The Girl Who Rode the Wind

The Girl Who Rode the Wind
Stacy Gregg

An epic, emotional story of two girls and their bond with beloved horses, the action sweeping between Italy during the Second World War and present day.When Lola’s grandmother Loretta takes her to Siena, Italy, for the summer, Lola learns about the town’s historic Palio races – a fast and furious event where riders whip around the Piazza del Campo, and are often thrown from their horses while making the treacherous turns. Lola is amazed to learn her grandmother used to take part in these races – and had the nickname ‘The Daredevil’!Nonna Loretta tells Lola that she used to race in a rival team to the boy she loved – who was captured by the Nazis in 1941. Lola develops a bond with a beautiful racehorse. She jumps at the chance to enter the Palio – can she win, in honour of her grandmother? And can she uncover the mystery of the boy’s capture and fate all those years ago?

Copyright (#ulink_aa412456-6dd0-563d-bd02-0853a3bb0364)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2015

HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Text copyright © Stacy Gregg, 2015

Covert art © Shutterstock

Stacy Gregg asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008124304

Ebook Edition © ISBN: 9780008124328

Version: 2015-06-19

For Hilda, the budding equestrienne.May your future be full of excitement,adventure and wonderful horses …

Contents

Cover (#u159d7a04-73fc-593a-9074-9b095f30e6c3)

Title Page (#ue7a48658-96b0-57e7-ba33-0586ba552a2d)

Copyright (#u4954cd9c-5d09-5215-b40f-d3675d894435)

Dedication (#u5450eae6-b15c-5720-988a-f19daa228a33)

The Contrada of the Wolf (#u290c723d-3f6f-561e-904b-a6b2e3d0bf30)

Fight (#u79a3c205-1b72-5221-9d71-7f1d070dd4bb)

The Bet (#u3cfb7384-80c4-5304-a25e-96bdc4a660ac)

The Villa (#u48450c69-f5dd-5bab-9137-4f81e03d2804)

Daredevil (#ue8b7b86b-c199-5ea2-8945-a30f16fc16d7)

Carlo the Fantino (#litres_trial_promo)

The Castle of Four Towers (#litres_trial_promo)

Blackshirts (#litres_trial_promo)

Romeo, Juliet and Me (#litres_trial_promo)

Into the Woods (#litres_trial_promo)

Terra in the Piazza (#litres_trial_promo)

Betrayal (#litres_trial_promo)

Night Trials (#litres_trial_promo)

Love and War (#litres_trial_promo)

Storm Tamer (#litres_trial_promo)

Midnight in the Via di Vallerozzi (#litres_trial_promo)

The Blessing (#litres_trial_promo)

The Palio (#litres_trial_promo)

Tempesta (#litres_trial_promo)

Riding the Wind: The True Story of the Palio (#litres_trial_promo)

Other books by Stacy Gregg (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

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It was almost midnight when I turned down the steep cobbled streets into the Via di Vallerozzi. I walked alone except for my shadow, a black companion in the lamplight.

At the entrance to the Contrada of the Wolf I raised my eyes to the bell tower and felt the knot in my belly tighten. I stepped up to the door and knocked, rapping four times then four again. Then I waited, counting my heartbeats. I was about to try once more when I heard footsteps and then the creak of ancient hinges as the heavy oak door opened.

The guardsman, thin and sallow-skinned, shoulders hunched with age, poked his head out. He looked at me warily.

“Hello, signor …” My accent gave me away straight off. I didn’t have the chance to say anything more.