Shadow the Dream Horse

Chapter One

Evie

Evie Morris hurried down the stairs of her families modest 2 up 2 down house, calling goodbye to her mum as she headed out of the door. Evie was an only child, and as she hurried down the road she heard her mum call her. Roberta Morris was 35 – tall, slim and graceful, like her 11 year old daughter.

“Evelyn Morris, you come back here this minute, I need a word with you, before you go rushing off to that place of yours!” Sighing Evie about turned, when her mother called her Evelyn, she knew she had to be obeyed.

As she got back the short distance to her house, Evie headed back in, wondering what her mum wanted this time. But Roberta only handed her a homemade lunch and some money for the bus and drinks for later on.

Evie hugged her mum, looking in the hall mirror, and seeing two very similar faces – Evie was dark haired, blue eyed, and really slim and graceful like her mum, the only difference in them really was that her mum had blonde hair and green eyes. Evie got her hair and eye colour from her dad.

Evie hugged her mum and headed back out of the door, hurrying up the alley to catch the bus. Just in time, she thought as it turned around the corner. Seven stops later, and Evie got off outside a large building, with green paddocks all around, and horses grazing everywhere.

This was Silverado Stables – the place Evie spent most of her days, right from age 8 when her mum bought her a riding lesson for her birthday. Now she was eleven, she was allowed to help out – in school holidays and at weekends.

Silverado stables was a small riding school, compared to Brocklebank Livery yard and Riding school which was 4 miles down the road, but from the word go the owners Kate and Marcus Silver had welcomed Evie with open arms, and treated her like a daughter.

As she entered the stable yard – a small affair with 7 loose boxes and a foaling stall a loud whinny echoed through the yard, and a gorgeous chestnut horse popped her head over the door. Evie smiled, as she headed towards the pony, a 14.2hh – Connemara mix – fresh from her days as a show jumper, Bailey was Evie's special favourite.

“Hey pretty girl, wanna go for a ride, let’s get you fixed, hey girl” Evie went to the tack room, and grabbed Bailey's gear, as well as her hat, and grooming kit, that was left down there.

Although Evie didn’t own Bailey, sometimes it felt like she did. From the moment Irish Promise – to give her the correct show name, arrived at the stables Evie was smitten, and she would always go down the stables, helping with the other horses and getting to know Bailey.