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me.’
    Luke lingered on that thought a moment longer before continuing. ‘I remember seeing Stormy-girl and the wild stallion outside my bedroom window. She was a coloured mare, you could see her white patches moving in the dark.’ Luke turned to Jess. ‘We lived at the bottom of a big mountain.’
    â€˜Really?’
    â€˜I don’t know,’ he said, sounding suddenly muddled. ‘I don’t know if it was a dream or if it was real.’
    â€˜You must have been pretty young.’
    â€˜I was only four.’
    Jess lay in Luke’s arms, imagining a mare called Stormy-girl galloping through the trees with a wild brumby stallion. ‘Did she ever go looking for her? Try to get her back?’
    â€˜Yeah,’ said Luke quietly. ‘In Mum’s stories there was a place.’ His voice took on a story-telling tone. ‘There’s a place on the tablelands where all the boundaries meet, a no-man’s land where wild horses live.’ He smiled fondly, as though filled with good memories. ‘That’s how her stories always started.’
    â€˜Go on,’ whispered Jess.
    â€˜In a landlocked valley, wild and unclaimed, Saladin’s spirit is born to the blue-eyed brumbies. The place is so exquisitely special, it must be kept secret.’
    He laughed suddenly. ‘I’m being stupid.’
    â€˜No, no, go on. It’s a good story.’
    â€˜She called it Brumby Mountain,’ Luke continued. ‘She told me it was real. I can’t remember much more.’ He paused and his voice changed again. ‘I know it’s really stupid, but I’ve got it in my head that that’s where these brumbies are coming from. They’ve got the blue eyes. They’re creamy like Saladin. People wouldn’t get away with brumby-running in the national parks these days. So where are the runners catching these horses?’
    â€˜So you think there might be a breakaway mob, hiding out somewhere, that the parks don’t know about?’
    â€˜Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?’ said Luke.
    â€˜Not really,’ Jess said. ‘If only they could tell us. If only Sapphire could talk.’
    Luke sighed. ‘Sapphire.’
    Jess didn’t answer. She didn’t need to point out what a mess the horse was.
    â€˜I did the wrong thing, trying to save him. I’ve just made him suffer more.’
    Jess leaned over and flicked off the lamp. ‘Get some sleep.’
    She snuggled into his arms but he barely hugged her back. She could almost hear him thinking. Again, she could feel the pull that the horses, the mountain, the property, were having over him.

    The next morning the front door slammed and Lawson walked into the lounge room. ‘Your dad’s outside, Jessica. He just pulled up in the driveway.’
    Luke exploded off the couch, sending Jess sprawling to the floor with the blanket wrapped around her head. She hurriedly pulled it off and jumped to her feet, checking that her pyjamas were where they were supposed to be.
    Lawson roared with laughter.
    â€˜Pig,’ she muttered.
    Luke mumbled a few curses and flopped back onto the couch.
    â€˜Hey, I just got a phone call from a bloke called Frank O’Brien,’ said Lawson, using his toe to peel off a boot, then kicking it into a shoe basket by the front door. ‘He does horse starting clinics with teenagers. He’s coming out to have a look at my brumbies tomorrow afternoon. He needs some young ones for a workshop that’s coming up in a few weeks.’
    â€˜Oh, that’s fantastic,’ said Jess. ‘Your brumbies would be perfect.’
    â€˜He said as long as they can lead and tie up, he’ll take them,’ said Lawson.
    â€˜That shouldn’t be too hard,’ said Luke. ‘Yours are just about ready to go.’ He sighed. ‘My ones are just nuts, though. I can’t get anywhere near them yet.’
    â€˜Still haven’t