Ruby nudged Kit in the ribs. ‘You go and talk to him.’

‘Why me?’ Kit said.

‘Because he owes you a favour, remember?’ said Ruby. ‘You healed his horse when it went lame at the Summer Festival.’

‘And if I go over there, I’ll say something I’ll regret,’ Lexie said. She curled her top lip and clenched her fists. Ever since Silvanus Hexley put a Phantosmia spell on Lexie and tried to claim her golden belt buckle, she hadn’t liked the Hexleys very much.

‘What will I say?’ asked Kit.

‘Just ask him if he’s seen Destiny. Or if he knows anything about Chance,’ said Ruby.

‘Okay,’ said Kit. She squared her shoulders and took a breath.

‘Let’s eavesdrop,’ Ruby said to Lexie. ‘We can hide behind the trees over there.’

‘What if they see us?’ said Lexie.

‘Then we’ll wave,’ Ruby replied.

The girls led their horses behind the bushes and crouched shoulder-to-shoulder.

Kit walked boldly towards the Hexleys. ‘Hi, Seth,’ she said with a smile.

Seth was in his late teens, the oldest of the Hexley High Flyers. He looked shocked to see her. ‘Err, hi,’ he said, wiping tomato sauce from his chin and finishing his hot dog.

Sabina and Silvanus looked up when they heard Kit’s voice.

‘You?’ said Sabina. ‘What are you doing here? I thought we agreed to stay away from each other.’

‘No,’ said Kit politely. ‘You agreed to leave Kulnara.’

Silvanus smiled. ‘I have more bloodroot and baneberry, if that’s what you’re after.’

‘Very funny,’ said Kit.

Behind the bushes, Lexie growled. Those were the herbs Silvanus had used to curse her with phantom odours. It had made her dinner smell like wet dog and fish food.

Kit turned to Seth, who was by far the friendliest of the family. ‘I just came to ask how Blacky’s leg was. Did the poultice work?’

‘Yes, it did,’ Seth answered, shooting a look at his siblings. ‘Go and give that poor horse a drink,’ he ordered.

Silvanus and Sabina rose to their feet and led the black horse away.

‘Why are you here?’ Seth asked Kit.

‘We’ve come for the winter solstice parade,’ said Kit. ‘But while I think of it, do you know anything about a gypsy mare that went through the Silver Plains horse sales a while ago?’

Seth shrugged. ‘No, why?’

‘Well, she had a foal, and we’re trying to find it …just …you know …while we happen to be here for the parade.’

Seth gave her a puzzled look.

‘We bought the gypsy mare, but then we found out it was stolen,’ Kit quickly explained. ‘Then the owners came and took the foal she had. We just want to know if he’s okay.’

‘Oh, really?’

‘Yes,’ said Kit. ‘We think the mare was by Magnifico.’

From her hidey-hole in the shrub, Ruby could see understanding flash through Seth’s eyes. He understood that Magnifico horses only ever bonded with one special person and that they were nothing but trouble to anyone else. She held her breath as she waited for Seth to answer.

He looked thoughtful for a while, but then shook his head. ‘I haven’t heard anything.’

Ruby sighed. They had found the walrus moustache, but it had come to nothing. The vision was meaningless. She watched with a sinking heart as Seth started to turn away.

‘Actually…’ Seth stopped suddenly and turned back to Kit. ‘Now that I think of it, Shadrak did say something about a gypsy mare once. But it was a long time ago, almost a year now.’

‘What did he say?’ asked Kit, hope shining in her face.

‘He said the groom from the police commissioner’s place was at the pub one night; fall-down drunk, he was.’ Seth made a face. ‘He’s a piece of work, that guy. Anyway, he said that gypsy cobs were the worst breed of horse in the world. He had a big bruise on his leg where one had kicked him. He was going send her to the livestock sales and sell her for pet food while the commissioner was away.’ He shrugged. ‘No one believed him. He went on like that all the time. All talk, he was.’

Seth seemed to notice the look on Kit’s face. It was a mix of shock and sadness. He paused. ‘He wasn’t all talk, was he?’

Kit shook her head.

Seth looked appalled. ‘If it was a Magnifico horse, that would explain why he was having so much trouble with it. You know what they can be like if they end up with the wrong owner.’

Kit nodded.

Ruby burst out of the bushes. ‘The police commissioner’s place,’ she said. ‘Is it near here?’

Seth looked startled, but Ruby stared impatiently at him, waiting for an answer. Leaves and twigs were caught in her hair.

Seth nodded. ‘He’s away a lot; his groom looks after the place while he is away. Just follow the road out the other side of town. After a couple of kilometres, take the first road on the left. It has big post-and-rail fences. You can’t miss it.’