Summary

Prologue

In the Prologue, nine years earlier, Sean knows someone will die today because it is the first of November. It is always dangerous when they run the horses on the beach, between the water and the cliffs, but race day is even worse. Sean lives and breathes the beach at this time of year because it makes him feel so alive, but an official stops him on his way down the cliffs, warning Sean's father that it will be his fault if the ten-year-old dies. As his father prepares his horse for the race, Sean wishes he was the one riding because he is sure of himself and knows his father is scared of the red stallion. Despite his father's chiding, Sean whispers in the beast's ear, asking it not to eat his father. As Sean watches from the cliffs, his father...