The Amber Legacy by Tony Shillitoe

to Summerbrook, you’ll have to give him back.’ Meg listened, but she silently vowed to hide the horse if any soldiers did come. A good horse would be valuable on the farm.
    ‘You need a name,’ she said, while she curried him with a makeshift brush late on the Alunsday afternoon as the sun set across the distant mountains. ‘Something strong and fearless.’ She pondered choices, as she brushed, but she couldn’t find one that satisfied her. ‘I think you’ll name yourself,’ she finally said, frustrated by her lack of imagination.
    ‘Call him Nightwind.’
    She turned to find Button Tailor smiling at her. ‘You shouldn’t sneak up like that,’ she said, trying to mask her surprise.
    ‘I didn’t mean to,’ he apologised. ‘It’s just you were so busy. I nearly didn’t stop.’
    ‘Why did you?’ she asked, and then blurted, ‘I mean, I didn’t mean to be rude.’
    Button shook his head, laughing. ‘You weren’t rude. And it’s a fair question.’ He lowered his face momentarily, and when he raised it to focus on her she was mesmerised by his deep blue eyes. She hadn’t noticed their intense colour before. ‘I came by to talk to you.’
    Colour rushed into her cheeks. ‘About what?’
    ‘How the horse is. Whether or not you’d be willing to go walking with me tomorrow morning? Or tomorrow afternoon if that’s better?’ Meg broke away from Button’s steady gaze, overwhelmed by his boldinquiry. In the village, a couple walking together was a tacit sign of commitment to a relationship. She wasn’t ready for that. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’m being too pushy, aren’t I?’
    ‘No,’ she replied. ‘No. That’s not it. It’s just that I’ve got several tasks to complete tomorrow around the farm. And then I’m supposed to visit—I’m supposed to drop something to Emma for my mother. It would have to be late tomorrow afternoon.’
    Button smiled and tilted his head. ‘Tomorrow afternoon would be wonderful. I’ll be working at the bakery, repairing a section of paving in their courtyard,’ he explained. ‘Will I meet you here?’
    She hesitated, thinking of what her mother would say if she saw a young man courting her daughter. ‘Meet me at the swimming place, just beyond the Millers’.’
    His smile widened. ‘Where’s Sunfire?’ he asked.
    ‘With my brothers. They went hunting kangaroos. They should be back by now.’
    Button reached forward and stroked the horse’s nose. ‘So what do you think of Nightwind as a name?’
    ‘Why Nightwind?’ she asked.
    ‘Just like it.’
    ‘I’ll think about it,’ she told him. ‘I’d better finish brushing him.’
    ‘And I’ll be going,’ he rejoined. He smiled and bowed slightly, saying, ‘Until tomorrow evening,’ and walked towards the village.
    Meg stopped brushing the horse to watch Button leave, her mind awash with his presence. He was handsome and he was very polite. He’d brought her flowers and he’d asked her to go walking. And those piercing eyes! She was still staring vacantly towards the village, long after Button disappeared, when her mother’s voice roused her.
    For once the dream fascinated her because she seemed to be in a familiar place, at the centre of the village. People she recognised were strewing bright flowers at her feet, and she was wearing what could only be a wedding gown. Her mother and her brothers were laughing, and everyone in the village was singing and dancing. She was aware that someone, the man she was marrying, stood beside her, but she didn’t seem able to turn her head to look at him. Instead her eyes were drawn beyond the festivities, above the village rooftops, to a blue-robed horseman riding towards her out of a roiling bank of storm clouds, and no matter how loud she screamed no one in the village seemed to hear. The horseman wheeled his horse above Samuel’s cave and she could see Samuel staring in horror at the rider. And then Samuel fell and the rider vanished, and she