Horse Boy by Tanya Landman

Author:Tanya Landman [Landman, Tanya]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781406382266
Publisher: Walker Books
Published: 2020-08-06T00:00:00+00:00

FISHING

The rolling water had ebbed by the time the sun rose. When he woke, Oak was pleased to see that the horse’s wound was looking a lot better. There was no heat and no flies buzzed around it. As for him? The soreness of his hand was greatly reduced and the throbbing in his head had waned almost to nothing. He was, however, painfully hungry.

He walked away from the river’s mouth, to where there were rocks covered with strange, slippery plants. Could any of those be edible? Dare he try? He cut a piece with his knife and nibbled cautiously. It had a strange, sharp tang but tasted pleasant enough. He swallowed, hoping that if it was bad, he’d vomit it back up quickly.

When he began to climb over the rocks, his companion hung back. “Come on, Horse!” called Oak.

But Horse stayed on the shingle. Oak didn’t like to leave him, but he had to find something to eat.

Between the rocks were pools left behind by the rolling water. Oak examined the strange things that lurked in them – was that a flower, or an animal? That thing that suckered down on the rock looked like a snail – could it be eaten?

He was about to prise it loose when he heard a sudden, desperate splashing to his heart side. At the same moment a great white bird swooped low over his head, screeching, trying to drive him away. There was something in the pool over there the bird wanted: it must be edible. He had to get to it first.

As he slithered across the rocks, scraping his legs, the bird swooped once, twice more. Oak flapped his arms to scare it away but the thing kept shrieking and diving at him. When he reached the pool, he saw something splashing that he assumed was a fish. It was so peculiar that if the bird hadn’t been desperate to reach it, he wouldn’t have dared eat the thing.

Grotesquely deformed, flat, with eyes on the top of its head, the fish had a mouth that had slipped sideways. With a prayer of thanks to the Goddess for this gift – however strangely shaped – Oak seized the thing by its tail. He muttered words of gratitude to the creature’s spirit before giving it a flick and banging its head hard against the rock. Its blood spilled and its mouth stopped gaping open and shut. It was easier than he expected. The fish that swam in the river at home were slippery things, hard to catch and hard to keep hold of. They would shoot out of your hands if you squeezed them too tight. This felt rougher, coarser, with none of that slimy texture.

The bird hadn’t given up. It dived at Oak’s head again and again, trying to make him drop the fish as he returned across the rocks.

Horse greeted him with an excited whicker.

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