Chapter 7

It was chilly out the next morning. Maggie had a hard time getting out of her warm, cosy bed, and Bob reached the stable before she did. He was scooping feed for Carmelita and her piglets when Maggie saw his hat. She couldn’t help it; she giggled and then laughed out loud. When Bob turned to look at her, she covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head.

‘That is the funniest hat I’ve ever seen!’ she told him. The hat was long and pointed with a tassel on the end. Earflaps covered his ears, and another flap dangled in front of his forehead to cover his nose.

Bob shrugged. ‘Maybe, but it’s the warmest hat I own. The only place I wear it is the stable. The horses don’t seem to mind it. Even Leonard hasn’t complained.’

‘That’s because they don’t know what hats usually look like,’ said Maggie. ‘What does Nora think of it?’

Bob grinned. ‘She thinks it’s as funny as you do. Why do you think I don’t wear it anywhere but here?’

‘If it makes you happy …’ Maggie said, giggling as she walked off carrying the feed for the flying pigs.

After she’d fed the pigs and helped with the other animals, Maggie took Leonard for another ride. They decided on a change of scenery, so they rode around the castle, then down the road as far as the mill. The sun was shining, the day had warmed up, and Leonard was in a good mood.

‘I’m tired of this poky pace,’ he announced when they reached a straight stretch of road. ‘Hold on tight!’

Maggie barely had time to tighten her grip on the reins before they were off, racing through the forest. She was enjoying the wind on her face and the way her hair whipped behind her when suddenly there was a loud crack! as if a big branch had broken. A moment later, a huge animal ran out of the woods in a blur of fur and teeth. Leonard planted his front feet and slid to a stop. Maggie shrieked as she struggled to stay on the horse’s back. The animal was gone by the time she was upright again.

‘Sorry about that!’ said Leonard. ‘Did you see that beast run past? I thought we were going to run right into each other.’

‘I’m glad you were able to stop like that,’ Maggie told him.

‘I think we should head home now,’ said Leonard. ‘I don’t want to run into whatever that was again.’

‘Is that its paw print?’ Maggie asked, pointing to a mark in the soft mud at the edge of the road.

‘Could be,’ said Leonard. ‘I wasn’t exactly looking at its paws.’

They had just turned around to head back to the stable when Maggie saw someone slipping between the trees. She thought it might be Peter, but she couldn’t be sure.

Leonard trotted all the way back to the stable. After taking care of Leonard, Maggie put him in his stall and went to find Bob. She found him returning from a trip to the castle.

‘How was your ride?’ he asked.

‘Great, until we almost ran into a huge beast, and I mean actually ran into it. The whole thing happened so fast that I didn’t get a good look at it, but I think this was its paw print.’ Taking out her journal, Maggie drew the print as best she could.

‘That looks like a manticore print,’ said Bob. ‘Running into a manticore like that could have been very bad, with terrible results.’

‘There was a loud sound in the forest right before the manticore came charging out. Later I thought I saw Peter in the woods,’ Maggie told him.

Bob sighed. ‘I wouldn’t put it past Peter to startle a manticore just so it would run into Leonard. But then, there are a lot of things that I think Peter is capable of doing. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of him.’