In memory of the real Merlin, who really did run away with me
First published in 2023 in Great Britain by Barrington Stoke Ltd
18 Walker Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7LP
www.barringtonstoke.co.uk
Text © 2023 Tanya Landman
Illustrations © 2023 Sònia Albert
The moral right of Tanya Landman and Sònia Albert to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in any part in any form without the written permission of the publisher
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library upon request
ISBN: 978-1-80090-173-5
Printed by Hussar Books, Poland
CONTENTS 1. The Time Before Merlin 1 2. Explorers 8 3. Perfect Day 19 4. At the End of the Day 27 5. Attacked! 34
CHAPTER 1
The Time Before Merlin
One Christmas, Meg’s uncle told a story about something silly that he’d done when he was a young man. With a laugh and wink to the other grown-ups, he’d added, “You know … BC.”
Meg hadn’t understood why that was funny. The next day, she had asked Dad what “BC” was and he’d said that it meant Before Children. She still didn’t really get it.
1
Meg and Merlin: Running Away
But then one summer morning she woke up with the thought in her head that her own life had split into Before and After. Not Before Children, but Before Merlin.
Before Merlin was a fuzzy memory. Before Merlin Meg had wished and wanted and longed for a pony of her own. She had wanted it so badly that it hurt.
Before Merlin she’d only had rides at the local stables from time to time. Those short rides had seemed to be over in the blink of an eye. And then there would be long, empty days with no ponies and no rides.
Then everything changed. She’d woken up on her tenth birthday and seen Merlin standing in the front garden, but he wasn’t a surprise birthday present. He actually belonged to a woman called Mrs Hill and her daughter Isobel.
2
Isobel was away at university and Merlin had got bored with no one to take him out. He had escaped from his field and ended up outside Meg’s house.
3 The Time Before Merlin
Meg and Merlin: Running Away
When Meg took him back, Mrs Hill was so pleased that she said Meg could ride him whenever she wanted.
“Whenever she wanted” was all the time. Meg wished she could move into Merlin’s field and stay there for ever. But living in a field with a pony wasn’t allowed. There were other things like school that got in the way.
Even so, Meg rode Merlin nearly every day. And the more she’d ridden, the more confident she’d felt. She’d even got brave enough to compete with Merlin at a local horse show.
Sam Houseman, who was in the year above Meg at school, was at the show too. Sam was riding a lovely pony called Alfred, and that day the two girls and the two ponies had made friends. Today they were meeting up to go for a long picnic ride.
4
It had been tricky to arrange their day out. Meg’s mum wasn’t really a pony person. She always looked at Merlin as if he was a bomb that might explode at any moment. She worried every time Meg went for a ride.
Mum didn’t like the idea of Meg being out all day and she didn’t really know Sam or her pony. Meg had heard Mum and Dad talking about it at night when they thought she was asleep.
“Sam’s older than Meg and she’s probably been riding a lot longer,” fretted Mum. “You saw them at the show, dashing about the place, going over those jumps. Suppose she makes Meg do something silly? What if she falls off?”
“Sam looks like a sensible girl,” Dad said. “And Meg’s got her head screwed on. They’ll be fine.”
5
The Time Before Merlin
Meg and Merlin: Running Away
But Mum still fretted. In the end, they had agreed that Mum would talk to Sam’s mother after school one day.
Meg was nervous about that idea. Sam’s mother had been at the show where Meg and Sam had met. She had yelled at Sam all the time while she was riding her pony, “Get him moving, Sammy! Legs! Legs!” she had shouted. Meg knew Sam had been really embarrassed.
Whatever Sam’s mother had said to Meg’s mum made no difference. Meg’s mum was still worried but, even so, she didn’t stop Meg going. She even made her picnic lunch and packed it into a rucksack so it was all ready for Meg to take.
After breakfast, Dad picked up the car keys to drive Meg over to Merlin’s field. Just before they left, Mum suddenly pressed her mobile phone into Meg’s hands.
6
“Take this,” she said. “If you need anything, or anything goes wrong, just phone Dad and he’ll come and get you, OK?”
“All right. Thanks.” Meg gave Mum a big hug and tucked the phone into her pocket.
7 The Time Before Merlin
