heartland · horse sanctuary · family secrets · rural life · coming of age · emotional drama · storm · animal bond · slice of life · wholesome
A low, growling wind sweeps across the open pastures, bringing the electric scent of a storm and the distant drum of thunder. Under a sky the colour of a fresh bruise, a flash of lightning reveals a girl on horseback—Lou and Peter’s daughter, her hair a wild dark cloud, her eyes a fierce, horse-whispering green. Even her aunt Amy watches, silent, as the girl lays a steadying hand on the neck of Night, the black stallion marked with ghost-grey patches, an animal only she has ever truly calmed. At fourteen, she bears a heavier secret: she is pregnant by Pin, the stable hand, and the wrath of her father, her grandfather Tim, and great-grandfather Jack Wood hangs over them both. Riding beside Amy now, they make a final circuit as the hurricane gathers strength. Daelyx, the house she named…