Devils And Unicorns

Chapter 22

Last Unicorn ran a highly commendable third in the Firebend Stakes. Feigned Proof was the ten-length winner for Goldrush, with his stablemate Big Nico a valiant second. Florence's charge was only a couple of lengths back on Big Nico, motoring home in the final furlongs to close an initially yawning gap. At racecourses of this sprawling magnitude, it was simply impossible as a spectator to witness the entire race. Florence had to follow mere snatches of the action visible from the concourse and fill in the gaps from her jockey's post-race report.

Last Unicorn had started well, entering the narrow woodland path halfway up the field. His jumping, so often a source of great anxiety for Florence, had been top-notch that day and he even descended the step with grace after his near miss the previous afternoon. He had lost position scrambling down the rock face next to the hot springs, falling back between runners, but on the Overhang Zac's prediction had been exactly correct: jostled by the field, Last Unicorn plunged over the hill without any time for hesitation and somehow hit the ground running at the bottom. A relentless galloper, he was then able to weave his way through the remaining runners until he was left with just Feigned Proof and Big Nico to catch. Zac had been pleased with him - he 'finished like a rocket' - but he would have needed to sprout wings to catch the winner and his effort in closing in on Big Nico had already been pretty monstrous.

It was an encouraging performance, and now there was nothing left to do but prepare for Fallbourne. There were only eight days to go.

However, there was another, darker aspect to Zac's experience. Fifteen horses had left the starting line, yet only ten finished - and only thirteen left the course after the race. Two horses had died during the contest.

Florence and Zac, while not immune to the prospect of equine casualties back in Driftland, were unaccustomed to results like this occurring on a regular basis as they apparently did in the Highland Province. Zac had no information about the first fatality, but he had witnessed the second. A horse near the front of the field had stumbled on the Overhang and somersaulted down the hill, crashing to the bottom with its neck fractured. He had caught a glimpse of its stricken body spasming into death before he flew past and kicked on. He had no idea where its rider had parted company with the wretched animal; there was no sign of them by that stage.

The morning after the Firebend Stakes, they packed up and moved out of Mythwood. Fallbourne was nearly two days' drive west, heading out of this mountain range and more or less straight into another.

Florence was getting no sleep since their unsettling encounter with Carver's messenger, and she was eating nothing more than the odd morsel: she was in complete turmoil.

In addition to the usual anxieties concerning Last Unicorn's participation in the Grand Chase - long a part of her daily contemplations - there were new fears regarding his safety. Before, she had been lying awake worrying about whether or not he could win. Now she was worrying about whether or not he would survive. Her mind also brimmed with unanswered questions about the precise nature of the threat against her horse, and that terrifying uncertainty about just how dangerous it was. Was Carver all mouth, or should they be on high alert for some very serious trouble?

As if this was not enough to torture her, she felt as though her heart was going to break over Charlie. They had scarcely spoken since she had admonished him for his wrongdoings, and it was obvious that he'd been hurt by her denunciation. But, in the despair that followed their argument, she had abandoned any further pretence at denial; she knew she loved him, in spite of everything. While she found herself watching him constantly once more, she knew he had barely looked at her.

She had told Zac about Charlie's quarrel with Carver, and why he suspected the demand to withdraw Last Unicorn from the race stemmed from there. Although Zac must have overheard some of it at the time, she omitted the finer details of the argument that followed Charlie's confession. If she could, she would have erased it from her own memory to boot.