The Island Stallion Races Read Online Free PDF

sort of a stirring directly above the patch. He told himself it was being caused by the sun’s rays. But the sun was still high in the heavens. A light was beginning to dance directly above the grayish-white patch. Rapidly it became brighter, and then Steve knew what it was.
The golden mass of the day before. The second sun that had swept over Blue Valley. The meteor that was no meteor!
    In a few seconds the mass was big and round and glowing. Steve closed his eyes against its brightness. Yet he didn’t keep them closed, for he wanted to watch. He saw the long flash of an object high above the golden mass before it plummeted down to the water. He made out its needle-like shape just before it disappeared within the great light. Then the mass faded rapidly until nothing was left on the water but that small patch of grayish-white.
    Steve lowered the binoculars, turned away and staggered through the tunnel. What was out there on the water? What had he seen?
    Whatever it was, he and the horses were safe in Blue Valley. Nothing,
no one
could reach them withinthe barrier walls of Azul Island. Soon
it
would go away, and all would be quiet and peaceful again. But what was it? He wanted to
know
.
    His breath came faster just as his steps did, without his being aware of it. The needle-like object that had flashed through the sky had been guided to that mass of golden light, he decided. Guided by whom? What was the light? Where had it gone?
    He stumbled and fell, but managed to keep his lantern from being broken. For a moment he lay on the ground, finding comfort in his familiarity with this underground world. A soothing quietness came to his body and mind. Perhaps he had seen nothing at all. Perhaps his eyes, affected by long weeks of bright, tropical sun, had created these optical illusions of mass and objects. Mirages had appeared to others at sea and in the desert. Why not to him?
    Finally he got to his feet and began walking again. But he had gone only a short distance when suddenly he fell to his knees with a force that sent the lantern crashing hard against the jagged wall. The strong current of tunnel air quickly extinguished the flame and then he was in total darkness.
    He made no attempt to get the flashlight from his knapsack but remained absolutely still, listening. Yet the voices could not be real, nothing he actually heard! His ears, like his eyes, he decided, must be playing tricks on him in this black world a thousand and more feet beneath the dome of Azul Island.
    On hands and knees he went forward, feeling his way along the ground. The voices rang constantly in his ears, soft and almost musical,
clear and so distinct
. Washis mind too playing tricks on him? No one else could be in this maze of tunnels known only to Pitch and himself!
    He inched forward, rounding a turn, and there he saw the light of a burning lantern coming from a side chamber. He dropped flat on the ground so quickly that his head struck the stone, the impact making the blood gush from his nose. But he felt nothing, saw nothing … only his ears seemed alive.
    “Really, Jay,” a voice said impatiently, “it’s getting late and we should go back. We’ve wasted most of the day already.”
    “Wasted?” another voice asked. “Did you expect to find anything like this? You know as well as I do that we’re most fortunate.”
    “Well, of course. I admit all that. But at the same time we mustn’t overdo it. After all, there’s work to be done.”
    “It can wait.”
    Steve raised his head, listening to the voices and experiencing a strange solace in his final acceptance that they were
real
. No longer did he have to fear discovery with no chance to fight back. The danger was here, only a few feet away from him. He rose and went slowly forward, making no noise. He tried to still the pounding of his heart, afraid that it might betray his presence. Closer and closer he moved to the doorway, stealthily transferring his weight from one leg to the