Sea Horses: the Last Secret

by Louise Cooper

  ‘Help me!’

  It seemed to come from behind him. Joel turned and saw the tunnel mouth.

  ‘Tam?’ His voice was sharp with a mixture of hope and dread. ‘Tam!’

  He dived into the tunnel. As he emerged into the cave, he saw Tamzin. She was standing, swaying, on the rocks at the edge of the dark pool, both hands over her face, and he heard her cry, ‘Blue Horse, help me! Blue Horse, please help me!’

  ‘Tam!’ He ran to her.

  ‘Oh, Joel!’ she sobbed. ‘The Grey Horse was here! It made the sea rise. Hannah was swept away –’

  ‘She’s all right,’ he told her. ‘She isn’t hurt. She’s gone back to the beach to get help.’

  ‘There isn’t time. Look!’ She pointed at the walls, her eyes filled with terror. ‘It’s closing in, Joel. The rock’s coming back together again! We’ve got to get away now!’

  He started to say, ‘We can’t! My boat –’ but he didn’t get any further. From deep in the rock came a cracking, rumbling noise. He shouted, ‘Look out!’ and pulled Tamzin to one side.

  As he did, the tunnel caved in. Stones and rubble tumbled around their feet – and when it was over, the tunnel mouth was completely blocked.

  Tamzin and Joel stood frozen, staring at the place where the tunnel had been. At last Tamzin said in a tiny, quavering voice, ‘We’re trapped…’

  ‘No!’ said Joel desperately. ‘I don’t believe it!’ He ran to the piled stones and started to pull at them with his bare hands. ‘Help me, Tam! There is a way out! There’s got to be!’

  A small crowd was on the beach to meet My Maid as the boat came rushing in on the surf.

  Hannah was soaking wet and badly shaken, but she ignored the people who were trying to help her and called frantically, ‘Mrs Weston! Mrs Weston!’

  Nan pushed her way to the front. ‘Hannah – what’s happened to Tamzin?’

  ‘She’s in a cave, inside the rock! Joel’s gone after her… Oh, Mrs Weston, there’s something horrible in there! A huge statue, like a horse – but it’s so weird! I got scared. I tried to make Tamzin come with me, but the mooring rope broke and she couldn’t jump in in time, and the boat was swept away, and then –’

  ‘All right, love, all right,’ Nan soothed. She had heard enough. ‘Come on. Here are the lifeguards to look after you and get you dry and warm.’

  The lifeguards helped Hannah away, the crowd following them. Nan stared bleakly at the gathering clouds. The sea was getting rougher by the minute. She had never seen conditions change as fast as this, but she knew what lay behind the change. They needed help – powerful help. They needed the Blue Horse.

  But who except Tamzin had the power to summon it?

  Suddenly Nan saw someone hurrying towards her, holding a bag in one hand. Alec – he had the statue!

  ‘What’s happened?’ Alec asked as she ran to meet him. ‘I saw Hannah, but where’s Tamzin?’

  Nan explained quickly. ‘She’s in danger, I’m sure of it! We’ve got to try to call the Blue Horse!’

  ‘Can we?’

  ‘That’s the awful thing – I don’t know. I had a feeling about the statue, but now I’ve got it, I don’t know what to do.’

  Alec frowned, thinking. ‘Do you remember what I told you about the new translations I made of those carved words?’

  Nan’s eyes glittered alertly. ‘You said they suggest that the tunnel might be a kind of stronghold…’

  ‘That’s right. And if Lion Rock is the Grey Horse’s lair, then could the tunnel, or whatever it leads to, be the stronghold of the Blue Horse?’

  ‘Yes!’ Nan snatched at the slim thread of hope. ‘It might be the answer! Oh, hurry, Alec – hurry!’

  Round the headland, the beach was deserted. Nan and Alec ran to the cave, scrambling over the boulders that had partly blocked the entrance since the night of the earth tremor. To Nan’s huge relief, Alec had a torch, and they splashed through a shallow pool to the tunnel entrance at the back of the cave. The tunnel sloped steeply upwards in places and they were both soon out of breath. Alec had never followed the tunnel right through before. As they hurried on, they both wondered what they might find.

  Until the tunnel abruptly ended in a blank wall.

  ‘No!’ Nan moaned in dismay. ‘It can’t be a dead end!’

  ‘Wait a minute.’ Alec shone the torch.

  ‘There are more words carved here.’ He peered closely. ‘They’re in Cornish, but… Hang on, I know this! It’s the first line of that translation I showed you. “Within the rock find blue”…’

  ‘And look,’ said Nan. ‘There’s a mark like an arrow, pointing.’

  Alec swung the torch. The beam of light showed a fissure, about two metres high, in the rock to their left.

  ‘We’ve got to get through there!’ Nan exclaimed.

  ‘It’s too narrow for me,’ said Alec, ‘but I think you can do it. Here, I’ve got a spare torch.’

  Nan took the torch and squeezed into the gap. It was a tight fit and for a few moments she feared she would get stuck. But she pushed once more and stumbled out on the other side.

  ‘Isobel?’ Alec called through. ‘Is anything there?’

  Nan didn’t even hear him. All she could do was stare, amazed, at the sight before her.

  She was in a cave small enough for the torch beam to light it up. And directly in front of her was a life-sized statue of a horse, carved from rock that reflected the torchlight in a pale, shimmering blue.

  Nan moved softly forward. The statue was clearly centuries old. The horse was standing facing the direction of the sea, with its head held alertly and proudly high. Something about it reminded Nan of the horse in her own moonlit painting. And suddenly she understood what the carved words were trying to tell her.

  ‘Alec!’ she called back urgently. ‘That translation – what was the second line?’

  ‘What? Er… hang on. It was something about… Oh, yes: “Between my feet find blue.” But I don’t know what it means.’

  ‘I think I do.’ Nan crossed the cave floor to the statue and looked down.

  Lying between the horse’s carved fore hooves was a tiny shard of glass. Blue glass. Just like the pieces that formed Tamzin’s talisman.

  ‘Oh!’

  Her gasp echoed through the cave and Alec shouted worriedly, ‘What’s going on? Are you all right?’

  ‘Yes!’

  There was something else on the rock too. Another carving. Words… just a few this time. Quickly Nan memorized them, then, clutching the glass fragment, she ran back to the cleft in the rock and squeezed through to where Alec waited.

  ‘Alec, what does “Creia pha ve” mean?’

  Alec looked baffled. ‘I think it’s “Call me”, or something like that.’

  A message from the Blue Horse…

  ‘I’m going back to the beach!’ said Nan. ‘There’s no time to explain. Just follow me, as fast as you can!’

  She ran through the tunnel, into the cave and outside to the beach. She was shocked by what she saw. In the short time since they had entered the cave, heavy clouds had gathered and the sea had turned a threatening slate grey. There were white wave-crests almost to the horizon and breakers pounded the low-tide line with a steady, dull roar.

  It’s up to me now, Nan thought with a clutch of panic. Please, please, let this be the right thing to do!

  The rising wind buffeted her as she faced Lion Rock and held up the piece of blue glass. Alec had emerged from the cave behind her, but she wasn’t aware of him. All she could think about was Tamzin.

  Striving to be heard above the roar of the sea, Nan called out, ‘Blue Horse! Blue Horse! Come to me now! Blue Horse, I summon you!’

  chapter twelve

  In the cave inside Lion Rock Joel’s hands scrabbled frantically at the stones covering the tunnel entrance. He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew he was getting nowhere. The roof of the cavern kept creaking and groaning as the rock walls slowly squeezed inwards. As the spa
ce became smaller, the water in the huge pool was beginning to rise too. They were racing against time. And it was a race that they couldn’t win.

  He looked over his shoulder to where Tamzin stood at the brink of the ledge. She was staring across the dark water as though she was in a trance, and Joel felt a flash of anger.

  ‘Tam, don’t just stand there!’ he called to her. ‘Help me!’

  ‘There’s no point.’ Tamzin’s voice was hardly more than a whisper. ‘We’ll never unblock the tunnel. We’re not going to get out.’

  ‘Then try something else! Call to the Blue Horse!’

  ‘I have tried. But the Blue Horse can’t reach us in here. It’s hopeless, Joel.’

  ‘You mustn’t believe that!’ Joel said desperately. ‘Please, Tam, try one more time!’

  Tamzin started to shake her head…

  On the beach, with the wind now shrieking around her, Nan cried out again to the power of the Blue Horse. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, far away on the horizon, lightning flickered a vivid electric blue. And seconds later the rumble of thunder came rolling in over the sea…

  The distant sound of the thunder jolted Tamzin and Joel as if they had had a powerful shock. Joel jumped to his feet, looking up in alarm and half expecting to see the cavern roof collapsing in on them. But the sound was fading away and the roof was still intact.

  ‘What was it?’ Tamzin whispered.

  ‘I don’t know. It must have come from somewhere outside. It –’

  ‘Ah!’

  He was interrupted as Tamzin jolted again and clutched at the bracelet on her wrist. ‘My talisman –’ She stared at it with wide eyes. ‘It’s glowing!’

  He ran to see. A strange light had appeared, shining from the depths of the glass fragment. It flickered, then grew steadier and brighter, until the cave was filled with blue brilliance.

  ‘The Blue Horse!’ Tamzin cried. ‘It’s trying to reach us!’

  From the far side of the pool came an echoing snort. Joel looked up – and his heart seemed to stop beating.

  ‘Tam…’ he said.

  She raised her head. On the other side of the cavern a grey shape was materializing. At first it was faint as mist. Then it solidified, and the Grey Horse stood glaring at them over the slowly rising water.

  Tamzin and Joel backed away. The Grey Horse snorted again, and the hot red light in its eyes clashed with the shining blue glow of the talisman. Tamzin could feel its towering fury. They had dared to defy it in its own lair and it would not rest until it had revenge.

  Then the monstrous horse raised its head, staring up at the cave roof. Its mouth opened and it uttered a hideous, husky noise almost like a human laugh. High above, the rock gave an answering groan. The walls quaked;the water in the pool churned suddenly and rose until it was lapping almost at the top of the ledge. Fearfully Tamzin clutched Joel’s arm, shutting her eyes as the strength of the Grey Horse’s hatred beat against her mind like waves. The light from her talisman was flickering, weakening. The walls were closing in –

  Suddenly, from beyond the blocked tunnel, a shrill whinny echoed through the cave. It was followed by a rumbling sound and a whole section of the wall behind them broke away. Rock and debris came crashing down; the wall seemed to split apart – and a new tunnel appeared in the wall, opening the way to the sea channel.

  Joel didn’t pause to think. Yelling, ‘Quick – run!’ he grabbed Tamzin’s hand and dived for the split.

  They heard the Grey Horse shriek in rage, but they were already in the tunnel and running.

  They burst out on to the jutting ledge – and saw at once that, although they had escaped from the cave, they were still trapped. The sea was roaring and pounding through the channel; even the best swimmer in the world wouldn’t have a hope of surviving. Joel looked frantically in both directions – and at the seaward end of the channel, he saw a huge white wave rising.

  His warning shout was almost blotted out by the roar of the surging tide. Tamzin saw and cowered back. But the wave was changing. As it rushed down the channel towards them, its crest reared up and took the form of a blue-white horse.

  ‘Look! Oh, look!’ Tamzin shrieked.

  The wave-horse tossed its head and another piercing whinny rang above the sea’s roar. In that instant Tamzin knew what the Blue Horse wanted them to do.

  ‘Jump, Joel!’ she yelled. ‘It’s our only chance!’

  He understood. It would take all the courage they could muster, but –

  The wave raced towards them and, as it reached the ledge, they grasped each other’s hands and leaped to meet it.

  Wild water engulfed them, and Tamzin felt as if she had been flung into a gigantic washing machine. Over and over she tumbled, water in her eyes and ears and nose. Joel’s hand still gripped hers, but he too was being whirled and flung about like a mad acrobat. Then suddenly a white shape rose from beneath them and they were pulled with it up to the surface. Tamzin’s other flailing hand tangled in what felt like the flying strands of a mane, then her head broke clear of the water and, to her amazement, she found herself riding as though on horseback, carried on the wave’s white crest as it surged through the channel. Joel was there beside her, shouting in shock and exhilaration. She could see light ahead; they were almost through the tide-race –

  The wave crashed out of the channel and into the open sea amid an explosion of white foam, bearing them on towards the beach. The sea stormed around them and the sky was thunderous with dark clouds. Through eyes blurred by water, Tamzin saw the cliffs coming closer. Then the world turned white as they reached the breakers rolling in to shore. In a final, breathtaking rush, they were flung from the sea and on to sand. The wave collapsed and they sprawled breathless on the beach as two people came running towards them.

  ‘Tamzin! Oh, Tamzin!’

  Nan grasped hold of Tamzin and pulled her clear of the sea, while Alec helped Joel. Tamzin knelt on the sand, coughing and gasping. Her head spun with the crazy shock of what had just happened, and all she wanted was to cling to Nan and be comforted. But as she reached out, Alec yelled in horror, ‘My God! Look at that!’ He was pointing out to sea.

  They all spun round.

  Out by Lion Rock, something was rising from the water. A huge, dark shape, mane flying in the wind – the Grey Horse formed itself out of a great wave and began to move shoreward.

  ‘It’s coming straight for us!’ Alec gasped.

  The grey phantom was approaching fast.

  ‘The Blue Horse!’ Tamzin screamed.

  ‘Where’s the Blue Horse?’

  Nan had been staring, hypnotized, but as Tamzin spoke she snapped out of her trance. ‘Tamzin, give me your wrist. Quickly!’

  Bewildered, Tamzin nearly lost her balance as Nan grabbed her arm. She saw to her astonishment that Nan was holding a piece of blue glass.

  ‘Nan! Where did you –’

  ‘Never mind! There isn’t time to tell you now!’

  Blue on blue makes blue… Nan touched the glass fragment to the talisman on Tamzin’s bracelet. There was a flash of dazzling light, and the fragment fused with the others. Nan whirled round, grabbed the bag with the broken statue in it from Alec and thrust it at Tamzin.

  ‘Remember the words!’ she cried. ‘ “So touch grey to blue”…’

  ‘ “And make it whole again”!’

  Tamzin’s mind lit up with understanding. Her hands shook and fumbled, but she knew that only she could do what had to be done. She pulled out the roughly mended little stone statue. As she clasped it, the oncoming vision of the Grey Horse uttered a terrible cry. The sky darkened and the wind rose to a shriek, buffeting them all and making them stagger. The statue writhed with a life of its own, fighting to pull free from Tamzin’s grip, but she hung on tightly, defying the power that tried to stop her. She pressed the talisman against the missing piece of the statue’s head.

  A tingling sensation shot through her fingers and along her arms. The broken fragments of stone k
nitted together. The talisman flowed like water, blending with them, and the statue was complete. But it was no longer a figure of grey stone. Now it was covered by a fine layer of shining blue glass.

  The wind rose again suddenly, but this time the gust came from the direction of the cliffs. The sound of it eclipsed the Grey Horse’s second scream of rage, and a brilliant blue light sprang from the cave in the cliffside. Out of the light an incredible vision came galloping – a magnificent horse, blue as sapphires and translucent as water, with a mane and tail of shining silver. It swept past them and raced to the sea’s edge to meet the Grey Horse as it neared the shore. Both visions reared high, their forelegs raking the air. Driven by a powerful impulse, Tamzin held up the remade statue in both hands, as though it would give the Blue Horse extra strength. She felt a surge of energy inside and around her – then the gathering thunderclouds began to break apart, and suddenly a shaft of sunlight streamed through them and fell directly on the Grey Horse. The Grey Horse howled. It fell back and its shape began to change. It shrank, losing its form until it became a coil of dark smoke that writhed helplessly towards the spot where Tamzin stood. The smoke curled over the little statue… and flowed into it, fading and vanishing until there was nothing of it to be seen.

  As the last traces of the Grey Horse vanished, Tamzin’s legs threatened to give way. She swayed; Joel hurried to steady her, and she stared, stunned, at the Blue Horse, which stood in the shallows gazing back.

  ‘It’s gone.’ Tamzin spoke to the Blue Horse, her voice small and shaking. ‘It’s locked up in the statue again. There’s no more danger…’

  The Blue Horse whickered softly and lowered its head. Tamzin longed to go to it and touch it. But she didn’t dare. Then it turned away into the surf. The sea was changing to blue again as the sky cleared and the sun came out; sea and horse blurred together, becoming one…

  And the Blue Horse was gone.

  For a long time Tamzin stood still, watching the sea and saying nothing. Then, gently, Joel touched her shoulder.

  She blinked and looked at him, trying to fight back tears. He said nothing, but gave her a hug, and they walked together to where Nan and Alec were waiting.