Destiny and Stardust (10 page)

Hester smiled up at Issie now. “How clever you both are, catching him like that! Your mother would kill me of course, Isadora, if she knew I was allowing you to go out on a wild horse hunt! But how fabulous! And you were right: I have no doubt in my mind as I look at him now. He is Avignon's son. You have brought him home. Coming here was his destiny.”

“Destiny! That's it!” Issie said. “Aunty Hess, you're a genius! I've been trying to think of a name for him all the way home. That's the perfect name for him. Destiny it is!”

Aunt Hester turned to the black stallion. “Do you hear that, Destiny? You've got a new home and a new name all in one day.” She smiled at Issie and Aidan. “Come on then, let's get Destiny settled in. He can go in the field next to the duck pond. It's too soon to expect him to be stabled. Besides, he would go bonkers if we kept him too near the mares!” she explained.

They all stood and watched as Destiny moved around the perimeter of the paddock, which had high fencing on every side. He trotted back and forth and let out a few high-pitched calls. Then he galloped the fence-line, charging down on the rails at the end of the paddock. For a moment it looked as if he might try to jump, but at the last moment he swerved and kept galloping. After a few laps of the field, punctuated by moments when he stopped to sniff the ground, looking for the smells of horses that had been there before, Destiny eventually settled down.

By the time Issie returned from the stables after putting Blaze away for the night, the stallion was grazing peacefully as if he had lived at Blackthorn Farm all his life.

Issie helped Aidan untack Paris and Diablo, feeding them and bedding them down for the night, then they headed back up to the manor where Aunt Hester was cooking dinner.

“What's she making us?” Issie said.

“Her famous lasagne,” Aidan groaned.

“That doesn't sound so bad,” Issie said optimistically.

“It's called famous lasagne because it's famous for giving you a stomach ache for three days afterwards.” Aidan grinned.

As they chewed their way through the lasagne on their plates Aunt Hester quizzed them both about how they had caught Destiny. When Issie told her about the stunt-riding trick Hester whooped with delight. “I'm so glad all my trick-training got put to real use for once!” She beamed.

“Aunty Hess,” Issie said as she put down her cutlery and stopped trying to hack into her lasagne crust, “please, I want to talk to you about the cull.”

The table went quiet.

“Isadora, I know how you feel—” her aunt began. But Issie cut her off before she could say anything more.

“Aunty Hess, you feel the same way. I know you do! We have to stop it!”

Hester shook her head. “It can't be stopped, my dear. Don't you think I've already tried? My group, Save the Blackthorn Ponies, have been fighting Cameron on this for years now. We've won several legal wrangles, but the Conservation Trust are very hot under the collar about the damage the ponies are doing. They've done their homework and their paperwork. They took it all the way to the high court and it has been decreed that the horses must go. Cameron is a good man, he's given us loads of second chances and we've exhausted all the options. I don't see what else we can do.”

Issie was about to answer back when she heard Aidan's voice speaking up next to her. “We can catch them ourselves,” he said.

“What?”

“The Conservation Trust doesn't care what happens to the horses, as long as we get them off the land, right?” Aidan shrugged. “So all we've got to do is catch them.”

“That's all very well, Aidan, but Cameron and his men have tried that already,” Hester sighed. “Those ponies are damn near impossible to muster and you know it.”

“Maybe for Cameron and his boys, but we've never tried before, have we?” Aidan replied.

“Well,” Hester said considering this, “what if we do catch them? What then? We can't keep thirty more horses on this farm! Besides, these are wild horses – they're unbroken.”

“Ohmygod!” Issie yelped suddenly. “I've just had a really great idea. Aunty Hess! We can do it. I know someone who can help us. We're going to save the horses! Not just Destiny – all of them!”

That night, around the kitchen table, Issie laid out her plan to Hester and Aidan. After much discussion, they all agreed that it just might work. Then phone calls were made, further plans were hatched and rooms were prepared with spare beds made up with fresh linen. After all, they needed to be ready. Tomorrow, the cavalry were coming.

Issie looked anxiously at her watch. Unbelievable! It was almost midday.

“They were supposed to be here by now. Why aren't they here?” She complained to Aidan. They were sitting together on the sofa on the upstairs balcony of the manor overlooking the cherry-tree lawn.

“Issie, calm down,” Aidan said gently. “They said they'd be here by lunchtime and it's not even—”

“They're here!” Issie suddenly leapt up and left Aidan in mid-sentence as she raced back into the house and ran down the stairs.

Aidan listened to Issie's frantic footsteps on the staircase. He heard the front door swinging open and slamming shut again as Issie dashed outside. Coming towards her down the long, leafy driveway was a dark green Range Rover. Issie waved, gesturing for it to circle the lawn and pull up in the parking bay right next to the front door of Blackthorn Manor. Dust flew up from beneath the tyres as it pulled to a stop. The driver's door flew open and out stepped Tom Avery.

“Well, Isadora, I wasn't expecting this. It's quite the grand country estate, isn't it?” Avery said, looking about.

“Tom!” Issie grinned. “Thanks so much for coming—”

She was interrupted by the sound of the other doors of the Range Rover opening.

“Issie!” Stella squealed, jumping down from the passenger seat and running round to give her best friend a hug.

“Ohmygod, it is amazing here!” Kate shrieked as she hopped out of the back and ran over to join her friends. Ben and Dan emerged now too, stretching dramatically and shaking out their arms and legs.

“I feel so cramped up after that long drive! We left at five in the morning to get here!” Ben groaned.

“Oh, stop complaining!” Dan snapped at him. “You slept most of the way. You were snoring and drooling on my shoulder.”

“Hi, guys,” Issie beamed at them. “Thanks for coming. I really, really appreciate it.”

At that moment there was a sudden yelp and a chorus of barking as Strudel, Nanook and Taxi officially announced the arrival of the new guests. The three dogs bounded out the front door to greet everyone, followed by Aunt Hester and Aidan.

“Aunty Hess! Come and meet my friends. This is Stella, Kate, Dan and Ben,” Issie began her introductions. “And this is my riding instructor, Tom Avery.”

“Welcome to Blackthorn Manor, everyone!” Hester said brightly. “Lovely to meet you, Tom. Isadora has told me so much about you. You know, I used to watch you ride on TV. I once saw you do a clear round in the cross-country at Burghley on that enormous bay gelding of yours…”

“Lucky Jim?” Avery said. “He was a fabulous horse. Never slowed down for a fence, mind you. I rode him in a gag, but he was still impossible to stop.”

“Oh!” Issie said, spotting Aidan quietly standing behind Aunt Hester. “I haven't finished my introductions. Everyone, this is Aidan. Aidan, this is Tom, Stella, Kate, Dan and Ben.”

“Hello…” Aidan stepped out from behind Hester and gave them all a shy wave.

“Hi, Aidan!” they all replied.

Stella, who was boggling at Aidan, leant over and whispered rather too loudly in Issie's ear. “That's him? Issie, I told you so! I knew it. He's totally gorgeous!” Issie elbowed Stella roughly. “Ow! What did you do that for?” Stella said. Issie glared at her, willing Stella to shut up.

“Aidan helped me catch Destiny,” Issie said. She kept an eye on Stella as she said this. She was terrified her friend might say something else. She would be so embarrassed if Aidan thought she had a silly crush on him or something.

“I'm dying to see him!” Kate said. “I've never even seen a stallion before. I bet he's beautiful.”

“We'll show you to your rooms and then you can meet the horses.” Hester smiled brightly. “Come on in – we're all ready for you.”

While Aidan showed Avery and the boys to their rooms Issie took Stella and Kate on a whirlwind tour of Blackthorn Manor, showing them the vast ballrooms downstairs, the grand dining room and the wood-panelled billiards room.

“This must be what a princess' house looks like!” Stella gasped as she stroked the brilliant green feathers of one of the stuffed pheasants and stared up at the oil paintings of racehorses on the walls.

“This is most amazing room I've ever been in,” Kate agreed as she cast her eyes around the ornate ceilings hung with sparkling crystal chandeliers.

“It's so good that you're here! I still can't believe it!” Issie beamed at her friends. “I'm really sorry for dragging you away like this. I know you were doing the summer dressage series and everything…”

“What? Are you nuts! We couldn't wait to leave,” Stella said. “Natasha was driving us crazy. She was winning by like, a million miles on that new horse of hers. Which is fine, except after every competition she would go over the leader board in the clubroom with a highlighter pen and highlight her scores so that everyone could see how much she's winning by and—”

“Oh, just forget about it, Stella! We're here now!” Kate shut her up.

“Come on” Issie told them. “You can unpack your bags later. Let's go to the stables. I can't wait for you to meet Destiny.”

Dan, Ben and Avery were already at the stables when the girls arrived. They were watching over the rails as Destiny paced and fretted along the fenceline. With an audience to watch him, Destiny broke out of his high-stepping trot into a canter, tossing his head as he circled the paddock.

“What do you think, Tom?” Issie said.

“He has terrific paces,” Avery mused. “Hester might be right about Avignon. This horse certainly moves like a warmblood. Does he have a brand?”

Issie shook her head. “No, there are no markings on him. Hester thinks that Avignon might have escaped at some point and bred with a Blackthorn Pony.”

“Perhaps…” Avery said. “But you say he's not as wild as the rest of them?”

“He let me put a halter on him and lead him back to the farm,” Issie replied.

“It makes no sense,” Avery said. “A horse like this, left to roam wild. How did he get there?”

Destiny stopped cantering now and stood at the end of the paddock nearest the stables. He let out a shrill, high whinny and a moment later another horse returned his call.

“That's Blaze!” Issie smiled. “Come on, I'd better go and check on her and then you can meet your horses.”

“Today is Wednesday and the cull is due to happen on Friday. It's too late to ride out today, of course, so that only leaves tomorrow to muster the herd,” Hester explained as they all walked together to the stables. “We thought if we allocated each of you a horse now then you'd be all set and ready to go first thing in the morning. We're aiming for a six a.m. start.”

Issie pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket. “Right!” she said. “This is the list of horses and riders for tomorrow's muster. I'm on Blaze, obviously, and Aidan has Diablo – he's the piebald in the last stall. Stella and Kate – you're on Paris and Nicole – the twin palominos. Ben is on Scott – he's the skewbald in that stall over there to your left. Dan is riding Tornado – he's the dark bay hunter in the last stall. He's the one Aunty Hess usually rides…”

Issie looked back down at her list. “And Tom, you're on Titan,” Issie said mischievously. “I think you'd better come over here and meet him.”

Issie pulled a face over her shoulder at Stella and the others as she walked with Avery to the first stall in the row. They all gathered round as Avery opened the Dutch door. He looked puzzled. “I don't understand. There's no horse in here,” he said.

“Yes there is!” Issie laughed. She unbolted the bottom half of the door and there was little Titan, all nine hands of him, looking up at them from underneath his enormous shaggy brown forelock.

Everyone started laughing as Avery strode over to the miniature pony and stood over him. Titan was so tiny that he barely reached Avery's hip. Everyone laughed even harder.

“I think you may have to find me a slightly larger mount, Isadora,” Avery said, trying to keep a straight face.

“I've got just the thing right next door,” Issie said. “You can ride Dolomite.”

If the riders had been laughing hard before, they hooted and wailed now at the sight of the enormous eighteen hand Dolomite next to the tiny miniature pony.

“Haven't you got something somewhere in between these two?” Avery asked.

“Actually, no. I wasn't joking. I was hoping you'd ride Dolomite,” Issie said. “I know he looks huge but Aunty Hess says he's very well schooled.”

“Well, I'm certainly not riding Titan, so I guess I have no choice, do I?” Avery smiled.

With the horses all fed and the tack sorted for the next day they locked up the stables for the night and headed back up to Blackthorn Manor. Over dinner the riders looked at the map of Blackthorn Farm as Aunt Hester filled them in on the details of the impending cull.

“Cameron is assembling his team now. Friday is D-day,” Hester said gravely. “It doesn't leave us much time… And then, of course, once we've got the herd back here that leaves us with an even bigger problem. What on earth are we going to do with them?”

“That's where you come in, Tom,” Issie said. “When Aunty Hess told me that these horses were wild with no homes to go to I suddenly realised that I had the solution all along. You work for the International League for the Protection of Horses. You can take the wild horses and find them new homes – good homes where they'll be cared for properly by owners that love them. You can do it, can't you?”

Avery looked serious. “What you're asking is no small feat, Isadora. Your Aunt is right – these are wild ponies born and bred and they won't be easy to school. They'll be a handful for even an experienced horseman.” Avery saw Issie's face fall at this news.

“Hey now! I never said it couldn't be done – just that it wouldn't be easy. Of course the ILPH will take these horses. I've been in touch with them and organised everything. The Blackthorn Ponies will be trucked to the ILPH fields after they're mustered. We'll keep them there and feed them up, break them in and give them a bit of basic schooling before we find them new homes. All the prospective owners will have to pass our checks before they can re-home a Blackthorn Pony, of course. These are very special ponies – you can be sure we'll be keeping an eye on them once they have new owners.”

“Thanks, Tom,” Issie smiled, “they're really amazing ponies. Wait until you see them.”

“We should all get an early night,” Aidan advised them as he headed back out the door and home to his cottage. “We'll need to be ready to mount up by six a.m. when it's light enough to ride.”

“Who made him the boss?” Dan muttered as Aidan left.

“Aidan is the farm manager. He's a really good trick rider and he knows what he's doing,” said Issie.

“Yeah, well, he's not that much older than us and he doesn't get to boss us around,” Dan said sulkily. “Anyway, goodnight. I was going to bed anyway.”

“What's up with him?” Issie asked Ben.

Ben rolled his eyes. “Duh, Issie! Think about it. Maybe he's jealous? You've been going on and on about Aidan this and Aidan that ever since we got here!”

Issie was shocked. “I don't know what you're talking about!”

“Yeah, right,” Ben said. “I'd better get to bed now too. It's a big day tomorrow.”

Could Dan really be jealous of Aidan?
thought Issie.

“Of course he is!” Stella laughed when Issie asked her this. The girls were sitting on Issie's four-poster bed having hot chocolates with marshmallows as a pre-bedtime treat.

“I'm jealous too!” Kate said. “I mean, Aidan is so cool. Have you noticed how his hair kind of dangles over his eyes like that? How does he even see where he's going?”

Issie smiled at this. She had noticed Aidan's hair. It was kind of cute how it hung over his face, hiding his blue eyes. “But it's not like he likes me or anything,” she protested.