Phantom Horse 3: Phantom Horse Disappears Read online

  “And now we need a Range Rover and a trailer,” said Dad, when Mum had put away her cheque book, as though buying such things was a daily occurrence.

  So everything seemed settled at last. Donnie O’Reagan was to look after the big house while Cousin Mary and Fiona stayed with us. The following day Mum and Dad went to inspect four-wheel drives at a garage which dealt in them. I was to go to the hospital to have my foot re-plastered before we went home. Our visit to Ireland was almost over. Angus and I sat in the garden and talked.

  “In spite of everything I’m glad we came,” said Angus. “It’s been an adventure, and it isn’t easy to have adventures nowadays.”

  “Where did you get the gun from?” I asked. “The one you fired?”

  “From the cupboard under the stairs. It’s only meant for shooting birds.”

  “It’s so lovely here,” I said, gazing at the hills. “I would like to stay just a few more days.”

  “No thank you,” said Angus, looking at his wounded arm.

  “Lots of people come year after year, and nothing ever happens.”

  “They don’t land in a hornet’s nest like us,” replied Angus.

  We went indoors and packed. Fiona and Cousin Mary were turning out all the cupboards. Fiona had never left home before and Cousin Mary had not been away for twenty years, so it was quite an undertaking.

  “I expect I shall have to sleep in the summerhouse again or there won’t be room, but I don’t mind. I shall get up early and ride my grey before the flies are a nuisance,” said Angus. “I’m going to call him Killarney because he’s Irish … and beautiful.”

  Mum and Dad returned with a second-hand Range Rover and trailer. “Everything’s so easy if you’ve got money,” said Mum. “It’s quite incredible the difference it makes.”

  They ate dinner with Cousin Mary in the dining room, and Dad had brought two bottles of wine. Fiona, Angus and I had already had supper in the kitchen. Afterwards Mum said that Cousin Mary had told them all her darkest secrets.

  Next morning Mum drove me to the hospital. The doctor tutted over my plaster and said that I had been doing too much. I told him that it was the fault of gunmen who had kidnapped my brother and then stolen my horse. He gave me a funny look; I think he thought I must be mad. Then he said, “You horsey girls can never stay either in one piece or one place.” And I couldn’t think of an answer.

  The sun was shining when we went outside again. It was lovely to be driving about with Mum after so long.

  “The garage is going to collect this vehicle,” said Mum, changing gear at the traffic-lights. “We hired a camper van because we thought you might enjoy a little camping holiday, but finding you in such a state we’ve decided it would be better to go straight home.”

  I thought of Angus and myself riding down the leafy lanes of Oxfordshire and was inclined to agree.

  When we got back there was a pile of suitcases outside the front door and Dad was looking harassed.

  “We can put some in the groom’s compartment,” Angus was saying.

  “We’re going to catch the night boat,” said Dad. “There’s no time for discussion. Put them where you like.”

  “My saddle! I haven’t got any tack. They kept it!” I cried.

  “We’ll talk about that later,” Dad said.

  “But …”

  “No buts,” replied Dad.

  Mrs O’Flattery was scurrying about like a demented hen talking about her son. “I always said it would be so; that the blessed Lord would punish him, but he wouldn’t heed me,” she said.

  The trailer was attached to the Range Rover. Donnie O’Reagan was bandaging Killarney’s legs.

  “It’s lucky there’s room on the boat for us all. It’s only because it’s rained such a lot that some people have gone home early,” said Dad.

  Cousin Mary was frantically transferring clothes from one suitcase to another. Donnie O’Reagan put half a bale of hay, a bucket of feed and some water in the front of the trailer, while Mrs O’Flattery handed round a plate of sandwiches and cups of coffee.

  Phantom was ready, rugged and bandaged. “The police found his saddle and bridle in one of the Land Rovers,” said Donnie O’Reagan.

  “Oh, thank you! Thank you very much.”

  “It is nothing at all,” he said, stacking it into our Range Rover.

  I led Phantom up the ramp into our beautiful trailer and suddenly I wanted to cry with joy, because we had survived and because now we had everything we had ever wanted.

  Angus led Killarney in. Donnie O’Reagan threw up the ramp behind the horses. The suitcases were stacked in the back of the Range Rover.

  “I’ll look after the dogs like my own children,” said Donnie O’Reagan.

  Fiona was giving Connie a final hug.

  “Remember to cancel the milk, O’Reagan,” said Cousin Mary.

  “I will look after everything.”

  “It’s been a terrible week, I never want to see the like of it again,” said Mrs O’Flattery. “And look at your poor children.”

  “You can’t live without scars of some sort or other,” said Dad, starting up the engine.

  I looked at the house for the last time. Donnie O’Reagan stood waving, surrounded by dogs and children. Mrs O’Flattery waved a duster, calling, “God bless you all.”

  I thought, soon it will seem like a dream, but we will have our scars to remind us. Angus started talking to Fiona, trying to cheer her up. I hoped that we would get on all right together in Sparrow Cottage, and that the doormat would be covered with envelopes filled with show schedules for me when we eventually arrived home.

  Angus started to talk about Killamey, about all his plans, and the future seemed full of joy and sunshine. I hoped that Fiona would enjoy it too.

  Then out of the blue he said, “I’ll come back one day. I’ll hunt Killarney over the banks. In spite of everything, I love it here.”

  I said, “Me too.”

  “It has a magic which keeps calling you back,” said Fiona. “Have you read any of Yeats’s poems?”

  “Yes, ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’,” replied Angus. “But you will like England too, and perhaps you will take to riding – who knows?”

  They talked to one another about school, and I sat making plans, the same endless plans as I always make about horse shows and hunter trials. There’s still lots of the holidays left, I thought, if only Phantom gets well soon. Outside, the hills were all yellow with gorse and I cursed my foot because until it was better I wouldn’t be able to ride.

  Presently, Dad turned round to call into the back, “By the way, I’m not being sent abroad again for five years, and you’ll be grown up by then.”

  I don’t want to grow up, I thought, I want to stay the same for ever. I felt tremendously happy just to be alive … to have Phantom, and to be going home.

  MORE PHANTOM HORSE ADVENTURES

  We hope you enjoyed this Phantom Horse ebook. You can discover more of Jean and Angus’s exciting adventures with Phantom, their beloved palomino horse, by following the link below.

  View the catalogue and buy Phantom Horse ebooks online.

  1. Phantom Horse

  I gazed in wonder at the view. Suddenly I saw something moving below us. It was a horse, riderless and alone. He moved beautifully and with tremendous grace. It was a wild palomino.

  After Jean’s family moves to America, her life is soon changed forever when she encounters the wild horse, Phantom.

  2. Phantom Horse Comes Home

  “I’m not going to leave without Phantom! I refuse to leave!”

  When Jean learns that her family is soon to move back to England, all she can think about is Phantom, the wild palomino horse she has tamed. Will she have to leave him behind?

  3. Phantom Horse Disappears

  “You’re fools! Why couldn’t you leave things as they were? Why did you come here?”

  When Jean and Angus discover the terrible secret of Aunt Mary’s house, they are
caught up in a dangerous plot to kidnap their beloved horse, Phantom.

  4. Phantom Horse in Danger

  I imagined Phantom twisting, kicking, rearing, ropes round his quarters, a blindfold over his eyes. The thought sent tears running down my cheeks like rain.

  When their horses are in mortal danger, Jean and Angus hatch a desperate plan to save them. Will they be in time?

  5. Phantom Horse – Island Mystery

  The idyllic island where Jean takes Phantom with her on holiday hides a dangerous mystery. Why have most of the inhabitants left, and why are horses being secretly flown to the island?

  When Jean is plunged into another perilous adventure, can Phantom save her?

  6. Phantom Horse Wait for Me

  “Jean, darling, there’s no point locking yourself in your room. It won’t bring Phantom back …”

  When Phantom goes missing, little does Jean suspect that her horse is the bait in a plot to capture her. In a race for their lives, will they escape in time?

  COMING SOON

  The Pullein-Thompson Treasury of Horse and Pony Stories

  by Josephine, Christine and Diana Pullein-Thompson

  (Available February 2012)

  A bumper collection of 38 stories by the world's best-known horse storytellers. Packed with exciting adventures on horseback, and illustrated throughout.