But there was no one else in sight. “Christina!” she called out. “Kathy! Where are you?”
No one answered her. Huh, she thought. They invited me to come back, and now nobody is even here to meet me.
And then she heard a clip-clop sound coming from somewhere behind her, a noise so familiar that it made her heart beat faster. She spun around quickly to find seven ponies trotting through the meadow, their hooves tapping a happy drumbeat in the bright, clear air. Their coats were glossy white, with black and brown and reddish auburn patches decorating their fine muscular bodies.
Painted ponies, Vanessa thought.
They pranced like circus horses, dancing to music no one but they could hear. Vanessa ran forward to meet them, surprised to find them much smaller than the ranch horses she and her friends rode at home. They were all different sizes, but the largest was only a little taller than she was. His huge, soft eyes were almost on the same level as hers. The smallest one barely came up to her waist, and he frisked and kicked up his heels as if overjoyed to see her.
She reached out to the nearest pony and touched his mane, and he whinnied and stretched his head forward and nuzzled her arm. The others crowded around, and she patted them all in turn. And then the strangest thing happened. The ponies backed away, snorting and pawing the earth - all except one. He was the most beautiful of all, Vanessa thought, his coat dazzling white in the sunlight, his patches black and shiny as coal. A star blazed across his forehead.
The pony stood proudly before her, straight and strong, and she noticed for the first time that he alone wore a saddle, and had a bit in his mouth and a bridle and reins. He nickered softly to her, then turned and presented his left side. He tossed his head. The meaning was clear - an invitation to ride.
Vanessa thrust her foot expertly into the stirrup and swung aboard. The saddle was exactly the right size for her, made of the softest leather she had ever felt. She gathered up the reins and touched the pony’s flanks lightly with her heels. He tossed his head again and leapt forward, and they were off.
The ground melted away beneath the pony’s galloping hooves, and Vanessa squealed with delight as they plunged through the meadow, jumped effortlessly across a narrow brook, and tore off across an enormous carpet of red and blue and yellow flowers. She looked back to find the rest of the ponies following closely behind, their hooves barely seeming to touch the ground.
They plunged through a narrow canyon, then out into the meadow once more, and wheeled around toward the distant mountains with Vanessa’s mount in the lead. She had never felt so alive, so free, her hair streaming out behind her in the wind, her lungs filled with pure, sweet air and her nose with the fragrance of a hundred thousand blossoms. She gripped the saddle with her knees, rising and falling effortlessly with every step of the sure-footed pony as he gobbled up the miles. It felt as if the two of them were one.
Suddenly they were in the foothills, leaping over fallen logs and meandering streams. Vanessa’s powerful steed never broke stride, never seemed to tire as he plunged up, up, climbing higher and higher, until below her she glimpsed the far reaches of an incredible valley. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen, sparkling in the sunlight.
The ponies thrust themselves upward, scrambling over cliffs and crags until at last they burst forth on the very topmost mountain peak. All around them the earth seemed to hum with song, a beautiful melody of peace and happiness.
Vanessa’s pony pulled up on the highest point of all, and she slid down off his back and spread her arms toward the valley, as if trying to capture it all and take it to herself. The pony came near and nuzzled her hair. She laughed and stroked his neck, and together they stared out across the vast landscape, girl and pony, completely in tune with each other. Vanessa felt an almost overwhelming sense of contentment, and wished that she could remain in that very same spot forever.
But that was not to be. The ponies began to stamp their hooves impatiently, and Vanessa’s mount reared up and spun around, pawing the air. She flung herself into the saddle again, and they took off in a wild, plunging, gleeful run down the mountainside.
Twenty-eight flying legs thundered into the meadow, scattering leaves and flowers into the wind. The ponies galloped straight to the edge of the desert and raced onto the burning sand, heading for the cool, green trees of the distant forest. Vanessa whooped and yelled at the top of her lungs, happier than she had ever felt before.
Then suddenly the air began to change. Off to the west, beyond the mountain peaks, an ominous black cloud appeared in the sky. Higher and higher it rose, and as Vanessa watched in fright, it grew two gigantic wings, a long tapered neck and a lashing spade-shaped tail that thrashed the air and shot bolts of lightning into the ground.
“What’s happening?” she cried out. The ponies skidded to a stop, then began galloping in confused circles. Vanessa’s mount reared up and turned back toward the meadow, but it was too late. The gigantic cloud swallowed up the sun, spreading monstrous wings halfway across the valley, and opened a hideous red mouth in a screech of fearsome fury.
“I’m afraid!” Vanessa cried out to her pony. “Help me!”
The pony slid to a stop so quickly that Vanessa couldn’t hold on. Her feet flew out of the stirrups and she sailed over his head and sprawled on the desert floor. The pony whinnied madly and struck at the air with his hooves, trying to defend her against the huge cloud-dragon that swooped down toward them, its mouth agape.
Vanessa scrambled to her feet and started to run, and suddenly a voice inside her head shouted to her. “Stop, Vanessa! Hold your ground!”
She whirled around to face the hideous monster that blotted out the sky above her, lashing the air into a hurricane with its tail. Its terrible black wings reached out for her and threatened to scoop her up.
“Backwards!” the voice shouted. “Take three steps backwards and you’ll be home! Quickly, before Guaryntis captures you forever!”
Vanessa stepped back, once, twice. The cloud-dragon’s huge wings brushed her hair as the third step plunged her into the purple mist and sent her stumbling to the floor of her bedroom.
An unearthly shriek of rage and frustration deafened her, the cry of a predator deprived of its prey. The sound faded away as the mist swirled into the fireplace and vanished with a sound like a slamming door.
Vanessa lay on the floor, trembling and gasping for breath. It had been such a narrow escape. If not for the voice inside her head telling her what to do, she could never have made it home again. She wondered who it had been who saved her. Not Christina, not Grace, not one of the other girls. It had been a boy’s voice she heard, strong and brave and coming just in time.
It had been her pony’s voice. She was sure of it.
Suddenly Vanessa felt a terrible sense of loss and loneliness, and she threw herself down onto the bed, sobbing bitterly. Partequineus is real, she thought to herself, and something terrible is happening there. I have to go back and help them. I have to help the ponies.