Chapter 1

Montana Kittenwatcher sighed as she looked out the van window at the grey clouds. The weather outside matched her mood as she watched the flashes of lightning light up the sky, the thunder rumbling closer and closer. 'How much longer until we reach Jorvik stables Dad? Im worried about RusticCharm.'

David Kittenwatcher looked down at his watch as his hands tightened around the steering wheel, then back up anxiously at the road. 'if this rain keeps up, we wont be getting there tonight. If the storm gets worse, we're going to need to find a place to wait it out.'

'im sure Charm is okay.' Catlin, her mother assured. 'she's probably got her nose stuck in the feedbag, and not worrying about the storm at all. Exactly what you should be doing.' she glanced at her daughter who was nervously clutching her book. 'Try to get some sleep, the storm will break soon.'

Montana looked unconvinced as she stared out the window, jumping in surprise as a clap of thunder pierced the air. 'That was close.' she said to herself, then she started to think about her horse again. RusticCharm was a purebred Lusitano, with beautiful brown eyes, and chocolate brown coat. They had been together since she was five, and had been the source of her strength when she had had her fight with cancer, and won. She sighed as she remembered the conversation she had with her parents last week, that she was adopted. She hadnt wanted to believe it at first, but she knew it was true, but she also knew they loved her, even if she wasn't their real daughter.

'Worried about boarding at the stables honey?'

Montana snapped out of her thoughts and saw her mom looking at her with a kind expression on her face. 'Not really, everyone seemed so nice when I meet them, Im sure I'll fit in. I just hope the other pupils like me.'

'I'm sure they will honey.' her dad assured as they turned onto the road into Valedale. 'We're not sending you away, you know. If there was any other way around it, we would have taken it.'

'I know.' Montana sighed. She hated that their work had called them away again, but it couldn't be avoided. Previously, when they had to go away, she had been left in the care of Catlins mother, but since Granny Ruth's death last year, they had to find another arraignment. 'I just wish you didn't have to go.'

'Me too darling.' Catlins voice was drowned out by the sound of the now heavily falling hail. 'David.' she shouted above the sound, hoping he could hear her. 'We have to stop!'

David nodded as he watched the trees bending in the wind. 'We'll wait it out in Valedale, it's only another mile from here.'

Another flash of lightning lit up the sky as Montana looked out the window again, her face ashen. She didn't need to be told that they were in danger, she could feel it and it scared her. She hated the feelings she got, but most of the time they weren't anything bad, but she had had this feeling since she had woken up, and it was getting stronger by the minute, like an impending doom. She jumped as she heard over the sound of the hail her horse screaming, and knew that Charm could feel it too. Why hadnt she listened to her when she'd refused to get in the trailer?

David tried to look past the hail, trying to find the road out of the forest and over the river into the little village of Valedale, but it looked like a blizzard out there. He slowed the van and the trailer even further, reduced to even a slower crawl as he slowly edged onto the old stone bridge, then it happened.

Montana screamed as the van lurched out of control, the tyres losing traction as they slid on the slippery stones. She was thrown to the other side of the van as it began to roll, the horse in the trailer screaming as it went over. Montana heard glass shattering as the windows smashed, the sounds mixing with her parents and her horses screams, then as the door flung open, she was thrown clear of the wreck, her last thought being about her horse as she hit the ground and blacked out.

Elizabeth Sunbeam was sitting in her rocking chair beside her warm fire when the storm broke, in all its fury 'Great Aideens light!' she exclaimed as she jumped up and ranch to the window to look out, the book on her lap falling to the floor. Something told her this storm was no ordinary storm, and she had a feeling of nervousness as she clutched the window frame. It had been raining all day, but now it had finally turned into a thundering turmoil that deafened her. She glanced through the rain at the human forms running to her house, and realized that it was Linda, Alex and Lisa. With a quick gasp she ran to the door and flung it open for them, not worrying about the fact that her carpets would get soaked. 'Help me close the door!' she yelled above the sound of the hail, wind and rain, then together with the girls, they got the door closed. 'What were you guys doing out in this?' she exclaimed breathlessly, then her confusion turned to concern 'It's not safe out there. You all know better then to ride in weather like this, and where are your horses?'

Linda shivered as she dripped water on the floor, then looked at Elizabeth. 'The horses are in the stables. We got caught out in the storm by accident. We were having a picnic but-' she got cut off by Alex.

'The rain put an end to that.' Alex sneezed. 'We didn't mean to get caught out in it. We were going to shelter in the forest, but with the wind, half the forest is getting blown away.'

'We're really sorry to barge in like this.' Lisa apologized. 'As soon as the rain lets up, we'll be on our way.'

Elizabeth's expression softened as she looked at the girls. She was just glad they were safe. 'You'll do no such thing, there's plenty of room here, and I don't think the storms going to break any time soon.' she glanced at the window. 'if anything, its getting worse' she looked back at the soaked soul riders, a smile just touching her lips. 'Come on, lets get you out of those wet clothes and dried off before you catch your death of cold.' She hands each of them a clean towel from the cupboard. 'there's a few nightgowns on my bed that you can change into, just till these dry.'

Alex gratefully took the towel and followed the girls into the other bedroom. 'There's something about that storm I just can't place. It just feels like…' her voice trailed off. 'I don't know what.'

'I agree.' Lisa replied as she slipped into a dry change of clothes behind the dressing parting. 'Theres something in the air like-'

'Like magic?' Alex butted in. 'Like a pressense?'

'Exactly!' Lisa exclaimed as she walked out so Linda could change. 'Like theres another person with powers close by.'

'Do you think its the Dark Riders?' Linda, who had been silent till now spoke up.

'No, its not the Dark Riders. If it were we'd definitely know it was them. I just can't quite place it.' Alex sighed as she dried her hair with the towel. 'I just don't know what it is.'

'Probably nothing.' Lisa remarked as she wrung the wet clothes out into a basin. 'I'm just glad to be out of that storm.' She motioned to the roof. 'but if it keeps up, the river could flood. Hey, you finished changing Linda? I'll wring your clothes out and take them with ours to dry.'

'Here.' Linda threw her the wet clothes from behind the partition. 'Thanks.'

Alex looked at Lisa strangely, then began to whisper. 'What's going on with Linda? She's been quiet all day.'

'I don't know.' she replied as she finished getting the excess water out of the clothes. 'She's probably upset about something.'

'Yeh, probably.' Alex grabbed her wet clothes. 'Come on, let's go get these dry and get warmed up.'

'I agree.' Lisa's teeth began to chatter. 'I'm freezing. Are you finished Linda?'

'Yes.' Linda replied as she walked out, her hair wrapped in the towel. 'I'm positively frozen.' she remarked as they all walked back into the living room and stood in front of the fire.

'All dried off now?' Elizabeth asked as she walked in from the kitchen with steaming mugs of hot chocolate. She looked at the pile of wet clothes. 'Just hang them on the chairs, they'll dry soon enough.' she handed each girl a mug of coco. 'this will warm you right up.'

'Thanks.' Alex sipped it gingerly and held the warm cut in her hands, wondering if she should mention to Elizabeth about Linda, who had taken her cup silently and was standing at the window, staring into the storm. 'Stay here.' she whispered to Lisa. 'I'm going to talk to Elizabeth.'

Lisa nodded. 'Good idea.'

Alex quietly left the room and walked into the kitchen where Elizabeth was pulling some warm cookies out of the oven. 'Can I talk to you for a minute Elizabeth?'

'Sure.' Elizabeth placed the cookies on the bench. 'What's on your mind?'

'It's not about me, its about Linda.'

'Oh?' Elizabeth looked confused. 'What about Linda?'

'I just dont know.' Alex explained. 'She's been quiet all week, but today she's hardly spoken a word. Thats not like Linda.'

'Then something is wrong.' Elizabeths face turned thoughtful. 'Would you like me to have a word with her?'

Alex sighed with relief. 'Would you? She might tell you what's going on, she listens to you more then anyone.'

'Sure, i'd be happy to.' Elizabeth handed Alex a plate. 'I'll go talk to her now, you can put the cookies on the plate and bring them out. Can you get out the last tray left in the oven please?'

'Will do.' Alex didnt look up from transfuring the cookies to the plate.

'Thanks Alex.' Elizabeth walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. Linda was still staring into the storm, not seeming to notice her presence, or even Lisa, who was still standing infront of the fire. Elizabeth walked over to Linda slowly, and placed her hand on her shoulder. 'Linda?'

Linda jumped like she had been shot, then as she saw it was just Elizabeth, she calmed down. 'Oh, you scared me.'

'Sorry.' Elizabeth replied. 'You were a million miles away. Something wrong?'

'Oh, it's nothing.'

'I can tell it's just nothing.' Elizabeth played along. 'That's why you haven't been speaking all week, and have seemed distant. Alex and Lisa are worried about you. Now' she looked deep into Linda's eyes. 'What is it?'

Linda sighed and looked out the window again. 'Last week I had a vision.' she paused. 'and it's been worrying me ever since.'

'What was it about?'

'That's just it, I don't know. I can't make any sense of it.'

'If you tell me, I might be able to help you out.' Elizabeth gently prodded. 'What was it about?'

'You know how it says that a fifth soul rider will come?' Linda saw Elizabeth nod. 'Well, in this vision, I saw us all together, Anne included at the secret stone circle, but there was an extra person. She was tall, but her face was hidden and she spoke with authority. She had every one of our for powers, like she was a powerful force that could summon the moon if she wanted to. Her presence made all our powers stronger, but I was jealous of her.'

'Why jealous?'

Linda looked away, afraid to speak the truth. 'Because she was the favorite of everyone. You, Fripp, Avalon, you all basically worshiped the ground that she walked on. As the vision continued, I saw Fripp send her to Pandoria to rescued Anne, and I was so jealous. She came back out without Anne, and then Darko followed, and she sent him back to Pandoria with her powers. We were all angry that Anne hadnt been rescued, and we tried again to rescue her. We were planning to go back there together, but then Dark Core found out.' Linda went silent as she remembered, then went back to staring out the window.

Elizabeth placed her arm around Linda. 'Go on.'

'We were ambushed by the Dark Riders. We all tried to beat them, the fifth using everything she had, but it wasn't enough. Darko sent powers at me, and they would have killed me, but the fifth leapt in front of it and took it for me. As she took it, her powers sent them fleeing, but she was almost dead. She died a couple days later.' Linda looked at Elizabeth. 'We couldn't get to Anne without her help and Garnok won. It was like a terrible nightmare, but worse.'

Elizabeth nodded as she digested what Linda had said. 'I'm not sure if that's a vision, or a mean trick of your mind. Do you remember anything else?'

Linda shook her head. 'No, but it was stormy, like this.' she motioned out the window. 'I hope it was just a nightmare, but how can we be sure?'

'You have to feel it in yourself Linda. Can you feel that it was real? Could you ever imagine us not rescuing Anne?'

'No.' A smile spend on Linda's lips. 'It wasn't a vision after all.'

Elizabeth hugged Linda. 'Feel better now?'

Linda nodded. 'Yes.' she remained quiet for a little moment, then spoke again, but there was concern in her voice. 'But what about the Fifth? When will she come?'

'I don't know.' Elizabeth admitted. 'But I have a feeling we will meet her soon. Garnook has never been stronger, and that's when she will rise. When she does, we must be ready to accept her, and teach her the way of the soul riders. It will be a challenge, but are you willing to help teach her?'

'I am.' Linda replied fiercely. 'I accept the challenge. I will teach her everything I can. We will be ready.'

'That's the spirit.' Elizabeth said encouragingly. 'Now, how about some-' her sentence was cut off by a loud crash outside and she spun around to look out the window. A van with a horse trailer attached had rolled over, rolling over and over. She looked at the girls, the expression on their face matching hers as they watched a young girl get flung out of the van. The van landed on top of the girl, then rolled again off her before it finally stopped, landing on its side.

Elizabeth and the girls ran out of the house, not worrying about the hail and the rain that was pelting down from the heavens. She ran to the girl first, the other soul riders doing the same. She gave a sigh of relief as she felt the girls chest rise and fall. She was alive, at least. 'Lets get her inside.' she said as she looked at the girl, then back at the girls who were standing there, like they were in a trance. She was about to yell at them for help when the horse in the trailer began to scream, waking them up from the horrible nightmare. She saw the girls finally spring into action and she barked out her orders. 'Alex, leave the horse, I need your help with this girl. Linda, get the door. Lisa, here with me.' she got the soul riders into position to lift the injured young girl. 'Careful now now, on the count of three. One, two, three, lift.'

Carefully they lifted the young girl and carried her into the house, then they ran back out into the storm to help the other people trapped inside the overturned van. 'Linda, you see to the horse, asses its injuries and try to get it calm. Lisa, Alex, help me try and get this door opened.' she gave the girls their instructions and they set to work. Elizabeth carefully brushed the glass off the man's face through the window , not worried that her back was getting covered in welts from the hailstones. She tried to feel for the man's pulse, but their was none there. 'He's gone.' she remarked to the girls, then looked at the second person in the van. 'I'm going to have to climb in. Can you guys lift me up?'

'No Elizabeth.' Lisa protested. 'I'll go. I'm smaller and can get in easier.' she saw Elizabeth about to disagree with her. 'There's no time to argue about it.' she pulled herself up onto the side of the van and crawled through the window, then let herself down to the ground, greatful that she was out of the rain some what. She felt for the womens pulse, but couldnt feel it. She then put her finger under the womans nose, to feel for breath but there was none. 'shes gone too.' she called out, then as she turned around, her eyes settled on the little fire that was buring in the back, presumably from a spark landing on the little bit of hay on the floor, then to her horror, she saw the gas canister. 'Get back! Get back!' she yelled as the fire began to take hold, on the material that wasnt wet.

'What?' Elizabeth yelled above the rain. 'What is it?'

'Fire!' Lisa yelled as she desperatly tried to crawl back out of the hole she had entered by, the rain making the steel slippery. 'Theres a gas bottle in there thats going to explode when the fire reaches it. Run!'

Linda heard her warning, and was about to follow Alex, who had been dragged away from the horse by Elizabeth when she saw Lisa still stuggling to get out of the van. She ran over to her. 'I've got you Lisa.' she yelled as she jumped up on the van and grabed Lisa's arms. 'Come on, you can make it!'

'Go, Linda, while you can.' Lisa said as she slipped back down again. 'GO!'

'I'm not leaving without you.' Linda said as she pulled with strength she didnt know she had. 'Your almost there, come on!' She pulled again with everything she had, and finally Lisa was out. She rolled over and jumped down off the van, Lisa at her side. 'Run!'

It wasnt a moment too soon. As the girls ran from the van, the fire reached the gas canister and exploded with a huge bang, sending bits of metal and flesh everywhere. The small fire that started as a result of the explosion was quickly extinguished by the rain, and all that was left was a blackened spot on the ground, little peices of steel raining down around.

Elizabeth and the girls clung to each other as the explosion happened, the screaming horse dying as soon as it exploded. They all tried to catch their breath as the smoke cleared away from what was left of the wreak, them all absorbed in what had just happened. It was like a terrible dream, but as they felt the steel land in their hair, and the rain soaking them, they knew it was real as they looked on in horror, shocked by what had just taken place.

It was Elizabeth who finally broke the silence, her voice on the edge of breaking down as she spoke. 'We still have one girl inside that needs to be taken care of.' she didnt speak out of unkidness, but they all knew she was speaking the truth. There was nothing they could do for the others now. They were with Aideen, but the girl was still with them, for the time being.

Linda nodded as she took her eyes off the scene infront of her and followed Elizabeth back into her house, the other soul riders following her lead. 'What can we do?' she asked as she closed the door behind them.

Elizabeth didnt look up from the child lying on the couch as she knelt down beside it before speaking. 'Lisa, I need you to stay here with me. Linda, Alex, you guys go get dried off again, then grab some blankets and clothes for-' her voice trailed off as she realized she didnt know the girls name. Then she saw the braclet on the girls wrist. 'Montana.'

Lisa stayed with Elizabeth as she began to check the girl over, the other two going about their task. 'How bad is she hurt?'

'I dont know.' Elizabeth replied as she began to undress the girl so she could look at the wounds. They were bleeding profusly, but she was more worried about they way the girl was breathing. 'I think she's got a punchered lung.' she said as she stood up. 'Which is out of my line of expertise, and she's got numerous broken bones and gashes.' she turned to Lisa, and looked at her strongly, but with a pleeding look to it. 'But you can heal her Lisa. This is what your here for, as a soul rider of the stars. This is your destiny, to heal.'

Lisa nodded. 'I will heal her body, but the mind is another matter. I cannot heal that, she has to heal that herself. I will give her that chance.' She concentrated her healing power, then gently passed it to the girl, starting from her head down, repairing the injuries, closing the wounds. When she had finished, she sank down to the ground in exhaustion. 'I didnt think it would take that much, but its drained me.'

Elizabeth placed her hand on Lisa's shoulder. 'Well done, young soul rider.' she spoke her blessing and encouragment. 'You have done well. Go and rest now, we can take it from here.'

Lisa didnt argue as Elizabeth helped her over to the fire and gave her a towel. 'Will she be alright? Was it enough?'

Elizabeth looked back at the pale young girl. She looked so frail, so small, but she could feel that the child was strong. 'She will be, in time.' she paused, to make sure her feeling was right, and it was as strong as ever, getting stronger by the second. 'because she is the fifth soul rider.'