Destiny and Stardust

Issie fell asleep in her four-poster bed that night thinking about the creature in the woods. The moon was full in the sky outside and she could see the inky crest of the ridge outlined through her bedroom curtains as she dozed off.

When she woke again she guessed it must have been about midnight. The moon was still high in the sky, illuminating the view outside. Issie lay in bed and listened. In the hush of the night she could hear a scratching noise. It was coming from her door. She got up and quietly padded across the floor to open it, and there was Strudel, waiting patiently for her.

“Hello, Strudel. I suppose you want to come in?” Issie said.

The dog began to pad into the bedroom, but then suddenly she stopped. Her ears perked up and she froze. Then she turned tail and raced off again straight down the stairs. Issie grabbed her dressing gown and followed after her. A noise outside made the hairs on the back of her neck bristle as if someone had just walked over her grave. She could have sworn she had just heard the growl of a cat. A very big cat.

Outside on the back veranda Issie found Strudel standing alert. The dog was growling a low, rumbly growl.

“What is it, girl?” Issie said, putting her arm around the golden retriever. “Can you hear something?”

Suddenly a cacophony of squawking and flapping came from the henhouse. Strudel took off in the direction of the noise, her bark raising the alarm for the rest of the farm. Issie paused for a moment, peering blindly into the darkness and wondering what was out there waiting for her. Then she pulled on her boots and ran after Strudel down the driveway. Behind her she heard the barks of Taxi and Nanook, who had both heard Strudel’s cry and were joining in the chase.

Down at the henhouse feathers were flying. The bantams were in a total state of terror, and Issie wished she had brought a torch with her so she could see what was going on. She opened the door to the henhouse and stepped inside, relying on the moonlight to guide her, trying to calm the frantic chickens so that she could check that they were all OK. She was just in the process of counting the chickens in the dark when she heard a squeal coming from the paddocks next to the stables. Strudel, Nanook and Taxi immediately bounded off in the direction of the sound, with Issie following.

The dog’s cries were bloodcurdling and growing more frantic by the time Issie arrived at the stables. She ran past the horses’ stalls to the back door that led out to the duck pond and the cattle pens, pushing the enormous stable door open, and cast her eyes around the pens. The three dogs were barking wildly now.

“What is it, Strudel?” Issie asked. And then she saw the shape looming in front of her. Enormous and black, silhouetted against the night sky. The creature was sleek and huge – bigger than Nanook even – and it was moving fast, padding silently across the top of the fence-line, balanced on the wooden frame of the cattle pens.

The black shape of the Grimalkin disappeared into the darkness. The dogs were going crazy now, barking and wailing so loudly that Issie didn’t hear the footsteps behind her. A hand on her shoulder made her jump.

“Shhh, it’s me!” Aidan’s voice calmed her down. “Just a second – let me find the torch – I’ve got one here somewhere…”

Aidan shone the torch beam on to the cattle pens. Issie peered at fence where she had seen the shadow of the Grimalkin just a moment before. There was nothing there now except the black night sky. Worried that Aidan would think she was silly, Issie couldn’t decide whether to tell him that she’d seen the Grimalkin again. She didn’t need to say anything, though, because Aidan spoke first.

“Go back to the house now, Issie,” he said.

“Why, Aidan, what’s wrong?” Issie moved closer.

“I said go back now!” Aidan shouted at her.

And then Issie saw why he was sending her away. The body of an animal lay covered in blood in the cattle pen at Aidan’s feet. Issie rushed forward to help, and as she came closer she realised that it was Meadow. The chestnut and white calf was lying very still as Aidan bent down to examine her.

“Aidan! Ohmygod! I’ll get the first-aid kit out of the tack room and…”

Aidan looked up at Issie. There were tears in his eyes. “It’s no use,” he said softly. “Issie, she’s dead.”

Chapter 6 (#ulink_9e7cf1c2-f621-56ab-beeb-5a7164b7d984)

Issie looked down at Meadow. The little calf’s rust and white fur was smeared with blood and there were two deep gashes that looked like claw marks at her shoulder and throat. Aidan was right. There was no doubt that she was dead.

Aidan looked up at Issie. There were tears streaming down her face. “Honestly, Issie, I think she must have died instantly. Whatever did this was quick and deadly; she didn’t suffer.” He stood up and put his arm around Issie as she wiped the tears off her cheek with the sleeve of her pyjamas.

Aidan picked Meadow up and carried her inside the stables into one of the empty horse stalls, bolting the doors shut. Then he walked Issie back up the driveway to the manor, with the three dogs following noiselessly at their heels.

“What do you think it was, Aidan?” Issie asked.

“I don’t know.” Aidan shook his head. “Could have been the same thing that stalked you and Blaze.”

“Poor Meadow,” Issie said. “Can we give her a proper burial tomorrow under the magnolia trees?”

Aidan nodded. “Cameron will want to see her first. He’ll need to figure out what it was that killed her. But yeah, of course we can.”

As they reached the veranda, the lights came on inside the manor. “Aidan! Isadora! What’s happening out here?” Aunt Hester emerged, wrapping her dressing gown around her.

“It’s Meadow. She’s been attacked,” Aidan said. Hester turned quite pale.

“Is she all right?”

“She’s dead,” Aidan confirmed. “I’ve moved her into one of the stalls in the stables. I figured Cameron could check her over in the morning.”

“Poor little Meadow!” Hester shook her head.

“I saw it, Aunty Hess!” Issie said. “The Grimalkin. At least I think I did. It was on top of the cattle pens and then it was gone… If we’d only got there sooner…”

Hester put her arm around Issie. “Isadora, thank heavens you didn’t get attacked by that thing. If you two and the dogs hadn’t turned up and scared the Grimalkin off when you did, it may have hurt even more of the animals. Aidan, are all the animals safe for the night?”

“I’ve checked all the horses,” Aidan told her. “They’re all OK. I’m going to take one last check around the farm now and make sure everything is secure before I go back to bed. You two go inside and I’ll see you both in the morning.”

Hester nodded. “I’ll report this to Cameron first thing. Come on, sweetie, it’s two o’clock. Let’s get you inside and back into bed. I’ll make you a hot milk to help you sleep.”

The hot milk did help. Issie didn’t wake up again until nine a.m. When she finally came downstairs to breakfast Aidan was waiting for her at the kitchen table.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Ummm, OK, I guess,” Issie replied.

“I checked all the animals again this morning,” Aidan said. “They’re all fine. Whatever it was that killed Meadow is hopefully long gone…”

“If we’d only got there in time to save her…” Issie’s voice was wobbly. She felt like she might cry and fought hard to hold back the tears.

“I still can’t imagine what kind of animal would make those wounds.” Aidan shook his head. “When Cameron arrives you can tell him what you saw and he can take a look at Meadow – maybe he’ll have some ideas.” Aidan picked up his riding gloves from the kitchen table and stood up.

“Meanwhile, we’ve got training to do.” He smiled at her.

“We? You mean you and me?” Issie squeaked.

“Sure,” Aidan said. “Didn’t Hester tell you?” He looked at Issie’s shocked face. “I guess she didn’t. OK. Well, I’ll head down to the stables and get the horses ready. You have some breakfast and then meet me at the round pen. We’re doing some trick training.”

“Really?” Issie felt a shiver of excitement run up her spine.

“See you there in fifteen!” Aidan said, already disappearing out the door, heading for the stables.

Issie felt almost too nervous to eat. Trick riding! It was just like in the movies. She managed to calm her butterflies enough to cram down a piece of toast and jam and then ran all the way down the driveway to the stable block where Aidan already had Diablo, Blaze and Paris saddled up and waiting at the side of the round pen.

“This is where we do most of the stunt training,” Aidan explained. “I’ve been working on this stunt lately, I call it a ‘Flying Angel’. I’ve been training Paris to do it with Diablo, and she’s pretty good, but it’s important that she can do the same trick with other horses and riders too. So I thought maybe today you could try it with her and Blaze?”

Issie nodded. “Umm, Aidan?” she asked.