The Summer Horse and the Boy.

"Mike!"The deep voice floated up the stairs. "You know where everything is. I hope to be back around 7pm. I'll bring in some fish and chips. Your bike's in the garage. Have a great day." The front door slammed and a few minutes later Mike heard his uncle drive away.

Mike stretched luxuriously. He was a stocky boy with the same thatch of brown hair as his uncle, but his deep set green eyes were the same as his mother's. The first day of the summer holidays. Bliss! He was spending these glorious weeks at Uncle Pat's. Pat Ryan, built like a bear, with kind eyes, and the gentlest hands Mike had ever seen. He had watched them holding a frightened, sick or injured animal at his vetinary practice. He was a born vet and the kindest of uncles and a welcome change from the heavy atmosphere at home. Mike had had a disastrous year at school, even he had been shaken by some of the comments his teachers had made. His father's harsh words still echoed in his ears.

His parents owned and ran a restaurant in town. The summer was a busy time for them and Pat, his mother's brother, had suggested that he spend his summer holidays with him. This time Pat had been urged to motivate the boy. As his mother had said important exams were on the horizon and time went quickly. Mike didn't seem remotely interested in anything related to school. Pat had laughed and promised that he would see what he could do.

Mike climbed out of bed, took the quickest shower on record and, pulling on his clothes, went down to the kitchen. After a large breakfast he made himself a sandwich, added fruit and biscuits for the peckish times of the day, a large bottle of orange juice and crammed the lot into Uncle Pat's old rucksack. He added a pair of binoculars as he was a keen bird watcher, collected his bike and headed for the beach. He found a suitable sand dune above the miles of soft white sand that bordered the ocean's infinity. His best friends, Bob and Liam, were due at their gran's house in a couple of days and with them here the summer would be perfect. They could forget about school and have a great time. Mike ran through in his mind all the projects they had discussed. His musing was interrupted by the sound of hooves. He looked down and saw a string of horses cantering along the beach. They were magnificent animals especially the grey at the front of the string. Mike took out the binoculars and watched them. They looked like race horses. I wonder where they came from? The grey was fantastic. Maybe Uncle Pat knows. I'll ask him later.

That evening between mouthfuls of hot fish and chips Mike asked about the horses.
"They'll be ones from the racing stables the other side of the dunes. I heard that they were bought and completely refurbished early in the spring to accomodate some Prince's race horses. I believe that one of them is very valuable and security around them is tight."
Mike finished the last chip.
"I enjoyed watching them, especially the grey." That night he dreamt of the horses and in his dream, he rode the grey. He saw them again on the following days. I wish I could see them more closely but from what Uncle Pat says it would be mission impossible!

The phone call came early in the morning.
"Mike, it's for you, it's Liam."
It was not good news. Bob and Liam's gran had fallen and broken her hip, and was in hospital. The boys would not be coming. The fine weather had broken and Mike was as dismal as the day. After Uncle Pat had left for work, Mike turned on the television. There was no point in going to the beach he thought dejectedly as sheets of rain ran down the windows. What was he going to do without Bob and Lian to share the holidays they'd so carefully planned?
The phone ringing interrupted his gloomy thoughts.
"If you've nothing else to do I could use a hand here at the practice. There are several useful jobs that you could do. It's better than watching the rain. If you don't want to ride there's a bus that goes past in a few minutes."
Uncle Pat hung up.
Mike pulled a face. Not his idea of fun cleaning litter trays for sick cats or counting pills. Still it would fill up a wet afternoon.
The afternoon at the practice passed quickly and Mike found that he enjoyed the things he was allowed to do. Just as they were closing a man appeared. He spoke urgently to Pat who collected his bag, some drugs and with Mike in tow they set off.
"Where are we going Uncle Pat?"
Uncle Pat raised an eyebrow.
They followed the man along the windy road above the dunes. After a while they turned into impressive gates. A house set in a beautiful garden stood to their left. They carried on to, the right under an archway and stopped in front of a set of long, low buildings. A man met them and asked them to follow him.
"Is it?" hissed Mike tugging Pat's sleeve"
"It is."

An Alsatian with a swollen paw lay in a dog bed. Pat began his examination. The man explained that the, dog had trodden on something, thatn he had treated the wound but it wasn't getting any better?
"It won't without antibiotics."
Pat filled a syringe from a variety of bottles in his bag and injected the dog. He cleaned the wound and bandaged the paw.
"Don't let him use the paw more than he needs to. I'll come back in a few days. In the meantime crush one of these in his food every day."
Pat handed the man a box of pills.
As he closed his bag Pat caught sight of his nephew's face.
"My nephew has been admiring your horses from the top of the dunes these last few days. He's particularly taken with the grey. Is there any chance he could see them as we are here?"
Mike crossed his fingers behind his back.
"Of course. Please follow me."
A few minutes later they stood in the stable yard. Facing them was a line of horse boxes.
"The grey is at the far end."
The horse was magnificent. A large grey with a noble head, a flowing mane and dark, knowing eyes that followed every movement. As they approached he tossed his head and whinnied.
"That's Scimitar. He's here for the summer."
Mike was speechless. He'd never been so close to a horse before and the sight of Scimitar took his breath away.
"He's, he's, he's..."
The man smiled.
"Yes, he is. He's highly bred, highly strung, highly temperamental and highly intelligent, and he's the Prince's favourite."
"But? Pat asked the question.
"But he's a long way from his home stables, he's missing his stable boy, also the Prince's frequent visits and no doubt his equine friends. He's here for the sea and light training as much is expected of him next season. He seems mildly depressed although we do what we can for him. The highlight of his day is his morning gallop on the beach."
The man picked an apple from a nearby basket, gave it to Mike and pointed to Scimitar. Mike moved gently and quickly towards the huge animal.Horse and boy looked at each other and a current seemed to pass between them. Mike held out the apple and Scimitar graciously accepted it.
"I'll be back in a few days. Come along Mike."
Pat urged his nephew back to the car.

The weather had settled at last but Mike found that holiday amusements did not fill his days as much as thoughts of Scimitar. He waited impatiently for Pat to pay his return visit to the racing stables. The day came at last. They were buzzed through the gates and the same man met them.
"My name is Amar" he told them as he took Pat to see the dog. He turned to Mike as Pat examined the dog's fast healing paw.
"Would you like to see Scimitar?"
Mike nodded.
In the stable block Mike took an apple from the basket and headed to Scimitar's stall. The horse whinnied softly and shook his head. Once again boy and horse looked at each other, the apple was taken and when Mike turned to go the horse's eyes followed him.

One night Uncle Pat was home later than usual.
"A last minute emergency" he explained. "By the way, Mr Amar phoned this afternoon. He is much impressed by your impact on Scimitar and the way he responds to you. He doesn't want to interfere with your enjoyment of your holidays but wonders if you could pay Scimitar a visit now and then?"
The look on Mike's face was enough.
"I'll phone him tomorrow and tell him to expect you."

The weeks of Mike's holiday fell into a wonderfully satisfying pattern. Weather permitting he enjoyed all the pleasures of the beach, wet weather found him helping out at the practice and several times a week he rode to the stables to see Scimitar. There he spent time with the horse, stroking his velvety nose, talking to him and feeding him an apple. The horse whickered softly as though he was answering Mike. It was obvious that the pair of them enjoyed each other's company. Mr Amar told Mike that since his visits Scimitar had stopped being mildly depressed and had regained all his notorious temperament. By the time the summer ended Mike had many new friends among the stable boys.

On the last evening of the holidays Mike addressed his uncle.
"Thanks for everything Uncle Pat. When I go back to school I'm going to work hard and make up lost time. I want to be a vet."
Uncle Pat smiled "It's a long, hard road ahead of you but I'll help you all I can. At least your mother can't say that I haven't motivated you!"