of.
The horses came to Belle; they blew on me. Belle walked through the herd, taking me with her.
“Belle’s their leader; they follow her,” Angel said as the horses came to her too.
“When I speak to them, I don’t talk and they don’t talk. You can just trust them because they understand that.”
She walked among them as if she was one of them; she touched them all. She passed the young horses, and they didn’t run or shy.
“People are mostly scared of themselves,” Angel said. “They get scared of their own brilliance.”
People didn’t know Angel at all. But the horses did. They trusted her, even if she was a liar and a thief. They knew her in a different way.
“We have to get Belle back now,” she said, climbing up. “We can’t leave Lunar for long.”
We moved out of the field. The horses followed us to the gate, watched us leave. Angel’s huge family. Maybe because of what she showed me, I wanted to tell Angel everything.
“I live with my mom. Just us two,” I said.
Angel kept looking ahead, at where we were going.
“I don’t see my dad. He used to travel a lot because he worked on shows doing the lighting.” I continued, knowing she wouldn’t be mean this time. “I think he was clever and imaginative, but then he went away and didn’t come back.
“He made the carousel, but I don’t want Mom to know I’ve got it. I don’t know why he left it behind, why it was still there. It’s the only thing I’ve got of his—well, most of it. There’s a piece missing.”
“How do you know it’s missing?”
She turned around. She seemed to really want to know.
“Because I know it was there before,” I said. “And I think he took it.”
“Like the moon?”
“The moon?”
“You thought a bit of the moon was missing. But it’s not.”
Angel turned away, and Belle gently clipped along the lane.
And I wondered then if I’d looked properly. Had I looked in all the corners, under all the lining? Was it there and I just couldn’t see it?
“Do you think I might be like him? Like my dad, I mean.”
“Do you want to be?”
“He was . . .”
What was I supposed to say? He didn’t care about us; he betrayed us and left us. That’s why none of his things, none of him, or the bits of me that were like him, were allowed in our house anymore.
“No,” I said.
Belle stopped walking. Angel turned around and smiled.
“Mostly you’re like you. Sometimes you’re not, though. Sometimes you pretend you’re nobody, just in case you are like him.”
Then I heard her breath catch at the rattle and rumble of a car coming toward us. I could see the top of a Land Rover with a horse box attached driving down the lane. In a moment Angel slipped to the ground, vaulted a gate, and ran.
Thirty-One
M rs. Barker stopped her Land Rover in the middle of the lane. She stared through the windshield for a long while before she got out and came over.
Belle lifted her head away from Mrs. Barker’s hand as she tried to stroke her nose. Angel had told me not to do that, that horses like to come to you first and then you’ll know whether they want you to touch them or not.
“Liv’s niece, isn’t it?” Mrs. Barker said. “What are you doing with this horse?”
Before I could even think what I was saying, I said, “I found her.”
I was turning into a liar like Angel! Mrs. Barker hadn’t seen Angel, though, and somehow that was the most important thing.
She was smiling now, her voice gentle.
“I’ll take her back to Old Chambers’s farm. That’s where she’s meant to be, ready for the auction on Saturday.”
I couldn’t think what to do. Mrs. Barker held my arm as I slid off Belle’s back. She slipped a halter over Belle’s head, led her into the horse box. She told me to get in the Land Rover, that she’d take me home afterward.
Mrs. Barker drove to Old Chambers’s farm. She left me in the car and talked to a man in a mucky overall, and he nodded toward the stable
The horses came to Belle; they blew on me. Belle walked through the herd, taking me with her.
“Belle’s their leader; they follow her,” Angel said as the horses came to her too.
“When I speak to them, I don’t talk and they don’t talk. You can just trust them because they understand that.”
She walked among them as if she was one of them; she touched them all. She passed the young horses, and they didn’t run or shy.
“People are mostly scared of themselves,” Angel said. “They get scared of their own brilliance.”
People didn’t know Angel at all. But the horses did. They trusted her, even if she was a liar and a thief. They knew her in a different way.
“We have to get Belle back now,” she said, climbing up. “We can’t leave Lunar for long.”
We moved out of the field. The horses followed us to the gate, watched us leave. Angel’s huge family. Maybe because of what she showed me, I wanted to tell Angel everything.
“I live with my mom. Just us two,” I said.
Angel kept looking ahead, at where we were going.
“I don’t see my dad. He used to travel a lot because he worked on shows doing the lighting.” I continued, knowing she wouldn’t be mean this time. “I think he was clever and imaginative, but then he went away and didn’t come back.
“He made the carousel, but I don’t want Mom to know I’ve got it. I don’t know why he left it behind, why it was still there. It’s the only thing I’ve got of his—well, most of it. There’s a piece missing.”
“How do you know it’s missing?”
She turned around. She seemed to really want to know.
“Because I know it was there before,” I said. “And I think he took it.”
“Like the moon?”
“The moon?”
“You thought a bit of the moon was missing. But it’s not.”
Angel turned away, and Belle gently clipped along the lane.
And I wondered then if I’d looked properly. Had I looked in all the corners, under all the lining? Was it there and I just couldn’t see it?
“Do you think I might be like him? Like my dad, I mean.”
“Do you want to be?”
“He was . . .”
What was I supposed to say? He didn’t care about us; he betrayed us and left us. That’s why none of his things, none of him, or the bits of me that were like him, were allowed in our house anymore.
“No,” I said.
Belle stopped walking. Angel turned around and smiled.
“Mostly you’re like you. Sometimes you’re not, though. Sometimes you pretend you’re nobody, just in case you are like him.”
Then I heard her breath catch at the rattle and rumble of a car coming toward us. I could see the top of a Land Rover with a horse box attached driving down the lane. In a moment Angel slipped to the ground, vaulted a gate, and ran.
Thirty-One
M rs. Barker stopped her Land Rover in the middle of the lane. She stared through the windshield for a long while before she got out and came over.
Belle lifted her head away from Mrs. Barker’s hand as she tried to stroke her nose. Angel had told me not to do that, that horses like to come to you first and then you’ll know whether they want you to touch them or not.
“Liv’s niece, isn’t it?” Mrs. Barker said. “What are you doing with this horse?”
Before I could even think what I was saying, I said, “I found her.”
I was turning into a liar like Angel! Mrs. Barker hadn’t seen Angel, though, and somehow that was the most important thing.
She was smiling now, her voice gentle.
“I’ll take her back to Old Chambers’s farm. That’s where she’s meant to be, ready for the auction on Saturday.”
I couldn’t think what to do. Mrs. Barker held my arm as I slid off Belle’s back. She slipped a halter over Belle’s head, led her into the horse box. She told me to get in the Land Rover, that she’d take me home afterward.
Mrs. Barker drove to Old Chambers’s farm. She left me in the car and talked to a man in a mucky overall, and he nodded toward the stable
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