The Black Stallion and the Shape-shifter by Steven Farley

Author:Steven Farley [Farley, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-375-89251-6
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2009-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

A Friendly Race

THE NEXT DAY a rain shower in the morning kept Alec and the Black in the barn later than usual. After the rain stopped, Alec and Mora rode their horses down to the beach. Again the Black seemed in fine shape. It was great to be riding again, Alec thought, and nice to have the company as well.

The two beach riders jogged their horses along the water’s edge and didn’t pull up until they reached the far point. They even thought about going around the point, but the tide was higher this morning and the path impassable. Mora pointed out footprints in the sand leading around the rocks and disappearing into the water.

“Looks like someone was out here this morning, though,” Mora said. “Maybe it was that guy I saw up on the rock the other day. Maybe he was fishing or something.”

“Sure,” Alec said. “Maybe it was your birdman.”

Mora smiled. “Or maybe it was your secret admirer from the dunes.”

“Must be her,” Alec said, playing along. “Your birdman would have flown up there. He wouldn’t need to walk.”

“Think what you want,” she said. “I’m positive that was a person I saw on top of that rock the other day.”

“I met a fisherman on the beach yesterday who told me that no one goes over to that side of the point. He said the fishing isn’t very good over there. Then again, he said it isn’t very good on this side either these days. Maybe he decided to give it a try over there this morning.”

They turned around and Mora put the pony into a trot, then a gallop, chasing some birds skimming along the beach. Alec gave them a few lengths’ head start and then took off after them, the stallion breaking into a run for the first time in a week.

The reins came alive in Alec’s strong hands, seeming to vibrate in his palms. With a deep breath, Alec melded himself into the Black’s bare back, pressing the side of his face flat against his horse’s neck.

Soon they were completely in sync. What a joy to be running like this again, he thought. To Alec, when he was in flight with his horse, there seemed to be whole seconds between each stride, plenty of time to do whatever he needed to do. It was as if time itself were slowing down.

The stallion swallowed up the space between the pony and himself. His strides were lengthening, hanging longer, with more hesitation between each one. But then, as the Black pulled alongside Mora and the pony, something unexpected happened. Rather than blowing right by them, Silver began to pick up speed, refusing to be overtaken.

Tracking along beside the Black, the pony was taking three springy steps for every two of the Black’s, matching the stallion’s pace but on a shorter stride. Mora leaned forward as she tried to hang on. A look of panic flashed across the girl’s face as she struggled to keep her seat.

The stallion asked for more speed but Alec held him back.

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.