horse – Page 3 – THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy

#30- 20,000 years ago today

“I am sure you are very nice,” Meagan said tightly, “but you don’t have a shirt and, well, you are wearing blood. I will find Promise and then this can all go away. I really am sorry. It’s all my fault.” – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

Meagan simply had to find Promise and put things back…

“I’m sorry, but I need to go.” Meagan swallowed, seeing the girl’s lips moving in odd contortions as if mocking her. “I will find my horse before everyone wakes up. Thank you for not attacking me.” She stood and took a step toward the edge.

Without taking her eyes from Meagan, the girl laid a dark scrap on the rock between them.

It was a careful moment. Meagan picked up the strip with the ends of her fingers and held it out. “Burned horse meat … why, thank you.” She wanted to hurl the meat off the ledge, but politeness and precaution made her keep it instead. “I hope this won’t come in handy,” she said with forced cheerfulness.

Stepping to the edge, Meagan let herself over. She slid down and dropped to the top of the next boulder. Above her, the mute girl crawled up to the edge, preparing to follow. Meagan climbed down faster. “I don’t want to be rude,” she called over her shoulder, “but I’m trying to get away from you. It’s nice, but please don’t follow me.” She made the last feet in a jump. The girl landed a few moments later. “Thank you so much for cooperating,” Meagan said tightly. “Look, I am sure you are very nice, but you don’t have a shirt and, well, you are wearing blood. I will find Promise and then this can all go away. I really am sorry. It’s all my fault.”

A movement attracted Meagan’s eye and she looked past the girl. Several of the glutted clan of horse-killers were watching with unfocussed eyes. Meagan backed away and turned to the open field. She looked back only once. The girl was still staring.

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!

#29- A prehistoric encounter

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.” – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

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!

#28- Where am I?

Meagan climbed to her feet and looked around in astonishment. She stood on a ledge overlooking wide, empty fields. – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

In the silence came a familiar rumbling. The ground was beginning to vibrate.

Meagan climbed to her feet and looked around in astonishment. She stood on a ledge overlooking wide, empty fields. A canyon corridor opened here, onto the ledge.

Where am I?

She started to call again to the children above, but the vibration suddenly broke free into rushing sound. Rounding the angle of the canyon wall, a galloping herd of horses swept towards her in panicked fright, thundering echoes off the canyon walls.

Meagan darted to the cracked rock wall and clawed up the side as the sound of horses exploded behind her. Whinnies echoed through the corridor. The first horses to see the cliff’s edge skidded before being pushed into the abyss by the horses behind.

In seconds, the train of sliding horses passed, leaving the last animals milling in confusion. Hanging against the canyon wall, Meagan stared disbelieving into the empty dust.

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 88)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#27- The Adventure Begins…

An empty landscape spread before her, basking in late afternoon sun. This is strange, Meagan thought, swallowing. Solid rock walls rose on either side of her, marbled with green moss and snaking black fissures. Nothing manmade was in sight. – “Eclipsed by Shadow” (excerpt)

MEAGAN OPENED HER eyes. Thin wisps of clouds brushed the bluest sky she had ever seen. Her first thought was that she had woken from a dream. Groggy, she watched the clouds drift.

That dream was the most realistic of all, she thought absently. She noticed shapes above her and focused. A line of shadowed children stared down, silent as pigeons on a ledge. She closed her eyes again. Great, my riding friends. Every time I fall off I have an audience … wait—where is Promise?

Her head cleared with sudden memory. What if the dream—she sat up quickly and stared at her surroundings. She was still in her nightgown, perched on a rocky cliff over an expanse of prairie grassland. An empty landscape spread before her, basking in late afternoon sun. This is strange, Meagan thought, swallowing. Solid rock walls rose on either side of her, marbled with green moss and snaking black fissures. Nothing manmade was in sight.

In the silence came a familiar rumbling. The ground was beginning to vibrate.