Maggie swallowed. She wasn’t expected to get anywhere near that, was she?

‘Here she is!’ Lady Ashford said. Maggie wasn’t sure which of them – her or the horse – Lady Ashford was referring to.

She hung back.

‘Fresh as a daisy! Needs a good day’s hunting but that’s a few weeks off.’

The horse was jet-black with a white stripe down its face. As it moved, the huge muscles in its legs and chest rippled. Blimey, those legs were almost as big as her. It was like standing close to a dragon.

‘We usually have mounting blocks around the place but my husband donated them to the Home Guard, for road blocks.’

Maggie couldn’t take her eyes off the horse’s rolling eyes, huge teeth and swishing tail. The stirrup was swinging wildly from the saddle. Get too near to that and you’d be knocked clean out. Surely, she wasn’t expected to get any closer than this? Maggie had to suppress a sudden, terrible urge to scream.

Lady Ashford had untied the horse and was tutting as it skittered about. She pulled the reins in tight. ‘Oh, do calm down. Making such a fuss!’ She looked at Maggie and rolled her eyes. ‘Too many oats and not enough exercise! I can’t leap on while she’s like this.’

Leap on? Why on earth would you do such a thing? Running away would be a far more sensible option. Maggie stepped back, as the horse wheeled around, threw up its head and gave a high-pitched neigh.

‘Pre-war,’ Lady Ashford said, raising her voice over the ear-piercing neighs and clattering hooves, ‘the Boxing Day meet always started here at the Hall. Quite a spectacle. The whole village turned out. You’d have enjoyed it, Mary!’ Lady Ashford gazed into the distance, as though remembering, as the horse yanked at her arm. ‘But my husband doesn’t believe in enjoying oneself too much in wartime, so we’ll have to find somewhere else.’

She turned, looked at the horse and bounced up on her toes. ‘Right,’ she said, ‘could you hold her, while I jump aboard? Hold her head?’

Maggie gawped. Hold her head? That dragon’s head? She wouldn’t be able to reach it, even if she had the nerve. She bit her lip. ‘I don’t think—’

‘Here!’

The reins were thrust into her hands and Maggie had no choice but to grab them and hold tight. The horse immediately jerked her hard but she managed to keep her balance. She gritted her teeth with the effort of staying upright.

The horse stood still for a second – perhaps surprised by Maggie suddenly holding its reins – and Lady Ashford put both hands on the saddle, deftly hoisted herself up and swung her right leg over, in a swift and rather impressive move. She was on board.

‘Gosh, well done,’ Maggie muttered.