Mourad

Mourad is Aram's high-spirited cousin, "considered crazy by everybody who knew him except me." He is the natural descendant of the family's crazy streak, full of the joy of living — he "enjoyed being alive more than anybody else" and roars out songs as he rides. Adventurous and daring, he takes the horse and rides it secretly at dawn. Above all, he has an extraordinary bond with living things: he claims "a way with a horse" built on "a simple and honest" understanding, gently tends a robin with a hurt wing, and moves silently past John Byro's dogs. Crucially, beneath the mischief he is deeply honest: when Aram suggests keeping the horse, Mourad is outraged — "Are you inviting a member of the Garoghlanian family to steal?" — and ins …