Hopes (17 page)

Of course
, Ellie promised her.
Now you're here you'll be OK. We'll make you better and when you're ready to be ridden again, I'll make sure you're ridden gently.

She felt Lexi's gratitude and touched the mare's forehead. She concentrated on letting healing energy flow through her fingers. She knew she wouldn't be able to cure the physical pain completely, but she would try to ease it and get her uncle to call the vet the next day. Lexi's eyelids fluttered. Ellie worked her way around Lexi's body, touching the mare at different points, feeling the energy vibrating under her fingers, smoothing it, waiting to feel the energy flowing normally before moving on to the next spot. Finally, she reached Lexi's head again. The horse sighed deeply and Ellie felt a new sense of peace in her. The pain was still there, but it had lessened and, more importantly, Lexi now felt that someone understood.

Thank you for letting me help you
, Ellie told the horse.

Stepping back, she felt the connection between them close and she let herself out of the stable. She felt tired and energized at the same time. Talking to horses, healing them, took a lot of effort and concentration but left her feeling elated and she loved it. As she passed the other horses in their stalls, she stopped to pat each one. Those she had worked with before came to their doors eagerly. She stroked them, then finally left the barn and headed up to the fields.

Ten minutes later, Ellie was standing beside Spirit. The sun had set and the night was closing in. The woods that edged on to his field were dark with shadows. Wrapping her arms around his solid neck, Ellie felt a rush of emotions, happiness and sadness combined. Sadness that he would never be on the yard, like a normal horse again, a horse she could just open a stable door and see. Happiness that he was there and she could still talk to him and touch him. If she went to his grave to talk to him in the day, he would stay invisible although she could sense his presence and hear his voice, but when it was dark and no one could see them from the yard, he would appear to her, solid and warm, looking just as he had when he was alive only healthier and stronger.
Things haven't really changed
, she told herself.
I just have to come out here to see him in the evenings. He's still mine and we can still be together.
The more she told herself that, the more she believed it.

Shutting her eyes, she now rested her forehead against his neck.

You're tired
. She heard Spirit's concerned voice in her mind.

She nodded.
It's been a long day.

Let's go into the woods. I want to hear about it.

Ellie vaulted on to his back. Wrapping her hands in his mane, she felt her tiredness drain away and a new energy fill her.

The stone wall was ahead of them. Spirit broke into a trot and then a canter. Ellie felt his muscles gather and he lifted into the air. He cleared the wall easily before landing on the soft ground on the other side. She smiled as they slowed to a walk and started to wind their way through the trees. Ellie breathed in the scent of leaf mold as Spirit picked his way around the tree roots, branches cracking under his hooves.

So, what happened today?

Ellie told him all about the show—about the classes, about Luke, about Lexi. She felt Spirit's approval as she explained how she'd been to the mare that evening, talked to her and given her as much healing as she could.

You have a gift. She will feel much better.

I wish I could have made you better
, Ellie thought.

Some damage can't be healed,
Spirit replied softly.
You know that. And you did make me feel better. The end was better because you were there
.

Ellie felt tears sting her eyes. She didn't want to remember that time. It had been so black.

I'm glad you came back to me and we're together still,
she said.
That nothing's really changed
.

Spirit snorted in agreement.

Where … where would you have gone?
Ellie asked curiously a few moments later.

Spirit sent a picture to her mind of him standing on a beach in front of a rippling silver sea. On the far side was a distant land. He was staring towards it and she could feel the pull across the water, but as she watched him standing there, he turned and walked back towards her.

Ellie's fingers played in his soft mane. She could feel the contentment coming from him that he was here with her now. But did he wish he'd gone to that land? Did—

Walk in the present.
Spirit's voice gently interrupted her thoughts.

Ellie sighed. He was right. He'd taught her once before that horses walk in the present, not worrying about the future or clinging to the past. It was a good way to be. She was here with him now. That was all that mattered. They carried on happily through the trees as the shadows darkened and the night birds started to call.

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Linda Chapman grew up dreaming of being a writer and of riding in the Olympics. At least one of those came true. She has now written more than two hundred books including three very popular series:
My Secret Unicorn
,
Stardust
, and
Not Quite a Mermaid
. Although Chapman’s dreams of riding in the Olympics have been shelved (for now), she gives free rein to her horsey obsession by writing about horses whenever she is not writing about mermaids, fairies, or other magical creatures. She lives in Leicestershire, England, with her husband, three children, two dogs, and two ponies.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2010 by Linda Chapman

Cover design by Angela Goddard

978-1-4976-4254-6

This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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