Sebastian moved over to his lap and whimpered. Alec pushed the dog’s head to one side and then hastily ripped the envelope open, removing several papers. On top, in Abu Ishak’s familiar handwriting, was a short note:

Arabia
July 15th

DEAR ALEC,

As I promised, the firstborn of Shêtân, or your Black, will be shipped to you aboard the steamer Queen of India, due to leave Addis on the thirtieth of this month, and arriving in New York on the twenty-eighth of August. I’m enclosing all necessary papers, the transfer of ownership, his registration in the Stud Book of Arabia, and papers to claim him upon arrival in New York. Yes, Alec, it is a colt, and he’s coal black like his sire except for a small white diamond in the center of his forehead.

May the great Allah be with you, and may the colt love you as does his sire.

Affectionately,
ABU JA‘ KUB BEN ISHAK

Alec’s eyes were moist as he finished reading the note. And to think that there had been times when he doubted the promise of the sheikh! As he read the other papers enclosed, Sebastian whimpered for attention and Alec automatically patted the dog. Yes, everything was there, just as Abu Ishak had written. Everything that was necessary to claim the colt as his colt. Everything, just as he and Henry had planned. This was the beginning!

Alec suddenly jumped from the hammock and shouted so loudly that Sebastian growled, looking for an intruder. Finding none, the dog leapt to the floor and followed Alec as he ran across the porch.

As Alec flung open the screen door, he turned to the dog and playfully slapped him on the back. “You’re going to have a pal, Seb!” he shouted. “… A real pal!”

With Sebastian at his heels he ran into the house, climbed the stairs to the second floor, and entered the large front bedroom. Rushing to his desk, Alec seized pen and paper. Before writing, he glanced out the window, and his gaze rested on the old barn and the green flowing field. It wouldn’t be long now before his colt would be grazing out there, and old Napoleon would again have a neighbor in the stall next to his! Abu Ishak had said the ship would arrive on the twenty-eighth. The twenty-eighth! And today was the twenty-third!

Eagerly, Alec turned to the notepaper in front of him and began his letter. “Dear Henry …”

SINISTER EYES
3

Alec’s mother stood quietly on the porch as her son and husband walked to the small, dark sedan parked by the curb. Her gaze wavered from the car a moment and took in the old barn and green field across the street, then returned as the sedan’s motor caught.

She was afraid. Afraid of what this new horse would bring. Twice before a horse, his horse, had led Alec to undertakings few men had ever experienced. Undertakings which for him had been adventurous, exciting. But for her and her husband, they had meant months of anguish and concern.

She closed her eyes and made herself think of her husband’s words early that morning as they had lain in bed: “His horse is his world, Belle, and we can’t drive it out of him. We shouldn’t even try.” And then she had detected a note of pride in his voice as he had added, “And you remember how that wild black stallion took to him, Belle. Henry told me that he’d never seen anything like it before. And the way Alec could ride him! Why, no tame horse could set foot on the same track with those two! Belle, he just grew up there on his back.… He just grew there.” Then, when he had turned to her and had seen how worried she was, he had taken her hand and, patting it, had said, “But there’s nothing to get disturbed about this time, Belle. It’s just a pony he’s getting today … a little pony whom we’ll probably enjoy having around as much as we do Sebastian.”

Now her eyes followed the car as it rolled down the street. Yes, she thought, it’ll be a pony now, but a full-grown horse before very long. And he’ll always have the blood of that wild black stallion running through his veins.

Alec’s gaze left his father’s long, thin face as the car neared the corner, and his arm went around Sebastian, who sat quietly between them.

“Your mother’s a little worried, Alec.”

“Yes, I know, Dad. But she really shouldn’t be.”

“That’s exactly what I told her, but you know mothers.” Then Mr.