The Island of Lost Horses Quotes

“gumbo-limbo tea.”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses

“What a horror greeted me this morning! I had gone to fetch some water from the village when I saw the carcass of a beast roasting over an open fire. As I got closer I realised it was not a cow or a pig, but a horse!”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses

“Ohmygod!”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses

“I drank a whole lot more switcher”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses

“But in my heart I knew. In that brief glimpse of my mama I had seen the black swellings on the side of her throat and the ruby-red flush of her cheeks, hot with fever. I knew why my father would not let me in. He was trying to save my life. Mama had the black plague. I pressed myself up to the door listening in horror to my mother’s wails on the other side. “Mama,” I sobbed. “Mama, I am here. I am here.” The black plague is a brutal death, and, in my mother’s case, it was mercifully swift. Very soon her screams became pitiful whimpers and moans, and then these too grew weaker until they ceased altogether. I slumped down and cried her name again and again. I knew there was nothing I could do. By the time the dawn’s clear light broke it was over. Mama was dead. “May I see her?” I begged my father when he opened the door at last. “Please, Papa?” My father shook his head. “Even in death she may pass the sickness on to you,”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses

“10th September,”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses

“There was no way. I could catch her, but I ran after her all the same.”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses

“And you know I am right – you are a finer horseman than any man in our kingdom. No one else can ride Cara Blanca!”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses

“The Diary of Felipa Molina”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses

“Also, people are always telling you to have big dreams – like going to the Olympics – and then they tell you off for being a dreamer. So which one is it?”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses

“Ortega 12th April, 2014 I am writing this as fast as I can. The doors on the Phaedra don’t lock, and Mom could walk in any moment. I have no privacy. I am the only twelve-year-old girl I know who has to share a room with her mom. I have pointed out how unfair it is, the way the jellyfish equipment takes up the whole front of the boat, but Mom won’t listen. Typical – the jellyfish get their own room and I don’t. I’m not trying to make excuses for my handwriting or anything, but if it is all scrawly that’s because my arm’s so trembly I can hardly hold the pen. I think it’s from gripping on to the tractor for so long. The entire way home I had to cling to the wheel arch, sitting up there behind Annie like a parrot perched on a pirate’s shoulder. The way she drove along those rutted jungle tracks, I was petrified I was going to lose hold and fall beneath the wheels. By the time we reached the bay and I could see the Phaedra, my body had been shaken up like a can of fizzy drink. There was no sign of Mom as the tractor lumbered over the dunes and down the beach towards the sea. I was kind of relieved, to tell the truth. The whole time at Annie’s house I had been desperate to get back to the boat, but now that I was home I felt sick at the thought of facing Mom. She would be furious with me. I had been gone for two whole days…”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses

“Did you know that a jellyfish’s mouth and bottom is the same hole?”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses

“And the thought briefly flashed into my mind, should I tell Mom what had happened to me? No. I stopped myself. If she knows what happened then she won’t let you go back there – and you must go back. You have to see your horse again… “Mom?” I took a deep breath. “Can we go back to the boat, please? I think I’m going to throw up…” I managed to control the nausea, even with the Zodiac bouncing and skittering across the waves. I sat in the prow on the bench seat, focusing hard on the horizon, which is what you do to stop feeling seasick. When we reached the Phaedra, Mom tied off the inflatable while I dragged myself up the ladder and on to the deck. I was still a bit shaky and I stumbled and fell forward, grabbing the side of the boat to stay upright.”
― Stacy Gregg, The Island of Lost Horses: A magical children's story book full of adventure, mystery, and horses