The Island Horse by Susan Hughes Page B

for helping.”
    â€œOh Ellie, you’re welcome, but I didn’t actually do much!” he said lightly. “After lunch, we all headed out. I managed to tag along with two fellows who were heading this way. Although they seemed quite sure none of the stallions had claimed these sand hills as their territory, it was their job —
our
job — to check.”
    He chuckled. “Well, I was able to delay them along the way. Poor Cora! I fell off her twice, no, three times! The first two times, she looked surprised. The last time, she actually looked a bit sorry for me!” He chuckled again. Ellie grinned, picturing it.
    â€œAnd the lads weren’t angry at all. Just laughed at me and said I needed riding lessons. Then finally they said we should turn back or we’d miss the roundup completely. So we never made it all the way out here, in the end,” her father concluded.
    Ellie turned her head and pressed it against her father’s chest. She hugged him. He had made himself look foolish in front of these men just to help her. “Thank you, Pa.”
    â€œYou know, I think it’s that lass Sarah you need to be thanking,” he said, hugging her back. “I heard she created quite a commotion in the middle of the afternoon. She raced out to the riders moving east with some strange story. Told them they were needed back at the Main Station right away. That the
Ellie
needed help.”
    Ellie caught her breath in surprise. But her father laughed — “The
Ellie!
” — and Ellie, relieved, laughed with him.
    â€œThey all turned back right away. Almost came the whole way in before they got wind that she was leading them in a dance.” Her father shook his head, smiling. “She’s quite a one, that Sarah!”
    Ellie swallowed hard. Sarah had done all this for her! For her and Orchid and his herd.
    She hugged her father again, and he held her more tightly. She almost couldn’t believe it. Orchid and his family were safe. There would be another roundup sometime. Maybe next year. Maybe sooner. But Orchid and his family were safe for now, and to Ellie, tonight, this seemed enough. More than enough! It was wonderful.
    And
I’m
safe.
Ellie felt it suddenly. She knew it.
I’m safe. Even here, on this island. Maybe especially here,
she thought, thinking of her father, Sarah, Orchid.
    Her father stood up, still holding Ellie in his arms. “Time to go home, sweetpea,” he said.
    Ellie’s father lifted her up onto Cora’s back. Then he mounted, sitting behind the saddle, wrapping his arms around her.
    Tomorrow, she would tell her father about naming the horse Orchid. She would tell him all about Sarah. And she would tell him that she’d like to continue her reading, writing and arithmetic.
Maybe I could have lessons with Sarah,
she thought. She imagined it for a moment and grinned.
It would be fun!
    But that would all be tomorrow.
    Now, Ellie closed her eyes and leaned back sleepily against her father. They set out, making their way across the shifting, moonlit sand. Together, she and her father were going home.

    Author’s Note
    If you went back in time to when this story is set, in the early 1800s, you would not have had the pleasure of meeting Ellie or her father or Sarah. All the characters in
The Island Horse
are invented. They came from my imagination. However, the characters did grow out of real places and real situations, and I have based many of the details in my story on historical fact. Take Sable Island itself. This magical place actually exists. Look at any detailed map of Canada and you can pick out the tiny crescent-shaped island lying about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of Nova Scotia.
    It really is mostly sand and vegetation. There is only one tree on the whole island. And the island does grow and shrink in size over time. Storms, tides, currents and waves shift and shape its edges. As I write this, the island