Pegasus and the Flame Read Online Free

anything!’
    But when the light found its mark, she couldn’t deny the truth.
    It was very real.
    A huge white horse was lying on its side in the middle of the rose garden. What had glinted in the beam of the flashlight was one of the horse’s hooves. As Emily looked, she sucked in her breath. It was gold. Raising the flashlight, she received an even greater shock. A wing! Massive in size, it was covered in mud, leaves and rose petals, but unmistakable with its long white feathers.
    ‘No!’ Emily cried. ‘This is impossible!’
    More lightning lit the rooftop, confirming what Emily was trying so hard to deny.
    A white horse with golden hooves and a vast white wing was lying on its side in the middle of her dead mother’s rose garden.
    Unable to move, barely breathing, Emily stared at the animal in disbelief.
    As she watched, the wing on the horse’s side stirred, followed by a terrible shriek of pain. The sound tore at Emily’s heart. The animal was in agony. Racing forward and heedless of the sharp thorns that tore into her flesh, Emily entered the bushes and started to shove them away from the stricken horse.
    She worked her way along the animal’s side, towards its head. Lying flat on the ground, it was completely trapped within the rose bushes as the vicious thorns tore into its tender skin.
    Emily cried out in her own pain as the thorns dug into her flesh as she tried to free the horse’s head from the cruel bushes. It was awake, and looking at her with a huge dark eye.
    ‘It’s all right. I won’t hurt you,’ she soothed. ‘I’ll get you free in a moment. Then maybe you can stand up if you’re not too hurt.’
    When most of the horse’s head was free, it tried to rise. It screamed in agony as the wing on its side moved.
    ‘Wait, stop!’ Emily reached out and stroked the horse’s quivering neck. ‘Don’t move. Let me see what’s wrong.’
    Emily continued to stroke the strong, warm neck as she raised the flashlight and trailed the beam down along its body. She could see one wing resting on the side, but she couldn’t see the other.
    ‘I don’t suppose you’ve only got the one wing?’
    The animal raised its head and looked at her with imploring eyes that begged for help.
    ‘No,’ she sighed. ‘I guess not.’
    Emily soon freed the horse from the bushes. As she held up the flashlight, she glimpsed the upper edge of the other wing. Only it was at an odd angle, pinned beneath the weight of the horse’s body.
    ‘Your other wing is trapped beneath you,’ she explained. ‘But I guess you already know that.’
    With the last of the bushes gone, she moved back to its head.
    ‘I’ve done all I can, but we have to get you off that wing. If I go around to your back and push, will you try to get up?’
    As if in answer to her question, the horse seemed to nod its head.
    ‘You really are going crazy, Em,’ she muttered. ‘He’s a horse. He can’t understand you.’
    She knelt down in the slippery mud and stroked the horse’s side. ‘OK, I’m sorry but this is probably going to hurt. When I start pushing, I want you to try to get up.’
    Placing her hands firmly on its back, Emily leaned forward and started to push with all her strength. ‘Now!’ she grunted. ‘Get up now!’
    Emily could feel the horse’s back muscles tensing beneath her hands as it struggled to rise.
    ‘That’s it!’ Pushing and straining, Emily felt her knees starting to slip beneath her. ‘Keep going, you can do it!’
    Putting all her weight against the horse, Emily felt it move. But as it rolled forward, the trapped wing sprang free and hit her squarely in the face. Emily cried out as she was knocked backwards into the rose bushes. Lying in the centre of the patch, the vicious thorns tore large holes in her jeans and raincoat and pierced right through to her skin.
    But the fresh pain from the thorns was quickly forgotten when lightning flashes revealed the horse now standing on its feet and facing her. Despite