The Blue Horse Read Online Free Page A

sunshine always shining through for you. I see music and song and a time to dance and play. Good fortune, sweet girl.’ She stopped. Hannah was enraptured.
    ‘Is there any more?’ she pleaded.
    ‘You’re too young yet to speak of that far ahead, but you will marry. This is not the hand of an old maid.’
    Once her hand was let go, Hannah jumped up. ‘I must tell Bridey.’
    The old lady tried to look serious and hide her smile. ‘Away off with you now. I’m glad you’re feeling better.’
    Pushing the door out, the little girl disappeared. Katie wordlessly took her place. Nan stared at her. It’s my turn now, thought Katie.
    ‘Will you tell my fortune please, Mrs Maguire?’
    Taking a sip of tea from her mug, the old lady looked straight into Katie’s eyes. Katie spread her hand on one of the cushions. Nan lifted it and studied it.
    Katie’s hands were rounded, the fingers fairly long but broad at the tips; her nails were slightly bitten and she realised that the back of her hand still had a bit of dried icecream on it.
    ‘Working hands, hard-working hands, toil but yet at times able to be gentle, caring. A longlifeline and a good life, hard but good. Changes, a lot of changes.’
    ‘What kind of changes?’ Katie asked nervously. It was obvious, being a traveller and moving from place to place, that there would be changes.
    Nan was staring at her hand and then locked her eyes to Katie’s.
    ‘Changes of the heart, changes of the soul even. Things destroyed.’ Nan stopped. A frown ran across her forehead. ‘Something loved destroyed, an animal I think, I’m not sure.’ Nan’s voice was slow and the girl knew she was being cautious with the words. Fortune tellers never gave bad news.
    ‘My future,’ Katie pleaded. ‘Is it bad?’
    The older woman seemed to become more businesslike. ‘There will be marriage and family, all you have ever wanted, nothing will come that easy, but you will find and marry the man you love.’
    Katie let out a sigh of relief.
    Davey had begun to wail outside. She stood up to go to him, but the woman still held her hand. ‘Katie, follow your instincts, trust to them and they will see you right.’
    She nodded. Her instincts. She didn’t rightly understand what Nan meant and right now she wasn’t even sure she was going to have good fortune.
    ‘Remember, Katie, follow your own instincts always.’ Nan stood and started to tidy up hercaravan.
    A shaft of sunlight flooded in the door. Davey lay half-awake, one arm flung across his face to protect it from the bright sun. This arm was already burned red.
    ‘Thanks, Mrs Maguire, thanks for everything.’
    Katie had a feeling that the old woman hadn’t told her half of what she had seen in her hand.

Chapter 5
STICKS AND STONES
    ‘It’s not fair. Those boys started it.’
    ‘If I can’t trust you to bring the kids to the shop and get them home safely, there’ll be no more shops,’ Mam pronounced firmly.
    ‘But I didn’t do anything,’ pleaded Katie.
    ‘The bully boys did it, Mam, they called us knackers and tinkers and followed us,’ Hannah added.
    ‘I’m not talking to you, Hannah, this is between me and Katie.’
    ‘But Katie did nothing,’ her little sister kept on.
    ‘Listen, I don’t care what those boys said, you should know well now: Sticks and stones …’
    Katie lifted her eyes to heaven: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. It was one of their mother’s, and for that matter their father’s, favourite sayings. No matter what people called you or shouted at you or how they insulted you, just ignore it.
    ‘I didn’t cause trouble, Mam, I swear I didn’t,’ Katie promised. ‘They followed us. One of the boys was going to cut off Bridey’s hair, he was hurting her …’
    ‘No trouble. Is that too much to ask of a big girl like yourself, not to cause or bring us trouble?’ Mam kept on. ‘No trouble is it, letting your little sister kick a big boy?’
    ‘I did it