‘Very auspicious,’ Ali said.
Then Marran came down the ramp followed by the foal, and there was a gasp of delight from everyone present. The foal put his head up high and looked around with interest, and danced a little on his hooves.
‘He’ll be a spoiled little fellow,’ Ali said. ‘We won’t keep him here long — he and his mother will go over to the breeding farm. Otherwise every rider in the place will be petting him! What are their names?’
‘The chestnut is Marran and her colt is Marjii,’ Rachel said.
‘Chestnuts are the Prophet’s favourites,’ Ali said. ‘And a bay horse with a star is greatly valued. We call bays “the pearl of all horses”.’
‘You’ll like his father, Paruku, then,’ Cassie chipped in.
‘Paruku is his father?’ Ali asked.
‘Yes. Though he’s a gelding now,’ Cassie said.
Rachel felt a pain in her chest at the words. ‘You’re not going to put them into the stables, are you?’ she asked Ali.
He smiled at her. ‘We have an enclosure ready for them this afternoon, so they can stretch their legs. Tonight they’ll go into the stables. This is their home now, and it’s best they get used to it straight away. Tomorrow they’ll start work. Gently at first, don’t worry.’
Most of the horses were unloaded when Paruku appeared, led by Mike. He was more nervous than the others and halted at the top of the ramp, his ears flickering.
‘Rach?’ Mike called. ‘Can you stay out of his sight till I get him off the truck?’
Rachel blushed so hard it felt as though her face was glowing. Couldn’t her father have asked her beforehand, rather than embarrassing her in front of everyone? She stepped away from the fence and walked quickly towards the front of the truck, out of sight of the ramp. She could still see the bottom of the ramp, but she was far enough away that Paruku wouldn’t notice her.
Mike clicked his tongue and Paruku lowered his head and stepped down. When his feet touched the asphalt, he shivered, and then seemed to relax.
Rachel saw the admiring looks the riders and Ali were giving the brumby. As her father had said, physically Paruku was the best horse of them all, and he was almost fully recovered. His coat gleamed, and the white star on his forehead stood out brilliantly.
Mike was speaking softly to the horse. Paruku’s ear twitched, but he refused to look at her father. He raised his head and looked into the distance, and shifted his feet a little. Then he lifted his nose and gave a deafening whinny.
‘He might be gelded, but he’s still the leader of this mob by the look of him,’ Rachel heard Ali saying from where she stood. He stepped forwards, reached out a hand and patted Paruku firmly on the neck. The horse stood his ground, though his skin twitched.
‘Welcome home,’ Ali said to him. ‘Assalaam Alaikum.’ Then he waved at the grooms. ‘Let’s get these horses into their enclosure!’
One of the grooms stepped up to Paruku and Mike handed him the lead rein. Paruku hardly appeared to notice.
Rachel felt tears pricking her eyes. If Paruku was even indifferent to her, it would be something! She couldn’t bear to see him being led away. Instead she focused on the way everyone watched Paruku go, and the looks of admiration on their faces.
It made her heart hurt. He never had been hers, she knew. But now he really belonged to someone else.
Chapter 13
Rachel and Cassie walked side by side along the blue tarmac pathway towards the stable block. Rachel could feel the day’s heat already starting to burn, though it was early in the morning. Cassie still had a limp from her accident, but she was exercising her leg with her usual single-minded determination, and Rachel could see that she was improving every day. In sizing Cassie up she noticed something else — she was almost as tall as her sister. She seemed to have shot up in height since Cassie’s accident.
‘Is Mum working that crazy horse again today?’ Cassie asked.
Rachel felt a flush of anger. ‘He’s not crazy. He’s angry. There’s a difference.’
Cassie shrugged. ‘Not much of a difference if he doesn’t calm down. He might be one of those ones that never accepts people.’
Rachel bit her lip. She desperately hoped Cassie was wrong, but it wasn’t looking good. Using the horse-whispering techniques, their mother had helped the brumbies adjust to wearing halters and being led before they left Australia. The act of sitting on the horse for the first time usually took one or two sessions, and every brumby had gone through it now. Except Paruku. He was still resistant. Helen didn’t want to push him before he was ready, but it was taking a long time.
The other five stallions that had been gelded had all settled down, but Paruku hadn’t altered much at all. He still defended his mare Marran against other horses, and tried to dominate the other mares in the group. He’d fight the geldings if he had a chance. And always he looked out into the distance, as if longing for his wild home.
What would happen if Paruku refused to be gentled and trained? Rachel couldn’t imagine that he’d be allowed to go home and be set free again — and anyway, he was a gelding now. He just had to learn to live with people! She hated to think what the alternative might be.
‘If anyone can get through to him, Mum can,’ she said.
‘Better make sure you’re not around to stir him up,’ Cassie said. ‘You can come and help me with Jalka. I’m going to ride her today.’
‘What?’ Rachel found that she was clenching her fists. Once again her older sister was the centre of attention, this time with her rehabilitation. Her father helped Cassie with her exercises morning and night, and her mother was now letting her ride one of the brumbies! Rachel hadn’t ridden any of them yet — once their mother had gentled them, they were handed over to the endurance riders.
‘Mum reckons I’m ready, and I need to be riding again, or I won’t be fit for the state championships.’ Cassie shaded her eyes to peer ahead. ‘Come on, they’re waiting for us in the covered ring.’
She took off, her limp hardly visible, and Rachel had to jog to catch up with her. ‘How come I’m not allowed to ride the brumbies?’
‘I’m sure you’ll get a chance soon, on one of the quiet ones,’ Cassie said.
Rachel was glad that they reached the yard. She felt so much like slapping her sister that she had to hold her arms against her sides.
A squeal rang out and Rachel’s heart sank. Paruku had caught sight of her. She could see his head held high and his ears pinned back.
‘Go with your sister,’ Helen called out to her. ‘Sorry, Rach, he’s still reacting to you.’
Rachel followed Cassie around the side of the round yard, out of Paruku’s sight. Her father was waiting in one of the covered arenas holding Jalka. Unlike Paruku, the bloodstained mare was starting to look quite at home in Dubai, tacked up in the stable’s colours. She stood still when Cassie went up to her and ran a hand down her neck.
‘Rach, can you give your sister a leg up?’ Mike asked, keeping hold of Jalka’s reins.
Rachel stepped forwards, locked her fingers together and made a step for Cassie, who put her boot into it. Rachel boosted her up into the saddle with more push than was really needed.
‘Hey, watch it!’ Cassie gathered up the reins. ‘You nearly boosted me right over.’
Rachel stamped back over to the fence, climbed up and sat on the top railing. Mike led Jalka into the centre of the arena and began lungeing her. Rachel could hardly stand to watch as Cassie rode the mare in large circles. She swivelled on her perch and tried to see what her mother was doing with Paruku. She could hear his snorts and occasional squeals. It didn’t sound like it was going very well.
She hunched forwards, folding her arms and resting her head on them. She didn’t want to watch Cassie riding the brumby while she, as always, was just the strapper. Not even the strapper this time — the horse had already been saddled by one of the stableboys.
‘Can I come up?’
She raised her head.
Her father was standing below her, rolling up the lungeing rein. Cassie was trotting Jalka in big circles out in the centre, concentrating hard.
‘Doesn’t Princess Cassie need your help any more?’
‘Not so rude, thank you.’ He clambered up on the railings. ‘Look, Rach, I know it’s not the easiest time for you.’
Rachel felt tears pricking at her eyes and put her head back down on her arms so he couldn’t see.
‘It’s important Cassie gets her riding confidence back,’ he went on. ‘You know that.’
Rachel couldn’t hold herself back. ‘Why is she always more important?’
‘Oh, honey,’ her father said, his voice soft. ‘Do you really not know?’
‘No, I don’t!’
He reached for her, but she kept herself stiff under his hand and after stroking her shoulder once he took his hand away. ‘Cassie’s different, Rachel.’
‘No kidding.’
‘Could you just listen to me? She’s not like most kids. She’s a brilliant rider and a brilliant student, but she’s not good at relating to people.’
Rachel raised her head. ‘I’ve kind of noticed that,’ she said drily.
‘It’s not just you, Rach. Cassie doesn’t have any friends. She doesn’t seem to have the knack. Life’s not going to be easy for her.’
‘D’you mean something’s wrong with her?’
Her father looked out to where Cassie was riding. She had urged Jalka into a slow canter and was trying to keep her on course. ‘Not exactly. But she’s not exactly normal either, whatever that is. So we make allowances. And I guess that sometimes looks unfair.’
Rachel grunted, reminding herself that she was still not really speaking to her father.
‘The thing is, Rach, you’re not like Cassie. People always really like you, and we know you’ll be absolutely fine in life. So sometimes we just leave you to get on with it. It’s not fair, I know, but Cassie’s high maintenance and we both get tired.’
Rachel could feel herself softening towards her father. He was trying, she could see that. But whenever she started to become friendly to him, she thought of Paruku, and felt angry again.
‘Dad!’ Cassie called from the centre of the ring. ‘Can you lunge her again? I want to concentrate on softening her up, but she’s too distracted.’
Mike waved at her, and turned to Rachel again. ‘Your mother and I really want you to have a horse now, Rach. When we get back, that’s our top priority. We’ll find you a real beauty.’
Rachel heard a distant squeal, and knew it was Paruku. ‘I found the horse I want and you didn’t want me to have him. He hates me now. I don’t even know if I want another horse.’
Her father flinched and Rachel felt a moment of satisfaction. She clambered down the outside of the railings and turned her back on him, pushing aside the small twinge of guilt she felt.
Marran and Marjii weren’t far away and Rachel headed over to their enclosure. The best medicine for feeling churned up was to put her face close to a horse and to hug it, the way she’d always done with Scally.
Marran was standing with her head over the railings, looking out into the distance, just the way Paruku often did. Her ears were pricked forwards and Rachel thought she was probably hearing Paruku’s training session. The mare took no notice of Rachel when she climbed into the enclosure and she felt a stab of longing for Scally that made her want to cry again.
Marjii poked his head around Marran’s flank and eyed her curiously. Rachel held out a hand and clicked her tongue, and the colt took a few steps forwards, stretching out his nose. He was so sweet.
He paused and then skittered towards her on his lovely long legs, and butted her in the belly with his head. She staggered, surprised, and had to laugh. He watched her for a moment and then came close again, letting her scratch his coat and run her hands along his back. He wriggled his tail, like a lamb.
‘Irresistible, isn’t he?’ Ali had come up without her noticing and was leaning on the railings. ‘I put off sending these two across to the breeding farm, but Paruku still thinks he’s a stallion having his family around. Perhaps that’s why he won’t settle. I’m going to send them over today.’
Rachel hugged Marjii close to her. The whole world seemed to be against her.
‘Please don’t,’ she said. ‘Paruku has lost nearly everything. Don’t take away the last thing he’s got. Not yet.’
‘You really love him, don’t you?’ Ali asked.
Rachel nodded, not looking at him, and concentrated on Marjii, who was pulling out of her grasp, wanting to play.
‘But he is angry at you more than anyone.’
‘Why is that?’ Rachel burst out, startling the colt. ‘I did everything to stop him being caught. Then I tried to stop him being gelded. But he blames me for all of it.’
‘Horses aren’t rational creatures. He may not understand it either.’ Ali looked over at her. ‘I have an idea. You’re covered in hair now, from one of his herd. Why don’t you and I go over to him? Perhaps the smell of his family on you might help.’
‘Really?’ Rachel felt hopeful. She stepped back from Marjii and climbed out of the yard. Ali smiled at her and they walked side by side along the sandy pathway and back to the round yard where Helen was working Paruku.
‘How’s our desert brumby going this morning?’ Ali called out.
Helen walked across to the railings. ‘Not so great, Ali. Paruku’s still angry.’
‘An angry horse is often a frightened horse.’
‘You’re right, of course,’ Helen said. ‘But I’m having trouble gaining his trust. That’s the foundation of my training approach. It’s worked with all the others, but not this one yet.’
Ali looked down at Rachel. ‘Put her in there with him.’
Helen laughed in a not-funny way. ‘You’re joking. He’ll try to kill her.’
‘I think not. I think Rachel represents his greatest fear. If he can move through that, he’ll be all right.’
‘Please, Mum,’ Rachel begged.
‘I have a feeling,’ Ali said. ‘Paruku doesn’t want to give up his herd. So let’s work on making him accept Rachel into his family. You stay in there too, as at least he’s familiar with you.’
‘I’m coming in, Mum.’ Rachel climbed through the railings before her mother said no. She straightened up inside the round yard, and heard Paruku snort.
‘If he charges, get straight out,’ Helen said in a low voice.
Rachel took a step forwards, and stretched out her hand. Paruku backed away from her, pressing against the railings of the round yard. He lifted into a half-rear in defiance.
‘Stay still,’ Ali said. ‘Let him smell you.’
Rachel dropped her hand. She blew through her nostrils loudly, and suddenly she remembered doing the same thing the very first time she’d seen Paruku. He’d stood in all his wild glory looking at her, and neither of them had wanted anything from the other. She tried to will herself back into the same state of mind, where she could just look at him and not expect anything from him at all. She felt her shoulders relax.
Paruku stopped moving, looking confused. Rachel sniffed loudly, and he raised his head and flared his nostrils. He was sniffing her. Could he smell Marjii?
A long moment passed as she and Paruku looked at each other. He was inhaling, breathing in her scent, and for the first time he wasn’t pinning back his ears or squealing at the sight of her. Rachel dared to feel a moment of hope.
Then a strange thing happened. Paruku lowered his head and turned around, so that he was facing away from her. Rachel looked at her mother, confused. Helen shrugged. Rachel looked back at Paruku. He’d turned his back on her. What did it mean?
‘Should I start working him again?’ Helen asked Ali.
Ali was silent for a moment. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Leave him alone.’
Rachel slumped. She’d thought, for a second, that she was making progress. But Paruku, with his face turned from her, seemed almost a
s far away as ever.
He shivers, wanting to run from Hair-of-Fire, but knowing there is nowhere to run. He’s sniffed and sniffed the air and he knows there is no trace of the lake and no trace of the Sharp-Tooths and no trace of the herds he knows. He senses that he is far away from them.
He doesn’t know, any more, what smells are familiar and what are strange. The desert that he feels stretching out around him smells new but somehow old too, as if he once knew it. The horses around him are new, but some of them he knows from his herd. Every day there are fresh smells crowding in on him that he can’t understand.
Today, Hair-of-Fire smells of his herd. She smells, somehow, of the lake, and the red-sand desert, and the dingoes. Her smell is heavy in his chest. Her smell makes his head droop.
He raises his head. He is alone. The Two-Legs have left him. He sniffs, trying to find the scent of her again. She smells like home.
Chapter 14
Early the next morning Ali was waiting as the family came outside for the day’s activities.
‘Good morning,’ he called. ‘Sabah al khair.’
‘Sabah al noor,’ Rachel said carefully, having now memorised the proper response to his greeting, and the others copied her, stumbling a little over the pronunciation.
‘What does the family plan today?’ Ali asked.
‘Cassie is going to work with Jalka again, in the arena with her father,’ Helen said. ‘I’ll have another session with Paruku.’
‘And you?’ Ali looked at Rachel.
She shrugged miserably. ‘I don’t know.’
Ali smiled at her. ‘Come, let’s go with your mother and watch Paruku.’
Rachel tried to smile back, but she was feeling wretched. Her father had offered to organise for her to ride one of the other brumbies if she wanted, but she’d turned him down. Paruku’s rejection hurt too much. She didn’t want to ride any other horse.
She was so miserable that she didn’t notice the silence as they approached the round yard.
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