I couldn’t help myself. I had to laugh. “That is stupid,” I said. “I didn’t even do anything.”
Mick laughed too. Then he stood up and reached out his arm. I got up and grabbed it.
“Shall I escort you to your classroom?” he asked.
Chapter 4
I was pleased to get out of the castle after lunch. It had rained all morning but now the sky was clear and more rainbows than ever surrounded the white castle. The grass under me was still wet from the rain and the drops glittered in the sunbeams as I set off for my first Riding class.
I had seen the Pegasuses in the stables in my first year at The Academy when I volunteered to feed them, so I kind of knew my way around the stables already. Abhik looked frightened at the thought of having to ride. He had never been on the back of any animal in his life on earth and I could tell he was a little freaked out by the thought of doing it now.
Our riding instructor was a Cherokee man with long black hair and a buffalo skin over his shoulders. He waited for us outside the stables with his wolf dog at his heels, looking patiently at us.
When he spoke his voice was deep and calm. He told us his name was Adahy, which comes from an old Cherokee word that means “lives in the woods.” Native American Cherokee
“Is everybody here? Okay, let’s begin,” he said. “Follow me.”
Adahy strolled off and we followed. A few minutes later we found ourselves outside a paddock.
“Everyone stays behind the fence,” he said as he entered the paddock. Then he clapped his hands and whistled. “Come on, boys. Come on. There is nothing to be afraid of.”
In front of us was a herd of the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen. I had only seen them inside the stables. Out here in the open where they could stretch their wings, they seemed so magnificent and proud. They looked like big white horses but had giant wings flapping like eagles’ wings. One of them even came down from the air and landed right in front of Adahy. Most of them were the size of three horses.
Everyone stared at them in awe and some drew back slightly as Adahy coaxed the creatures to come closer to the fence.
“Pegasuses,” Adahy said while waving at them with a big smile. “Magnificent creatures, aren’t they?”
We all just stared at the huge animals in front of us. Their white coats glittered in the sunlight.
“You can come closer if you want to,” Adahy said, waving at us.
No one seemed to dare, so I did, since I knew them a little.
“A Pegasus is a very proud animal,” Adahy said. “And independent too. You can’t force him to do anything. If you want to ride on him,” he said and touched the one closest to him, “you have to convince him to let you. You have to win his trust. That goes with all the animals you will meet in Heaven. Some are more shy than others. Unicorns are almost impossible to come near. For all the animals, if you are nice to them, they will be nice to you.”
Nigel’s waved his hand in the air.
“Yes, Nigel?”
“Do we have any unicorns here at The Academy?”
Adahy nodded. “We do have one, but no one has ever been able to come close to it.”
Nigel sighed, disappointed. “I always wanted to see a real unicorn,” he said.
“You might see him from time to time,” Adahy said. “He lives in the forest. Right in there.”
Adahy pointed at the big forest with the thick trunks behind us. None of us had ever entered it. I had flown over it a few times, but had never been able to see anything through the voluminous tree tops.
“Who wants to be the first?” Adahy asked.
Everyone else backed up. The Pegasuses fluttered around, flapping their huge feathered wings.
“I will,” I said and stepped forward. I had been looking forward to this ever since my first year in the school.
“Very well, then,” Adahy said.
“What do I do?”
“Come in here.”
I climbed the fence and went inside the paddock. Standing next to the giant Pegasus made my heart stop. When feeding them in the stables, I hadn’t entered their stalls. So I had never been this near to one. It appeared even bigger and it seemed almost impossible for a small person like me to be able to ride it.
“Kind of scary when you get up close, isn’t it?” asked Adahy with his wide smile.
I gulped and nodded.
Adahy stroked the Pegasus and it came closer. “His name is Yofiel, which means ‘the beauty of God.’ We call him Yofi for short.” Adahy said. “He is quite stunning, don’t you think?”
My mouth was still open in awe as I nodded. The rest of the students behind the fence seemed to be holding their breath.
“Now, try to touch him gently. Please remember to stay calm. No sudden moves or he will be scared away.”
“O ... okay … ,” I stuttered. I reached my hand to the big Pegasus.
“Look him in the eyes to let him know you are a friend,” Adahy instructed me carefully.
I did as I was told. I stared into the purple eyes of the Pegasus. His eyes started flickering and he seemed a bit nervous at first. Neither of us moved.
“Now try to give him these,” Adahy said as he gave me a bag filled with small berries. “They are blueberries. He loves them. And they are great for his coat as well, making it shiny. Put some in your hand and then reach out to him. Remember to keep your hand flat, so he won’t take a finger. You will grow a new one if he does, but it still can be unpleasant.”
Without taking my eyes off Yofi’s I poured some berries in my hand and reached to him.
“Remember to keep those fingers down,” Adahy said.
I stretched them out the best I could and lifted my hand high in the air. Nothing happened in the first couple of seconds but suddenly Yofi bowed his head and I felt the soft muzzle rubbing against the palm of my hand. When the berries were gone I felt his coarse tongue licking the remains off and it tickled so much I had to pull my hand away. That caused the Pegasus to pull back as well while he stared at me nervously. He neighed a couple of times before he balked. His big legs kicked in the air while his enormous body went backwards.
“No sudden moves!” yelled Adahy.
Adahy laid the palm of his hand on the chest of the Pegasus and started chanting a song with his eyes closed. I drew backwards as I saw the Pegasus slowly calming down. His legs landed on the ground and he stopped flapping his wings. Then Adahy opened his eyes and looked at me.
“My old Cherokee songs always calm them down. I start singing to them when they are still foals.”
The Pegasus was now completely calm and Adahy stroke him gently on his soft muzzle. “Do you want to try again?” he asked.
I nodded, a little less eager than earlier.
“Go on. Pat his muzzle. It will be all right.”
I moved slowly toward the Pegasus and reached out my hand. I stroked his muzzle a couple of times and the Pegasus closed his eyes, looking like he enjoyed my touch.
“Are you ready to try to ride him?” Adahy asked.
I nodded again.
“Now, you can’t just jump on him from the air. That will scare him. He needs to know you are coming.”
“So what do I do?”
“You climb up. Right here by the wing. That way he will feel you all the way up and know what you are doing.”
“Okay.” I moved toward the wing and grabbed it with my hand. Then I started climbing. His skin trembled under my fingers when I grabbed onto his coat.
“It is because it tickles him,” Adahy called to me.
I moved on and finally reached the back of the tremendous animal. The view from up there was spectacular. All my classmates seemed so small and insignificant.
“Now go!” I heard Adahy exclaim.
The Pegasus spread out both of his mighty wings and started flapping them. In less than a second he soared into the air and went high above the ground. I had never gone that high above the castle before. And I had never fl
own this fast. The Pegasus flew so fast in circles over the castle and the paddock it made me dizzy.
Then I heard Adahy whistle loudly and Yofi started to descend toward the ground. We went so fast I felt like we would make a crash landing. But as he came closer, he slowed down quickly before landing elegantly on his hooves. Then I flew down to the ground while everybody from my class clapped.
“Very good, Meghan,” Adahy praised.
Encouraged by my success, the rest of the class hurried into the paddock and started working with their own Pegasuses.
I felt something nudge me on the back and turned to see Yofi. He had lowered his head and pushed me playfully with his muzzle.
“Now he is yours to ride for the rest of the time you are here at the school,” Adahy said.
I patted him gently while I saw Abhik getting into trouble trying to climb his. He had just grabbed on to the wing when the Pegasus balked.
I heard a voice coming from behind me. I turned and saw a bunch of third-year students. They were laughing at Abhik. I recognized one of them. He was the tallest and most muscular one, blond like Mick. His name was Adrian. I had found out that he was the one who told Portia about the mirror in the cellar during our first year. Several of us had gone through it and that was how I met Jason. Adrian had told Portia that he and his friends had gone through it a lot of times, bothering people by making messes in their houses and on their computers. I wondered if they still did that.
He laughed the hardest at Abhik’s expense, clapping his hands and pointing at him.
“Look at those kids,” he said and looked at his friends. Then they laughed again when Nigel slid slowly off his Pegasus and tried to grab the wing, but missed.
“If you are not riding today, you have nothing to do around here,” Adahy said to them.
“Sure, old timer.” Adrian then mumbled something that sounded racist to me. Fortunately Adahy didn’t seem to hear it. Or maybe he did, but he pretended not to hear.
It made Adrian’s friends laugh harder as they left. I had a bad feeling about him, just like the one I used to have with Portia.
Chapter 5
Abhik and I were among the first to arrive at Hornam Hall for dinner. He was exhausted from trying to ride the Pegasus. I was tired too, but in a good way. I felt better than I had in months. For once I had a fun day and I hadn’t thought about Jason all day, until now.
“You seem to be in a great mood,” Mick said when the food had arrived on the plates and he sat down at our table to eat with us.
I smiled and ate. “Well, I’ve had an awesome day. I got to ride a Pegasus and it was a lot of fun.”
“No accidents?” Mick asked.
I looked at Abhik who had tried and tried but unfortunately never managed to get on its back.
“Not that I know of,” I said.
Abhik kept quiet, maybe because he was angry that he hadn’t succeeded, maybe he was just tired.
Later as we were almost done eating, the chattering in the hall was interrupted when Adahy entered with a great roar.
Everything went quiet. All eyes were at him. Adahy was known as the calmest most patient spirit on the school, so seeing him agitated like this was jaw-dropping for everybody.
“Who did it?” he roared. “I want to know who did that to my animal immediately!”
Salathiel and Rahmiel got up from their seats and hurried toward him.
“Calm down, Adahy,” said Rahmiel.
“Just tell us what happened,” Salathiel said.
Adahy caught his breath before he raged on.
“My lord. Somebody … someone …”
“Do try to calm down,” Salathiel said.
Rahmiel put her hand on his shoulder and he seemed to relax a little bit right away. Now he seemed more sad than angry.
“I don’t know if it is meant as some cruel prank or something else, but someone disfigured my beautiful animal. My most precious Pegasus.”
The hall immediately began to buzz. People were looking at each other asking each other what might have happened.
“Everyone be quiet, please,” Salathiel said and the buzz died out. “We need to find out what happened.”
He turned and looked at Adahy. “Tell me exactly what happened to your animal.”
Adahy looked at Salathiel with big watery eyes. “Maybe it would be better if you saw it with your own eyes, my lord,” Adahy said with a heavy heart.
Everybody who had been in the hall got up from their seats and followed Adahy to the stables. Outside it was a starry night and the moon shone in the grass. Adahy stopped in front of the stables and looked at us all. Everyone was quiet. An owl stared at the scene from a branch in a tree close by. I spotted an eagle circling over the forest behind the stables.
“Wait here,” Adahy said and went inside the white building. When he came back Yofi was with him. I felt my heart racing.
As Adahy led Yofi out of the stables, he slowly turned Yofi so we could see his left side. Those who were in the back of the crowd floated up in the air to be able to watch better. A silence fell over the crowd and a chill seemed to spread among us.
“Oh my … ,” Abhik said.
“I can’t believe anyone would do that,” Acacia said.
Neither could I. I was shocked to see what had been done to that beautiful creature. Yofi had been stigmatized. Someone had burned a message into his white coat. And the message was meant for me.
Watch your back Meghan, it said.
Everybody turned and looked at me. Salathiel then looked at Rahmiel and they seemed to be engaged in some kind of conversation in their minds so no one could hear them. Then Rahmiel nodded and approached me. People around me drew away, making a path for her.
“We need to get you away from here,” she said and grabbed my hand. She dragged me back toward the castle and up to my bed in the tower.
“You will be safe inside your dormitory, but you can no longer go outside after the sun has set,” she said.
My heart stopped. “But … I need to go to see Jason!”
Rahmiel sighed and sat next to me, filling the whole bed with her body.
“You must listen to me.”
“I am listening, but I can’t—”
“Listen,” she said, grabbing my chin gently and turning my head toward her face.
I looked her directly in the eyes. She was so beautiful it almost hurt. Maybe it was the bright light that came from her. When my eyes met hers I immediately felt calm inside. So incredibly peaceful.
“I don’t know who might be behind this,” she said and I sensed a great seriousness in her voice. “But I am afraid for your safety. Until we have located who has done it, you have to be very careful. I hope that it is only a stupid prank, but we don’t know that for sure yet.”
“But who would do such a terrible thing?”
“I don’t know. You have become some sort of celebrity on the school ever since you fought Portia here in the dormitory. Maybe someone is jealous. I don’t know. But we have to take this very seriously. I will not let anyone harm you.”
Rahmiel got up from the bed and looked down at me. “Try to get some sleep. We will investigate the matter and then I am sure we will find whoever did this.”
I sighed deeply as she floated toward the door.
“But what about Jason?” I said.
She turned around. “He will have to take care of himself for a little while, until everything settles down around here. He will be fine.”
“But what if whoever did it is in the school?”
“We will find them. Don’t you worry about that.” Then she turned around and oozed through the door.
Needless to say, I didn’t get any sleep at all that night. I tossed and turned for hours until I finally gave up. I kept picturing Jason in all kinds of trouble and my heart missed him terribly. Even though he never saw or spoke to me, I enjoyed being with him the few hours I got to see him every day. Without him, I felt like my heart was broken in
half.
I decided to go to the kitchen and find something to drink. I had a craving for a glass of milk. I remembered that used to help me sleep when I was a child. My dad would bring it to me if I had a nightmare and was afraid to go back to sleep. As I floated down the corridors of the castle I pictured my dad’s face again. I had done that a lot lately, since I was so thrilled that I finally remembered what he looked like.
I passed the walking armor that saluted me. I had finally learned he was some sort of inspector who walked the corridors, keeping an eye on the castle. The story was that he used to be a knight killed in a big battle. But when he graduated from The Academy and entered Heaven he didn’t want to look any different. He wanted to keep his armor on.
I floated into the kitchen and found the refrigerator. I opened it and took out the milk. I found a glass and poured some. It reminded me of my childhood when I drank it. Nice and cold and still great for calming me down.
That was when I heard a sound. I turned to look behind me but nothing was there. I put the milk back in the fridge and drank the rest of what I had in my glass. I wondered if Jason was out in the streets today. Was he begging or getting high? Rahmiel was right. He was capable of taking care of himself for a little while. I put the glass on the table and decided to go back to the dormitory. I felt a little sleepy now. But that didn’t last long.
As I streamed through the kitchen door I heard something again, like someone screaming. It wasn’t a normal scream, unlike how people scream when they see a mouse or a spider or if someone scares them. No, this was an intense scream coming from deep within a person in real pain. It scared the crap out of me but it also made me think that someone needed help.
I tried to locate where the screaming came from and flew fast down the corridor leading me past Hornam Hall. Then I turned and flew down another one. I passed the big library and my history classroom. The screaming became louder and seemed to be coming from an entrance to one of the towers. I flew inside of it and came into a dormitory much like my own. I knew this was where the third-year students slept.