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Back One Winter Morning Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. By the same author
  4. Dedication
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. Acknowledgements
  54. Read More
  55. Two Years Later
  56. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Bonnie paused as her mobile phone vibrated with a message, and put the pen, the end of which she had been furiously chewing, down on the desk.

It was Tui, and Bonnie felt her chest swell with affection as she read her daughter’s cheerful update.

‘Did sit’s trot today mumy. A Geenee helpped me.’

Tui had clearly been watching her Disney Aladdin DVD again. She often became fixated on things, and would watch her favourite films over and over, sometimes for days on end, until she could recite them by heart. It had started when she was very young, and Bonnie had assumed she would grow out of it eventually, but Tui was fourteen now, and still just as hooked on her cartoons.

Bonnie thought for a moment before tapping out a reply.

‘That’s brilliant news! Did the genie come out of a lamp?’

A message came straight back.

‘No a hairplaine mumy.’

Well, that was a new one. Bonnie grinned. Tui could become agitated when she was corrected for making a mistake, but sometimes she made them on purpose to be funny. She must be trying to catch Bonnie out.

‘Silly me! I forgot that all genies come from planes.’

There was no response to this for a while, and then when Tui did reply, instead of words, she sent two rows of pony emojis, three blue hearts, an Easter Island head, a Spanish flag and the dancing lady in the red dress.

Oh, hell, thought Bonnie as her eyes misted over with tears. She missed her little girl so much. This was the first time the two of them had been apart for longer than a weekend, and the absence was beginning to take its toll. She toyed briefly with the idea of calling Kit to check in, but then thought better of it. She hadn’t even been gone a full week yet, and he would have been in touch if there was anything to worry about. And anyway, she reminded herself, her focus was supposed to be on the task in hand. The more distractions she let in, the longer it would take to get this story written.

Bonnie knew the next few weeks were going to be some of the toughest of her life, but at least she could feel comforted by the knowledge that everything back at home was exactly as it should be.

Penguin walking logo

16

There is no sign of Kit or the Koru Stables minibus as I follow Allie and Tui back into the yard. Several horses are tethered to the same wooden post as they were on my first visit, but none of them are tacked up. Instead, they rest quietly with one back hoof tucked up, their tails dancing away the flies and their eyes closed in a half-snooze.