Sea Horses: the Last Secret

by Louise Cooper

  Tamzin licked chocolate ice cream from her fingers. ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘But there’s something there, Joel. Something important. Didn’t you feel it?’

  He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. ‘Yeah. Yeah, I did.’

  ‘When Hannah asked her dad if we could go through the channel, I really wanted to. I just got the feeling that I’d… find something.’

  ‘It might have been something dangerous.’

  ‘I know, and that’s scary. But it was almost as if I had to.’

  Joel nodded again. ‘I saw how disappointed you were when we couldn’t do it. Hannah noticed too.’ He gave her an intense look.

  ‘You won’t tell her about the Grey Horse, will you?’

  ‘No, of course I won’t!’ Tamzin stared at the sea. ‘Besides anything else, it wouldn’t be fair to get her involved.’

  ‘Right. You know Hannah, the way she’s so enthusiastic about everything. She’d jump right in at the deep end. And that could only mean trouble.’

  ‘Yes. But, Joel, I’ve got to find out what’s there. How am I going to do it?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Joel admitted. ‘But we’ll think of something, won’t we?’

  Tamzin considered this. ‘Yes,’ she said at last. ‘Maybe you’re right.’

  And under her breath, so that Joel didn’t hear, she added, ‘I hope so. I really, really do…’

  chapter six

  For days Tamzin wrestled with the problem of how she could get to Lion Rock again, but she couldn’t find a solution. Joel did his best to help, but he didn’t have any ideas either. And he didn’t seem to realize how urgent the situation was. In two more months Tamzin’s parents would be back from Canada, and then she must leave Cornwall and return home with them. Two months sounded like a long time. But Tamzin knew how quickly time could rush by. The thought that she might have to go away and leave the threat of the Grey Horse hanging over them all was too awful to bear.

  In spite of what she and Joel had agreed, she was very tempted to confide in Hannah. The one obvious answer to her dilemma was to go to the rock in Mr Roskear’s boat, but of course that would mean involving Mr Roskear himself. And that was completely out of the question. So, though it was frustrating, Tamzin said nothing.

  Luckily, she had preparations for the Carnival procession to distract her. Nan had finished her costume – she and Joel were to dress as medieval pages – and they needed to rehearse their parts, and in particular the ponies. The Carnival Queen’s carriage was to be pulled by Bramble, who had been trained to harness. Tamzin would ride Lark and Joel would ride Sally-Ann, as they were both quiet and dependable. A lot of time was taken up practising at the stables, with Mrs Richards driving the four-wheeled open carriage. It helped to push Tamzin’s worries to the back of her mind. But it couldn’t banish them completely.

  One evening a few days before Carnival, Tamzin and Nan were preparing their dinner in the kitchen when they heard a car pulling up outside, and a horn beeped.

  ‘Sounds as if we’ve got a visitor,’ said Nan. She got up from the table and peered through the window. Then her face broke into an astonished smile. ‘Tamzin, look who’s here!’

  Another car had parked beside Nan’s and the driver was getting out. He was a middle-aged man with fair hair and a bushy beard, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Tamzin recognized him at once and she cried delightedly, ‘Alec!’

  He saw them at the window and waved. Nan opened the back door.

  ‘Alec, what a lovely surprise! Come in.’

  Alec Brewer smiled as he came into the kitchen. ‘Hello, Isobel,’ he said to Nan, then looked at Tamzin. ‘And Tamzin – it’s good to see you again!’

  ‘We didn’t know you were coming back to Cornwall,’ said Nan. ‘You should have phoned!’

  ‘Ah.’ Alec grinned sheepishly. ‘I meant to. But your number’s in my diary and I forgot to bring it away with me. So I thought I’d just turn up. Hope you don’t mind too much.’

  ‘Of course not,’ said Nan. ‘We’re delighted, aren’t we, Tamzin?’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ Tamzin agreed, and meant it.

  Alec was an archaeologist. They had met him during the Easter holidays, when he had come to explore a tunnel dug centuries ago from the back of a beach cave. His discoveries had led Tamzin to a new confrontation with the Grey Horse, and to the finding of the third piece of her glass talisman. Alec had not believed in the supernatural then. But what he had seen last spring∗ had made him change his mind.

  Now he gave Tamzin an extra smile and said, ‘You’re as brown as a hazelnut! I’m jealous – how do you do it?’

  ‘By spending all the hours she can outdoors at the stables,’ Nan told him. ‘Unless she’s off gadding in boats, that is.’ She winked at Tamzin, who laughed.

  ‘It was only once, Nan.’

  ‘Boats, eh?’ said Alec. ‘I must hear all about this.’

  ‘Then stay for dinner,’ said Nan. ‘No arguments – we’re having quiche and salad in the garden, so it’s no trouble.’

  ‘If you’re sure…’

  ‘I am,’ Nan said firmly. ‘We’ve got plenty.’ Alec smiled. ‘Then I’d be delighted.’

  There was a great deal of news to catch up on over the meal. Alec asked tentatively whether anything more had been heard of Moonlight. Tamzin shook her head without speaking, but when she glanced at his face she knew he understood. Then she told him about her trip to Lion Rock on the day of the beach fair, and he became very interested.

  ‘I’ve been doing some more research about that,’ he told them. ‘Remember we said what a strange name Lion Rock is, and we wondered if it might be a corruption of something else? Well, I looked up similar-sounding words in the old Cornish language, and I came up with lym, which means “sharp”.’

  ‘ “Sharp Rock”…’ Nan mused. ‘Well, that would fit, wouldn’t it, Tamzin?’

  Tamzin said, ‘Ye-es…’ But the word wasn’t the right one. She couldn’t tell why, but she just knew it wasn’t. ‘Are there any others?’ she asked Alec.

  ‘One or two. The nearest-sounding one is lyn, meaning “lake”.’ He laughed. ‘But it wouldn’t make much sense to call it “Lake Rock” when it’s in the middle of the sea!’

  Nan laughed too. Tamzin, though, did not. The word lyn seemed to echo in her mind, like something she could almost, but not quite, remember. Lake Rock. It made no sense, as Alec said. But it was right. It was.

  Lion. Lyn. Lake. The split, the channel, the holes Mr Thomas had described. What’s in there? she asked herself silently.

  ‘I’ve also managed to translate more of the words we found carved on the tunnel wall in the beach cave,’ Alec continued. ‘They’re very intriguing. They seem to imply that the tunnel and the cave were some kind of stronghold, though I’ve still got no idea why they were made. And another segment almost sounds like instructions of some kind.’ He fished in his jeans pocket and brought out a small notebook. ‘See what you make of this.’

  Opening it, he read aloud:

  ‘Within the rock find blue.

  Between my feet find blue.

  Blue on blue makes blue.

  So touch grey to blue,

  And make it whole again.

  ‘Curious, isn’t it? Blue and grey – it’s obviously connected with the legend of the spirit horses in some way. But I’ve no idea what it means.’

  Tamzin said nothing, but she was thinking hard. They finished their meal, and sat chatting in the garden for another hour or so before Alec looked at his watch and declared that it was high time he went.

  ‘I hope we’ll see you again,’ said Nan.

  ‘That would be great,’ said Alec. ‘I’m staying in Cornwall until the end of August. I want to continue exploring that ancient tunnel. I hope I might be able to trace it all the way to its source.’

  ‘Could I help?’ Tamzin asked.

  ‘With pleasure,’ said Alec. ‘Provided it’s OK with your nan.’

  ‘Of course.’ N
an smiled.

  Alec stood up. ‘Tell you what, then, why don’t I ring you tomorrow, and we’ll fix it all up? Now, if you’re really sure I can’t help with the washing-up, I must be off.’

  When he had driven away, Tamzin was very quiet for a while. Then, as she and Nan were drying the last of the dishes, she suddenly said, ‘You know the Grey Horse statue?’

  Nan looked cautiously at her. ‘Yes, love.’

  ‘After you showed it to Alec, when he was here before… did you bury it in the garden again?’

  Nan had buried the statue soon after it was broken. She had always known about the legend, and she had been trying to ward off the Grey Horse’s dark influence. Now, though, she said, ‘No, I didn’t. Burying it didn’t help in the first place, so there didn’t seem a lot of point putting it back. The pieces are in a drawer in my studio. Why?’

  ‘Well… I just wondered… do you think it would be safe to look at it again?’

  ‘You mean, might it call up the Grey Horse’s power in some way?’ Nan thought for a few moments. ‘No… No, I don’t think it would. If you want to see it, I’m sure it can’t hurt.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Tamzin. ‘I think I do.’

  ‘All right, then. Let’s go and look together, shall we?’

  As she stood in the studio and watched Nan open the drawer, Tamzin felt queasy, but she pushed the feeling firmly down. She needed to do this. Something Alec had said had started a new question nagging at her and she wanted to know the answer.

  The statue was wrapped up in cloth, inside a cardboard box. When she had shown it to Alec in the spring, Nan had put it roughly back together again. It was held in place precariously with Sellotape; very carefully Nan lifted it out and set it on a table. Tamzin stared at the little head. A piece of it was missing – the piece that, in an angry moment, she had thrown into the sea. The Grey Horse’s remaining eye, a single red stone chip, glared back at her, and she had to force herself not to shiver as she reached out. Her fingers traced the rough edge where the missing piece should have been. The shape of the break seemed familiar, as if she had felt it before, or something very much like it.

  Taking her hand from the statue, she touched the piece of fused blue glass on her bracelet. Yes… she had the answer to her question!

  ‘Nan,’ she said, ‘my talisman – it’s almost the same shape as the missing piece!’

  ‘What?’ Nan stared.

  ‘Feel them both,’ Tamzin urged her.

  Nan touched the statue, then the blue glass.

  ‘You’re right!’ she said under her breath.

  ‘It is almost the same. Only – the talisman’s smaller. As if it isn’t quite complete.’ Her eyes met Tamzin’s and they were very intense. ‘Or at least not yet.’

  So touch grey to blue, and make it whole again. The mysterious words that Alec had translated made sense. Ever since she broke the statue, Tamzin had been desperately searching for the missing piece. She had believed it was the only way to repair the statue and imprison the Grey Horse once more. But it seemed she was wrong. The ancient lines had told her what she needed. The last fragment of the glass talisman. Her gift from the Blue Horse would protect not only her. If she could complete it, it would protect them all!

  And she was absolutely convinced that Alec’s translation had told her something else as well. Within the rock find blue…

  She knew the meaning of the Blue Horse’s dream message. The final piece of her talisman was somewhere inside Lion Rock.

  chapter seven

  Alec rang the following morning. He was eager to explore the cave again, but for the next few days it would be out of the question. There were neap tides at the moment, which meant that the sea did not go out or come in very far. It wasn’t even possible to get round the headland at low tide, let alone anywhere near the cave entrance.

  It was frustrating but, as Nan said to Tamzin, it couldn’t be helped.

  ‘It’s all because of the moon,’ she said. ‘We get spring tides – they’re the big ones, when the sea goes out a long way – around new and full moon, and neap tides in between.’ She paused. ‘Though I must say that the difference between high and low tides is unusually small this time. It must be because there’s no wind to drive it.’

  ‘When will it be spring tides again?’ Tamzin wanted to know.

  Nan calculated. ‘Full moon’s next Monday, and the tides will start getting bigger a few days before that. I’d say you should be able to reach the cave by Friday or Saturday.’

  Tamzin’s spirits sank. It was Carnival on Saturday; there would be no time for going to the beach. And as for getting back to Lion Rock, as she so desperately wanted… she hadn’t even begun to work out how that could be done.

  Nan put an arm round her shoulders and squeezed gently. ‘Come on, pet. Don’t fret about it. If you do, you won’t enjoy Carnival. And that would be a shame, when you’ve been looking forward to it so much.’

  Nan was right, Tamzin knew. Just for a few days she ought to be strong enough to forget about the mysteries of the tunnel, the talisman and the rock. If she didn’t concentrate on the weekend she would spoil Joel’s and Hannah’s fun too, and that wasn’t fair. Several times Joel had commented that she didn’t seem interested in Carnival any more, and that clearly upset him. For his sake – and her own – she must try to shake off her mood and join in.

  She looked at Nan and said, ‘I wish I was as wise as you.’

  ‘I’m not wise,’ said Nan. ‘I’m just old enough to realize that there’s no point worrying about things we can’t change.’ Her mouth widened in a kindly smile. ‘Come on. Why don’t we get your costume out and put some finishing touches to it?’

  To her own surprise, Tamzin’s efforts to concentrate on Carnival worked. There were two more rehearsals at the stables, one with Hannah in the carriage, and almost before she knew it Carnival day had arrived.

  The weather was still perfect. The procession was due to start at noon and afterwards there would be a grand fête. After a very early lunch, Tamzin and Nan set off for the village in Nan’s car. Tamzin was already dressed in her costume; there were butterflies in her stomach, but the nerves were nothing to the excitement she felt.

  The village looked very festive. Bunting had been hung all along the high street and the shops had put out decorations or baskets of flowers. The local police were there, getting ready to divert traffic and make the road clear for the procession, and people in all kinds of fancy dress mingled with the crowds of summer visitors.

  The procession was to assemble at the sports field where the Carnival Queen competition had been held. Some of the floats had already arrived, and the Richardses’ horsebox was parked near the edge of the field. Bramble, Lark and Sally-Ann were tethered beside the horsebox and Joel, in overalls, was carrying buckets of water for them to drink.

  Tamzin ran to meet him. ‘Where’s your costume?’ she asked.

  ‘Under here.’ Joel tugged at the overalls, which were much too big for him. ‘Mum threatened murder if I got it dirty, so Dad lent me these.’ He stood back to study her. ‘You look great!’

  ‘Thanks.’ Tamzin smiled. ‘Is Hannah here yet?’

  ‘Haven’t seen her. But I think her bike’s over by the clubhouse.’

  Tamzin grinned at an absurd mental image of Hannah biking to the field in her Carnival Queen dress. ‘She’s probably in there, getting changed,’ she said.

  ‘Well, she’d better get a move on. The procession’s due to start in twenty minutes.’

  ‘I’ll go and see if I can find her,’ Tamzin offered.

  ‘OK. But don’t be long. We’ve still got to saddle the ponies, as well as hitch up the carriage.’

  Tamzin ran off across the field, dodging two stilt-walkers and a group of people dressed as rabbits. She found Hannah and her attendants in the clubhouse, putting on their dresses with the help of several mothers and Mrs Beck, Tamzin’s class teacher.

  ‘Wow!’ Tamzin said, staring at Hannah�
�s flowing dress and silvery cloak. ‘You look amazing!’

  ‘Thanks.’ Hannah grinned and put a hand up to steady her coronet, which was slipping sideways. ‘I’m really nervous, though.

  Couldn’t eat a thing this morning. I’d have been sick.’

  Tamzin laughed. ‘Don’t worry. All you’ve got to do is sit there and wave at people.

  Are you nearly ready? Because Joel says the procession’s starting soon.’

  ‘OK. Just got to get Mum to fix this crown properly – it keeps falling off. You go on, and I’ll be with you in a minute.’

  Tamzin ran back to Joel, who was helping his mother to hitch Bramble to the carriage. Bramble’s harness had been decorated with colourful ribbons and a white plume was fixed to the brow-band of his bridle. Tamzin thought he looked wonderful. Mrs Richards would be driving the carriage, and she was dressed for the part in smart white breeches, black jacket and boots and a bowler hat.

  ‘The only trouble is, I’m absolutely boiling,’ she told Tamzin with a rueful smile. ‘It usually rains on Carnival day – I’m not used to this!’

  Hannah and her attendants arrived a few minutes later and were helped into the carriage, while Tamzin and Joel saddled and mounted their ponies. The procession was forming up. Mrs Richards, on the driving seat, flicked Bramble’s reins and the carriage moved slowly off to take its place. Tamzin touched her heels lightly to Lark’s flanks, then she and Joel wheeled round and followed. Nervous excitement made her stomach churn. This wasn’t a rehearsal, where it didn’t matter too much if things went wrong. Today, it all had to be perfect.

  Stewards in fluorescent tabards were directing everyone into line. The Silver Band raised their instruments, which gleamed dazzlingly in the sunlight. Hannah grinned at Tamzin and gave a thumbs-up sign. Then the first notes of a lively march struck up, and the whole glorious cavalcade began to stream out of the sports field and away.

  The band led, stepping out in time. Next came a gaggle of small children in traditional Cornish dress, and then the Carnival Queen and her entourage. Glancing over her shoulder, Tamzin saw that they were being followed by a group of street entertainers: