The Secret Horses of Briar Hill

Two hands grab me under the armpits. Sister Constance pulls me away with fingers like iron. “Emmaline, you can’t be here!”

I tear at Sister Constance’s hands. The black sleeves of her habit are rolled back, and my fingers rip her skin. “Let me go!”

But she doesn’t. She pushes me through the open door. I try to scramble back inside, but Sister Mary Grace closes it and locks it. I claw at the wood. Pound on it. Tears are falling down my cheeks, and my middle finger is bleeding from where I clawed too hard.

“Anna!” I cry. “Anna, keep looking! They’re there! They’re right there! Do you see them?”

There is no answer. Only more coughing. Only Dr. Turner’s low voice.

“Anna! Do you see them?”

Nothing.

I kick at the door. I look through the keyhole, but the key blocks my view. They must hear me pounding. How can they leave me out here? How can they tear me away from her, when she is my only friend? She is the only one who shares her colored pencils with me, and tells me stories of the floating gods, and whose stomach gurgles just like Mama’s.

“Stop it!” Benny grabs my wrist. He is wearing a muddy-red sweater that matches his muddy-red hair and I hate him, I hate him, I hate him. “You’re acting like a child.”

“They won’t let me see her!”

“Dr. Turner needs to give her medicine without you crawling all over her and getting in the way. You’re only thinking of yourself. You’re a selfish little girl, and you have to grow up!”

My vision scatters into angry little dots. I twist out of Benny’s hold and shove him, hard, so that he crashes to the floor.

“I hate you!”

I run down the hall. The mirrors lining the walls flash by. Winged horses stand in each one of them. Peering at me curiously as I run, their heads swiveling to follow my progress. I have never seen so many of them. They are everywhere.

And yet the hall is empty.

I run to the kitchen and shove open the back door, and I can’t stop the coughs. They mix with sobs and I feel so shaky. Thomas is sitting on the stone steps with Bog at his side. They both jump up at the sound.

“Emmaline.” He blinks like he wasn’t expecting me. He swallows. “I heard Dr. Turner’s car. Is it…is it Anna?” He wipes his hand on his trousers.

What do I say?

How can I tell him what is happening, when I don’t even know myself??

I sink onto the highest step. I can’t seem to draw in enough air.

And then a shadow passes over us. It ripples like water, but it is the shape of an airplane, only the wings move. They pull in. And extend again. A sound like thunder rolls through the air. Thomas’s head pitches up, and he squints into the sky as a dark worry fills me.

“What is that?” he asks.

The shape is moving on the other side of the trees. Only a shadow, but I know what it is. Oh, I know. A creature that hunts by smell. A creature that I thought had left us alone, at least for today. A creature that is headed straight for the sundial garden.

“OH NO, HE’S BACK!”

Thomas calls after me as I race to the garden, but I don’t respond. Winter chill nips through the layers of my clothing, and briars tear at my skin as I climb. Foxfire is pacing the wall, running in the tight space, back and forth. She too has seen the Black Horse’s shadow, and I can tell we are thinking the same thing: It was only a trick, before. He never intended to leave us alone at all!

“Come on!” I yell to Foxfire. I rip out the stick holding the gate closed. My middle finger is bleeding all over everything, but I don’t care. I turn to Foxfire. She can’t fly, but she can still run.

“You have to leave! Run away as fast as you can!”

She’s pacing wildly, rearing and pawing the air. She doesn’t know where to go. This is my world, not hers. I reach up and push her toward the open gate. Beyond are fields frosted and dead with winter. She is the same color as the frost. The

Black Horse, with his poor vision, might not see her.

“Go!”