"Shadows"


Chapter Two

Two hundred yards down the road, Justin veered across the road and pulled the car into the grass verge in front of an iron gate. Quickly cutting the engine, he opened the door and stepped outside, stretching his legs for the first time in over two hours. He paused for a moment, arms reaching up high over his head, toes pushing him upwards as he stretched out his aching back and thigh muscles. He made no noise.

He ran his hands down his black trousers, carefully ironing out the creases that surveillance always left in his clothes. A breeze filtered in off the river, lifting his fringe away from his forehead for a moment, revealing a tiny brown mole that grew an inch above his right eyebrow. The air stilled itself and the secret was hidden by blonde hair again.

Justin frowned, looking up and down the deserted stretch of road before approaching the gate. The ground was a little moist and the mud spread teasingly against the bottoms of his shoes. It didn’t matter; he had plenty of other, cleaner shoes to wear to school tomorrow. He leaned against the top of the iron gate and waited. Still he made no noise.

The open grass field before him was home to his only true friend. Made before the bullying at home had reached its recently new unbearable limits, before the boys at school had turned against him and the girls had shunned him. Not before her, of course. But Justin had never known a life without her in it. She had bled into everything.

But not this. Not this one precious, beautiful thing.

Across the fields, drawn by the sounds of his master’s car, cantered a tall, lean, bay-coloured horse. Justin stood in silent awe, watching as the horse’s flanks glistened with moistness, his muscles moving fluidly beneath his glossy coat, his thick, black mane blowing back in the wind. His name was Zane and he was ten years old.

Neighing softly in welcome, Zane burrowed his soft, pink lips against Justin’s right shoulder. Justin turned his cheek, allowing his best friend to kiss warm air against his skin. It brought a smile to his face.

“Hey, boy,” he said softly, his voice sounding hoarse and tired. He hadn’t used it in over two hours. Surveillance not only brought sore muscles, it also dried out a throat.

He reached into his pocket and brought out two halves of a green apple. Stolen from the kitchen that morning not for himself but for Zane. He pushed one half into Zane’s mouth now and waited patiently for him to finish chewing it before giving him the other piece. With the small treat eaten, Justin ran his hand down Zane’s neck, patting him gently.

“We’ll go out for a ride at the weekend,” he promised. “A nice long ride. One that lasts all day. You’ll like that, won’t you?” Zane nuzzled Justin’s empty palm. “Yeah, I will too.”

Seeing that Justin had no more food and was not going to slip a halter around his neck and take him for a ride, Zane moved away from the gate. He dropped his head down to the flattened grass and nibbled quietly on it. The better grass was further up the field but he wouldn’t move completely away until Justin left.

Justin propped one foot against the bottom rung of the gate and leaned his chin down against his folded arms. For a few precious minutes he stood and studied his horse. Revelled in his silent companionship, softened his own breathing and slowed his heart rate so that Zane would not grow worried about him. It helped to calm him down at the end of a day.

He remembered when his parents had first showed him Zane. He hadn’t had a name then, of course. Still a foal clinging to his mother’s side, skinny and skittish with long, clumsy legs. He’d cantered along by his mother’s side, fallen down and then got back up again, bucking excitedly. Justin had fallen in love with him. He’d been seven. It had taken another three years for Zane to grow into his name. At the age of three he had been sent away for three weeks to be broken in and when he’d returned Justin had been allowed to ride him.

Justin had been ten and Zane three. Not that many years had separated their age and Zane’s young, skittish behaviour had pleased Justin, who had been a gangly pre-teen with a lot of hidden energy that he had not been shown how and when to release. Zane had sensed this hidden spirit and together they had galloped through the pathways and fields that made up Waywater’s boundaries.

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