Although we had been gone but a split second in real life , I was so pleased to get home as we had been gone nearly a week in magic time. Kee gave out a cry, rose above us and hovered surveying the surrounding countryside, he was already at home, I just wonder if he is magic as he comes from a magic land. Now that would be interesting, he could open up a new way of life for us when we go on another adventure.
Mum waved to us, she had been looking after Biscuit and Scarlet while I was away with Red, Kee was hovering above us, then suddenly landed on my shoulder, “Well bless me Vicky that’s remarkable where did he come from?” Mum asked, I thought quickly and said, “Mum I think he is a tame bird looking for his owner, he is so gorgeous, can we keep him? He is lost and will come to no good if we do not look after him”. “Well of course you can but if his owner ever comes for him, he will have to go to his proper home”. “Ok Mum that’s fair enough, I shall call him Kee like the noise he makes”. Mum replied, “Please yourself dear, dinner will be ready in a couple of hours so don’t go far, oh by the way Courtney phoned and she is coming for dinner tonight to show you her holiday photos”. I sighed, that’s just what I wanted, somebody showing me some stupid photos of beaches, boats and sun burnt bodies. It’s the same every year, I don’t like to be horrible but you do get fed up with people bragging about their holidays, when they are usually rubbish and I am afraid Courtney does sensationalise every little thing she does, it’s just to get one over everyone else. How can I be serious when in my holiday I have held Excalibur, seen dragons, dined with King Arthur and Lady Guinevere and brought a falcon home for good measure? I would love to tell her but that is out of the question, never mind, I have secrets people would give their right arm for, when I go to bed I shut my eyes and the dreams I have are out of this world, I am so lucky.
Dinner was gorgeous as usual; mum always excels with her Sunday roasts. I endured Courtney’s photos, I always try to be nice to her but she does push me to my limits sometimes, you would think she was the only girl to go on holiday sometimes.
After saying goodbye to Courtney I phoned Chanel and had a talk about the last adventure, I was talking to her in my bedroom with the window open and to my surprise Kee landed on the window ledge. Chanel could not wait to see Kee and said she was so angry we went on an adventure without her being there; of course she didn’t mean it she is too nice to moan. Five weeks went by so quickly bringing school half term, it does not seem five minutes since we were on our summer holidays, that meant Chanel would be here on Saturday morning, that’s a relief, she can help by choosing our next destination.
Looking at Biscuit, this could be our last adventure on our own, he is very near maturity and another six months could be enough so that he is able to carry Chanel, that is of course if Red has taught him enough magic. He was born with magic but it is Red’s job to fine tune him into a full blooded Magic Horse, my mind can’t grasp what the four of us will get up to when it all happens, it’s bad enough now just think, it would be twice as much trouble! I wonder what will Biscuit look like when he changes into a boy? I think he will be a smaller version of Jack but we shall have to see.
Will we go back to ancient Greece, Achilles and the wooden horse, that seems a good choice? I myself fancy the roaring twenties in America; I know Jack always fancies the Wild West, Billy the Kid etc. But the world is our oyster there are numerous choices, I have told Chanel to have a good think on the journey down from London, then we will be able to choose after another good chat later on.
Late Saturday morning, Chanel breezed in with that lovely smile of hers making everyone so happy to see her, she is always like a breath of fresh air when she turns up. She is like a sister to me and we are like twins really, we are both five feet three inches tall and both rather skinny, mind you, I like that, she always has new designer clothes I can borrow and they fit perfectly.
We talked about all the possibilities over a long discussion of where to go next under our favourite tree deep into the meadow, until Jack had a brainwave, “Vicky you know when we called the new colt Biscuit?” I frowned and said, “Yes Jack”, he replied, “Let’s go and find the real Sea Biscuit who was as popular in America as Red Rum was over here, he helped to bond people together in the most depressing years of American history. He was a cult hero, the little horse who didn’t know when he was beaten, who gave the working class something to cheer about and that horse has had films made about him, that’s how much people loved and adored him.
Jack was doing his Noddy act again, nodding his head from side to side and then up and down and then came out with an idea nobody expected, he got up and stretched, yawned and said smiling, “If we leave this journey for a couple of months, Biscuit will be ready to travel does that interest you both?” You would have thought we had won the lottery; jumpers were flung into the air. Jack changed into Red and did a hasty retreat, he could not stand our stupidity, he kicked his back legs out as if to say leave me alone.
But now Red had a serious two months in front of him, I thought Biscuit was doing well, but this was a terrific surprise most of all for Chanel, how she was going to concentrate on her school work for the next two months I really don’t know. We had not noticed Kee watching our antics, so when he landed on Chanel’s shoulder she nearly collapsed with the shock. When she recovered her face was a picture; well it’s not every day a wild falcon lands on your shoulder! I had been watching Kee and he was certainly not an ordinary falcon, he was far too clever and I am sure we have another magician in our company, I may be mistaken but my intuition is never far wrong.
The next two months dragged, Biscuit grew at an alarming rate, I believe Red had something to do with that, but what do we mere mortals know about such matters, all I knew was Biscuit was nearly as big as Red and things were looking good as we neared our travels. I could not wait to see what Biscuit would look like when he changed, we should find out by the next weekend when the so called deadline would be reached.
As usual Chanel arrived on Saturday morning; she was somewhat different, gone was the swagger of a teenage girl and in its place was a nervous young lady about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. Mum noticed and asked her if she was alright, but Chanel assured us all nothing was wrong and it was just a cold she had, of course I knew different and quickly ushered her out of the kitchen and down to the paddock for her first ride on the magnificent Biscuit.
Biscuit’s colour had darkened over the past few months and he was a true bay horse, a nice deep brown in colour. Red like his name is a very reddish brown, but is also classed as a bay because sometimes he looks a lot like a chestnut colour.
Nobody around the stables could understand why Chanel could just get on Biscuit and ride him so easily, as all horses need schooling, although they all knew she had been with him since he was born. Of course no one really knew if we had trained Biscuit on the line when nobody else was there, so it was not such a surprise as she first walked Biscuit out of the paddock and then into the field. Tears streamed down my face as Chanel broke into a gentle canter, what a magnificence sight to see them enjoying themselves, first turning one way and then the other, now everything seemed to be piecing together.
Getting on Red I had goose bumps all down my arms and it was not because I was cold, it was crunch time and who was Biscuit going to turn into once he had changed? We reached our favourite tree where all the adventures start, Chanel had dismounted and was pulling a funny face as if to say, hurry up I can’t stand this any longer. In an instant Jack was standing there, he nodded once to Biscuit and the transformation happened in a flash. Standing before us was a youth not unlike Jack but with brown hair, Jack said, “Meet our new traveller John, like me he is here for eternity or as long as I want him to stay here. Oh by the way Scarlet is expecting a new foal in a few months, whether it will be magic or not I have not decided but I doubt it, two magic horses and a magic falcon are quite enough, don’t you think?” Whatever next! We could have a herd of magic horses the way we were going and I knew I was right, Kee is magic, that will open so many doors for us on our adventures, that’s if his lordship Red allows him to come.
I have noticed Red has been a lot more protective towards us, I suppose the added responsibility has brought this on, I must have a word with him, I still want just the two of us to go on some adventures or else it won’t be the same any more.
I felt a little left out as Chanel and John got to know each other, I must admit it felt like payback time, Chanel had waited so long for this day so I suppose I should be happy for her, which of course I am deep down.
While Chanel and John talked it was computer time for me and after a while it looked like two places were favourite to see Sea Biscuit. One place was where he was trained on the Ridgeway Ranch in California; the other choice was to go straight to the race day where he took on the unbeatable War Admiral at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Perhaps we could do both that would be much better, then we could get to know him before the big race, by going to the ranch first.I found Red, Scarlet and Biscuit grazing in the lower meadow and told Red what I had planned and hoped he would agree. He said it sounded good to him, so it looked like Ridgewood Ranch in Northern California was going to be our destination. Roll on Sunday so we can get going.