Winter Wonderland #5
Read Winter Wonderland #5 Online
Authors: Sue Bentley
To Strawberry, pretty funster with attitude—SB
GROSSET & DUNLAP
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Text copyright © 2009 Sue Bentley. Illustrations copyright © 2009 Angela Swan. Cover illustration © 2009 Andrew Farley. First printed in Great Britain in 2009 by Penguin Books Ltd. First published in the United States in 2013 by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN: 978-0-698-15966-2
Comet folded his gold-feathered wings as he galloped across the hillside on Rainbow Mist Island. The magic pony felt a stir of hope. Surely his twin sister had found her way home at last.
Destiny had been lost for so long.
Comet’s cream-colored coat and flowing gold mane and tail glistened in the moonlight. Overhead, stars pricked the midnight-blue sky. He sped onward, past distant mountaintops that were wreathed in the multicolored mist that gave Rainbow Mist Island its name.
Small stones struck deep-violet sparks from his shining hooves. The magic pony slowed as he caught a movement.
There—at the cave entrance in that steep rock face!
Comet moved forward cautiously. He hoped it was another one of his Lightning Herd and not one of the dangerous dark horses. But he thought about how lonely he felt without his sister, and the magic pony decided to take a chance.
“Destiny?” he neighed softly.
An older horse with a wise expression stepped out from the cave.
“Your sister has not returned. But I am glad to see you again, my young friend,” he said in a deep velvety whinny.
“Blaze!” Comet bowed his head before the leader of the Lightning Herd.
Blaze’s dark eyes softened as he saw Comet’s disappointment. He picked his way across the rocks until he stood next to the magic pony.
“I do not think Destiny will come back while she blames herself for losing our stone,” Blaze neighed softly.
The Stone of Power protected the Lightning Herd from the dark horses who wanted to steal their magic. The stone had been lost when Comet and Destiny were cloud-racing. Comet had found the stone, but Destiny had already fled.
“I wish I could find her and tell her it
is safe to come home,” Comet said sadly. “But I do not know where she is.”
“The stone will help us!” Blaze struck the ground with one shining front hoof, and a fiery opal, glinting with many bright colors, appeared. “Come closer, Comet.”
Comet’s deep-violet eyes glowed with eagerness as he did as Blaze urged. The stone grew larger and brighter, and an image appeared in the rainbow depths. Comet saw Destiny galloping across a snow-covered field in a world far away.
He had to find her!
There was a bright flash of dazzling violet light, and a rainbow mist swirled around Comet. Where the magnificent golden-winged pony had been there now stood a sturdy mouse-colored Highland pony, with a darker gray mane and tail.
“Go now, Comet!” Blaze said urgently. “Use this disguise to find Destiny before the dark horses discover her!”
Comet’s light-grayish-brown coat bloomed with violet sparks. He snorted softly as he felt the power building inside him. The rainbow mist swirled more thickly around him as it drew him in.
“Yay! I totally love snow!” Preeti Nimesh exclaimed.
She stood looking out of her bedroom window, where someone seemed to have thrown a big soft white blanket over the garden during the night. The whole world looked fresh and new.
Huge soft flakes, like cotton balls, were still falling.
Amazing
, she thought.
The snow’s going to last forever!
Preeti ran out onto the landing. “Mom! Dad! Grandma! Have you looked out the window?” she called.
Her parents’ bedroom door opened, and Mr. Nimesh came out in his pajamas, looking sleepy-eyed. “Do you know what time it is, Preeti? Where’s the fire?” he asked, running a hand through his hair.
“There isn’t one,” Preeti said, grinning. “But I can’t stay in bed anymore. Look!” She opened the curtains so her dad could peer outside.
A shifting curtain of snow blurred the white landscape of front lawns and the street beyond. Usually there would be cars and buses rushing past. But this morning, nothing was moving. Half-buried cars stood in many driveways.
