The Painted Ponies of Partequineus and The Summer of the Kittens (4 page)

The ground melted away beneath the pony's galloping hooves, and Vanessa squealed with delight as they plunged through the meadow, jumped effortlessly across a narrow brook, and tore off across an enormous carpet of red and blue and yellow flowers. She looked back to find the rest of the ponies following closely behind, their hooves barely seeming to touch the ground.

They plunged through a narrow canyon, then out into the meadow once more, and wheeled around toward the distant mountains with Vanessa's mount in the lead. She had never felt so alive, so free, her hair streaming out behind her in the wind, her lungs filled with pure, sweet air and her nose with the fragrance of a hundred thousand blossoms. She gripped the saddle with her knees, rising and falling effortlessly with every step of the sure-footed pony as he gobbled up the miles. It felt as if the two of them were one.

Suddenly they were in the foothills, leaping over fallen logs and meandering streams. Vanessa's powerful steed never broke stride, never seemed to tire as he plunged up, up, climbing higher and higher, until below her she glimpsed the far reaches of an incredible valley. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen, sparkling in the sunlight.

The ponies thrust themselves upward, scrambling over cliffs and crags until at last they burst forth on the very topmost mountain peak. All around them the earth seemed to hum with song, a beautiful melody of peace and happiness.

Vanessa's pony pulled up on the highest point of all, and she slid down off his back and spread her arms toward the valley, as if trying to capture it all and take it to herself. The pony came near and nuzzled her hair. She laughed and stroked his neck, and together they stared out across the vast landscape, girl and pony, completely in tune with each other. Vanessa felt an almost overwhelming sense of contentment, and wished that she could remain in that very same spot forever.

But that was not to be. The ponies began to stamp their hooves impatiently, and Vanessa's mount reared up and spun around, pawing the air. She flung herself into the saddle again, and they took off in a wild, plunging, gleeful run down the mountainside.

Twenty-eight flying legs thundered into the meadow, scattering leaves and flowers into the wind. The ponies galloped straight to the edge of the desert and raced onto the burning sand, heading for the cool, green trees of the distant forest. Vanessa whooped and yelled at the top of her lungs, happier than she had ever felt before.

Then suddenly the air began to change. Off to the west, beyond the mountain peaks, an ominous black cloud appeared in the sky. Higher and higher it rose, and as Vanessa watched in fright, it grew two gigantic wings, a long tapered neck and a lashing spade-shaped tail that thrashed the air and shot bolts of lightning into the ground.

“What's happening?” she cried out. The ponies skidded to a stop, then began galloping in confused circles. Vanessa's mount reared up and turned back toward the meadow, but it was too late. The gigantic cloud swallowed up the sun, spreading monstrous wings halfway across the valley, and opened a hideous red mouth in a screech of fearsome fury.

“I'm afraid!” Vanessa cried out to her pony. “Help me!”

The pony slid to a stop so quickly that Vanessa couldn't hold on. Her feet flew out of the stirrups and she sailed over his head and sprawled on the desert floor. The pony whinnied madly and struck at the air with his hooves, trying to defend her against the huge cloud-dragon that swooped down toward them, its mouth agape.

Vanessa scrambled to her feet and started to run, and suddenly a voice inside her head shouted to her. “Stop, Vanessa! Hold your ground!”

She whirled around to face the hideous monster that blotted out the sky above her, lashing the air into a hurricane with its tail. Its terrible black wings reached out for her and threatened to scoop her up.

“Backwards!” the voice shouted. “Take three steps backwards and you'll be home! Quickly, before Guaryntis captures you forever!”

Vanessa stepped back, once, twice. The cloud-dragon's huge wings brushed her hair as the third step plunged her into the purple mist and sent her stumbling to the floor of her bedroom.

An unearthly shriek of rage and frustration deafened her, the cry of a predator deprived of its prey. The sound faded away as the mist swirled into the fireplace and vanished with a sound like a slamming door.

Vanessa lay on the floor, trembling and gasping for breath. It had been such a narrow escape. If not for the voice inside her head telling her what to do, she could never have made it home again. She wondered who it had been who saved her. Not Christina, not Grace, not one of the other girls. It had been a boy's voice she heard, strong and brave and coming just in time.

It had been her pony's voice. She was sure of it.

Suddenly Vanessa felt a terrible sense of loss and loneliness, and she threw herself down onto the bed, sobbing bitterly.
Partequineus is real
, she thought to herself,
and something terrible is happening there. I have to go back and help them. I have to help the ponies.

EIGHT

 

The next week passed by in a blur. Vanessa found it hard to concentrate on her school work, and her friends began to notice that she was preoccupied most of the time. Vanessa's Mom thought her daughter was acting strangely, too, but when she asked her what was wrong, Vanessa simply shrugged.

On Friday afternoon she rushed to her room after school and flung open the closet door, but there was nothing to be found there except her regular clothes. The blue tunic was missing. She sat anxiously on the edge of the bed, counting the seconds as the hands of her clock inched toward four. But as the hour approached, she felt that something was wrong. There was no familiar tingle in the air that always came when the purple mist was on its way. Everything felt plain and drab and ordinary.

Four o'clock came and went. Vanessa heard her mother enter the front door downstairs. She called out as usual, and Vanessa sighed and answered her. She looked around the room, confused and disappointed that Partequineus hadn't beckoned to her again. Finally she went to the door and was just about to go into the hall when she heard a faint whisper, somewhere inside her own head.

“Believe in us,” the whisper said. “Be patient and believe.”

After supper Vanessa sat listlessly in the living room. The television set was on, but she paid little attention to it. Her mother challenged her to a game of Monopoly, but Vanessa couldn't seem to concentrate. She ended up owning only half a dozen widely scattered houses and one railroad, and quickly went bankrupt.

“You weren't much competition tonight,” her mother said. “Is something the matter at school?”

“I'm okay,” Vanessa said lethargically. “I'm just tired, I guess. I think I'll go to bed early.”

Vanessa's Mom watched her daughter climb the stairs slowly, her shoulders slumped and her feet dragging. She knew something was wrong, but hadn't any idea how she could help. She hoped that Vanessa would feel better in the morning.

NINE

 

Vanessa awakened suddenly and sat straight up in bed. She looked at the clock and saw that it was two minutes to four, but outside the windows the sky was dark.

Four in the morning
, she thought.
What woke me up?

Abruptly the closet door flew open, and the world erupted in a startling flash of light. The room shimmered and pulsed with vibrant energy as Vanessa's pale blue tunic flew out of the closet and flipped up into the air like a leaf caught in a wind storm.

A whispery voice inside her head seemed to be saying, “Hurry, hurry, hurry,” and Vanessa sprang from the bed and scrambled out of her pyjamas. She thrust her arms out, and the tunic settled gently over her shoulders as the room turned purple. The air hummed like a too-tight guitar string.

The mysterious mist burst out of the fireplace and wrapped itself around her, gathering her in like a warm and welcome blanket. She gasped for breath and rushed forward eagerly, three quick steps, and fell into a world that was as dark as a cave, but in which she could see as well as if it were day.

“What's happening?” she cried out, as a fierce wind caught her and spun her around. She tripped and fell, sprawling on her back beneath three huge moons, one yellow, one red and one a fiery orange, that swam in an abyss lit by a hundred billion stars. Vanessa looked down and found her tunic glowing with unearthly light. The air was filled with music, a thousand voices singing a thrilling melody unlike any she had ever heard before.

She struggled to her feet and stared in wonder as a radiant bronze ball of flames blazed up in the distance, spinning and rushing toward her. As it approached, it split up into seven sparkling flares, then dissolved into seven strong and handsome boys, sprinting recklessly across the pitch-black earth. Their tunics shone with golden fire as they slid to a stop in front of her.

“Welcome, Vanessa,” the boys all said together. She could see that they were of different ages, from about five or six to maybe eleven or twelve, all strong and handsome, and somehow familiar. She felt as if she knew them all, although she didn't know how that could be.

“Who are you?” she asked, “and how do you know my name?”

The tallest boy stepped forward. “I'm Alexander,” he said confidently. “These are my friends, and of
course
we know who you are.” He turned to the others. “This is Aaron and Tristan and Steven and Spencer. And these two little guys are Evan and Frank.”

“Why did you bring me here at night?” Vanessa asked.

“Only at night can you see us as we really are,” Alexander said.

“What do you mean?” Vanessa said.

“We're so glad you're here,” little Frank said. “We're lonely.”

“But where are the others?” Vanessa asked. “Christina and Alyssa and all the rest of the girls.”

“Why don't you tell her, Aaron,” Alexander said to one of the other boys.

Aaron looked down at the ground sadly. “We can't ever be friends with them, or even talk with them. The spell won't let us.”

“What spell?” Vanessa said. She looked around at all of the others. “Who are you? Have you always lived here? How did you come to be in this beautiful place?”

“We were captured by Guaryntis, the ruler of Partequineus,” Tristan said. “You met him the last time you were here.”

“I didn't meet anyone,” Vanessa said to him.

“Yes you did,” Aaron said, “when you were riding out in the desert. Guaryntis was the dragon who almost caught you.”

“I don't understand,” Vanessa said.

“Guaryntis is a sorcerer,” Alexander said. “He can take on any form he chooses, but when he's angry, and especially when he wants to keep us from escaping, he rises up in a cloud and becomes horrible and fierce.”

“We're all his prisoners,” Steven said miserably.

“And that's not all,” Spencer said. He turned around slowly and pointed to the shore of the ocean, now sinister and forbidding under the light of the three strange moons. Standing there on the beach, six painted ponies stared forlornly toward Vanessa across the meadow.

TEN

 

These were not the same ponies Vanessa had seen before. They were petite and gentle in appearance, with long flowing manes and graceful tapered legs. The powerful black and white stallion she had ridden was nowhere to be seen.

 The ponies stirred, kicking up sand at the edge of the water and tossing their heads. They looked off toward the east where the sky was beginning to lighten. The night began to recede around them. The yellow, red and orange moons dropped to the horizon and buried themselves behind the mountains, and the hundred billion stars faded before the coming dawn of the blood-red sun.

And the ponies began to change.

At first Vanessa could hardly tell what was happening. The ponies rose up on their hind legs as their bodies contracted, growing smaller and less angular. Their long, noble faces shrank to delicate human form, and their manes were replaced by softly flowing hair. Pale blue tunics floated out of nowhere to cover them, and they stepped forward on small bare feet - six slim and graceful girls, Emma and Christina and all the rest.

Vanessa gazed at them in amazement, then heard a soft whinny behind her. She turned to look where Alexander and the boys had been standing just a few minutes before - to where seven painted ponies now hung their heads in terrible, lonely sadness.

ELEVEN

 

Vanessa recoiled in horror. Where had the boys gone? What had happened to them? She stumbled backward, one step, two, and before she could catch her balance, a third step sent her tumbling onto her bed as the purple mist swirled away into the darkness of the fireplace.

“No! No!” she cried out. “I have to go back. I have to find out what happened!”

She leapt from the bed to the floor, clutching her tunic around her, and took three deliberate steps forward. Nothing happened. She tried again, and yet again, frantic to return to Partequineus, desperate to find out what had happened to her new friends. And then she heard a voice calling her name.