Penelope was married and Karla was sixteen when tragedy struck their lives.
All down the centuries the Stanton family had been outstanding riders and breeders of horses and Sir Stephen had been anxious to buy several Irish horses to add to his stable.
Sir Stephen had heard that there were some very fine horses in Kilkenny that were being sold because their owner had died.
He decided to go to the sale and, taking his wife with him, they crossed to the Emerald Isle.
He bought six horses and arranged for them to be brought back to England.
He and his wife left Ireland on a cold windy day.
The sea was rough when they started and a violent storm blew up when they were halfway on their journey to England.
The ship was old and the storm was an extremely unpleasant one.
There was a major c
