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Corr is the fastest capall uisce I’ve ever sat on

Beneathseaweed Her eye, turned toward me, weeps seawater I don’t like the feel of her -- sinuous and hard to hold -- but then, I am used to Corr

"Take her out," Gorry says "Tellfaster"

I let her trot; she h the packed sand toward the water, ears pinned to her mane I thumb my iron pieces out from ht on a heart-shaped spot of white She shudders and twists her body away from my touch I don’t like the unhorse-like tilt to her head or the way that she never unpins her ears None of the horses are to be trusted But I trust her less than allop her Feel her speed for allop to convince me that what she is like at a trot is worth it But I let out her reins and nudge her sides

She is down the beach like an osprey diving for a fish Breathlessly fast And always, always conscious of the water, angling toward the sea And again, that sinuous, slippery movement She seems far less horse than sea creature to me, even now, even in the deep of October, even on dry land Even within her ear

But she is fast Her strides eat the sand, and we pass by the cove that ood surface in only seconds The rush of speed bursts throughon the surface of water I don’t want to think of her as faster than Corr, but she must be close Anyway, how can I knoithout hiet rocky When I move to slow her, the piebald courses upward in a rear, her teeth snapping, predatory

All of a sudden she sly of the sea Not of the beach, which is what most people think is the odor of the sea Not of seaweed, or of salt, but of your head beneath the surface, breathing water, lungs full of the ocean The iron has no effect as we pelt toward the water

My fingers work through herin her ear, and all the while my inside hand turns her in smaller and s is sure

As we charge across the sand, the ic in her calls to me, insidious Precious little of ainst her neck, perhaps, though uarded insidedozens of the water horses that allowsin le Fly with her into the water

Threes Sevens Iron across my palm

I whisper: "You will not be the one to drownher back toward Gorry, but it’s probably only seconds And all the while her neck still feels snaky to me and her teeth are still bared in a way that no land horse would present theet hoift she was

"Didn’t I tell you she was the fastest thing you’d ever ride?" Gorry asks

I slide off her and hand him the reins He takes the face

I say, "Thisto kill someone"

"Hey now," Gorry objects Then: "They’ve all killed soh part of me does

"Someone else will buy her," Gorry says "And then you will be sorry"

"That someone else will be dead," I reply "Throw her back"

I turn away

Behind me, I hear Gorry say, "She’s faster than your red stallion"

"Throw her back," I repeat, not turning around

I knoon’t

CHAPTER SEVEN

PUCK