Stormchaser and the Silver Mist

by Belinda Rapley

  The girls continued up the drive and approached the impressive house. Mia frowned, noticing that some of the curtains were old and tired-looking. The house looked like it could do with a good paint, too. She started to feel uneasy, and she wondered if Mr Perryvale would be happy about them just turning up out of the blue at his private yard. The girls stood for a second, wondering which way to go, but they could hear the sound of forks scraping stable floors and a radio blasting out music.

  They headed towards the noise, which was coming from the back of the house. Beyond a grand wall stood what looked to Mia like it had once been a magnificent yard. Big, brick built stables stood around a large square of neatly clipped grass. A tall tower with a white clock face rose opposite them, incorporated into the stables. But the clock showed the wrong time and half the smart stables were empty.

  At the sound of hoof beats, various pony heads looked towards them, and others came to the front of their stables.

  Mia looked beyond the stables to the paddocks behind. She couldn’t help feeling surprised and disappointed; the ponies turned out there had ancient-looking rugs, some of which had rips in. The paddocks themselves looked bare and they hadn’t been pooh-picked for ages. There was no hay in sight. Behind the smart exterior, the exclusive Perryvale Polo Club didn’t look so exclusive after all. Instead it looked jaded and rundown. It wasn’t at all what she’d been expecting to find, and it didn’t match up with the image given off by Mr Perryvale and his shiny Range Rover.

  Mia turned back to the stables. The yard’s emptiness gave it an eerie feel.

  “This isn’t quite what I expected,” Mia whispered, looking round. The others nodded in agreement, shivering as they stood rigid in the icy wind.

  A groom looked out from one of the stable doors. He let himself out of his stable, and Mia caught sight of dark, dank-looking bedding inside. The groom carried a broom with almost completely worn bristles as he walked towards the new arrivals. He was wearing a royal blue Perryvale Polo Club jacket. As he got nearer, the girls could see that he looked flashy, with thick, dark hair, sun-kissed skin and electric blue eyes. He didn’t smile as he approached. The girls stood awkwardly, wishing they could be transported straight out of the yard. But it was too late to turn around and trot off now.

  “Can I help you?” the groom asked coldly, as he stopped just in front of them. He stood close to Wish, and something about him made Mia want to ask him to step back from her pony. Wish raised her head slightly, and flicked her ears back, like she felt the same.

  “We were hoping to talk to Mr Perryvale,” Mia explained, feeling her nerve start to waver slightly under the groom’s unflinchingly cold stare.

  “He’s not here,” the groom said bluntly. “Is he expecting you?”

  The girls shook their heads. “No,” Charlie said. “But we were hoping to find out more about Billy Pyke letting out horses when he worked here.”

  The groom blinked quickly.

  “And ask if he would sponsor us for the Charity Ride,” Rosie added, determined to get something good from the visit.

  The groom’s face lightened, and he laughed mockingly. “You’re wasting your time on that score. You won’t get a penny out of old Perryvale for charity,” he said. “He hasn’t got one to spare right now.” The girls glanced at each other quickly, surprised at the groom’s revelation. But he didn’t notice, and continued. “And as for Billy Pyke, there’s nothing to tell. He was sacked after he got caught letting horses out of one of our paddocks – simple.”

  “One of your paddocks?” Alice frowned. The groom nodded. “You mean, the horses that Billy let loose belonged to Mr Perryvale?”

  “That’s right,” the groom sniffed, leaning on his broom.

  “Did Mr Perryvale catch him doing it, then?” Charlie asked.

  “No,” the groom gave a satisfied smile, “I did.”

  “Oh, right,” Rosie said, feeling confused. “But why would Billy let out Mr Perryvale’s horses?”

  The groom shrugged, looking like he’d said all he was interested in saying, and now he was getting bored. “I guess you’d have to ask Billy that. Anyway, if you want to speak to Mr Perryvale, there are business cards with his mobile number on in the tack room over there. Emma’s inside, she’ll show you.”

  “Okay, thanks.” Mia slid out of the saddle, then gave her reins to Alice. She was just about to walk away, when the groom said something that made her stop in her tracks.

  “I’m sure I recognise your ponies, by the way,” he said, patting Wish. His tone was anything but friendly. “This one’s so stunning, you can’t miss her. They’re stabled near Duck Lane, aren’t they?”

  Mia’s blood ran cold. Before she knew it, a lie instinctively sprang from her. “Oh, no.” She tried to smile lightly. “No, you must be thinking of another pony. We’re the other side of the village.”

  The others nodded, but the groom raised one eyebrow, and gave a small chuckle before turning away with his broom. Over his shoulder, he said. “Well don’t worry, I’ll be sure to let Mr Perryvale know that you were here.”

  Mia’s steps were stilted as she walked over to the smart tack room. She wanted to take Wish and get as far away as possible. But as she shoved her hands into her pocket, she felt the hair she’d put in there earlier. It was Cracker’s, and it gave Mia a sudden burst of courage. She knew they couldn’t give up.

  Mia pushed the door open and walked inside the bright room. Immediately she noticed the cobwebs, and the untidiness. It needed a good clear out. Emma was vigorously rubbing one of the smarter-looking saddles with some saddle soap and a sponge. She looked tired, but more approachable than the groom outside.

  “Business cards are on the desk,” she said with a brief smile.

  “Thanks.” Mia picked one up, and was about to go, when she noticed Emma stop polishing the saddle mid-rub, and glance at the open door. Then she stepped lightly towards it and gave it a little shove, so that it swung almost closed. Emma turned to Mia.

  “Don’t believe everything you hear about Billy, including from Max out there,” Emma said quietly, nodding towards the door. “I worked with Billy for ages, and what happened was completely out of character. Something never added up about those horses being let out. But Billy wouldn’t breathe a word to anyone about it.”

  At that moment a phone rung outside. Emma jumped, like she’d had an electric shock, then hastily turned back to her tack. Mia heard Max talking in the yard, then the door swung open. Max bobbed his head round, and for a second looked suspicious.

  “Long time to pick up a business card,” he said, scowling at Mia. “And you should be concentrating on work, Emma. Boss left me in charge today, and he wants all this tack sparkling. Wants to get his money’s worth out of you before you leave here for good. Look, I’m popping over to the Wollesley yard. They’ve just rung to let me know those imported polo ponies have arrived from Argentina. Apparently there are some seriously decent ones among them. Pricey, but the boss will persuade them to let him have some on credit. I reckon he needs to find a replacement for Stormchaser if we’re going to win the Winter Cup again.”

  He gave Emma a thin smile, then disappeared.

  Mia was confused. “What did he mean about Stormchaser?” she asked. “I thought he was Estoni’s horse.”

  Emma shook her head then grabbed the bridle beside her, dunking the bit into a bucket of warm water. “Mr Perryvale bought him nearly a year ago from a yard in Argentina. Stormchaser was one in a long line of expensive horses that arrived here with massive reputations. The boss’s plan was to put together the most expensive team of polo ponies in the country and Mr Perryvale wanted the glory for himself, so he’d always insist on riding the best ones. You know Nick Webb managed this place before he left to set up at the Abbey, right?”

  Mia nodded.

  “Well, Nick suggested to the boss that we get professional riders into the team, to get the best out of the ponies. But the boss wouldn’t hear of it,” Emma lowe
red her voice a notch. “You see, Mr Perryvale is a seriously untalented rider. These amazing horses would be here for a few months before he’d declare they were useless, because he couldn’t control them. Next thing, the horses would be shipped out of the yard, goodness knows where. It drove Nick mad. But Mr Perryvale didn’t care. All he cared about was that he looked good. If the horses didn’t deliver, they were out of here. Anyway, Stormchaser was so wild, no one could get near him, let alone ride him. He was downright dangerous when he was here, and not just to ride. I guess that’s why the boss decided to give Stormchaser to Nick when he left. It was his leaving gift.”

  “Wow, that was generous!” Mia frowned, thinking about how expensive Emma had said he’d been.

  Emma gave a hollow laugh.

  “Hardly,” she said, with a grim smile. “Nick was the heart of this polo club. Mr Perryvale liked to think he was, but he knew deep down he was just the money man, and that Nick was the gifted horseman. That’s why the boss was furious when Nick announced he was leaving. He knew the club would fail without Nick. So, Mr Perryvale wasn’t being generous when he gave Stormchaser to Nick. He was hoping that Storm would injure every rider going. It was like the boss was giving Nick a clear message. Only, Mr Perryvale didn’t anticipate Nick bringing an unknown Argentinean rider over to take on Storm. Nick traced Estoni, knowing that he was the rider who broke Storm in. Estoni knows the horse inside out, as well as being a talented polo player. Now Mr Perryvale has been left with egg on his face.”

  Emma was quiet for a second, then she continued, “Good luck to the Abbey team, I hope they win the Winter Cup, or at least do better than the Perryvale team. Although I don’t think my boss feels quite the same way.”

  At that moment Rosie popped her head round the door. “Are you coming or what?” she asked Mia. “It’s freezing hanging about out here. Your pony’s got a fleecy exercise sheet wrapped round her rump, but I haven’t!”

  “Just coming,” Mia said.

  “Anyway, look, I’ve got to get on,” Emma said, “it’s my last day today, and the sooner I get this pile finished, the sooner I get to leave this sad old place. I’ve held on for as long as I can since Nick left, just for the polo ponies that are still here. But I cant hang on anymore. The boss is always in a bad mood and his liveries keep leaving now Nick’s gone. This club will somehow scrape a team together for the Winter Cup – it’d be over Mr Perryvale’s dead body that he’d let Nick win. But just so you know, Billy’s a decent horseman, and a decent person, too.”

  “Thanks.” Mia smiled at Emma, although she almost felt more confused than when she went in.

  As Emma returned to her pile of tack with a sigh, Mia stepped back out into the icy blasts of December wind. A shivering Alice handed her Wish’s reins. Suddenly an engine roared into life round the back of the stables. Phantom leaped forward and almost knocked Charlie flying. The girls turned to look, just as Max, in his Perryvale Polo Club jacket, skidded round the corner on a huge motorbike. He revved it loudly, spooking all the ponies. As the girls clung to their reins, the bike disappeared in a cloud of dirty fumes up the long drive. But not before Alice had noticed the cracked back number plate, which had a fragment of one corner missing.

  The girls rode home at a fast walk to keep the ponies warm, buzzing with their new information. They could hardly wait to get out to the hay barn and write it all down. Mia filled the others in on what Emma had told her, and they talked about the groom disappearing off on the motorbike with its splintered number plate.

  They jogged the ponies down the track to Blackberry Farm, then they un-tacked and groomed their ponies, then chose the thickest outdoor rugs to put on them. Charlie put a duvet rug under Phantom’s turnout rug, knowing how easily he got chilled, then the girls led their ponies to the paddock in headcollars.

  When they got there, they slipped the headcollars off, giving their ponies plenty of pats and kisses. The ground in the paddock was still rutted and hard, but the ponies didn’t do anything other than mooch over to the big piles of hay and munch. The piles were just in front of the open fronted field shelter, which protected them from the worst of the swirling winds.

  Once the ponies were settled, the girls lugged their tack back to the tack room. Mia and Charlie wanted to have hot chocolates in the cottage kitchen, but Rosie had other ideas.

  “I can’t believe Max knew where our ponies live,” she said with a shiver. “That seriously gave me the creeps. I reckon we should sit in the barn, so we can keep an eye on the ponies while they’re out. I don’t care how cold it is.”

  The others agreed and they hurried off to collect their hot drinks and a plate of piping hot toasted sandwiches from the kitchen. As soon as they were settled in the hay barn and wrapped up in blankets, with one eye on the paddock beyond, Mia hastily flipped open her notebook.

  “Right, so now we know that Mr Perryvale’s club is going down the drain,” Rosie said, feeling her toes finally start to thaw. “His dream of having the best polo team around is totally failing.”

  “According to Emma,” Mia added, “that’s because Nick Webb left. Nick was the best horseman there, so without him, Mr Perryvale’s stuffed.”

  “And to get his revenge, Mr Perryvale gave Nick Stormchaser, thinking he’d ruin the Abbey Polo Club before it even got going,” Charlie added. “Only, he’s ended up giving Nick’s chances of winning the Winter Cup a huge boost instead.”

  “Exactly. Giving his rival the best polo pony around is hardly a good way to get revenge,” Alice said, picking up Beanie and cuddling him to her for warmth. He licked the tip of her nose.

  Mia looked up. “Okay, so let’s get thinking…” she said. “What other way could Mr Perryvale get revenge and ruin the new polo club?”

  Rosie, Alice and Charlie all looked at each other.

  “We suspected that all those clues pointing to Billy were too obvious…” Charlie said, speaking fast as her mind whirred. “Like the Abbey biscuit wrapper being left at the scene, and a motorbike revving up each time.”

  “Especially as each of the places that were targeted,” Alice added, “had signed the petition against the Abbey. And it was obvious, because it started from the top of the list. There was no guess work involved, all the clues were right there for anyone to find! Everything suggested that the Abbey was trying to get their own back on the local protestors.”

  “But now we know that Billy’s not the only one with a motorbike,” Rosie said, wiping a whipped cream moustache from the top of her lip. “Max has got one too, one with a more powerful engine.”

  “And with a number plate that’s missing a corner,” Alice pointed out, “it has to be the same one that was at Hope Farm last night.”

  “Exactly,” Mia agreed. “If Mr Perryvale couldn’t get revenge by giving Stormchaser to Nick, he had to find another way to ruin the new polo club. And turning everyone against the Abbey by setting up Billy was a pretty good start.”

  “And it’s Mr Perryvale who’s gone round telling everyone that Billy’s done this before, remember,” Alice added. “We wouldn’t have even suspected Billy in the first place if he hadn’t told us that. And Fran Hope said everyone in the village was talking about it. I bet Mr Perryvale’s been spreading it round to everyone who’d listen, just like he did to us!”

  “Only Mr Perryvale and Max made a mistake in letting out Cracker and Frostie from Fran’s yard,” Charlie said. “Hope Farm was next on the list, so that’s where they targeted. We already knew that Nick wanted to rehome Cracker and Frostie, but Mr Perryvale and Max wouldn’t have known that. There’s no way Billy would have let out those horses, it wouldn’t make sense. That shows this must have been a set up.

  Mia’s wrist ached from writing so quickly. She rubbed it as she sat back looking over her notes. But as she reread the clues, she began to frown.

  “Hang on a sec…” she said slowly. “This doesn’t quite add up.”

  “Really?” Rosie said, picking up another toastie from t
he plate. “How come?” She broke the sandwich in half and shared it with Beanie, who’d raised his soft muzzle and was sniffing the air hopefully.

  “Well, if you think about it,” Mia replied, “Nick’s done a pretty good job of turning everyone against the Abbey all by himself, hasn’t he? He’s the one that’s shut off all the rides there, not Mr Perryvale. If he hadn’t done that, there wouldn’t have been a petition in the first place.”

  The girls felt the old frustration flooding back as they realised that Mia was right. The case was still running rings around them.

  Alice let out a huge sigh. “Everything still keeps leading us straight back to the Abbey,” she said, tickling Pumpkin with a bit of hay. As the ginger cat pounced playfully, Alice looked up at the others. “We’ve got to get to the bottom of what’s happening there first.”

  The next second Charlie’s phone pinged with a text, making them all jump out of their skins.

  “What does it say?” Alice asked, leaning over to get a better look.

  “It’s from Neve,” Charlie said.

  Just back from Xmas shopping to great news! Charity ride still on, in memory of Cracker. Abbey rides re-opened for it. See you at Abbey at 10! xx

  “That’s weird,” Mia frowned. “I wonder what made Nick change his mind?”

  “Who cares?” Charlie beamed. “This is our chance to get back inside the Abbey for a really good look around, and this time we don’t even have to sneak our way in!”

  Alice didn’t feel anywhere near as thrilled. “Do you think it’ll be okay, though?” she asked, looking anxious. “What about Mr Pyke?”

  “There’s no way Nick could let him loose during the Charity Ride, surely,” Mia reasoned.

  Rosie groaned. “Do I seriously have to squash back into that pudding costume again?”