The Horses of Hemlock Hall — Sarah Harvey

Lalla lives for Saturdays and her riding lesson, so she is dismayed to hear that not only will she be missing her visit to the stables this week, but she is being packed off to the west country to spend a week of the Easter hols with a great aunt and uncle she has never met before. She protests but her father's mind is made up, he knows she will be safe and well cared for there while he takes her mother away for a few days - after all, what could possibly happen in sleepy Devon? However, 'Hemlock Hall' has a history and it is not long before Lalla finds herself caught up in fulfilling a task set 400 years ago by Monsieur de Chevalaine, a warlock who once lived there. The task is to seek and return four mythical horses to its secret valley and sanctuary. This has to be completed by a descendant of the warlock who must also be an only child of an only child. Lalla meets the oddly dressed boy Hal and the quest begins, but she is not alone in trying to track the horses down.The wicked Professor Alwyn Mortlake from Slorterham Laboratories has her own designs on them. Nor will Lalla be an only child for much longer as she learns that her parents' trip has been cut short and the baby her mother is expecting is now due to arrive sooner than expected. Time is not on her side and this will be a ride she will never forget. Set in the 1980s, The Horses of Hemlock Hall is a thrilling children's story that will appeal to fans of fantasy fiction aged 9 and above.