The Secret Horses of Briar Hill by Megan Shepherd

Author:Megan Shepherd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2016-10-11T04:00:00+00:00

I think of the calling card in the curio cabinet belonging to Miss A. Rodan, Aviatrix, and I fold the drawing in half, and in half again, and then fold down the corners.

An airplane.

I push open the window and lean into the wind.

I cast out the paper airplane, whispering prayers as it flies, flies, flies toward the gardens, hoping that it lands true.

THE NEXT DAY IS SUNDAY.

Sunday is the day we eat leftover bread for breakfast, both to remember Christ’s fasting and because it is Thomas’s day off and the Sisters have to tend to the sheep after they tend to us at Mass. Though there are three benches, Sister Constance says we must crowd into the front two to be closer to God and his healing powers.

Benny sits in the row behind me and kicks me in the backside.

I ignore him and look at the ceiling. It is covered with black cloths. Anna told me that when she first arrived, the ceiling was decorated with a beautiful Greek painting like the one in her bedroom. The old princess had brought over real Greek painters and everything, but the Sisters of Mercy forbade pagan idolatry in a chapel, even if it did used to be a ballroom.

As Sister Constance reads from the Bible, I imagine all the beautiful couples who once danced here. I bet the ladies wore dresses that were all the colors of the rainbow, and the men had top hats and dashing mustaches. They would twirl and twirl in the candlelight, beneath the ancient floating gods who drink wine and ride wild stallions. I wonder if the horses lived in the mirrors even back then. Maybe that is why the princess stayed here for so long, by herself. Maybe she liked waking up each morning and seeing a winged horse in her bedroom mirror. Maybe she found a way to talk to them. Maybe—just maybe—she met the Horse Lord.

Sister Constance ends the prayer, and we stand, and someone taps my shoulder.

I turn around to find Thomas.

He clears his throat and reaches into his pocket. “Bog chased a rabbit into the old gardens this morning,” he says. “There’s a hole in the rear gate. When he came back he had this tangled in his fur, along with a mess of briars. You’re the only one who ever goes in those gardens, so I thought it must be meant for you.”

He takes out a slightly crumpled, damp letter tied in red ribbon.

I silence a gasp as I cram the letter into my sleeve, looking left and right to make sure the other children haven’t seen.

“It is for me,” I whisper quickly.

I eye him closely, wondering if he sneaked a peek at the Horse Lord’s letter, but the knot is tied firmly, the red ribbon only slightly torn. The Horse Lord must have left this for me in the sundial, where last night’s wind blew it into the briars.

I give him a solemn nod. “Thank you.”

He nods solemnly back.

After the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.