Indigo

Horse power

When Indigo first turned up in The Mirror of Pharos I wondered what on earth he was doing there – a fragile ornament with hooves pawing the air in the middle of Jack’s collection of model motorbikes.  Nothing ever happens in a story without a good reason.  And if it does you have to be brutal and cut it out!

However, it wasn’t long before I realised his significance.  What began as a small detail grew into something much more potent and magical.  It actually took me by surprise, like a gift I hadn’t realised was there – right under my nose.

Jack’s horse is smaller than the one in the picture but has a similar stance.  This beautiful creature sits on my son’s bookshelf and was made in a glass factory in Venice.  Before our very eyes, the glassblower – a big man with an impressive handlebar moustache – moulded the liquid glass with red hot tongs.

At first we didn’t know what he was doing.  Or what the blue glass would turn into.  Or even that he was making something for us.  But in less than two minutes he presented the horse to one very startled boy.

And there he sits on his hind legs, rearing up as if he’s about to run away.  A piece of molten magic, solidified into a recognisable shape.  Created just the way a story is.