Dear Mr Cornwell,

first off, thank you ever so much for your brilliant writing and the endless hours of pleasure afforded me by your brilliant books. Can’t thank you enough!

Now to take a stab at Sharpe’s father. Honestly, the riddle makes my head hurt, but a character came to mind due to two words, happy and horse. It’s purely an instinctive guess, but, it’s all I have and so will take a chance. Is the answer John Bull? I just had a feeling. He was jolly/happy, and well, horse’s and bulls are both farm animals. Ahem. My stab maybe more a long shot, but sometimes they hit the mark, and I’d be bloody overjoyed if I was somehow right.

Best wishes,

Ollie