The Painted Ponies of Partequineus and The Summer of the Kittens Read Online Free Page B

like a slamming door.
    Vanessa lay on the floor, trembling and gasping for breath. It had been such a narrow escape. If not for the voice inside her head telling her what to do, she could never have made it home again. She wondered who it had been who saved her. Not Christina, not Grace, not one of the other girls. It had been a boy’s voice she heard, strong and brave and coming just in time.
    It had been her pony’s voice. She was sure of it.
    Suddenly Vanessa felt a terrible sense of loss and loneliness, and she threw herself down onto the bed, sobbing bitterly. Partequineus is real , she thought to herself, and something terrible is happening there. I have to go back and help them. I have to help the ponies.

EIGHT
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    The next week passed by in a blur. Vanessa found it hard to concentrate on her school work, and her friends began to notice that she was preoccupied most of the time. Vanessa’s Mom thought her daughter was acting strangely, too, but when she asked her what was wrong, Vanessa simply shrugged.
    On Friday afternoon she rushed to her room after school and flung open the closet door, but there was nothing to be found there except her regular clothes. The blue tunic was missing. She sat anxiously on the edge of the bed, counting the seconds as the hands of her clock inched toward four. But as the hour approached, she felt that something was wrong. There was no familiar tingle in the air that always came when the purple mist was on its way. Everything felt plain and drab and ordinary.
    Four o’clock came and went. Vanessa heard her mother enter the front door downstairs. She called out as usual, and Vanessa sighed and answered her. She looked around the room, confused and disappointed that Partequineus hadn’t beckoned to her again. Finally she went to the door and was just about to go into the hall when she heard a faint whisper, somewhere inside her own head.
    â€œBelieve in us,” the whisper said. “Be patient and believe.”
    After supper Vanessa sat listlessly in the living room. The television set was on, but she paid little attention to it. Her mother challenged her to a game of Monopoly, but Vanessa couldn’t seem to concentrate. She ended up owning only half a dozen widely scattered houses and one railroad, and quickly went bankrupt.
    â€œYou weren’t much competition tonight,” her mother said. “Is something the matter at school?”
    â€œI’m okay,” Vanessa said lethargically. “I’m just tired, I guess. I think I’ll go to bed early.”
    Vanessa’s Mom watched her daughter climb the stairs slowly, her shoulders slumped and her feet dragging. She knew something was wrong, but hadn’t any idea how she could help. She hoped that Vanessa would feel better in the morning.

NINE
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    Vanessa awakened suddenly and sat straight up in bed. She looked at the clock and saw that it was two minutes to four, but outside the windows the sky was dark.
    Four in the morning , she thought. What woke me up?
    Abruptly the closet door flew open, and the world erupted in a startling flash of light. The room shimmered and pulsed with vibrant energy as Vanessa’s pale blue tunic flew out of the closet and flipped up into the air like a leaf caught in a wind storm.
    A whispery voice inside her head seemed to be saying, “Hurry, hurry, hurry,” and Vanessa sprang from the bed and scrambled out of her pyjamas. She thrust her arms out, and the tunic settled gently over her shoulders as the room turned purple. The air hummed like a too-tight guitar string.
    The mysterious mist burst out of the fireplace and wrapped itself around her, gathering her in like a warm and welcome blanket. She gasped for breath and rushed forward eagerly, three quick steps, and fell into a world that was as dark as a cave, but in which she could see as well as if it were day.
    â€œWhat’s happening?” she cried out, as a fierce wind caught