Eye of the Storm

is allowed to linger in the sky, there will be much more damage, loss of life…’
    ‘Erin!’ Chloe said urgently. ‘Jackie’s coming.’
    ‘I’ve got to go,’ Erin told Tor.
    ‘Come tonight. As soon as you can.’
    ‘We will,’ promised Erin. She looked at Chloe in relief, warm inside from having spoken to the sky stallion. ‘They’re fine,’ she said.
    The stable door opened and Jackie came in. She was carrying two cans of Coke, a packet of biscuits and two spare fleece jackets. ‘Sorry, girls, no electricity means no hot chocolate. The radio’s saying a tornado swept through the town. Cars have been overturned, roofs have come off houses, the electricity pylons have come down. Your street was quite badly hit, Erin.’ Jackie went to the door. ‘I’m going to check the other ponies are OK in the barn and then, if the rain goes away, I’ll start tidying up.’

    Nicky arrived to collect them a couple of hours later. By that time the vet had been. He had dressed the wound, given Kestrel antibiotics and said he would call in again the next day.
    ‘The girls have been fantastic,’ Jackie said to Nicky. ‘They’ve been such a good help all day and they were amazing in the storm.’ She told Nicky what had happened with Kestrel. ‘If Erin hadn’t kept calm, Kestrel could have panicked and done even more damage to himself.’ She looked at Erin. ‘You should be very proud of yourself, Erin.’

    Erin glowed. She had only acted instinctively, but it was lovely being praised.
    ‘You’ve both been great today, girls,’ Jackie went on. ‘Thanks for all your hard work. See you tomorrow.’
    They got into the car. ‘There’s been some bad news, I’m afraid,’ Nicky said.
    ‘What?’ asked Chloe anxiously.
    ‘Xanthe and Allegra were in a car accident. The car skidded off the road in the rain. They’re OK,’ Nicky said quickly as both girls caught their breath. ‘But Xanthe has broken her ankle.’
    ‘Oh, poor Xanthe!’ Chloe exclaimed.
    ‘Let’s just be thankful they weren’t more badly hurt,’ said Nicky. ‘I spoke to her and she sent her love and said she is really sorry not to be able to come. She said she’d give you a ring.’
    Erin and Chloe exchanged glances. No Xanthe. They were on their own. Erin felt sick. She looked out of the window at the devastation left by the storm. Fences had been blown down, cars overturned, trees uprooted.
    ‘It’s awful,’ Erin said, looking round.
    ‘It’s worse here in Egglestone and back in Long Medlow than anywhere else on the coast,’ said Nicky. ‘It seems we were in the eye of the storm.’ She glanced back at Erin. ‘There was a bit more bad news actually.’
    ‘More?’ echoed Erin in alarm.
    ‘Yes. I had a phone call from your dad. Your house has been hit by a tree.’
    ‘What?’ Erin stared at her. She felt like an ice cube was running down her spine.
    ‘It’s done quite a bit of damage to Jake’s room, but at least none of you were inside at the time.’
    Kestrel… Xanthe… our house… Erin’s thoughts whirled as she heard the faint echo of Marianne’s cold voice inside her head: if you try to stop me, you – and all those around you – will be very, very sorry.
    A cold wave washed over her. Had Marianne deliberately set out to target her and her family and friends? She looked at Chloe and could see that she was thinking the same thing.
    When they got to Chloe’s house, they hung back while Nicky went in.
    ‘Oh, Chloe,’ Erin whispered, feeling sick still. ‘Do you think the things that happened here and with Xanthe, and at my house with the tree falling on the roof, happened because Marianne meant them to?’
    Chloe bit her lip. ‘I don’t know.’
    The enormity of it all swept over Erin. Panic clawed through her. ‘What if there’s another storm? What if something worse happens?’ she demanded.
    Chloe squeezed her hands. ‘Don’t worry. We’ll stop Marianne before then. We will!’
    Up in the skies, Marianne watched them through her hagstone. ‘You’ll stop me, will you?’ She laughed coldly. ‘Well, we’ll see about that…’

CHAPTER
Five
    Erin could hardly wait to reach the woods that night. ‘I’m so glad you’re OK,’ she said to Tor and Mistral when she got to the clearing.
    ‘Storms cannot injure us,’ said Tor, walking over and nuzzling her shoulder.
    ‘What happened to you?’ Mistral asked, his eyes anxious.
    Erin told the sky horses about the day. ‘I wish Kestrel wasn’t