‘Grampy!’ they called, but the old man ran on across the field without looking back.

Tinker reared into the night. Ruby clung on. ‘Whoa, boy,’ she said. ‘It’s okay.’

But Tinker kept turning on the spot. He neighed so loudly, it made his belly shudder. ‘Something is really wrong,’ Ruby said. ‘Tinker never behaves like this.’

‘It’s Destiny,’ said Kit, who was also having trouble holding Kismet. ‘Something is happening to him. He’s very upset.’ She jumped off and handed her reins to Analita.

Ruby jumped off and pushed her reins at Zelda.

‘Where are you going?’ said Lexie.

‘To help Destiny.’ Ruby raced off after Kit and Grampy.

‘Wait for me!’ she heard Lexie call.

The snow was icy. It made running almost impossible. Overhead, the fireworks still blasted into the sky. They lit up the farm all around her.

Ruby made it to the edge of what appeared to be the stables, and saw Grampy’s lean frame peering through a window. She joined him, puffing so hard she could hardly breathe.

‘Shhh,’ Grampy whispered.

Ruby heard two men yelling and cursing. When she looked through the window, she saw them struggling to hold Destiny. He reared and pulled against several ropes. They were around his body, under his tail and attached to his halter. His amber eyes rolled about in his head.

‘Get into that stall!’ A small wiry man with a deep voice and a shaggy moustache heaved at the ropes. Destiny fought wildly against him, shaking his head and paddling his forelegs.

The other man took a whip and struck him. Kit gasped. Slowly, the men managed to get Destiny into a stable and slam the door shut. The taller man closed a second, higher door, with long iron bars, and bolted it. ‘That oughta keep the little monster in for the night,’ he said, wiping sweat from his brow.

‘It’s as mad as its mother,’ said the smaller man. ‘I was doing the boss a favour when I dogged that mare.’

‘Didn’t count on some do-gooder saving her,’ said the tall one.

Ruby felt her hackles rise as she realised they were talking about Chance. She felt the same fury rush through Kit. This was the man Seth had talked about, who had sent the mare to slaughter for pet food.

‘Next time the boss goes on a holiday, this one might have a little accident too,’ the small man snarled.

Ruby shot a look at Grampy. She could tell he had heard the comment. His eyes had narrowed and his mouth was set in a hard line.

‘Let’s go,’ said the tall man. ‘I promised to take my kids to the lantern parade.’

Once alone, Destiny screamed so loudly that Ruby had to choke back a sob. Next to her, Kit’s eyes brimmed with tears. Lexie’s fists clenched.

‘It was Destiny’s heart,’ Kit whispered. ‘In the ball, the lines and cracks …It was his little spirit.’

Grampy quickly made his move. ‘Stay here,’ he ordered, before disappearing into the building.

The triplets watched through the window as Grampy tiptoed along the aisle. It was only now that Ruby noticed the dark blue saddlecloths hanging over the stable doors. The horse rugs had the blue and white checks of police uniforms. It made her nerves run wild. ‘Hurry up, Grampy,’ she muttered quietly. If they got caught, they would be in serious trouble.

Grampy unbolted the stable door, slipped inside and soothed the colt, running his hands over his neck and talking softly to him. Destiny nickered and snuffled and put his head into Grampy’s lap. He closed his eyes.

Grampy undid the ropes. ‘It’s okay,’ he said.

‘What will you do now?’ Ruby called softly through the window.

‘He is by himself,’ said Grampy. ‘If we can put another horse in here, he might be less afraid.’

‘But they plan to hurt him,’ said Ruby. ‘You heard them!’

‘We can’t just steal him,’ Grampy hissed. ‘He’ll only get taken back and then we’ll have no hope of saving him.’

‘There are some mares in the front paddock,’ said Kit.

Grampy tossed her one of Destiny’s ropes. ‘See if you can catch one and bring her in here.’

The three girls crept back through the snow and found a small band of horses sheltering under some trees. Kit chose a large bay mare with feathery legs. ‘This girl seems gentle and wise,’ she said. ‘I think Destiny would like her.’

They led the mare back to the stables. When they put her in the stall next to Destiny, she put her muzzle through the bars and let the colt sniff her nose. She nickered softly to him.

‘I think she is a Waler,’ said Grampy, running his eyes over her heavy-set legs.

‘What is the police commissioner going to think when he finds her in here tomorrow?’ asked Ruby.

Grampy shrugged. ‘I don’t know. But I can’t leave Destiny in here alone. This is the only honest thing I can do for him.’ He gave the colt one last pat before quietly slipping out of his stall. ‘Be quiet now, Destiny,’ he said through the bars on the door. ‘We will think of a way to help you.’

Ruby took a last look at Destiny and her heart nearly tore in two. The colt would never settle with those two horrible men looking after him. They had tried to sell his mother to a pet food company and they were planning to do the same to him.

‘We have to talk to the commissioner and tell him what we heard,’ said Ruby.

‘And tell him we were in his stables?’ said Grampy. ‘No.’

It was a long, cold ride back to the barn. Even the lantern parade in the town below didn’t warm Ruby’s heart. She could see the whole procession: hundreds of lanterns made from rice paper bobbing up and down with lights inside them. Some were just balls. Others were shaped like animals or fairies. There was a giant unicorn and an elephant. It was a glorious sight.

Late that night they gathered around the wood heater in Zelda’s barn. Their great-aunt had made chicken soup. Ruby warmed her hands on a mug of it.

‘Into bed,’ said Analita when she had finished. ‘Big day tomorrow.’

Ruby nodded. It would be hard to leap around and pretend to be happy in the parade when all she could think about was the colt. But she had to go. Meanwhile, Grampy would think of something.

As she lay snuggled into her swag alongside Lexie and Kit, she saw Grampy in the dim orange glow of the wood heater. He sat quietly on a pile of old horse rugs.

Zelda put her soup down and took Grandma Levinia’s diary. She placed it in Grampy’s lap.

‘It makes me even sadder when I look at Levinia’s writings,’ he said, shaking his head. He pushed the diary away.

Zelda dragged a chair over and sat before him. She pulled a bundle of black cloth from her pocket and unfolded it. Grampy stared at the purple crystal ball that sat in her wrinkled hands while Zelda fell into a trance. Several minutes later she blinked rapidly and shook her head slightly.

‘What did you see?’ asked Grampy.

‘I saw two horses,’ she said in a puzzled voice. ‘One was large and one was small. They were headed in different directions.’

Grampy looked even sadder. ‘The colt will not come home with Chance,’ he said.

Zelda put her hand over Grampy’s. ‘The future is promised to no one, Gallius. Take the mare with you tomorrow. It is important that she goes with you.’

Grampy looked to Chance, who stood with her head low in the corner of the barn. ‘I know how she feels,’ he said.

‘What has happened to you, Gallius?’ asked Zelda. ‘Despite our differences, I always admired your fighting spirit. Those girls don’t know the half of what you can do with a horse. Why do you keep it from them?’

‘It’s not the same without Levinia. It’s not the same without Magnifico. I thought Destiny would bring it all back. But it is not to be.’

‘Levinia wanted these girls to ride. She saw it in their future.’

Grampy’s face went to stone. ‘Like you said, Zelda, the future is promised to no one.’

Zelda sighed deeply, put the diary back into his lap and walked out of the barn. A waft of cold air rushed in as she closed the door behind her.

Grampy stared at the diary for a long while before his fingers began fumbling with the button on its cover. Ruby felt the whole barn warm up when he finally opened it. A tear slid down his cheek.

She saw Grampy nod, as though he had heard something. He smiled a small smile. Then he closed the diary, hugged it to his chest and lay down to sleep.

Ruby lay quietly staring into the fire. She touched her necklace and for a brief moment she saw the colt. Destiny galloped back and forth with a lead rope dangling from his halter, seemingly lost. Then the flames took over and the vision was gone.

Ruby took heart from the vision. The colt’s future had not yet been decided.