Spoilers for That Whiter Host.
"Alfie, I swear, if you throw one more snowball at me, I am going to –"
My irritation at the lad's antics was cut short by a dull thumping of hooves, muffled by the heavy snow, and a moment later a saddled chestnut horse came trotting into the courtyard, ambling along aimlessly and without a rider.
" 'Ere now, what the –"
I glanced at my little Irregular, who was squinting at the animal. Suddenly his little face turned pale under the freckles and he tugged on my coat urgently.
"Mr. 'Olmes!"
"What is it, Alfie?"
"Tha's the 'orse the Doctor was ridin' earlier this afternoon!" he said worriedly, pointing as the animal ambled up the path.
I felt an icy chill run over me at his words, and not from the dropping temperature.
"Are you certain?" I demanded.
"Blimey, yes! Wha' d'yew s'pose happened, Mr. 'Olmes?"
"I don't know," I whispered hoarsely, "but wait here."
"But Mr. 'Olmes!"
But I had already taken off at a dead run for the castle stables to get a fresh horse – that chestnut looked ready to drop.
Something was very wrong.
But so frantic was I that I did not see a very determined little boy sneak out of the castle courtyard, following the hoofprints out into the drifting snow and gathering blackness.