The Book of Lies by James Moloney Read Free Book Online Page B

air, clearing the stones easily, then crashed back to earth, front legs first. Marcel was catapulted high on to her neck, but she simply flexed the muscles of her shoulders and threw him back into place.
    Up ahead, Fergus was crossing the stone bridge that led into Fallside. By the time they reached it, he had galloped to the church and begun his return, the thunder of hooves drawing people out of their houses and several men from the tavern, one still holding his pint of ale.
    “You’ll never catch me, Marcel!” Fergus cried, passing Gadfly as he galloped back to the bridge.
    Marcel. The name tumbled free, the name no one was meantto hear. Just once he called it, but Marcel dared not imagine the consequences. For now, he just raced, his mind locked on to the same goal as Fergus: to be first through Mrs Timmins’ gate.
    Brave Gadfly kept up her punishing pace, but was there enough of the race left to catch Fergus? They thundered on, the villagers standing wide-eyed, some throwing themselves off the road to get out of the way. Marcel caught sight of Albert and Old Belch, but they barely had time for an angry shout. Beneath the steeple, he finally turned Gadfly for home, although by then Fergus had already crossed the bridge with only the length of the road to the finish line.
    Suddenly Gadfly changed course, galloping wildly between the houses until she sighted the open fields. Then she set off directly towards the side gate, where Hugh and Dominic and the rest of the boys had gathered to judge the winner.
    “The stream!” Marcel cried, as though Gadfly could understand him. “You’ll never get across the stream!”
    She ignored him, charging on towards the finish line, the stretch of swiftly flowing water in view now. It was thirty feet across, at least, with high banks on both sides. More worrying still, much more worrying, was the waterfall itself, only another hundred paces away. If Marcel found himself in that water, he would surely be swept over the falls before he could reach the safety of the bank.
    He gripped Gadfly’s mane harder than ever and pushedhis chest down on to her neck. Here was the stream, only two strides ahead. If he’d had any energy left he would have screamed. Gadfly took one last stride to gather herself then leaped into the air, sailing upwards like a bird, her legs stretched out beneath her, that dappled brown and white and black body tracing a magnificent arc against the sky. As the stunned children watched from the distant gate, she crashed on to the steep bank on the other side, the hooves of her front legs biting into the grass of its rim. With a mighty grunt, she hauled her hind legs up and on to level ground and raced on towards the finish line.
    Fergus was still closer to the gate than they were, but with every stride the gap narrowed. It was impossible to guess the winner now. The last few strides would settle it.
    Then, with both riders only a pace or two from the gate, the race was suddenly over. Gadfly was the bravest of horses, but even she baulked at the sight that confronted them. She slammed her front legs into the dirt and sent Marcel hurtling forward, his arms locked around her neck until he fell painfully to the ground.
    He sat up quickly as icy terror gripped his heart. A fearsome beast was circling him, a snarling, spitting creature with claws like knives. It had all the stealth and pose of a cat – yet what cat was ever this size? Its head loomed high above Marcel’s. Its body was covered in glistening black fur and its cruel mouth was drawn back to reveal a row of savage teeth.A leather thong was laced around its neck, and dangling from it was a pouch large enough to hold a dozen gold coins. Could there be any doubt? This was the beast he had heard in the tower.
    The world had gone silent except for the growls of this beast. All other things around Marcel had become invisible. He wondered whether his heart was still beating.
    Fergus too had been thrown from his