Second Chance (9781743437278)

by Wood, Karen

  ‘Fantastico!’ said Ruby. ‘Watch me do a shoulder stand!’ From a sitting position, she leaned over Tinker’s neck. She flipped her legs in the air and pointed her toes to the sky. Tinker kept cantering in a smooth, even stride. She returned to the basic seat. ‘Voila!’ she said, with a flick of her hands.

  ‘Planking!’ said Lexie. She rolled onto her tummy and spun around. Featherfoot cantered while Lexie put her hands out to one side and her legs out the other, balancing using nothing but her tummy muscles.

  ‘That’s not a trick,’ laughed Kit.

  ‘Yes, it is,’ said Lexie.

  In the nearby field, Destiny stopped and reared. He paddled his legs in the air and shook his short scruffy mane. Then he took off again, racing in crazy circles. He leapt over the chamomile patches and bucked around the raspberry bushes.

  ‘See,’ said Lexie. ‘Destiny liked it.’

  Chance whinnied loudly to the young colt as he cantered around, ordering him to stay close.

  Kit watched as the little foal wore himself out. ‘It’s time for his next feed.’ The vet had told her to give him extra bottles so Chance didn’t get too tired from feeding him.

  Destiny trotted happily to Kit when he saw her emerge from the cottage with his milk bottle. She let him guzzle greedily, white froth dripping down his chin.

  When he finished he trotted to the chamomile patch. The sun shone directly overhead. He sniffed around the patch of flowers where Chance already lay in a doze, and let himself down onto his knees. Then he flopped on his side and took a little snooze, not stirring but for an occasional flick of his tail.

  Grampy joined Kit, Lexie and Ruby on the steps of the cottage. ‘I’m calling a special meeting,’ he said. ‘If you have time in your busy trick-riding schedule.’

  Grampy pulled an envelope from his top pocket. Kit noticed that it had already been ripped open. ‘This is a letter from the bank,’ he said. ‘We’re behind in our repayments. They want to take Windara.’

  Kit gasped. A heavy silence settled over them. This was serious. Very serious.

  ‘We have two months to catch up.’

  Kit nodded. She knew what was coming next.

  ‘I have enough money to buy new seedlings, and thanks to Chance’s earnings at the fete, I have enough to buy one more load of hay.’ He sighed. ‘But after that, I will be forced to choose.’

  Kit’s breathing stalled.

  Grampy reached into a bag and pulled out a leather-bound book with an ornate carving of a horse on the front. The diary. He sat it on his knees. ‘I can’t run away from my heart. I’ve tried for years.’

  He unclasped the button with shaky fingers, and as he opened the diary’s cover the scent of orange blossoms filled the air. Kit felt a soft breeze brush over her face and heard the faint jingle of bells. Across the field, the flowers seemed brighter in colour and the sun threw golden light over the grass, making the horses’ coats shine like liquid sunlight.

  Open your heart, Gallius.

  Grampy looked at the sky, trying to keep the tremble from his lips. ‘I have been living my life with sadness when I should be living it with joy. I think this colt has made me realise that.’

  Kit felt Ruby’s hand slip into hers. Lexie took the other hand and squeezed so hard it almost hurt.

  ‘So, can we give up farming?’ asked Ruby.

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘That’s a hard fact of life.’ And then he smiled. ‘But we could breed horses.’ He cast his eyes across the field to where Chance and Destiny lay sleeping. ‘The little colt is a new beginning. He brings with him a chance to breed the great Magnifico lines again. It will be a while before he is old enough, but we can start to make plans.’

  Grampy leapt off the porch and jogged across the field, singing an old song.

  ‘Are you feeling okay?’ Kit called out.

  ‘I don’t think I’ve ever felt better,’ Grampy called back.

  Destiny sprang to his feet when he heard Grampy coming and cantered eagerly to him.

  ‘Does that mean we can keep them?’ Kit yelled.

  ‘Yes,’ Grampy sang.

  ‘But what about the farm?’ Lexie shouted. ‘What about the bank?’

  ‘We have hope, courage and compassion,’ he called back. ‘We’ll find a way.’

  Follow the Tricket triplets in their next adventure,

  About the Author

  Karen Wood is a mother of two and the author of the popular Diamond Spirit books, as well as rural romance books, Jumping Fences, Rain Dance and Under the Flame Tree. She is mad about horses but is also a qualified horticulturalist with a degree in Communications. She has a menagerie of animals on her small acreage in New South Wales and spends her free time with her children and horses.