The Whisper of the White Horse

Chapter One

"Ava! Ava, get up, will you?" I rolled over in my bed to see the clock. 6:15. Why do I have to get up at 6:16? It's a Saturday, for goodness sake! I thought I was allowed to sleep in today? "Ava, hurry up! We'll be late to see Snow!" Snow. What? Why would be be going to see snow? Oh - oh, right. "Come on, Ava! Or we won't be seeing another horse for a month!" I sat up and stretched. "Coming..." I lousily threw back the covers and stepped out of bed, and then got changed. A horse. I was getting a horse! For real! Excitement was pulsing through my body. I was wide awake now. Skipping down the stairs, I could hear mum in the kitchen as she prepared my cereal. I sighed. Life here... it's different. New York City was all crowded with huge buildings, shops, apartments, cars, people. But here in New Zealand, it's all... different. Huh. I walk into the kitchen. Immediately mum says "Eat, Ava. We leave in 15 minutes!" She's always telling me to do one thing or another. A loud sigh escapes me. The sudden sound of electric guitar startles me and I jump. That will be Harlan, my 9 year old brother. I hunch my back and stare down at my cereal. I don't want to eat. I just want to go to see Snow! Out of the 8 horses I've looked at, I'm sure this one will be the one. I just have that feeling, and I can only hope it is true. I check my watch, the time's 6:20. I started to eat my cereal as Harlan starts to really rock that electric guitar. Mum looked tired, like she was sleepwalking through her life. I don't think of her like that. She's always acting wide awake, energetic, and bossy. "Hurry up and eat that cereal or you aren't getting anything else to eat until morning tea." I started scooping the cereal into my mouth quickly, realizing just how hungry I was. Harlan started jumping down the stairs, wildly rocking his guitar while struggling with whatever it is you have to plug the cord into for the guitar to work. He jumped onto the last step while strumming hard once more on his strings. As the sound faded away, mum yelled, "HARLAN! You don't play that thing in the morning!" Harlan raised his right shoulder. "Mum, he shrugged," I said. Harlan looked at me and said, "I did not shrug! I-" "Shrunk," I interrupted. Harlan fixed me with a glare. The hint of a smile on my lips, I walked out of the kitchen. It would soon be time to leave to see Snow.

"Ava! Ava, come on! Don't tell me you're going to hide up in your room all day!" I sighed... The call of the mother-monster... That's kinda what she's like sometimes. Her bark is worse than her bite. I ran down the stairs, grabbing my jacket on the way. At the bottom, I quickly put my jacket on. Mum was wearing her gumboots and her puffer jacket. I don't know about the puffer jacket - it's not too cold. Mum opened the door and walked to the car. I got to it first and waited beside it for her to unlock it. Beep beep. Mum unlocked the car. I got in and plugged my seat belt. Mum got into the car hastily and then started it. "Let's go." Mum pulled out of the driveway and then onto the road. I looked out the window, even though there wasn't much to see. The odd paddock full of cows or sheep... a few houses... a few cars... and that's it, really. Man, there isn't much here, is there? "Is dad going to work today?" I asked. "No, otherwise we wouldn't be here. He's going tomorrow." We were silent for a bit, the only noise coming from the road and the occasional car we passed. Mum suddenly said, "We're going to be seeing a 6 year old Thoroughbred stallion, pure white." So she finally decided to give me the information about this horse? I'm not that sure about a Thoroughbred - some searches on the internet I've done have shown that Thoroughbreds aren't the best for new horse owners, and Aaron's the only horse I've ever met in my life during a sleepover at my cousins, so I'm not that sure about this horse she's picked is the best choice she's ever made. I'm still thinking about her choice when I feel the car turning into a driveway, and mum says, "we're here." I quickly get out of the car and look around. Horses and ponies of all sorts were in every paddock I could see, with stables, tack rooms, and I could see kids leading ponies everywhere. A young woman came and met us. "Hello, I'm Tyler. Welcome to Runningwind Stables. You're here to see Snow, correct?" I nodded as mum said, "The 6 year old Thoroughbred stallion?" "Yes, yes. Follow me!" Tyler said cheerfully and led us through the stables to a stall. "One of our students has bought another horse, so we're looking to sell this one. Millie, meet Snow." I looked over the door to see a beautiful white stallion.