Diana's story
Set in jorvick city.
"Sweety?" Diana's father called. With a start Diana shot up out of her bed, it was her birthday tomorrow and they were going to look at the horses in Goldspur since they lived in little house just past there towards the city and the slope to the coffee shop. "coming daddy!" Yelled 4 year old Diana Bravestorm, as she pulled on her pink cupcake trousers along with a white top. Her mother was waiting with a smile on her face, she was already in her race outfit as she was one of the best racers in jorvick. "are you coming to look mummy?" Diana asked , her mother nodded and took her shoes, carefully putting them on before taking her hand. Her father held open the door chuckling. "after you princess Diana!" Diana laughed her father was one of the sweetest kindest man even though we was tough and bulky. They walked up the road towards Goldspur farm where the distant whinny of horses began to come into earshot. Diana squield with excitement and ran of towards the horses, her mother sighed with happiness and ran after her daughter. "Horsie Horsie!" Diana laughed as she approached the fence just as Mr Goldspur junior bumped into her. An awful man unlike his father Mr Goldspur senior he hated horses and worked them to hard, he pushed Diana on the floor who then started whimpering clutching her throbbing arm. Her father and Mother approached in a flush and helped her up, while her mother consoled her gently her father confronted Mr. Goldspur rage flooding through him. "Say sorry to my daughter you little twat! She wanted to see the horses that your mother and father let her, so you watch it!" He bellowed whilst Mr Goldspur smirked . "Oh about that, my mother has fallen ill and went to live with my aunt, while my father won't be here anymore you can visit his grave if you wish" he grinned before adding " Go on see those horses im working them soon" .
"what? Even that mare and foal there? That's ridiculous!" her father huffed before showing his family to the fence and gave Diana a carrot " here you go my little darling! " he told her. "Horsie Horsie!" Diana giggled, the mare whickered, she was a beautiful ginger bay with a white mane and tail while her foal was a beautiful light bay with the same white mane and tail only with a stripe on her forehead. The horses trotted around the pen while the mare drank some water however the foal stared directly at Diana staring into her eyes with an understanding and passion before cantering in a beautiful gate to her and eating the carrot, Diana felt at peace with the foal and stroked her head. Proudly her parents looked at her smiling.
"Daddy can you help me stick this down?" Diana asked while trying to unstick her fingers from the paper that was full of glue and pieces of paper. Her father looked over and hurried to her. "Here sweety let me help!" He told her and started sticking things down with her, eventually the picture was finished, it ended up almost exactly like the foal in the field, Diana looked at her father. "It's ember daddy emberflower! I named her!" she told him and went to drink her milk while her father stuck it on the fridge with a magnet.
"Diana! I'm home!" Her mother called while she kissed her husband. " Diana ran downstairs and threw herself into her mother hugging her. " Hello lovey dovey! " she smiled and went into the kitchen to make dinner. Diana was in her bedroom when she first heard the shouting, it was odd her mother and father never fought, EVER! She raced downstairs to find her father huffing and shaking his head. "I'll be fine jhon the bridge will hold me and littlewhisper he's got little in his name it's not that bad" " I don't like it jessy! I'll go give this to Diana" he sighed and took the plate, Diana gasped and ran up stairs playing with her toys casually when her dad came in holding a plate of fish and chips. "are you ok little hunny bun? " he cooed soothingly, Diana nodded before blurting out. " is mummy going to race over the bridge? " she asked quickly, her father nodded and asked her. "do you think she should me little angle?" he asked cautiously, smart for her age Diana condisdored. "I do, littlewhisper is a good runner and I wouldn't doubt mummy ever!" she said, her father smiled and gave her the plate before going downstairs.
DAY OF THE RACE:
Dianas mother mounted her horse littlewhisper a dark brown stallion, her father clutched her hand and lead her to the start of the race where she waved at her. Diana and her father were lead to the bridge that had started creaking in the wind. "And their of! Look at them go trever naivis on monkey's tail right at the front, Shelby mays on my trophie in second falling behind, and here comes jessy bravestorm coming in third on littlewhisper followed by Emily foont on tree climb and there goes Jessie bravestorm as they approach the first jump, beautiful clear and shes in the lead, oh no looks like trevers taking it back with a vengeance look at that horse run oh my god its slipped! Look at that swift action by the rider that's what I like to see but that's put them back into third! Jessie's back in the lead, here they come round the slope approaching the bridge now!" the caller announced the bridge started creaking violently now, Diana's heart began to race as she spotted her mother racing with littlewhisper who was now looking panic stricken at the fence and the other riders close behind them. "here comes Jessie, good horse looks a little timid on that bridge and-" just then a massive creak followed by a bang and an ear piecing whinny of fear accompanied by a shriek of terror by her mother as they plunged through the bridge into the ocean, the other riders skidded and slipped to a halt. Dianas heart felt as if it has stopped, her father was speechless as she frantically lept over the gate, nobody else seemed to move as if time had frozen still they were motionless, as if she had gone deaf, she sprinted to the bridge and ran to the edge where the water was rushing.
"mum?" she yelled frantically crying. " mum please im sorry im sorry! brought you here I told dad you would make it and now your gone please please!" she pleaded helplessly, out of the depths littlewhisper surfaced carrying a lifless body on his back, Diana grabbed his reins and helped pull him ashore, the body on his back was her mother, for a split second Diana wondered if she would start coughing and give her a hug but she lay there…still. She took her of while littlewhisper wheezed, he was young, around 5 years of age and should be ok Diana thought. She shook her mothers body crying in a blurr of tears why won't she wake up?!
1 WEEK LATER
Diana sat in her funeral dress, laced with silk and netting, she was 5 years old now, she had speant her birthday alone, her father since the accident spent all his time wasting their money at the pub he quit work and now she couldn't even visit her grave without walking for an hour. SLAM! "Oi im hooome get down here and get me something to drink eh darl?" he shouted, intimidated she timidly went downstairs, she didn't like him drunk witch seemed lately all the time.
"no..no dad I don't think..you should have another, can you take me to see emberflower?" she asked sweetly, her father stared at her and stormed up to her kicking her in the stomach and hitting her across her buttocks. She screamed and ran into the kitchen terrified, he had his walking stick and hoverd it over her before whacking her on her back hard. She curled up on the floor crying.
"You killed your mother, YOU! You told her to do it and now shes gone! I hope your happy, don't ever talk back to me or it will be your head next time!" he bellowed in her ear before storming of outside to smoke, he never smoked, mother hated it.
She crawled upstairs where she tared outside and saw the horse fields where she felt safe, she touched her back and whimperd seing a huge bruise appear, she cried herself to sleep that night.
2 MONTHS LATER
In the horse fields:
Emberflower leapt about in her field by her mother, since that little girl had visited she had felt something different like she didn't quite belong with the humans here, her mother recently went missing for most of the day and always came back skinny, exhausted and had red marks from the whip, the other horses were getting like this, 2 of them had..died I the past few weaks it was all strange, her mother didn't play anymore . she ran around, she had amazing stamina and a huge jump she had been practising, it always made her mother smile.
"Alright twitch come on were working again I need some more money I'm working everyone over time!" he yelled laughing and started harnessing her mother up, she was only just of milk and still very attached to her mother, she hated him calling her twitch, her name was dandelion, emberflower didn't know her own name yet but one time Diana had visited her and called her emberflower and she liked it, all she could do was watch helplessly as her mother was harnessed up and had iron shoved harshly into her mouth and tightened before being lead out.
Later than night she woke up to find her mother wheezing badly she was getting worse and so were allot of the horses, the man had already started looking at me in the fields and making some harnesses, he made his own since he could add things people wouldn't normally put on for example spikes and tightness to make the horses move faster , he would start putting enough food for only 4 out of the 9 horses in the pen to make only the " fittest " horses live to make more money. She would end up drinking the last of her mother milk so she could try and get her share of the food, some of the horses in the field couldn't even walk and so were shot and sold to slaughter, by now there were only 5 horses left. Emberflower felt so malnourished all the time and week, though there we horses in her field she felt more isolated than ever.
WINTER
Diana:
Diana was nursing her abused arm with a bandage she took out of her secret closet, she would do jobs around the city to help pay rent, and buy medical supplies and food since her father wouldn't feed her any more, it had already started to snow, it hurt allot not just her bruises and cuts but the fact her father wouldn't even look at her or call her by her name, he would simply call her, disappointment. As far as she was concerned she had no father anymore. For the 2nd time today her father came in drunk and smoking, she coughed having asthma and ran downstairs, she had enough now, it was getting very dark out since it got dark early in the winter, he looked at her mincingly. "Why don't you get me something to eat it you little disappointment." He smirked taking another sip of his bear, anger pulsed through Diana and she slammed open the cupboards. " hey missy want a smack?" he yelled. Diana stared not afraid anymore . " Look Dad! Infact should I call you dad? What do you do that dads do? You never talk to me, you don't even call me by my name! why don't you want to even get a job and visit mum's grave! There is no food in here because I'm out there getting it! " she yelled in frustration, at that he got the cane out and started beating her mercilessly, before grabbing her by the collar of her short sleeve t-shirt and tossing her out into the snow. Shivering In the cold Diana cried and stared at her father.
"as far as I'm concerned I have no daughter" he hissed through gritted teeth before slamming the door"
Emberflower:
The snow kept coming, and she stood over the limp, lifeless body that lay in front of her, her mother's beautiful fur was now covered in snow and dark, she was trembling remembering her being lead into the pen barely standing as the owner walked of laughing, she then nuzzled her whinnying I love you before collapsing dead. I have to get out of here, I have to! She thought. 2 of the other horses were swaying like twigs in the wind and yesterday one of the yearlings had ran of into greendayle. Snorting in anticipation she backed up, noticing the owner turning on the lights and swinging open the doors, she bolted towards the fence slightly bunny hopping towards the fence and leapt over it in a magnificent leap, landing softly before running blindly into greendayle forest. That was covered in snow, freezing to her skin. She couldn't see where she was going and grief tore at her heart.
She then remembered Diana and the hope in her eyes as she believed in emberflower's loyal, determined spirit. Hope pulsed through her veins and she raced through the forest.
DIANA:
Diana was freezing and slowly her body was shutting down, she stumbled around as the wind blew her fragile body about like a twig, she whimpered and collapsed bellow a tree trying to block out the sound. But one noise bellowed like an angles voice above the blistering winds, a whinny, a young but powerful whinny, Diana lifted her head and flickered open her eyes to find a little foal facing her,
"emberflower? Is...is that you?" she stammered as the foal raced to her side, she placed a hand on her muzzle before falling asleep, the foal pressed her body against her and gave her warmth saving her life, together they lay for hours, freezing but alive together, eventually the winds stopped and Diana woke to a daze emberflower was leaping about in the snow playing like a child, Diana laughed for the first time since her mother died and threw a snowball at her , emberflower snorted and splashed a whole lot of snow on her face, giggling she raced and played for hours feeling truly alive again. Though she knew she would have to move before they were found, and so they headed together towards the bridge that connected them to nimlers highland, since emberflower was to young to ride they walked together supporting each other, she had one last relative who she knew was staying at the inn, Elizabeth sunbeam who lived at valedayle, and so they headed that way, eating wild berries and drinking the fresh water out the rivers after boiling it over a fire, they connected and bonded over that time, healing each other.
Eventually they made it to the inn where Elizabeth who took her to valedayle raised her as her daughter, she didn't know what would happen to emberflower but that she would be taken to a good home, her heart ached whenever she thought about her, it was enough to drive her mad. Eventually at the age of 14 after riding simple school horses in valedayle she was allowed to start a horse camp at moorland and so Elizabeth sent her there, when she arrived a boy named Justine greeted her, he was a handsome boy who talked softly to her being kind and gentle, he introduced her to the stables and showed her a horse she would be given for the duration of the camp, the horse that stood in front of her had an elegant beautiful body shape with 4 white socks on her legs, a stripe on her forehead, a light bay body with a white mane and tail, it stared at her with beautiful green eyes and whinnied in recognition.
"Emberflower!" she cried and swung her head round the horses neck witch in turn whickered softly curling it's neck round her embracing her…..
BOOK 1
OH and by the way, the horse littlewhisper was an English throughrobred… who was sold because he was young and raced for many many years before fathering a pitch black foal…guess who that was? Dianas second horse….. Darkrain ;DDDDDDDD