Free Sea Horses by Louise Cooper

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.

T he 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