Storm and the Silver Bridle (11 page)

There they found Avery, bent over Francoise who was lying very still on one of the benches, her breathing harsh and laboured.

“Is she OK?” Issie said, as she slid off Angel and ran to join them.

“It’s my arm,” Francoise said, gritting her teeth through the pain. “I think it’s broken.” She tried to sit up. “Did you get Storm? Where is he?”

Issie shook her head. “I don’t know. Vega had him, he must have—” She couldn’t finish her sentence. She couldn’t bring herself to admit that her colt had been right there and they had lost him again. They had missed their chance to save the colt. Storm was gone.

Back at El Caballo that afternoon the mood was dark. Francoise’s arm was indeed broken. Alfonso had driven her to the hospital in Seville where they had X-rayed her and put the arm in a plaster cast before releasing her home again. Now she lay on the floral brocade sofa in the living room, with Avery and Issie fussing over her, plumping her cushions and bringing her fresh orange juice and pills to dull the pain.

“This is all my fault,” Issie said. “I’m so sorry, Francoise. I shouldn’t have lost my temper when Vega said he was going to use the
serreta
on Storm…”

“It is OK, really.” Francoise smiled. “I do not blame you — it was this stupid flamenco costume!” She smoothed down the ruffles of her dress with obvious irritation.
“I could not stay on when the horse reared, with that ridiculous side-saddle and all these silly frills! Next time I shall wear my
vaquero
trousers!”

“I agree. Flamenco dresses are not appropriate attire for fighting on horseback,” Roberto Nunez said sarcastically, as he entered the room carrying a tray laden with tea and cakes. He put the tray down on the coffee table in front of them and shook his head in disbelief. “I turn my back for a moment and what happens? When I turn round again I see all four of you at the other end of the village square, caught up in a fight with Vega! What were you thinking? Did you think Vega would just give the colt back? Alfonso? Francoise? You both know him better than that!”

“But Dad,” Alfonso objected. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see Vega, the way he spoke to Isadora. He was so arrogant—”

Roberto cut his son off with a harsh look. “His arrogance will lose him the Silver Bridle, but only if we keep our heads. I expect my son to beat him in the race, not in a street fight.”

Alfonso looked as if he was going to argue back, but Roberto waved away his objections with a brisk hand. “Go down to the stables and check on the horses,” he instructed. “Make sure that none of them were hurt.”

Alfonso looked annoyed, but he didn’t argue. He nodded to his father and left the room.

“Well, one good thing has come of this,” Roberto sighed. “At least we know for certain now that Vega has the colt.”

“Does that mean we can call the police?” Issie asked.

Roberto shook his head. “I wish that were the case, but we still have no proof that the colt is yours,” he said. “Vega has branded it with the mark of his stables — if anything, the colt now appears to be even more his property than he was before.”

“But Storm isn’t his!” Issie looked pleadingly at Avery. “Tom, we have to do something. I can’t leave Storm with Vega.”

“Issie, Roberto is right,” Avery said. “Vega currently holds all the cards. If we go to the police now they won’t believe us. It’s our word against his. We must wait until the time is right…”

“When?” Issie said. “When will that be? After Vega has used the
serreta
on him, the same way he did to Angel? That man is a monster — and he’s got my colt!”

“Isadora,” Roberto cautioned, “I know how much you love your colt, but your impetuousness today has already got us into trouble. Now I must ask you to wait. Let us decide what to do.”

“I’m sorry…” Issie was taken aback. “I wasn’t trying to cause trouble… I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt…”

“I know that,” Roberto said gently. “But for your own safety, Isadora, please, let us handle this. I do not want to see anything happen to you.”

Issie looked around the room at Francoise and Avery. They were both silent, which Issie took as a sign that they were in agreement with Roberto.

She felt hot tears pricking at her eyes.
Great
, she thought,
now it’s all my fault, and to make it worse I’m going to start crying like a kid in front of everyone
. “You know,” she said, trying to focus on the plate of cakes in front of her as the tears blurred her vision, “I’m not very hungry right now. I think I’m going to go to my room for a while.”

Issie left the living room, shutting the door behind her. She stood outside, pausing for a moment. What was she going to do now? Roberto had made it clear that he thought fighting to get Storm back was futile, and Avery and Francoise seemed to agree with him. Still, did they really expect Issie to sit back and do nothing while Vega had her colt?

What else could she do, though? Issie was halfway around the world, without her friends or her family. If she
was home then she could rely on Mystic turning up to help her. But here, in Spain? She was on her own. In fact, she had never felt more alone in her entire life.

Issie slumped back against the cool stone wall of the hallway just outside the living room door. She let herself slide down the wall until she was sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees. She couldn’t just stay here at the hacienda and do nothing!

She reached a hand to her throat and felt for her necklace. It was a friendship necklace, the sort where the heart splits in two and you keep one half and give the other half to your best friend. Francoise had given her this necklace. Issie wore her half of the gold heart on a gold chain around her neck. The other half of the heart was attached to Blaze’s halter. Issie never took the necklace off. She liked to reach up and touch it sometimes, to remind her that no matter where she was, her heart was always with her mare, back in Chevalier Point.

Issie shook her head. That was what Roberto didn’t understand. Storm wasn’t just any colt, he was Blaze’s son. She loved him with the same passion that she loved Blaze. And now Storm needed her. She wasn’t going to let him down.

Filled with determination, Issie was about to push
herself back up off the floor and head up the stairs to her room when she heard voices coming from the living room. It sounded like they were arguing. She could hear Francoise complaining, “Your honour is all very well and good, but Miguel plays dirty.”

Then she heard Roberto snap back. “I don’t want my hacienda seen brawling with a common horse thief like Vega.” Then suddenly the door swung open and Francoise D’arth came stomping out. She strode straight past Issie, muttering something to herself in French. She was heading straight for the kitchen and didn’t cast a backwards glance, so she didn’t see the girl crouched on the other side of the door frame, even though she swept so close to her that Issie felt the flounces of her flamenco dress as she breezed past. Francoise had left the living-room door open behind her, and this meant that Issie could hear Roberto and Avery’s conversation. They were speaking to each other very seriously.

“
Madre Mia
, my friend!” Roberto said. “No one will listen to me today!”

“They’re just trying to help. You know that, Roberto,” Avery said.

“I know, I know,” Roberto sighed, “but they underestimate Vega. Thomas, the man is a fat fool, but
he is still dangerous. I don’t want them to get involved with him and get hurt. You can see that, can’t you?”

“What about the race?” Avery countered. “Couldn’t Alfie get hurt then?”

“That is different,” Roberto said. “The race is our tradition. It is the right way to win your colt.”

“Issie just wants her horse back,” Avery said. “She doesn’t care about tradition.”

“You must watch her closely,” Roberto warned him. “She must stay away from Vega.”

“I think you’ve made that clear to her,” Avery said, “but yes, of course I’ll keep an eye on her. You mustn’t be too tough on her though, Roberto. She’s in love with that colt.”

“She is impetuous and too spirited…”

“… just like we were at her age,” Avery responded. Then his tone grew serious. “She’s the most talented rider I’ve ever trained, Roberto. I think she could be great one day. She’s got what it takes.”

“
Si
,” Roberto said, “yes, I can see that. You were right about her. Everything you said has proven to be true. And the colt, he too is just as I expected, a true son of Salome and Marius.”

Avery said something else that Issie couldn’t hear and then Roberto spoke once more.

“Does the girl know that you are her
bonifacio
?”

“No,” Avery said. “Not yet. The time has never seemed right. And now that we are here, with the colt in this much danger…” He paused. “Roberto, what is your plan for getting Storm back?”

“There is no plan. We will simply run the race,” Roberto said. “Marius is the best stallion in Spain and my son may be a headstrong boy, but he is our best rider. He will run the race and bring honour to El Caballo Danza Magnifico. That is how the colt will be returned to us.”

Pressed back against the wall listening, Issie felt her breath catch in her throat. Avery was her
bonifacio?
What did that mean? And was that really Roberto’s only plan to get Storm back? She wasn’t going to sit back and wait for them to win the race. For all she knew, Vega could be putting the
serreta
on Storm right now! The race was not the answer. She knew now what she had to do. Vega was so arrogant, after the fiasco today the last thing he would ever expect would be for someone to fight back. Well, that arrogance would be his downfall. She was going to get her colt back the same way that he had been taken from her. She was going to steal him.

In her room, Issie quickly pulled on her jodhpurs and grabbed her
vaquero
hat before heading back down the stairs and out of the front door. The moment she was outside she was struck by just how hot the sun was. It was mid-afternoon, the time when the Andalusian sun reaches its peak and the
vaqueros
, weary from the heat, take a siesta. This afternoon nap would last for a couple of hours, until the sun sank lower and they could return once more to their work.

The heat and the siesta would work in her favour, Issie realised. There would be no need to talk her way round the men at Roberto’s stables and convince them to let her take Angel out. The men were crashed out asleep on their cots in the bunkhouse. There would be no one at the stallions’ stable block to stop her.

Angel was standing at the back of his stall in the shadows as always, but the stallion came forward without hesitation at the sound of Issie’s voice.

“Hey, boy.” Issie couldn’t help feeling pleased that Angel was responding to her already. She reached out and ran her hand down the stallion’s noble face, finding herself filled with pity all over again as she felt the ugly scar tissue that Vega had inflicted.

She thought of Storm now, in the hands of Vega. She
couldn’t bear the thought of the
serreta
being used on him. Well, she thought, as she snatched the bridle off the hook in Angel’s stall, she didn’t need to worry about that for much longer. She would saddle up now and ride to Vega’s hacienda. Vega’s men would also be having their siesta when she arrived. She would be able to slip in and take her colt back in broad daylight, before anyone even realised she had been there. All she had to do was saddle up before anyone noticed her and—

“Going somewhere?”

A voice behind her made her jump. She spun round and saw a man standing there, wearing the traditional
vaquero
costume of El Caballo. In the darkness of the stable she thought at first that it was Roberto Nunez. Then the man stepped closer and she could see his face.

“Alfonso!” Issie said. “You scared me half to death! Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“Taking Angel for a ride?” Alfonso said.

“Uh-huh…” Issie began to try and think of a fib she could tell him, something he would believe, but she could see by the look on Alfonso’s face that he wouldn’t be fooled.

“Let me guess,” Alfonso said. “You’re going after the colt. You’re going to Vega’s stables to bring him back, all by yourself?”

“No! Well, yes, but…” Issie tried to stay cool, but instead she found herself babbling. “Alfonso, I have to do it! He’s got Storm. I need to get him back before Vega uses the
serreta
on him. I know you can’t understand how much he means to me—”

“Hey! Hey!” Alfonso cut her off. “Calm down, you’ve got me all wrong. I’m not trying to stop you.” He reached out and took the bridle off the hook outside Marius’s stall and then turned to her and smiled. “I’m trying to tell you that I’m coming with you.”

Galloping together across the sunburnt fields of the El Caballo, the two great grey stallions, Marius and Angel, made an impressive sight. “Alfonso, you don’t have to do this, you know,” Issie shouted out. “Your dad will be furious when he finds out.”

Alfonso was ahead of Issie, but now he pulled Marius up so that the two of them were riding together. “First of all, you must stop calling me Alfonso,” he shouted back at her. “My friends all call me Alfie — OK?”