Gathering Storm Read online

  They had started back along the cliff path, Tamzin leading Moonlight and Alec walking beside her. Alec sighed. ‘Tamzin, I don’t want to sound like a stodgy grown-up. But the idea of good and evil spirits being real… honestly, I don’t think it’s possible.’

  It could have been worse, Tamzin told herself. At least he hadn’t laughed at her. But Alec obviously did not believe in the supernatural. He thought that she was making it up; or at least, that she had heard an old story and let her imagination run away with her.

  She didn’t speak, and at last Alec said, ‘Look, I don’t want to be unkind. But it is a pretty far-fetched tale, isn’t it? I mean, have you ever actually seen this Grey Horse?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Tamzin. ‘Twice.’

  He was obviously surprised by her answer, and she told him about the terrifying night when the Grey Horse had cornered her in the cave and the incoming tide had almost drowned her. She also told him about the confrontation on the clifftop, when the Grey Horse had tried to drive her over the edge.

  ‘Both times it nearly killed me,’ she finished. ‘But Moonlight saved my life. Just like he saved us both today.’ And silently she added to herself, Oh, yes; he is special. I feel safe when he’s near me; as if he’s looking out for me somehow. But I can’t explain that to anyone else.

  Alec had listened seriously to her story, but now he shook his head. ‘Honestly, Tamzin, I’m still not convinced,’ he said. ‘Look: what happened this morning can easily be explained. It was a simple case of Moonlight’s animal senses coming to the rescue. And the other things that happened to you – well, I’m sure they can be explained in the same way. Getting cut off by the tide; being run away With by a bolting horse – you must have been terrified! So it’s not surprising that your imagination got overloaded. You thought you saw the Grey Horse. But it was just a sort of waking dream. It wasn’t real.’

  ‘Joel used to think that,’ said Tamzin unhappily.

  ‘Your friend who was riding with you on the beach?’

  She nodded. ‘His parents run a riding stable near here. Moonlight’s one of their ponies.’ She blinked. ‘He used to think it, but he doesn’t any more. Because he’s seen the Grey Horse, too.’

  Alec thought for a few moments, then said, ‘Listen, Tamzin, there’s no point in us arguing about this. You believe in the Grey Horse, and I don’t. But I’m interested in the story, so how about if I see what else I can find out about the legend?’

  Tamzin brightened. ‘Would you?’

  ‘Certainly. It’ll fit in with my investigations here. And if you want to help me, you’re very welcome.’

  ‘I’d like that,’ she said.

  ‘Then it’s a deal!’ They were coming to the place where the cliff path joined the track through the valley, and Alec added, ‘I’m not going to do any more work today, mind you. I’m still pretty shaken after that scare, and I expect you are, too.’ He rubbed his arm and grinned ruefully. ‘And this is aching a bit, where Moonlight grabbed me! So I’ll say goodbye. I’ve got your nan’s phone number, and I’ll let you know whatever I find out.’

  He gave Moonlight a pat and walked away towards the beach, where his car was parked. Tamzin watched him go. She was disappointed that he had not believed her, but though his attitude was not what she had hoped, it was better than she had feared. Even if he didn’t believe, at least he was willing to help her.

  Alec was out of sight now, so she gathered up Moonlight’s reins, put one foot in a stirrup and swung herself into the saddle. She was still shaken, and starting to feel cold. She would go back to the stables, she thought. Then when Joel returned, she could tell him what had happened.

  Moonlight was much calmer on the way back, though Tamzin could feel some left-over tension through the reins, and every now and then he tossed his head, jingling the bit in his mouth. At the stables she unsaddled him and rubbed him down, then gave him more carrot chunks than she should have done as a special thank you. Joel and the trekking party still weren’t back, so she cleaned tack while she waited for them. It was past noon when she heard the clatter of hooves in the yard, and then Mrs Richards insisted that they should all have a proper lunch in the house. So it wasn’t until the afternoon that she had the chance to talk to Joel alone.

  She thought he would agree with her that, despite the danger, the incident with Alec had proved that he was not an enemy. But she was wrong.

  ‘Tam, are you crazy?’ Joel exploded. ‘It was a totally stupid thing to do, going up there on your own! And it hasn’t proved anything at all!’

  ‘What do you mean?’ She was dismayed.

  ‘Look,’ said Joel, ‘how do you know that Moonlight was trying to save Alec Brewer? He might have been trying to stop Alec pulling you all down with the landslide!’

  ‘Oh, Joel, that’s ridiculous!’ Tamzin argued. ‘I was there; I saw it!’

  But it was no use; Joel just wouldn’t be convinced. They didn’t quarrel, but neither of them could persuade the other, and eventually they agreed to call a truce. They thought differently; that was all there was to it.

  ‘But you’ve got to be careful,’ Joel said darkly. ‘Promise me!’

  ‘Of course. I promise.’

  They left it at that. But before going home, Tamzin went to Moonlight’s box to say goodbye.

  ‘You trust Alec, don’t you?’ she whispered to the pony. ‘I know you do. You saved his life. How did you know, Moonlight? How did you know what was going to happen?’

  Moonlight whickered gently and nuzzled her, his mane tickling her face. He seemed to understand what she was saying to him. She had always known that Moonlight was special. But now a new thought had come to her. Could Moonlight be linked with the benevolent spirit of the Blue Horse? After what had happened today, she couldn’t help wondering…

  Nan had finished repairing the picture frame, and the following afternoon she and Tamzin were re-hanging the painting in Tamzin’s room when the phone rang.

  ‘I’ll get it,’ Nan said. She went out, and Tamzin stood gazing at the picture. The galloping blue-white horse was very like Moonlight; yet Nan had painted it a long time ago, before she had ever seen him. Was that significant?

  Tamzin was still thinking about that when Nan returned.

  ‘That was Alec,’ she said. ‘He was on his mobile, calling from the beach. He’s found something interesting, and he’d like us to go and look at it.’

  ‘Oh!’ Tamzin’s eyes lit up and she forgot about the painting. ‘Can we, Nan?’

  ‘Yes, of course. Get your jacket; we’ll walk straight down there.’

  The tide was out, and there was a family party on the beach, but they were just sitting on the rocks in the sunshine and watching the sea. Round the headland, Tamzin and Nan found Alec alone at the blocked cave entrance. More rubble had come down in yesterday’s landslip, and the sea had scattered it widely on the beach.

  ‘The tide’s moved some of the boulders over the cave mouth, too,’ Alec said as they all looked at the rubble. ‘There’s a gap there now; see it?’ He pointed, and Tamzin and Nan stared. There was a gap, but it was no more than a narrow slit between two of the fallen rocks.

  ‘It’s too small for anyone to get through,’ said Nan.

  ‘I know,’ Alec agreed. ‘It’s very frustrating. However, there’s some good news, because I found these.’

  He showed them several pieces of broken stone. They were strangely smooth and even, and their edges were sharply regular.

  Nan peered at them. ‘What peculiar shapes they are,’ she said. ‘They don’t look natural.’

  ‘I don’t think they are natural,’ Alec agreed. ‘I think they’ve been carved. And that’s not the only odd thing about them. They’re a different kind of stone to anything I’ve seen in these cliffs. I’m sure they were brought here from somewhere further away.’

  Tamzin was peering at the fragments, too, and something inside her seemed to turn over with a lurch. ‘Nan…’ she said softly, ‘this stone… it l
ooks just like –’ She stopped abruptly.

  ‘Yes,’ said Nan. ‘It does.’

  They were both thinking the same thing. The colours and patterns in these pieces were familiar. They were the same kind of stone from which the statue of the Grey Horse had been carved.

  Alec had seen their expressions, and was puzzled. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked. ‘Do you know something about these?’

  ‘Yes,’ Nan replied. ‘I believe we do.’ She hesitated, as if she was uncertain. Then she made a decision.

  ‘I think you’d better come back to Chapel Cottage, Alec,’ she said, ‘and I’ll explain.’

  On the way back Alec was agog with curiosity, but Nan refused to tell him anything. At the house, Tamzin was surprised when Nan fetched a trowel and went out into the garden. For a minute she couldn’t believe what Nan was going to do – but when Nan crouched down and began to dig in a certain spot, there could be no doubt of it.

  As the buried sack was revealed, Tamzin felt a surge of sick fright, and awful memories flooded into her mind. In that bag were the pieces of the statue she had broken – the statue of the Grey Horse. It wasn’t complete, for in a rash, angry moment she had thrown one piece into the sea. So the statue could not be properly repaired, and that had added strength to the curse it carried. Nan had made the best she could of it; she had buried the pieces in an effort to protect Tamzin. But now they were to see the light of day again. Would anything happen? Would there be a sudden screaming gale, a bolt of lightning out of nowhere, a second earth tremor?

  Nothing did happen, and with an effort Tamzin got a grip on her nerves. Nan came back into the kitchen, carrying the sack. She put it on the table, opened it and took out several of the statue fragments.

  ‘You’re the expert, Alec,’ she said. ‘Are these the same kind of stone as the pieces you found on the beach?’

  Alec picked up a fragment and studied it carefully. He compared it with his own pieces, and gave an excited gasp.

  ‘It is the same! Where on earth did these come from?’

  ‘Tamzin,’ said Nan, ‘put the kettle on, will you? I’m going to make some tea. And then…’ She looked at Tamzin very intently. ‘I’d like to talk to Alec alone. Would you mind very much?’

  Tamzin’s face fell. Whatever was going to be said, she wanted to hear it. She opened her mouth to protest – but stopped abruptly as an idea occurred to her.

  ‘All right.’ She paused. ‘Is it OK if I go down to the beach again?’

  ‘Yes, that’s fine,’ said Nan. ‘But keep an eye on the tide, won’t you? It’ll be coming in now.’

  When Tamzin passed the kitchen window on her way to the garden gate, she could see Nan and Alec sitting at the table. They were talking intently; Tamzin couldn’t hear what was being said, but the rest of the statue fragments were spread out between them.

  She went through the gate and hurried along the valley path. There would still be time to get round the headland before the tide reached it, and she badly wanted to take another look around the cave entrance. Alec’s discovery had excited her. If his pieces were of the same stone as the Grey Horse’s statue, was it possible that she might find the one missing piece that could make the statue complete again?

  The family party had gone, and the beach was deserted. Tamzin jumped the stream and ran round the jutting rocks to the cave, where she started to search among the debris. But after ten minutes’ feverish hunting, she straightened up and reluctantly faced the truth. Of course the missing piece wasn’t here. How could it be? She had thrown it into the sea, months ago, when the statue was first broken. It was gone, washed away, lost. It couldn’t possibly reappear among the rubble of a rockfall.

  Suddenly she was angry with herself for being so stupid. There was no point in this. She might as well go back to Chapel Cottage.

  She turned, then paused, gazing at the blocked cave mouth. The gap Alec had pointed out earlier was dead ahead of her, reachable over tumbled boulders. It certainly was narrow; as Nan had said, no one could get through it.

  Or at least…

  Tamzin peered harder, narrowing her eyes, and her heart began to thump with excitement. An adult couldn’t make it through the gap. But she could. And a new, wild idea began to take shape in her mind…

  She ran to the foot of the piled boulders and began to scramble over them. She didn’t even think about the incoming tide; the only thought in her head was to get through the gap and into the cave, to see what was there. She had to do it. It was a need, a compulsion; nothing else mattered.

  She reached the gap, started to squeeze herself in –

  And a voice said clearly, ‘NO!’

  Tamzin jumped, nearly losing her balance on the rock. She spun round, expecting to see someone on the sand behind her – but there was nobody there. Only the sea… and she realized with a shock that the tide’s edge was a mere few metres away.

  A wave broke and sunlight glittered on its crest, dazzling her. Then the crest seemed to separate from the wave and become something else – a white horse, galloping out of the sea –

  Tamzin blinked, shaking her head violently, and the Vision vanished and was just an ordinary wave again. But for one moment she had seen the horse clearly. And she had recognized it without any shadow of doubt.

  It was Moonlight.

  Tamzin stood frozen on the rock, staring at the place where the vision had appeared. It was Moonlight, she had absolutely no doubt of it. For one instant he had been there, as real to her as she was; then a moment later he was gone. But she had heard the warning voice, and it had stopped her from doing something very foolish and dangerous. She would have gone through the gap, forgetting everything but the overwhelming desire to get into the cave. And the tide was coming in.

  But the voice had broken the spell…

  Suddenly she didn’t want to stay a moment longer. She jumped down from the rock and ran, pelting back the way she had come. As she raced round the headland the sea was almost licking at her feet.

  Alec was walking down the beach towards her. He raised a hand and waved, and Tamzin hurried to meet him.

  ‘Your nan said I’d find you here.’ He smiled at her, but his eyes were serious. ‘She told me the full story; about the broken statue, and why she buried the pieces. She also told me about the warning inscribed on the statue’s base. And she showed me the full translation written down in her old family bible.’

  Tamzin’s breath caught in her throat, but she didn’t speak. Alec went on.

  ‘I’m starting to understand properly now, Tamzin. And I’d like to help you in any way I can.’ They started to walk back. ‘Those pieces of stone that I found,’ Alec continued, ‘I think they might possibly have been carved by the same person who made the Grey Horse statue.’

  Tamzin was astonished. ‘How can you tell?’ she asked eagerly.

  ‘I can’t, not for sure. But the way they’ve been cut is very similar to the fragments your nan showed me. Not only that, but several of them are obviously parts of a horse carving. I think they might have been practice pieces for the statue. And that shows how important it was for the sculptor to get his statue absolutely right.’

  Tamzin’s heart was bumping. ‘If they were in the cave before the rockfall, how could they have got here?’ she wanted to know.

  ‘Ah, that’s still a mystery. There’s some evidence that there was a settlement – like a village but much smaller – in the valley, many centuries ago. If your ancestors lived there, perhaps they also made the old mining tunnels inside these cliffs. And perhaps that particular cave had some special meaning for them; something religious, or superstitious.’

  Tamzin looked up at him and said, ‘So do you believe in the Grey Horse now?’

  Alec hesitated. Then, to her disappointment, he replied, ‘No. I’m sorry, but I still don’t think it really exists. But,’ he added as she was about to protest, ‘the important thing is, your ancestors did believe in it, and so do you.’ He smiled kindly. ‘So if we c
an solve the mystery once and for all, it will put your mind at rest – and give me some very valuable help with my own work!’

  Tamzin nodded. Behind them she heard a deep roar as an especially big wave broke. The noise of the sea was growing louder; it was growling now, and the wind was rising, too, blowing her hair around her face. She stopped and looked over her shoulder. There were choppy white wave crests right out to the horizon, and surf was surging against the great bulk of Lion Rock in the distance.

  ‘The lion’s roaring,’ she said.

  ‘The lion?’ Alec looked puzzled, and she smiled, pointing out to sea.

  ‘People call that Lion Rock,’ she told him, ‘and when the sea gets rough they say that the noise it makes is the lion roaring.’ They walked on, and she added, ‘It’s a funny name for the rock. I mean, it doesn’t look the least bit like a lion, does it?’

  ‘No, it doesn’t,’ Alec agreed. ‘Though of course “lion” might not be its proper name. It could be a corruption of an old Cornish word that means something completely different.’

  That had never occurred to Tamzin, and she was intrigued.

  ‘I don’t know much Cornish,’ said Alec, ‘and I can’t think of a word that sounds at all like “lion”. But I’ll do some research and see what I can find out. In the meantime, though, I need to find a way to get into that cave! That second landslip has made it much too risky to try again from the top, so the beach entrance is my only chance.’ He sighed. ‘I just wish I could get through!’

  Tamzin said, ‘Wishes come true, sometimes.’

  Her own words startled her. That wasn’t at all what she had meant to say! She had been about to tell Alec about the gap she had discovered, but the words had come out of nowhere, and she had spoken them without even thinking.

  Quickly she looked back at the sea. Would she see the vision again; the form of Moonlight galloping among the breakers? But cloud had covered the sun and the water no longer dazzled her. The vision was not there.

  Alec was striding on, unaware that anything strange had happened. But Tamzin was certain that something had made her say what she did.