Meagan sat up on the ledge, peering periodically over the side at the creatures laid out like slugs on a sidewalk. She shuddered each time and sat back. Of course, having an Angel for a horse makes something like this quite normal, she rationalized. The whole experience was like a … a gift. Yes! A not-very-good one. Maybe now was the time to find Promise, while the slugs were asleep.
“Oh!”
A sudden thump on the rock announced one of the creatures, and Meagan was looking into the intense blue eyes of the staring girl. Meagan backed against the cliff wall. “Hello. Nice to see you again.” She looked up. There were no heads, at least none visible. “Why aren’t you sleeping like the others?”
The girl stared back silently, but made no noise or motion.
I want to go home, Meagan thought desperately. She glanced cautiously over the edge. Only bones, ash and lingering smoke remained of the bonfire. Pecking birds scoured the rocks. Meagan turned back to the girl. “This is all my fault and I know you can’t understand, but I am very, very sorry … oh, please don’t be mad!”
The girl watched silently, moving her eyebrows to mimic Meagan’s.
“It won’t be hard to start over,” Meagan said reasonably. “The horses are still here … or, well, they were before you ate them. But you could find more and, and, build a corral. It’s simple once you know how. Horses are horses. Your family or whatever that is could do something with their lives instead of—” Her hand went to her mouth. “I sound just like my mother.”
The girl’s hand went to her own mouth, her eyes wide and unaccusing.
People would have to go through history all over again, Meagan thought dismally. No, she could never face the guilt—she simply had to find Promise and put things back.
Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 92)
Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.
Read the 1st Chapter online!
Copyright © 2008 John Royce