As they drew near, Palindor and Anest both tensed with anxiety, hardly daring to breathe. Thunder set himself to jump, and everything seemed to move in slow motion as the black horse suddenly lost his footing on the damp ground. There was a great spray of black earth, and a crash as they hit the fence and disappeared into the bushes.
Anest was immobilized with horror. Leadenly he got himself moving, forcing himself to find out how bad...
“Lily!”
He wasn’t sure, but he thought the ragged cry was his own. There was something white in the bushes. He crashed through them desperately. They lashed at his face. Kept him from her.
And then...
He found himself staring at something big and black. It was Thunder. And two faces peered at him from behind the horse’s.
“Anest?”
He found himself shaking with relief. Palindor, who was beside him, sat on the ground, his back to them, breathing hard.
The two girls jumped down like guilty children. “Lily was only teaching me to ride,” offered Tara.
“You!” said Anest to the horse. “You know better.” The horse’s expression was so sheepish that they all started to laugh.