Sea Horses by Louise Cooper Read Free Book Online Page A

the studio. Tamzin stared after her. Nan was worried, there was no doubt of that. But she obviously didn't want to explain, and Tamzin didn't want to press her. Nor, suddenly, did she want to tell Nan what had happened on the beach. What good would it do? If Nan heard the story, it would only worry her more. It was better to say nothing.
    She looked again at the picture. The unfinished horse was like a dim ghost, with the sea visible through it. For no sensible reason Tamzin's spine prickled. Then she left the studio, closing the door carefully behind her.
    Tamzin's parents rang at tea time, to say goodbye before their flight left for Canada. Nan tactfully went out of the room. When the call was finished and she came back, she was in time to see Tamzin hastily wiping her eyes.
    ‘Are you all right?’ Nan asked sympathetically.
    Tamzin nodded, though she wasn't really. ‘It's just that Canada seems such a long way away. And a whole year …’
    ‘Well, we'll just have to make sure it's a busy year, so the time passes quickly,’ said Nan, then added, ‘And a happy one, too, of course.’
    Tamzin looked at her. ‘Do you think it will be happy?’
    ‘Well, that's up to us, isn't it? I'm sure we can have a lovely time.’ Then Nan quickly changed the subject. ‘Anyway, how are your mum and dad? All ready, and everything on time?’
    Tamzin nodded again. ‘Dad's put something in the post,’ she said. ‘A going-away present, but he wouldn't tell me what it is.’
    ‘Has he? That's something to look forward to, then. Now, what would you like to do after tea? We could play cards again. Or Scrabble, or even chess. Can you play chess?’
    ‘No. I've never tried.’
    ‘Oh, it's a terrific game. I'll teach you, if you like.’
    She was trying hard to make Tamzin feel better but Tamzin knew there was more to it than the matter of Mum and Dad. She wanted to ask about the unfinished horse picture, and why Nan had been so worried. But Nan's bracing cheerfulness was like a barrier that she couldn't cross. Whatever it was that troubled her, she was determined to forget about it and she wanted Tamzin to forget it, too.
    That, though, was going to be hard for Tamzin to do.
    Joel rang later that evening. Tamzin was feeling down, but she brightened when she heard what he had to say.
    ‘Mum says it's fine about swapping riding lessons for help at the stable,’ he told her. ‘So long as your nan agrees.’
    ‘I'm sure she will!’ Tamzin felt her spirits lifting. ‘When can I come?’
    ‘How about tomorrow? It's Sunday; we get busy on Sundays, so you can make yourself useful.’
    ‘Great!’
    ‘OK. Moonlight'll be pleased, too. Do you know, he's been really restless since we got back? He keeps staring around and whinnying. It's almost as if he's looking for you.’
    ‘Honestly?’ Tamzin felt a peculiar little inward lurch.
    ‘Yeah. He's taken to you in a big way. Funny, isn't it, how animals sometimes do that?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Tamzin as the little lurch came again. ‘It is.’
    ‘Oh, well. See you tomorrow then.’
    ‘Yes,’ she said again. ‘See you.’
    Tamzin couldn't sleep that night. She was thinking about Mum and Dad on their long flight, hoping they were all right and would land safely. But she was also thinking about the Grey Horse.
    By midnight Nan still hadn't gone to bed. Tamzin could hear faint noises from the studio. Was Nan working on the horse painting again? Why was it so important that she should get it right? It was as if she believed something awful would happen if she didn't, and that thought made Tamzin shiver.
    She could dimly see the painting of the galloping horse on the wall, and she stared hard at it until the shivery feeling went away. The horse looked very much like Moonlight, and she remembered what Joel had said earlier about the pony taking a liking to her. It fitted with her own thoughts; the feeling that Moonlight had protected her on the beach today and her certainty that, somehow,