Magic Spirit The Dream Horse

Chapter two

The following day,Tilly and her mum were driving through winding lane towards north Cosford. They were in a hurry to get to the supermarket on the edge of town, and then back in time to get dinner ready. But as soon they turned onto the high street, their journey came to a halt. A line of cars was blocking the way.
"What is it?" Complained Mrs redbrow. "There's never usually traffic at this hour. Goodness, it getting late". They sat for a while and Tilly stared out of the window, imagining how it would feel to escape from this standstill, to gallop away on magic spirit- no saddle , the wind all about her, completely free. She sighed to herself. Suddenly they heard shouts from down the street. There was lot of commotion, and people calling to each other."perhaps we should turn back and go the long way round?" No wait something's happing" said Tilly. She learned out of the window ahead of them a familiar shape was moving to and fro. "what is it," said her mum. "It looks like a horse. It's trapped in the road, and everyone's crowing round and bothering it," said Tilly, concerned. There were more shouts a mother and two children came running along the pavement. The horse started to rear and whinny, terrified, it's eyes rolling alarmingly. "I've got to help," Cried Tilly leaping out of the car. "Tilly!come back!" Shouted Mrs redbow "get back here! Don't be silly-it could be dangerous!" But it was too late. Her daughter was already halfway down the street,running in the opposite direction to everyone else.

The horse was thin.his mane was matted and his grey coat was covered in scratches and sore. He was clearly very distressed,dripping with sweat and shaking like jelly. As soon as anyone tried to approach him, he would rear up on his hind legs with his ears flat back. But Tilly knew that he was acting out of fear rather than anger. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone. He was frightened. A bald man in blue suit tried to pull her away. He was shouting, telling everyone to get back- but Tilly understood that the shouting was only marking the distraught horse more upset. "Someone call the police," the man yelled. "This crazy. horse is going to kill someone if we don't get it under control!" Tilly realised what she had to do suddenly everything around her seemed to fade and go quite as if the rest of the world had disappeared. All that remained was her and the horse. She stepped quietly beside him, careful not to look directly into his eyes. And then she stood calmly , until he became aware of her.somehow, her presence made him still. He stopped snorting stopped swishing his tail and moving towards her. "That's it, good boy,"she said softly, as he lowered his head. "That's it magic spirit. Don't worry. I'm Tilly. I'll help you. There boy, good boy." With his head lowered, he allowed her to rub his nose. She felt his hot breath on her hands and her sleeve and sniffed around her special bracelet, until slowly she was able to reach her hand up and take hold of his tatty rope halter. Then gently, she led him away, off the roadside and into the shelter of a nearby empty car park.

Twenty minutes later, after the crowds and traffic had cleared A young woman arrived in a four- wheel drive towing a trailer. She got out, and after checking the horse for injuries, came straight over to Tilly. "You must be the girl who saved the day. I've heard what amazing job you did." "Are you from cavendish hall?"asked Tilly excitedly. "Oh no. My father and I own a yard a few miles from here called silver shoe farm. We're a busy livery yard with all sorts of horses, from ponies to competition horses. We have young ones, and even the odd rehab racehorse. You know racehorse who need time and care to recover from their injuries." The woman smiled. I'm Angela, by the way." I'm Tilly...short for tiger lily," said Tilly, knowing instantly that they were going to get on well "what will happen to the horse?" She asked. "His names magic spirit...I think." "Hmm, that's a good name. That's what we'll call him then. Well, no one seems to know where he came from. I assume someone must have abandoned him in one of the fields, and judging by his condition, I'm afraid it looks like he's had pretty horrible time. I'll take him back to silver shoe farm and see what we can do. Part of what we do is help world horse welfare, who look after unwanted or cruelly treated horses. That's why I'm here to collect this poor boy. Thanks for your help,Tilly. It's quite incredible what you did you know. Do you spend a lot of time with horses?" Tilly looked at the ground. "Sort of," she muttered. Angela looked looked surprised. Well you're obviously got a natural way with them." "Tilly pony mad," said her mum, coming to join them and standing proudly beside her "she's got a room full of books and magazines." "Well, that gives me an idea," said Angela brightly. "Tilly, you should come and spend a day with me,and I'll show you some of the horse at silver shoe." "Really?" Gasped Tilly "can I?" "Absolutely." "And will I be able to help?" "Of course,"said Angela. "A special talent like yours shouldn't be wasted on books and magazines."