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    Dark Horse Mountain
    Dark Horse Mountain
    Dark Horse Mountain
    Ebook126 pages1 hour

    Dark Horse Mountain

    By Ian B MacLeod

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Star and his herd of wild horses are abducted from their home at Dark Horse Mountain by an alien race from the planet Alpha in the constellation of Alpha Centauri.
    Saved from death by three friendly Alphans, Star and his gallant band of horses are instrumental in saving Earth from a hostile invasion by the evil Dakar whose own planet is dying.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPinewood Publications
    Release dateApr 12, 2019
    ISBN9781875552252
    Dark Horse Mountain
    Author

    Ian B MacLeod

    Born aboard the ‘Coronation Scot’ travelling from Edinburgh to London, I suppose you could say that Ian started his life at full speed! Settling in the countryside of East Anglia, he developed a passion for writing and drawing at a young age, so it was a natural progression that after finishing school he became a commercial artist. His love of travel and discovering new people and places drew him to the Merchant Navy where, after travelling for four years around the globe, he decided that Australia was the place for him. During his Navy years, he learned guitar after discovering the early Country and Rockabilly music. After successfully auditioning for Johnny O’Keefe’s television show ‘Six O’Clock Rock’ in Sydney, Ian embarked on a career of singing and songwriting and once again travels the world with his guitar up to the present day.

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      Book preview

      Dark Horse Mountain - Ian B MacLeod

      PREFACE

      I’ve always loved books and writing songs and poetry, something my Nanna encouraged in me from a young age.

      I wrote my first song, ‘Grasshopper Boogie’ aboard the P & O liner Arcadia back in 1957. Serving as a First Class waiter but moonlighting at night with my band ‘The Bop Street Boys’, we entertained the crew and in between work we sang for the passengers out on deck.

      Over the following years, I’ve written many songs and poems but was inspired to write my first short story while on tour in Northern NSW when I spotted a sign that said ‘Dark Horse Mountain’ and so my journey into the literary world of prose began. Quite a number of my stories are drawn from real-life events, others are the meanderings of my adventurous mind.

      None of these writings would have been possible without the long-suffering help of my lovely wife, Sheila, who cajoled and bullied me into writing page after page when I felt like giving up. With her great knowledge of English, plus her computer skills (of which I have none) my first story book is about to become a reality.

      I must also thank my friends and colleagues at the Beerwah Writers’ Group for their honest critique and encouragement over the past two years.

      DARK HORSE MOUNTAIN

      Part One

      IAN B. MACLEOD

      PROLOGUE

      JOSEPH, 1845

      HE stared up into the night sky; the heavens appeared to go on forever with one particular bright star standing out, seeming to beckon him with its hypnotic beam.

      The last night of 1845, he mused. It had been a good year which had seen the birth of his first-born son.

      I wonder what ’46 will bring? More good foals from my mares, I hope, and maybe I can catch that black stallion.

      Now there was a prize! He was magnificent, about 22 hands, black as the night sky, with a single white star on his forehead and as arrogant as hell. Joseph named him ‘Star’, a name that future leaders of the herd would inherit.

      Joseph had been close only once, about five paces from him. Then, as if to say, I am a free spirit, Joseph, the stallion had reared up, tossed his mane and taken his herd of excited mares back up the mountain.

      ***

      Joseph swung himself up into Ginger’s saddle & slowly made his way back to the homestead. Gazing upwards into the heavens he noticed the Southern Cross, the Milky Way – oh there’s Orion’s Belt and that’s a shooting star, I should make a wish…

      Chapter 1

      1846

      THE stallion stood atop his mountain kingdom, no man would dare follow him here. This was HIS mountain, HIS retreat, where he sired his beautiful mares, and nuzzled the shoulders of young foals as they clamoured for his affection and leadership. He had built an empire here on this mountain and no man-creature would take it from him.

      The mares and foals had settled down for the night. In the distance he heard the lonely cry of a dingo drifting on the cool night air.

      Suddenly, Star was startled by a bright light which appeared above and around him, setting his coat on fire with sparks of blue and orange light. His first thought was for the herd, but they had neither seen nor sensed this apparition. The cold southerly wind was now about his shoulders, but this light stayed upon him and he could neither move nor make a sound, it was as if he was caught in one of those mantraps.

      Terrified, he stared into the light as three man-like figures moved towards him. Their bodies shimmered as they approached and still he was frozen. As the stallion awaited his doom, a calming aura surged through his body, this fear & loathing of the man-creatures left him as the tallest one approached and placed a hand on his star encrusted forehead. Then a gentle voice spoke inside his head, assuring him that no harm would befall them.

      We have long admired your wonderful form and have come to take some of your kind to our own planet where no such magnificent creatures as you exist.

      Please assemble your herd as we cannot stay long. Alpha Centauri is many light years away.

      The stallion was puzzled.

      I cannot take them all, for who will continue the bloodline?

      We understand, came the voice in his head again.

      Leave your young colt and six of your best fillies to continue the line as we shall be back in fifty years for more of your kind, to replenish and strengthen our herd.

      The silver-grey man-creature removed his hand from the stallion’s forehead and the mind voices disappeared.

      In a trance-like state, Star picked his way back down through the rocks and scrub till he reached the herd. A young colt approached as if some sixth sense had pre-warned him of the herd’s fate, then took off at a gallop into the bush, wide eyed and heart pounding fearfully.

      As he rounded up the sleepy foals and mares and started upwards, Star looked around knowing he would never see his beloved mountain again. With the young foals now huddled close to their mothers, there was an air of anticipation and wonderment about them. The stallion nosed them up the ramp into the light-filled ship as one of the man-creatures patted him reassuringly. For the first time in his life he was at peace with his destiny amongst the stars.

      Chapter 2

      1905

      HIS herd trailing some metres behind him, the old stallion plodded through the night. It had been a cruel year for fodder and water; the man-creatures were now making great inroads into his territory with huge noisy, metal machines rolling across the outback and roads cutting into his beloved forest and bush. He had lost a couple of his herd to hunters so now he moved them at night when the man-creatures slept.

      His favourite mare moved alongside and nuzzled him gently. She was a beautiful roan and complimented his coal-black coat. His star-crested forehead gleamed in the moonlight and she took great pride in the fact that this magnificent stallion had sired many a strong foal for her.

      Star was heading back to the well-known territory of his youth and could smell the old familiar aromas as he led them through the moonlight covered bush back to the mountain which held faint memories of a night long ago. His mare had borne him a very handsome son this year, coal-black and high stepping, just like he had been all those years ago.

      He will make a great leader, he mused as the young black colt pranced alongside him in their journey towards destiny.

      As the herd settled down for the night, Star ascended the mighty peak, bathed in moonlight and silhouetted against the night sky like some ancient mythological creature.

      It was quiet now apart from the leaves rustling on an old gum tree; a rock wallaby loped by on his way to a waterhole.

      At first he thought it was the moon moving towards him but no, this was getting closer and bigger. Panic gripped him as his mind raced back in time to

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