Mystic Tide (Horse Guardian) Read online

  Birds were singing like mad from the branches of the ancient tree, and the sun felt comforting on her skin. The refreshing breeze smelled of wildflowers. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back so the sun was glowing full on her face. There was a slight tug on the reins and she heard Talent take a bite of grass, then chew rhythmically, serenely. She sighed again. It felt so good to be away from the confusion that was home these days.

  After a few minutes, she opened her eyes to watch the red gelding. Talent’s ears swivelled toward her, but he didn’t stop grazing. Erin sighed contentedly. At least, when she was with Talent, everything was all right. She was sure that without him to listen to her and carry her away from her problems, she’d have gone crazy by now – and then, of course, Siobhan would label her insane.

  Or maybe the technical term is nuts, or batty, or bonkers, thought Erin and kicked some stones lying in front of her. One of them went spinning toward Talent and the horse raised his head and snorted.

  “I’m so sorry, Tallie,” said Erin, leaping to her feet. Now Siobhan was making her be cruel to her horse! “Come on, let’s get out on the green road. I have to feel some wind on my face.”

  She clipped the rein to his bit again, then gently pulled down to loop the leather over his head – but Talent kept his head high. In fact, he wasn’t even looking at her. Instead, his attention was directed behind her.

  “What is it, boy?” asked Erin, turning back to look at the abandoned cottage. “What do you see?” Nothing was there. She looked back at the horse. He was still staring at the stone corner of the cottage. Was someone behind the old building?

  Talent snorted, and his hoof struck the ground. Once. Twice. Then he pinned his ears and pranced sideways, his head even higher. Fear spiked Erin’s heart and she froze. Were the cottage’s owners back? Were they wandering about their property, making sure everything was okay? What if they told her dad?

  But surely, even strangers wouldn’t make Talent act so nervous.

  “Oh, no,” Erin whispered. There was only one thing Talent had ever been afraid of. The neighbour’s bull. He must be loose!

  She reached for the stirrup. “Hold still, Tallie,” she begged, breathless with alarm. “We have to go! Now!” Talent caught the panic in her voice and danced away, almost jerking the rein from her hand.

  Erin took a deep calming breath. She would get nowhere with the sensitive horse if she kept acting like a terrified fool. “I’m sorry, Tallie,” she crooned, holding the rein with a firm grip and forcing the tremor from her voice. “Just be calm. Everything is okay. Now let’s just go for that ride, okay?” With her hand out, she approached her horse, first stroking his nose, then his neck. She was just about to put her foot in the stirrup when Talent snorted loudly and leapt away again.

  “Tallie?” And that was all Erin had time to say before she was seized from behind. One arm wrapped around her arms and midsection, immobilizing her, and a strong hand clamped over her mouth, stopping her from crying out. Then she was dragged backward, kicking and squirming, into the abandoned cottage.

  “Stay here,” Nicole said to Robert. “Keep her out of sight, and I’ll take care of the horse.” She grabbed the cloth bag of grain she’d prepared and hurried after the animal. It was already on the other side of the old stone fence, circling the tumbledown structures with an animated stride, its reins flapping around its front legs. Why did she always get the tough jobs? If Robert could be trusted to do something right, he would be doing this right now.

  “Relax,” Nicole muttered to herself. She had to calm down or the horse wouldn’t let her near it. “Tallie, Tallie,” she called out in the singsong voice she’d heard the girl use when calling her horse in from the pasture. The call worked. The red horse stopped and looked back curiously, then gave a thunderous snort that rang across the Burren hillside.

  “Tallie, Tallie,” Nicole called again, shaking the cloth bag of grain. The morsels rattled dryly in the sack, and the horse pricked up its ears. “You’re a big scary one, aren’t you?” Nicole said in a sweet voice and climbed over the stone wall. Closer, closer she walked. The horse took a nervous step back, and Nicole stopped. Waited. She had to be patient, wait for it to settle down. Catching the horse was essential to their plan.

  “What’s taking so long?” Robert called from the cottage doorway.

  Nicole turned to see him watching her, the girl firmly in his grip. Was he an idiot, yelling like that? Didn’t he see the horse was already nervous without him bellowing irrelevant questions at her? She made a sudden chopping motion with her hand – shut up! – and adjusted her expression before turning back to the animal.

  “Come here, you ugly beast,” she murmured pleasantly. “Just let me catch you for a minute. Then you can run to safety and abandon your owner.”

  Honestly, she’d never understood why some people liked horses so much. They were big and smelly and dangerous. They’d kick you or bite you or run away with you every chance they got. Worst of all, though, they had no loyalty whatsoever. She’d take a dog over a horse any day.

  “Now, now, Tallie,” she said, her voice smooth and sugary as can be. “That’s a rotten fellow. Just let me pin this to your saddle pad thing and put your reins over your neck, and you can be on your cowardly way.”

  Through a fog of fear, Erin watched the wild haired woman edge closer and closer to Talent. What did these people want with her and her horse? What were they going to do to them? What if they hurt Talent?

  In desperation, she tried wiggling out of her captor’s grasp. Talent wasn’t caught yet. If she could just warn him…

  “Just hold still now,” said the man pinning her. His voice was deep, slow, and relaxed, as if he was spending a day at the beach instead of restraining someone against their will. “Nothing bad is going to happen if you do what we say.”

  Erin rolled her eyes up, straining to see her captor, but all she could see was the bottom of a dark bushy beard. She turned her attention back to Talent and the woman. She was at the gelding’s side now. As Erin watched, she stroked his neck and then grabbed the reins.

  It still isn’t too late for Talent to pull away, Erin realized. I have to do something. Now! She lifted her leg and brought her foot down hard. Her riding boot heel made contact.

  “Ow! That hurts!” The man sounded like she’d hurt his feelings more than his foot.

  Erin slammed down her foot again, but the man simply held her harder against his chest, turning her head to the side so she couldn’t see her beloved horse anymore. Tears of fear and frustration sprung from Erin’s eyes. She was so helpless. So vulnerable. And she could no longer see what the woman was doing with Talent!

  “Sorry. I don’t want to hurt you. I just need you to hold still, that’s all.” A pause. “Will you hold still?”

  Erin tried to nod her head, and he must have felt her attempt to move. His hand loosened, allowing her to straighten her head. And she could see the woman, striding toward the cottage. But no Talent.

  “I can let you go if you promise not to run.”

  This time Erin could nod, and the man slowly released his grip. He pointed toward the back wall. “Go back there.”

  “But my horse,” Erin managed to choke out.

  “Don’t worry. He’s on his way back to your house.”

  Erin sagged to the ground in relief. Talent was safe.

  The shaggy haired woman stepped inside the building, pushed her long bangs from her face and stared at Erin as if she were a mere curiosity. “She giving you any trouble?” she asked the man.

  “Just crying, that’s all,” the man responded. “You know how I hate that. It always makes me feel mean.”

  “You’d better let me go,” Erin blurted to the woman. “My dad will call the police as soon as Tallie gets home without me.”

  The woman looked at her with indifferent eyes. “He won’t be calling anyone.” She went to a backpack leaning against an inside wall, took out a baseball cap and threw it on the gro
und in front of Erin. “Put this on.”

  “No.”

  “What did you say?”

  Erin stuck her chin out. “I don’t want to put it on. And you have no right to keep me here. You’d better let me go.” If only her voice wasn’t trembling, making it obvious that she was afraid.

  “You’re not going anywhere, and you’re wearing the hat.” The woman advanced as she spoke. “We can do this one of two ways. Easy or hard. It’s up to you. But either way, you’ll be wearing the hat when we leave this cottage.”

  “Please. Put on the hat,” the man begged.

  It was more the man’s unexpected kindness than the woman’s threats that made Erin reach out and take the hat in her hands.

  A condescending smile touched the woman’s face. “Bright girl.”

  Erin slid the hat onto her head. It was too big and flopped low on her brow. She peered at her captors from beneath the brim. “What are you going to do with me?” she asked, trying to sound braver than she felt.

  “Use you, darling,” the woman said, and a touch of a foreign accent crept into her tone. “You’re going to make us rich. Now just sit back and rest while you can. We’ll be leaving soon.”

  Talent. Stop! It is I, Angelica!

  Thank you, my friend, for calling me to help you. Now please, try to be calm. You must tell me what has happened. You must tell me why you were galloping across such rough terrain, panic stricken and alone.

  Strangers have taken your girl from you? One of them approached you and you let her, because you thought she might allow you back to your girl. But instead, she merely pinned an object to your saddle pad? Hold still, my dear. Let me look.

  Oh my! It is a ransom note. The strangers who stole your girl will not return her until they have been given a great sum of money!

  Come Talent, let me climb onto your back. We will hurry to your home at a safe speed, for your girl’s parents must receive this note. Then, when they have been alerted, we will return and see what we can do to help her.

  The woman peered out the door. “It’s almost sunset. All the hikers will be setting up camp for the night now. We can go.”

  The man merely grunted. He was reading a book from Erin’s stall bookcase – one of her favourites, Erin noticed with dismay – and was leaning against the wall, completely engrossed in the story.

  Seconds passed in silence.

  “Come on. It’s time to go.”

  “I’m almost done.” The man flipped a page.

  “You know we decided to leave just before sunset,” The woman spoke slowly and clearly as if she was trying to explain something to a young child. “That way we can get the farthest before night falls, and the chances of someone seeing us are the lowest.”

  “I just need ten more minutes.”

  “No! We go now.”

  The man seemed unfazed by her orders. “Ten minutes.”

  The woman stood silhouetted against the doorway of the abandoned cottage with her fists clenched, her anger barely under control. Abruptly, she leapt to the man’s side, snatched up Erin’s book, and flung it against the back wall of the cottage.

  “Hey, Nicole, what’d you do that for?” the man asked. He raised his bulk to a standing position.

  With a cry of frustration, the woman grabbed his arm and jerked him out of the cottage. They stopped just outside the door. “You idiot! Remember what we discussed?” The woman’s whisper carried on the still air. “About not saying our names in front of her? So think before you blurt things out.”

  “Sorry,” the man mumbled. “I forgot. It won’t happen again. Sorry.”

  “It better not. And we’re leaving. Now!”

  “Okay. Sorry.”

  Erin kept her eyes down as the two adults re-entered the cottage. She didn’t want them to think she’d been listening, but she remembered the name the man had said, and the woman’s – Nicole’s – reprimand only highlighted how important it was that she keep her eyes and ears open.

  “Get up,” Nicole said, and Erin reluctantly climbed to her feet. “We’re leaving.”

  “Where are we going?” asked Erin, as the man walked past her and picked up the book. He dusted it off and shoved it into his backpack.

  “I’ll lead the way,” Nicole said to the man, ignoring Erin’s question. “And you,” she said, turning back to the girl. “Follow me. If we meet anyone, you don’t say anything. Not a word. You understand?”

  Erin nodded stiffly.

  “And don’t look so scared,” Nicole added. “If you do what we say, and if your family pays the ransom, you’ll be home by tomorrow night.”

  Erin nodded again, and with her head down, meekly followed Nicole from the cottage.

  However, once she was outside, an almost overwhelming desire to run coursed through her body. The Burren stretched away, lonely and sparse in every direction. If she could just run fast enough… somehow dodge their grasping hands… if Talent was still around somewhere and she had time to climb into the saddle… She searched the expanse but didn’t see him.

  Then she heard the man’s step behind her. She swallowed nervously. He was much stronger and faster than she was, and an escape attempt now would surely end in failure. She would be much smarter to wait for a less risky opportunity to get away.

  And if she found no safe way to escape, she would be wise to do exactly what Nicole and the man told her to do. No matter that it hurt her pride. No matter that her dad had to pay lots of money. Getting home safe was the most important thing.

  Ah, this is your house, Talent. Good. Stop and I will slide from your back. Now go to the front entrance and call them.

  There he goes. He gallops toward the house at full speed and slides to a stop at the massive door. Then he calls, loud and long. His cry is filled with the pain of his loss. It sears my soul. What distress! What fear for his girl!

  And the door opens. A girl emerges, a sister? She must be. However, she seems afraid of Talent, stepping back as he approaches her. Now a man comes out of the house. There, he has the note, and is reading it. He is running back inside!

  Now that they know, Talent and I can pursue our undertaking. He trots toward his stable, out of sight around the corner of the house. I will meet him there.

  At first they hiked straight away from the cottage, across the wild Burren. Erin had to concentrate on where she was stepping. The pavements looked smooth from a distance, but in reality they were rough and pitted. The grykes, fissures in the limestone that sometimes stretched for hundreds of feet, became both deeper and wider as they walked, and she could hear water running through the narrow crevices. She licked her lips. She was getting thirsty. Should she ask her kidnappers for water?

  A stone shifted underfoot and Erin lurched forward. She hit the rocky ground with a gasp. “Ow, ow, ow,” she whispered, and pushed herself into a sitting position. Beads of blood were forming on her palms.

  “Get up,” Nicole nudged her with the toe of her hiking boot.

  “Let me see,” the man said, and bent over Erin. Erin held out her trembling hands, palms up. After a quick look, he shrugged off his backpack and took out a compact first aid kit. He opened a sealed packet and took out a moist towelette. “Here,” he said, handing it to Erin. “You can wash it with this.”

  Erin dabbed at the dirt in the scrapes until they were relatively clean.

  “Throw it under here,” commanded Nicole, and Erin looked up to see she’d turned over a stone. She tossed the cloth beneath it and the woman neatly flipped the rock back over it. “Now let’s get moving.”

  “Can I have a drink of water first?” asked Erin, taking her courage in hand.

  The man passed his canteen to Erin, and she drank deeply. She was so thirsty. When she was done, she handed the canteen back. “Thanks,” she whispered.

  “No problem,” the man said, pleasantly. He took a swig from the canteen as well.

  As they started walking again, Erin looked forlornly about. The sun was on the horizon now
. Surely her family had found the note on Talent’s saddle pad and were on their way to rescue her. But then, how would they track her across this stony ground? How would they even know where to start looking? She wasn’t allowed to go to the abandoned cottage, so they wouldn’t think of starting there. And according to Nicole, the note said not to contact the police, so they wouldn’t have any help.

  The only one who knew where she’d been kidnapped was Talent. Maybe, once it got dark, he would come to rescue her. He was a smart horse, and Erin was certain he knew she was in trouble. He’d want to help her. In her mind’s eye, Erin imagined slipping away from the kidnappers under the cover of night, hurrying across the Burren, and seeing Talent loom up before her. She would climb onto his powerful back, and away they would race, leaving Nicole and her partner far behind.

  “Finally,” Nicole said, jerking Erin’s attention back to reality. She stepped out on the “green road,” one of the ancient grassy roads that wove through the Burren. “Now we can really make good time.”

  Erin too, breathed a sigh of relief. The green roads were much easier to walk than the rocky Burren pavements. But there was another, even better thing about the green roads – they were traveled by hikers. There was a chance they’d come across someone who could help her.

  And in case they did, she should be prepared.

  As if she’d read Erin’s mind, Nicole turned to her. “If we meet anyone, don’t say a word. I don’t want to use this, but I will if I have to!” She patted her right jacket pocket, revealing a bulge. A gun? It had to be. Nicole was armed!