EVERYTHING IN HELENA'S LIFE is in perfect order. As the daugh-ter of magistrate and quarry owner Lord Roseby, she has a comfort-able home on a grand estate, and with the help her best friend, Jamie the stable boy, she is secretly able to ride her father's powerful horses-without the confines of sidesaddle.

Then in a single day, everything changes. A visit from the local customs officer reveals that dangerous smugglers ate on the loose in Helenal's quiet village. The same evening, Lord Roseby brings home a mysterious and beautiful stallion. Before Helena knows what's happened, her world turned completely upside-down, and becomes more exciting than she ever could have imagined.

 

VICTORIA HOLMES grew up on a farm in England, Where she learned to ride at the at the age of two. When she wasn't riding ponies and hand-rearing calves, she enjoyed reading and writing stories of her own. She studied English at Oxford University, where the beautiful ancient buildings and sense of tradition inspired an interest in history. Victoria now works in London as a children's book editor and escapes to the English coun-tryside whenever she can to ride horses and walk her dog, Missy.