Sea Horses

by Louise Cooper

‘But it’s yours.’ Tamzin couldn’t explain, but the thought of painting on one of Nan’s pictures, even if Nan encouraged it, felt all wrong and even a little bit frightening.

  Nan, though, was looking at her keenly. ‘Do you know,’ she said, ‘I don’t think it is mine. It’s just a feeling I’ve got, but… I think you’re the one who should finish it.’

  ‘Wh-what do you mean?’ Tamzin asked.

  ‘Remember when you came home from riding and found me having trouble with the painting? I first had the feeling then. I told you, didn’t I, how I started painting blue horses because I hoped they were a… a sort of protecting influence. Well, maybe they are, or could be. But I don’t believe it works for me; not any more. I’ve had my time, Tamzin. Now I think it might be your turn.’

  Tamzin couldn’t answer. She just stared, wide-eyed, and after a few seconds Nan smiled sadly. ‘It was just an idea,’ she said. ‘I’m Probably being silly. But think about it, and if you want to complete the picture…’ She stood up. ‘I suppose I ought to go to bed as it’s so late. Will you be all right now, love?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Tamzin. ‘I’m fine. Honestly.’

  ‘Well, goodnight then.’ Nan kissed Tamzin’s cheek and left the room.

  For a few minutes there were sounds from the bathroom, then came the click of Nan’s bedroom door closing. Tamzin knew she should try to go back to sleep. But she was afraid of having another nightmare, and she was thinking about what Nan had said. Nan wanted her to take over the troublesome picture. She truly believed it was the right thing to do. So why was Tamzin afraid to try?

  She couldn’t answer the question – or perhaps she didn’t want to. She turned over in bed, picked up a book, and tried to concentrate on reading.

  That week at school Tamzin was in a dilemma about Nan’s picture. Mrs Beck had asked again if Nan might help and Tamzin had told a white lie, saying yes, well, maybe, and she would ask. By Thursday, though, she was still no nearer to making a decision.

  Thursday was a blustery day, and by the time Nan came to pick Tamzin up from school it was raining too.

  ‘Typical October weather!’ said Nan as Tamzin scrambled into the car out of the squally downpour. ‘Never mind, the forecast says it’ll clear up tomorrow so it shouldn’t spoil your weekend for riding. The sea’s huge; I walked to the beach to look. Full moon tomorrow too. There’ll be big spring tides.’

  Tamzin had learned about the spring tides, which happened at new and full moons. The sea came in and went out much further than at the neap tides in between. With any luck, she and Joel could canter all the way along the beach this weekend.

  The wind boomed and the rain lashed round Chapel Cottage all evening, and Tamzin went to sleep with the noises in her ears. When she woke up it was nearly dawn, and she wondered what was different. Then she realized that the squalls had gone and the world outside was quiet and still.

  She felt wide awake. And she was thinking, again, about Nan’s picture.

  She got up, pulled on a sweatshirt and padded quietly downstairs. The first dim light was creeping in at the windows, and Baggins greeted her with a sleepy meow from his favourite chair in the kitchen.

  Tamzin went into Nan’s studio. It was still too dark to see much, but the unfinished painting was just visible on its easel. She went up to it and peered.

  The painting showed nothing but sea and sky. The horse Nan had begun to draw wasn’t there any more.

  Tamzin’s heart bumped painfully. What had happened? Where was the horse? She ran to switch on the light, and as brightness flooded the room she hurried back to view the picture again.

  One look, and she realized what an idiot she was. The horse’s outline hadn’t been spirited away by some awful, supernatural power.

  Nan had simply painted over it; Tamzin could see the new paint shining wetly where it had been.

  Suddenly she had an overwhelming impulse to do what Nan had suggested and draw a horse of her own on the painting. Nan used charcoal, she knew, and there were some sticks of it in a box on a nearby table. Tamzin picked up a stick and stood squarely in front of the picture. She imagined Moonlight standing sideways on to the sea, his head high and his mane and tail blowing in the wind. If she could just capture that…

  She reached out and made a bold, sweeping stroke with the charcoal, as she had seen Nan do. But she had forgotten about the wet paint. Instead of the clear line she wanted, the charcoal smeared in a huge, ugly grey smudge over the picture.

  Tamzin stared, horrified, at what she had done. Grey, over the blue. In a single moment all the terrors that she had tried to put out of her mind came rushing and tumbling back. She had to clean the grey off! She mustn’t leave it like this!

  Snatching up a cloth she rubbed frantically at the charcoal smudge. But though a lot of it came off, some stayed, and spread further across the painting. It almost looked like a horse’s shape.

  Tamzin came close to panicking. There was only one other thing she could try, and she rummaged among Nan’s tubes of paint until she found a blue that was about the same colour as the area she had spoiled. It took her nearly half an hour to cover up the charcoal smudges. But at last the grey could no longer be seen. Blue over grey. She had blotted out the dark influence. Nothing bad would happen. It wouldn’t. It couldn’t.

  Feeling sick and frightened and horribly alone, Tamzin put the paint away, switched off the light and ran back upstairs to her room.

  Despite Tamzin’s fears, nothing dreadful happened that day. To her relief Mrs Beck didn’t ask about the horse picture again, and she went home after school with the happier prospect of a weekend of riding ahead.

  But that night, the bad dream came back. Again she was running through darkness with the wind raging around her and the sea roaring. This time, though, another sound was mingling with the racket of the storm – the sound of bells. They were ringing a wild peal, and to Tamzin’s dream-locked mind the clanging tones seemed to be saying, ‘Blue, Blue! To you! Blue! Blue! To you!’

  Suddenly she snapped out of the nightmare and woke with a gasp. Her bedroom was dark but the sound of the bells was still going on. ‘To… you… To… you…’ It was real, it was in the room…

  Then Tamzin realized that her new mobile phone was ringing.

  She grabbed the phone from her bedside table. ‘H-hello?’

  ‘Tamzin?’ It was Joel. ‘Sorry, but I had to call. There’s something weird going on.’

  Tamzin’s heart started to beat faster. Joel’s voice was strained, and all her nerve-ends tingled in response. ‘What is it?’ she whispered.

  ‘I woke up a few minutes ago,’ said Joel, ‘and there were noises in the stable yard. When I looked out, I saw Moonlight. He’d got out of his stall somehow and he was escaping out of the yard, towards the valley. I think he’s heading for your place. But that’s not all. As he went through the gate, I… I…’

  The tingle in Tamzin’s nerves became as sharp as needles. ‘What?’ she asked.

  There was a pause. Then, ‘Tam, I know what I’ve said before. About the Blue and the Grey Horse being just a crazy old story. But I saw something in the yard. I didn’t imagine it and I couldn’t have mistaken it for anything else. It was another horse. A dark grey horse. It was as real as I am. It looked at me. But then suddenly it wasn’t there any more.’

  As he spoke the last words, Tamzin heard a rustle outside her window. She jumped violently and hissed into the phone, ‘Joel, there’s something in the garden, I just heard it! Wait a moment…’

  It took all her courage to slip out of bed, cross to the window and pull back the curtain just enough to peep cautiously through.

  Moonlight was in the garden. He was wearing only a halter and she could clearly see the frayed end of its broken rope dangling. The pony raised his head, saw her and gave a low, urgent whicker, pawing the ground impatiently.

  ‘It’s Moonlight!’ she hissed into the phone. ‘He’s here!’

  ‘See if you can catch him,’ said
Joel, sounding more strained than ever, ‘and wait for me. I’ll be there in five minutes. And Tam… I think I believe you now.’

  He broke the connection. Moonlight whickered again and stamped a forehoof impatiently. He looked as if he would take off at any moment, and hastily Tamzin dropped the curtain and started to scrabble for her clothes.

  The house was dark and quiet as she felt her way carefully downstairs. She wondered if she should wake Nan, but instinct said no. Joel was on his way; between them they could cope with Moonlight.

  Tamzin managed to ease the garden door open without the squeaky hinges making too much noise, and slipped outside. The night air was chilly, and she shivered. The moon was full and high in the sky, blotting out the stars and giving a strange, silvery cast to the garden and the valley beyond. It turned Moonlight’s coat to silver, too. He saw Tamzin and came quickly towards her, pushing his muzzle against her outstretched hands.

  ‘Moonlight!’ Tamzin stroked him. ‘There now, it’s all right! What are you doing here? What do you want?’

  The pony made small eager noises in his throat. ‘Shh!’ Tamzin said. ‘It’s all right, Moonlight, Joel’s coming and – oh!’

  Moonlight had jerked away from her, head high and mane tossing. Tamzin made a frantic grab for his halter rope and her fingers closed round it just before he could snatch it from her reach.

  ‘Moonlight, no! Shh, now, what’s the matter?’ She tried to soothe the pony but he snorted and stamped, and when she pulled on the rope he pulled too, nearly dragging her off her feet. It was all she could do to hold on as they performed a strange, silent dance around the garden. Twice Moonlight almost broke free, and Tamzin was on the verge of giving up and shouting for Nan when footsteps thudded on the track beyond the garden and Joel arrived.

  ‘Quick!’ she whisper-shouted. ‘I can’t hold him!’

  Joel came running, and between them they managed to get Moonlight under control. The pony was sweating; he stamped again and Tamzin jumped back, her feet only just getting out of the way of his hoof in time.

  ‘Whatever’s wrong with him?’ she asked breathlessly.

  ‘I don’t know.’ Joel was puffing with the effort of trying to calm Moonlight. ‘He must have come here for a reason but I’ve no idea what it is. Moonlight! Moonlight, boy, what is it? Stand still!’

  Moonlight lowered his head, and it seemed that he was going to obey. Joel’s grip on the rope relaxed – and in an instant Moonlight had jerked it out of his grasp. The pony half reared, turning on his haunches, and before Tamzin or Joel could do anything at all, he took off at a standing gallop. The low stone wall surrounding the garden was nothing to him; he rose like Pegasus, sailed right over it, and was gone into the darkness.

  Tamzin and Joel rushed for the gate and piled through. ‘Which way did he go, did you see?’ Joel gasped.

  ‘Towards the beach, I think. Come on!’

  Tamzin started to run. She pounded round the curve of the track – and Joel nearly cannoned into her as she stopped dead.

  Moonlight was standing in the middle of the path, facing them. A wind from the sea blew his mane and tail like white smoke, and he let out a shrill whinny.

  ‘Moonlight…’ Tamzin took a slow pace towards the pony, holding out one hand.

  ‘Careful,’ Joel whispered. ‘Don’t excite him, or he’ll bolt again.’

  Moonlight didn’t bolt. Instead, as Tamzin stepped forward he stepped back. He wasn’t going to let himself be caught. But neither did he want to run away.

  ‘Joel,’ Tamzin whispered, ‘he wants us to follow him.’

  ‘That’s crazy!’ said Joel. ‘He’s only a horse; he can’t reason like humans.’

  ‘I think he can. And I don’t think he’s only a horse. Watch. I’ll show you.’

  She took another step towards the pony and said aloud, ‘All right, Moonlight. I’m coming. I’m coming now.’

  She began to walk along the path. For a second or two Moonlight watched her, then he turned and trotted on ahead. A few steps and he stopped, looked back to be sure that Tamzin was still behind him, then moved on again.

  ‘See?’ Tamzin called to Joel.

  Joel didn’t argue any more. He caught her up at a run, and they both started to follow Moonlight along the path.

  The white pony led them at a trot on the uneven track. Joel had brought a torch, and the beam made a pool of light bobbing ahead of their feet and showing them the way. Tamzin’s heart was thumping like a hammer. Once, she glanced over her shoulder. Back there was the safe haven of Chapel Cottage, while ahead lay mystery, the unknown; possibly even danger. Her sensible self said, Don’t do this – go home now and lock yourself indoors where it’s warm and safe. The desire to run away was powerful, but Tamzin fought it. She trusted Moonlight, and Joel was with her. Whatever was happening, wherever the pony was leading them, she had to see it through. Telling herself sternly that she must not look back again, she hurried on.

  The cliffs rose up to their left, blotting out the moon, and suddenly the only light came from Joel’s torch. They could no longer glimpse Moonlight, but they could hear the sea ahead of them, a deep, surging murmur in the night.

  ‘We’re almost at the beach,’ Joel whispered.

  Tamzin nodded, then remembered that he couldn’t see her in the dark and said, ‘Yes.’ The ground was getting more uneven and they slowed down, mindful of the danger of twisted ankles. Then suddenly the valley opened out and they were at the beach.

  The cliffs’ black shadows stretched across the sand and made it invisible, but beyond the headlands the scene was lit again by the moon. The tide was far out, and the lines of breakers showed white and ghostly against the pewter-coloured sea.

  Joel raised the torch. Moonlight was illuminated in the beam like a phantom horse. He was looking at them, waiting for them. As they started to move again he disappeared over the edge of the rough beach slope.

  With the joggling torch to guide them they slithered down the slope until their feet ploughed into sand. Moonlight was a pale, dim shape cantering towards the sea. He reached the point where the headlands ended and the beach widened out, then stopped, and his shrill whinny carried back to them on the wind.

  Tamzin splashed through the shallow stream that spread across the beach, running to catch up with the pony. As she emerged from the shadow of the headlands the moon’s cold white eye sailed out from behind the cliff, bathing the scene in spectral light. The wind was much stronger here, whipping her hair back and blowing a fine mist of spume in her face, and the sea’s noise had grown to a roar. It was like a voice calling to her with a strange, wordless power. She stopped, suddenly afraid, but Moonlight whinnied again and came to meet her.

  ‘Moonlight!’ Tamzin hugged his neck, feeling his warm breath on her face. ‘What is it? What do you want?’

  Joel came hurrying up and took hold of Moonlight’s halter rope. This time Moonlight didn’t try to jerk away. Instead he pulled, quite gently but with real determination.

  ‘He still wants us to follow,’ Joel said. ‘Where, though?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Tamzin. ‘But we’ve got to go with him.’

  Moonlight tugged insistently on the rope again, as if agreeing with her. Joel stared at the sea and narrowed his eyes. ‘The tide’s turned. It’s coming in.’

  ‘Maybe, but we’ve got to find out what Moonlight wants!’ Tamzin looked up and down the length of the beach, which stretched away into the vague distance. She admitted to herself that she was scared. Scared of the night and the thundering surf and the incoming tide. Yet she had come this far. She couldn’t back out now. This mystery had to be solved.

  ‘All right,’ Joel said. ‘We’ll let him lead us a bit further, and see what he does.’ He slackened the halter rope. ‘Come on then, Moonlight. Show us.’

  Moonlight immediately set off. Tamzin and Joel went with him, and at first they thought he was heading for the edge of the sea. But suddenly he veered off to the left, and Joel r
ealized what he meant to do.

  ‘He wants to go round the headland!’ he said breathlessly. ‘We can’t let him. It’s dangerous. We might get cut off by the tide!’ He hauled on the rope, trying to stop the pony. ‘Moonlight! Moonlight, whoa!’

  Moonlight fought him, whinnying and rearing, and Tamzin cried, ‘Joel, let him go! He knows what he’s doing!’ A huge, suffocating sense of excitement was building up in her. They were close to something, she knew it – something vital!

  Impulsively she made a grab for Moonlight’s rope and snatched it out of Joel’s hand. Joel shouted, ‘Tam, don’t!’ But Moonlight was already trotting away, and Tamzin was running with him. For a second Joel hesitated. Then he raced after them towards the headland.

  As if he knew that Tamzin could not run at his speed, Moonlight kept his pace across the sand to a trot. But Tamzin could feel his excitement. It was like an electric charge transmitted through the halter rope. Whatever Moonlight wanted her to see, it was very close.

  The pony passed the first cave but as they drew level with the second he wheeled sharply and pulled towards the yawning mouth. The cave looked black and vast and menacing, and Tamzin’s own excitement was swamped by a wave of fear. She tried to push it down, telling herself that it was only a cave and darkness couldn’t hurt her. Moonlight was walking now, and she laid a hand on his neck to give herself courage.

  They reached the entrance of the cave and were just about to go inside when Joel caught up with them. ‘Tam!’ He grabbed her arm. ‘You can’t go in there!’

  Moonlight snorted angrily. Tamzin stared at the cave’s black interior and swallowed. ‘I think I’ve got to,’ she said, her voice unsteady. ‘Moonlight wants it. It’s important.’

  ‘Look at the tide!’ Joel pointed towards the sea’s edge. ‘It’s coming in fast, there isn’t time!’

  ‘There is,’ Tamzin said stubbornly. ‘Moonlight knows. He won’t let me come to any harm.’ She flashed Joel a look that was pleading and challenging at the same time. ‘I’ve got to do it, Joel. I’m going to, whether you come with me or not!’

  Joel opened his mouth to argue again, then realized that it would be no use. Tamzin was determined, and nothing he could say would stop her.