Charlotte and the Starlet 2

by Dave Warner

  Charlotte noted the girl was trembling. Strudworth began giving details of the teachers and class locations. Charlotte whispered to Hannah.

  'She's not really as bad as she seems.'

  She shoved her plate of baked beans over to Hannah and was pleased to see her tuck in.

  Later when the girls were heading off to their rooms, Strudworth pulled Charlotte aside to inform her that the girl who was supposed to be sharing her room wouldn't be coming.

  'She decided to do ice-skating instead. Can you believe it? So it looks as if you'll be on your own. I'm guessing you'll probably enjoy that.'

  Out of the corner of her eye, Charlotte caught Hannah trying to decipher her billet from the master board.

  'Do you know what room Hannah Weston is in?'

  Strudworth prided herself on knowing every such detail.

  'The Princess Mary of Denmark room.'

  'Would you mind if she joined me?'

  Strudworth examined Charlotte the way a master cabinet maker studies his work for faults.

  'I suppose not.'

  At that moment Chadwick came striding towards them, waving a clipboard.

  'They've consumed over ten loaves of bread.'

  His voice whined like a dentist's drill and was just as unpleasant. Strudworth sighed.

  'They do have to eat.'

  She moved off, corralling Chadwick, who continued to gesticulate.

  Charlotte walked over to where Hannah was running her finger down the board, trying to locate her name.

  'I'm Charlotte.'

  'Hi. Thanks for the food, I was starving. How do you work this thing?'

  'Actually, if you want, you can bunk in with me. Miss Strudworth says it's okay.'

  Hannah looked as if somebody had just given her a basket full of chocolates.

  'Really? That would be great. I don't know anyone here. I didn't do the trials.'

  'You must be pretty good if they accepted you without having to do trials.'

  Hannah shrugged, 'I don't know.'

  'Come on. I'll show you up.'

  Hannah's bags were outside the hall. They were heavy and the two of them had to stop several times on the way up the steps and down the hallway. Finally they made it to their room. It was only as Hannah began unpacking that Charlotte remembered she was supposed to be taking food to Leila.

  'I'll be back later. I just need to see my horse.'

  Leaving Hannah to assemble a jumble of creams, gels and shampoos, Charlotte charged down the hall towards the kitchen. Hopefully it wasn't shut yet.

  'A carrot and an apple? Why not just douse my mane in gasoline and set it on fire?'

  Leila and Charlotte were cloistered in her stall.

  'I'm sorry but there was virtually nothing left over.'

  She didn't dare tell Leila she had rescued these from the bins. 'Dinner was only baked beans, anyway.'

  'I knew it. It's that accountant, Halfwick.'

  'Chadwick.'

  'Whatever. You mark my words. This is just the beginning.' Leila chomped on the carrot. 'Next thing you know you'll be riding wooden horses instead of the real thing.'

  'Charlotte? Are you here?'

  It was Hannah's voice. Leila's expression demanded an explanation.

  'It's my roommate,' whispered Charlotte. She opened the stall door and saw Hannah looking around. 'Over here.'

  Hannah came striding over. One look at Leila and she gasped.

  'What a gorgeous animal.'

  Animal? Leila would give her animal ...

  Charlotte knew Leila well enough to guess her intentions. Before Leila could butt Hannah into a heap of manure, Charlie pulled Hannah aside, shooting a warning glance at her four-legged friend.

  'Behave yourself, Leila. Hannah is my friend.'

  Hannah nodded over to a brown gelding two rows across.

  'I've been assigned Lightning.'

  Leila shot the horse a sympathetic glance. The poor sap. Every second gelding in the world was named Lightning. When they brought in the extras in Leila's movies there were always at least three Lightnings. For unoriginal it was right up there with 'Blackie'.

  'I've got three horses at home but they said I wasn't allowed to bring my own.'

  Charlotte explained the policy.

  'And Miss Strudworth is pretty good at letting you bond with your horse. She let me have Leila over the break.'

  Leila snorted. Wasn't it more the other way around?

  'So what are you doing now, Charlotte?'

  'I thought I'd groom Leila. I often just like to hang out here.'

  'I'll bring Lightning over and we can do it together and you can tell me all about yourself.'

  Leila whinnied and stomped. Charlotte got the message.

  'I'm not sure Leila would like that. She prefers her own space.'

  'Okay. Well, I've already groomed Lightning so he's fine. I'll just sit here. I bet you're a country girl, right?'

  Leila moaned. Oh brother. There was nothing more boring than teenage girls getting to know one another with all that stuff about annoying little sisters and cute babies and which was better – MySpace or Bebo. The only consolation was she would be groomed while they burbled on. But it was a small consolation. She'd given up plenty for this gig and only because she liked being Charlie's best pal. Now this Hannah was muscling in. Well, she better not make a habit of it.

  'It's not my fault. What could I do?'

  It was the next morning. Rain drizzled from a steel-coloured sky, its drops clinging to Charlotte's helmet like bubble wrap, as she rode Leila over greasy grass through a twisting slalom course.

  'You could have not invited her into our lives is what you could have done.'

  Leila clipped one of the cones. It was hard talking and negotiating the obstacles at the same time.

  'You're not jealous, are you?'

  Leila skidded to a halt.

  'Leila does not get jealous. Leila has people jealous of her, not vice versa.'

  'Hmm, well, Leila is sounding very defensive.'

  'I could have gone back to Hollywood.'

  'I know.'

  'Right now I could be floating in Joel Gold's pool ...'

  'I appreciate you staying.'

  'on a plastic whale with a gallon of designer icecream in my own initialled bucket.'

  'Okay, I get the picture.'

  The sound of galloping hooves made Charlotte look up. It was Hannah on Lightning.

  She smiled as she pulled in beside them.

  'Gee, you talk to your horse a lot.'

  Not as much as she used to, thought Leila.

  Charlotte said, 'Leila's a good listener.'

  Suck, thought Leila. I'm not going to be won over that easy. Charlotte was going to have to deliver a lot better than a few platitudes. Treats, to be specific. Yum, what Leila wouldn't give right now for a slab of nougat.

  The image evaporated as Strudworth cantered up.

  'Weston, slalom. Richards, keep moving.'

  Charlotte did as she was told, urging Leila towards the arena. She snuck a peek over her shoulder to watch Hannah on the slalom course. She and Lightning moved fast and smooth, like one of the many reptiles that had given Snake Hills its name.

  'Wow,' gasped Charlotte. 'No wonder she didn't have to do a trial to qualify for the JOES. She can really ride.'

  Leila pouted.

  'She's okay. We took the dew out of the ground so it was easy-peasy for them.'

  Unfortunately they couldn't talk more as the arena was a hive of activity. The Evil Three were all practising, keeping a wary eye on Charlotte.

  Just as Leila was about to take off in an attempt on the steeple, Lucinda let loose a loud sneeze. It distracted Leila and her back leg knocked the pole off.

  'Terribly sorry,' smirked Lucinda.

  'You'll keep,' muttered Charlotte under her breath.

  Fiona, one of the hands, went to replace the pole. Before she could, Chadwick called from an approaching golf-buggy.


  'Fiona, what do you think you're doing?'

  Fiona was perplexed. It seemed pretty obvious to her what she was doing.

  'Fixing the steeple for the next rider.'

  Chadwick tapped his watch.

  'You don't have time for that. You need to help Bevans mow B paddock.'

  'Isn't Mark doing that?'

  'I let Mark go this morning.'

  Charlotte was disappointed. She liked all the hands. They worked very hard to keep Thornton Downs in top condition. She didn't know Mark very well – he was a quiet, younger guy – but he was always friendly. Charlotte noted Fiona's face drop at the news too.

  'Which one is B paddock again? Is that One Tree?' asked Fiona innocently.

  Chadwick muttered to himself and puttered off.

  Charlotte caught Leila's disgusted look. She knew what she was thinking: accountants.

  Later, back in the stable, Charlotte hung up her tack.

  'I'll be back in about five hours.'

  Leila's face dropped.

  'Five hours? We've barely talked. Why can't we go for a ride over towards Milthorp?' Milthorp was where the boy JOES were. Charlotte wished she could have ridden over there. With any luck she might encounter Todd taking Warrior for a gallop. She hadn't spoken to Todd since he'd rung out of the blue a week ago to say he was looking forward to catching up. She liked Todd. He might be rich but no way was he stuck up.

  'What's so important you're going to abandon me for Five Long Lonely Hours?' Leila pushed out her bottom lip.

  'Sorry, but I thought I'd explained. This isn't like last time when I was on holiday. I have school here.'

  'School is for fools. You think I went to school?'

  Charlotte resisted the temptation to make any one of a number of obvious jokes.

  'If I don't go to class I get kicked out of the JOES.'

  'What am I supposed to do? There's no cable in this dump. Hey, there's not even an iPod.'

  Charlotte had no time to argue.

  'I'll bring you my radio, okay?'

  'A transistor?' Leila could barely spit out the word. 'That's, like, older than the ark. It sounds like flies buzzing.'

  'It's all I have.'

  'And that's my fault?'

  Now Charlotte was getting annoyed.

  'Maybe you should have got a richer girl to ride you? Perhaps Lucinda or Emma or Rebecca?'

  'Maybe I should have. I bet they'd bring more than a transistor to their loyal, four-legged superstar pal.'

  'Superstar? That magazine I bought for you said your last two pictures barely made back their cost.'

  'Studio accounting. They were in the black, believe me. And if Tommy Tempest had the camera more on me and less on Sarah-Jane ...'

  Charlotte stood, hands on hips.

  'You know, maybe it wasn't Sarah-Jane who was the problem.'

  Leila turned her back on Charlotte. Charlotte went to chide her but held her tongue. In this mood it wasn't worth wasting breath on her, it would only make Charlotte more annoyed than she already was. She stormed out of the stall without another word.

  This caught Leila by surprise. She had been expecting Charlotte to break down and apologise. It just proved the point. Charlotte didn't need Leila now – out of sight, out of mind. Here was Leila throwing away a successful Hollywood career, for what? This was supposed to be fun. It was that Hannah girl. She was the problem.

  The elderly ladies of Snake Hills, though small in number, were enthusiastic in their efforts to raise money, be it for the Volunteer Fire Brigade, the church roof or Charlotte's school stationery requirements. Charlotte thought of them now in class, not because she was fingering the new ruler and protractor that they had funded, although that would have been perfectly understandable, but rather because of their tuzzy-muzzies. Tuzzy-muzzies, those posies of dried flower petals and herbs, along with lamingtons, formed the biggest guns in the Snake Hills fund-raising arsenal. The reason tuzzy-muzzies popped into Charlotte's brain in the midst of her Maths class was because Miss Batt, the young and enthusiastic Maths teacher, smelled like one. Too much perfume. Aside from that minor flaw, Charlotte liked her. She proved herself to be extremely patient, wading through five incorrect answers from Rebecca as to the sum of four times seven divided by the sum of seven times four. Finally Emma wrote the answer on her hand and flashed it at Rebecca, who still managed to get it wrong.

  'Hmm, a straight line?' Rebecca opined without conviction.

  Emma's head sank in her hands. Miss Batt was momentarily lost for words, perhaps thinking she might have started the Geometry class without realising it. It was one of the few moments of the class Charlotte was actually engaged in. But she soon found herself switching off and dwelling on her tiff with Leila. Leila was her best friend and the last thing she wanted to do was make her feel she wasn't appreciated. Leila could be self-centred but she had given up a lot to do the JOES with Charlotte. Leila could have been kicking up her hooves in Hollywood, not ...

  'Charlotte?'

  Charlotte suddenly became aware Miss Batt was staring at her with large brown eyes full of anticipation. The rest of the class had swung her way, waiting for an answer to the question Charlotte had missed. She could see the look of anticipatory delight on the faces of The Evil Three.

  'Um ...' Charlotte tried to stall while she searched her memory for what she might have been asked. Hannah engaged her eyes meaningfully as if to say, 'watch me'. Then she blinked three times.

  Charlotte got the message.

  'Three.' She was about to sit back but caught Hannah's urgent 'not yet'look. Hannah pointed into the air. Charlotte understood and quickly corrected.

  'Three point ...'

  Hannah made a circle with her mouth.

  'Three point O ...'

  Hannah made as if she were eating.

  '... eat. I mean eight! 3.08.'

  Miss Batt smiled.

  'Excellent. Well done, Charlotte.'

  The Evil Three sank back in their chairs, disappointed. The rest of the classes passed uneventfully. Miss Batt did all the Science and Maths classes while Mr Craven, a thin, nervous young man who stammered and wore a shirt with a frayed collar, taught English and everything else. When it came time to break for lunch Charlotte immediately started towards the stables but Hannah intercepted her.

  'Where are you having lunch, Charlotte?'

  'Actually, I was on my way to Leila.'

  She could see Hannah wanted to be asked to join her. It was very awkward. She and Leila needed to have a private heart-to-heart but, at the same time, Hannah had saved her in Maths. She decided she would have to wait till later to speak to Leila.

  'I suppose I can see Leila later. Where are you having lunch?'

  Hannah brightened.

  'I thought under the tree away from those horrible three. Did you see? They kept flicking wet spitballs of paper at me during class.'

  Charlotte had been so wrapped up in what she was going to say to Leila she hadn't noticed. The news, however, did not surprise her.

  'They're just jealous because you're smarter than them.'

  From her stall Leila was able to look out across the lawn to the main building. She saw Charlotte moving off with Hannah. Well, that certainly proved who the third wheel was. It hurt. It really hurt. You could put a big chocolate sundae in front of Leila right now and she wouldn't even be able to touch it ... Okay, she could maybe have the ice-cream, the chocolate sauce and the nuts but not the cherry. No way. She was too upset.

  Chapter 3

  It wasn't until the afternoon session that Charlotte made it into the stables. She opened the stall door to be confronted by Leila's backside.

  'Sorry I couldn't come before.'

  Silence.

  'Leila, come on. We have to get out to the exercise yard.'

  Leila turned her head around.

  'Sure you can spare the time? Maybe Hannah needs you to brush her hair.'

  'Don't be pathetic.'

  The other girls ente
red and conversation became impossible. Charlotte saddled Leila up and led her out without a further word being spoken. And that was the way it stayed for the first twenty minutes of the session. Finally Charlotte felt it was just too childish to continue. She decided to make the first move.

  'Leila, I apologise if I've upset you.'

  'Yeah, right.'

  Leila was pleased Charlotte was making the right noises but wanted her to squirm.

  'Come on, you're not being fair.'

  'I'm not being fair? You didn't have to stand in a boring stall with a bunch of dumb nags for five hours. You were off with Han-NAH.' Leila used a particularly smarmy inflection on her name.

  'But I've explained. There was nothing I could do.'

  'Except choose me instead of her.'

  They were trotting around the perimeter of the paddock. It gave them some privacy and enough space to talk.

  'We should be catching up now, enjoying our time together, not arguing.'

  'I'm not arguing, I'm just telling it like it is, holding a mirror to an unjust world.'

  Charlotte sighed deeply.

  'How about if I bring you a special treat tonight?'

  Leila's ears pricked up. Now Charlie was talking.

  'How special?'

  'A shortbread biscuit.'

  'Nothing short. Do I look short to you?'

  Charlotte groaned. In these moods Leila could be very trying.

  'It's nothing to do with the biscuits being short. And, anyway, it's not good for you to eat too much junk. Horses who eat too much sugar get a horrible disease called laminitis.'

  'Don't tell me. Their hooves turn into lamingtons?' Leila had encountered these yummy square spongecakes in Snake Hills. At first she'd thought they were dice to hang off a car's rearview mirror.

  'I'm serious.'

  Further discussion was cut off by the blast of Strudworth's whistle, signalling the end of the session. Dusk was starting to settle. Charlotte galloped Leila over to where the girls were gathering around Strudworth, who sat majestically on her horse, Romeo.

  'Attention please, girls. I have an important announcement. Tomorrow morning after breakfast you will leave for Charmsworth Deportment College at Glenhaven. I was not planning to begin your deportment classes until later in the term but the JOES have been invited to attend a number of international competitions in the latter half of this year ...'