knot. He said one of his quiet prayers as he pulled them through the gap. Twigs snatched at his hair and sweater as he raised an arm.

  ‘Hey-yup, come on, boys, off you go. Follow Kizzy, hey-yup.’

  The stallions raised their heads and gazed at him, slightly puzzled. Ears twitching, tails swishing, very slowly they moved off until they were all trotting back on the path, heading towards the girl.

  It seemed like it took forever. Kizzy had the sense to stop and wait for the stallions to come to her. Slowly, one by one, they did, and nuzzled her hand. Thank goodness, thought Jakob, his head pounding. It’d been exhausting and thirsty work. When he caught up with Kizzy, he smiled. ‘We did it!’

  They led all the stallions back to the waiting Herr Engel. He handed them some bread and water.

  ‘Right, I think you and I should go and see. Kizzy, you stay with the horses.’

  Jakob thought Kizzy would object so he gave her a look. Her mouth was sullen. ‘Don’t be too long.’ She looked around. ‘I don’t like it here.’

  Jakob was surprised. He thought she would be perfectly all right in the woods. He wondered why. When Herr Engel wasn’t looking, he winked at her. She nodded but didn’t return his smile.

  Jakob and his guardian left Kizzy soothing the horses as they walked back down the path.

  ‘Wha
t do you think it is?’ asked Jakob as they trudged along.

  Herr Engel stared straight ahead. ‘I think Kizzy may be right, a dead deer or something.’ He hesitated. ‘Look, about earlier…’

  Jakob didn’t want to hear it. He cut straight through his words. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  Herr Engel looked away. They carried on in silence.

  It didn’t take long to get to the place where the horses had refused to go on.

  ‘When we get this sorted, we must plan how to get past the town you spotted.’

  Jakob glanced at him. Was that Herr Engel admitting the town was a problem? Puffing out his cheeks, his lips vibrated as he blew out.

  ‘You all right?’ Engel asked.

  He nodded. ‘There’s the smell again.’

  ‘And that dull noise. What on earth is it?’

  ‘It’s coming from over there.’ They wandered towards it. As they got closer, they both put their hands over their nose and mouth. The smell was putrid. They gagged. The buzzing noise got louder too. The clouds parted and the full moon came out. It was so bright it was almost daylight. Ahead was a pile of freshly dug earth.

  His guardian clambered up first. Stopping abruptly, he put his hand up. ‘Don’t…’

  Herr Engel gulped. Vomit sprayed across the ground. He turned to Jakob, wiping his mouth. All the colour had drained from his face. ‘Get away. Don’t look!’ he screamed, pushing him back down the hill. But Jakob had already seen something.

  ‘There are horses?’ He’d never seen Herr Engel like this. ‘People too?’

  ‘We need to get away,’ said Engel, dragging Jakob. A cloud of flies flew up behind them.

  ‘I don’t understand.’ His chest felt like it would burst. He couldn’t keep up with his guardian as he ran.

  ‘It’s full of bodies, you mustn’t look.’

  They tumbled back down to the path, running and gasping for air.

  Chapter 10

  When they reached the clearing, Kizzy glanced up from the stallions. For the first time, she looked to Jakob so small and vulnerable. A lump lodged in his throat. He swallowed hard.

  ‘It was bad, wasn’t it?’ She twisted one of the ropes round and round her hand. ‘I heard you scream. I didn’t know what to do.’ Her face was grey.

  Jakob couldn’t speak.

  Herr Engel told her. ‘There were lots of bodies. I’ve never seen anything like it. Men, women, children, babies. That’s what they smelt.’

  ‘And horses, I saw horses,’ said Jakob.

  ‘Yes, and horses.’ Herr Engel’s voice was barely a whisper now.

  Kizzy buried her head in Pluto’s neck. ‘I’m sorry.’

  Herr Engel rested his hand on her shoulder. ‘Why sorry? It’s not your fault. You needn’t apologise for those monsters.’ He kicked out at a random log, before turning back to them. ‘But we need to work out how to get these horses past it.’

  Kizzy spoke into Pluto’s neck, her voice barely a whisper. ‘Is there another route we could take?’

  Jakob waited for his guardian to explode at being challenged but Herr Engel sounded resigned and gentle. ‘No. Remember what I said: this is the only path.’

  Jakob finally found his voice again. ‘How about we lead them? Maybe talking to them all the time so they focus on us.’

  His guardian nodded. ‘That might work. You can go first. We better wrap something round our faces to avoid the smell.’

  It sounded so easy. They took hold of their horses and slowly moved back along the path. Jakob held the ropes for Raluca, Maestro, Largo and Jupiter in his hands.

  ‘Right, Maestro.’ He looked up at the stallion and his neck cricked. ‘You are so tall! We really need your Sunday’s child luck here.’

  Jupiter snatched the ropes and yanked on them.

  ‘Will you stop doing that?’ He tried to pull the rope free. The gentle black Maestro pushed Jupiter’s muzzle away. Raluca did the same from the other side. Jakob couldn’t help but smile at the bossy stallions.

  ‘Well, Jupiter, your friends are telling you how to behave. Largo, just you now, you need to keep up with us.’

  The flea-bitten grey was dawdling along, his head down, snuffling for grass. Jakob pulled at his rope too. ‘Come on, my boys, off we go. We can do this, can’t we?’

  He clicked his tongue. The crunch of hooves echoed around the forest again. An owl hooted in the distance. ‘I know you will smell something really horrible in a minute but you’ve got to trust me. I won’t let anything happen to you.’

  When they got near to where Monte had stopped before, Jakob talked more, nonsense words, anything that came into his head. He turned round, facing the horses, hoping that it would distract them but their ears twitched, then their nostrils flared. He knew they smelt the rotting flesh. He tried to be as soothing as possible.

  ‘It’s all right, boys.’

  But Raluca struck at the floor with his front leg. He wouldn’t move. When Jakob pulled, the horse reared up. White froth collected by his bit again. They were all showing the whites of their eyes.

  He put his arms up. ‘Whoa, boys, whoa!’ Jakob moved them backwards. He didn’t want to lose control and have to round them back up. His shoulders slumped. He shouted to the others, ‘It’s not working. Go back. We need to think of an alternative.’ Jakob rejoined Kizzy and his guardian and sat down heavily on a log.

  Herr Engel sat next to him and put his head in his hands. ‘I can’t see how we can do it. Maybe we should go back to the farm and take the risk.’

  Jakob looked across at Kizzy, who shrugged her shoulders. But he wasn’t having any of it. ‘No. Come on. You told me it was all about the horses. We can find a solution. I’m not giving up and you’re not either.’ He rested his hand briefly on Herr Engel’s shoulder.

  Suddenly a mad idea slipped into Jakob’s head. ‘Kizzy, are any of your herbs really smelly?’

  Kizzy stared at him blankly. Slowly she realised what he was thinking and a smile crept across her face. ‘Yes, yes, some are! Wait here, I’ll find them.’ She handed her horses over to Jakob and ran off.

  A quarter of an hour later Kizzy re-emerged from the wood carrying various herbs and bits of greenery.

  ‘What are those?’

  ‘This and that, mostly wild garlic.’ Kizzy asked Jakob, ‘Can you find me a big stone? I need to grind them together.’

  Herr Engel glanced up from the log. You could almost see the lightbulb switch on inside him as a broad smile stretched across his face. ‘Ah, that is clever!’

  Jakob found a stone and for the next ten minutes Kizzy ground the herbs and weeds together. The smell was strong but not unpleasant.

  Once the paste was ready, Kizzy smeared a little under the nostrils of each horse. They tossed their heads around but soon settled. The inquisitive Pluto came over, nudging the bowl out of Kizzy’s hands. What was left in the bowl went all over the front of her sweater.

  Jakob laughed ‘You stink! Can I have a bit, too?’ He scraped some off her sweater and smeared it on his top lip. The smell was powerful but not as bad as death. ‘It works, you should do it.’ He passed a bit to Herr Engel.

  Kizzy grinned. ’I don’t think I need to, my sweater is strong enough, thanks to Pluto!’

  All three gazed around at the horses. They couldn’t help but laugh at the animals with their green moustaches.

  ‘Don’t know what you’re laughing at? Have you seen yourselves?’ said Herr Engel, smiling. ‘Right, let’s try again.’

  Jakob went first, talking to the horses all the while. ‘All right, boys, you look silly but if it works it’ll be worth it.’

  When they got to where Monte had refused to move, Jakob watched Raluca. His ears flicked to and fro but he kept moving – tentatively. ‘This is it, boys, we can do it. One more step, just one more step.’

  He could see the pile of earth to his right. The buzz of flies was horrendous. Talk louder, thought Jakob.

  ‘Keep looking at me, boys. Don’t look
over there, you don’t want to see it.’ He kept chattering about everything and nothing as they made their way along the path.

  They took more than an hour to get all the horses far enough away from the dead bodies for them to relax. Jakob saw the tension in Raluca’s body melt away the further they travelled.

  Herr Engel finally shouted, ‘I think we can mount up again. We need to ride fast to make up time.’

  All three felt exhausted. Relieved, they got back into the saddle and headed off, picking up speed.

  Chapter 11

  Up ahead the forest thinned. The river moved faster, tumbling over rocks.

  ‘Herr Engel, what are we going to do about Leizmann?’

  His guardian looked back at him. ‘I’m not sure. Do we know how far it is?’

  Jakob shrugged. ‘A bit further, I think. Why don’t we stop and give the horses a drink? We could look at the map then.’

  Herr Engel said nothing but reined Monte back. Jakob assumed this meant his idea had been a good one. His guardian slipped off Monte’s back.

  ‘Let them drink their fill. Hopefully that’ll get rid of the paste. If not, wash it off. Better wipe it off our faces too.’

  The horses stood in the shallows of the river and drank, long and full.