The Island of Lost Horses
Two girls divided by time, united by their love for some very special horses – an epic Caribbean adventure!On a remote tropical island, twelve year-old Beatriz is about to embark on an epic journey, through hurricanes and across the high seas and back to the time of Christopher Columbus…When Beatriz stumbles across a wild mare with strange markings in the jungle she can’t believe it is real. Yet from that moment on the strongest connection grows between them, and she begins to uncover an incredible history. For centuries ago, Felipa and her horse, Cara Blanca, were running for their lives.As the fates of Beatriz, Felipa and their horses become entwined, Beatriz realises that the future of the world’s rarest horses depends on her.Based on the extraordinary true story of the Abaco Barb, a real-life mystery that has remained unsolved for over five hundred years.
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First published in hardback and paperback in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2014
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Text copyright © Stacy Gregg 2014
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Source ISBN: 9780007580262
Ebook Edition © 2014 ISBN: 9780007580286
Version: 2014-08-30
Contents
F.M. Diary Entry, 10th September 1493
F.M. Diary Entry, 17th September 1493
F.M. Diary Entry, 18th September 1493
F.M. Diary Entry, 19th September 1493
F.M. Diary Entry, 20th September 1493
F.M. Diary Entry, 24th September 1493
F.M. Diary Entry, 27th September 1493
F.M. Diary Entry, 24th October 1493
F.M. Diary Entry, 21st November 1493
F.M. Diary Entry, 30th November 1493
F.M. Diary Entry, 5th December 1493
F.M. Diary Entry, 7th December 1493
12>th April, 2014
I am writing this as fast as I can. The doors on the Phaedra don’t lock, and Mom could walk in any moment. I have no privacy. I am the only twelve-year-old girl I know who has to share a room with her mom. I have pointed out how unfair it is, the way the jellyfish equipment takes up the whole front of the boat, but Mom won’t listen. Typical – the jellyfish get their own room and I don’t.
I’m not trying to make excuses for my handwriting or anything, but if it is all scrawly that’s because my arm’s so trembly I can hardly hold the pen. I think it’s from gripping on to the tractor for so long. The entire way home I had to cling to the wheel arch, sitting up there behind Annie like a parrot perched on a pirate’s shoulder. The way she drove along those rutted jungle tracks, I was petrified I was going to lose hold and fall beneath the wheels.
By the time we reached the bay and I could see the Phaedra, my body had been shaken up like a can of fizzy drink.
There was no sign of Mom as the tractor lumbered over the dunes and down the beach towards the sea. I was kind of relieved, to tell the truth. The whole time at Annie’s house I had been desperate to get back to the boat, but now that I was home I felt sick at the thought of facing Mom. She would be furious with me. I had been gone for two whole days…
Annie jolted to a stop and I lost my grip on the wheel arch and fell to the sand, collapsing like jelly out of a mould, my legs giving way beneath me.
“Bee-a-trizz!” Annie leapt down from the tractor and hooked her arms under my armpits to lift me to my feet again.
“For heaven’s sake, child!”
She was really strong for a little old lady. She held me like a rag doll, so that my feet dragged through the sand and my face was buried against her chest. I could smell the cotton of her dress and see where the blue floral pattern had gone all yellowed with sweat.
Annie carried me up the beach to the tidemark where the sand was dry and I lay there for a while with my eyes shut, taking deep breaths, trying to make the sick, dizzy feeling go away.
That was when I heard the Zodiac coming. I recognised the familiar whine of its outboard motor and the slap-slap the rubber inflatable made as it smacked across the waves. I opened my eyes and there was Mom steering the Zodiac to shore. She gestured frantically to me and I gave her a feeble wave in return. I felt like I was going to throw up.
“Wait here, Bee-a-trizz.” Annie headed down to the water to help bring the Zodiac in. She stood knee-deep in the waves, holding it steady, and Mom jumped out and left her there as she ran up the beach to me.
“Beatriz!” She dropped to her knees beside me. “Oh my God, Bee!”
“Hi, Mom,” I managed a weak smile. When she touched my face her hand felt like ice against my skin.
