There is a wide, wide world outside of Home. Already, Noma understands this. She has scampered over every inch of the Pampas, carefully staying just inside her mother’s defined boundaries, and she grows more and more interested in what lies outside those borders. But she has followed all of her mother’s rules, though, and today she gets to go someplace new. With only a little hesitation, the winged mare has left Noma here in the playground while she runs her other errands.

She tries to take everything in as she darts from place to place, looking under logs and up into trees and amongst the grasses. A few times she rustles up some unsuspecting wildlife, which is exciting, but the copper-and-white girl is really looking for something else – or should we say someone else? A playmate, a friend, someone her own age for once. She’s tired of the long naps and peaceful strolls her mother finds so invigorating, and she wants to play games with someone her own age.

‘Be careful,’ Noah had whispered, ‘not everyone is a friend.’ Noma has accepted this as true, in the abstract, but she’s quite sure that it only applies to adults. People her own age must be ok, because they can’t possibly be bad yet. “Hello!” she shouts into the wind, rising up on her hind legs to strike playfully at the empty air. “Hello! Is anyone out there?!”