by Sue Bentley
The ponies galloped along side by side, Comet matching his longer stride to Allsorts’s, and Lindsey felt happiness glow through her as they sped along. Sunshine filtered down through the trees, casting spots of golden light onto them.
They wove along the bridle paths, now and then passing other ponies and riders who waved and smiled. Slowing to a walk, Comet’s keen eyes continually searched for signs of his lost twin.
At one point during their ride, they spotted a donkey and three ponies in a small paddock beside a cottage. Comet trotted up to them excitedly, his ears pricking. But none of the ponies was Destiny.
As Lindsey reached Comet she saw that his violet eyes had lost a little of their glow and his head was drooping slightly with disappointment. He must be missing Destiny badly. Her heart moved with sympathy for her friend.
“We’ll find her, don’t worry,” she reassured him. “This camp is huge. There’re tons of places where Destiny could be hiding. She might even have come past here recently.”
“I would have known if she had,” Comet neighed. “She would have left a trail.”
“A trail? What would it look like?”
“It would be a line of softly glowing hoofprints. But most humans would not be able to see it.”
Lindsey was fascinated. “Will I be able to see it?”
Comet nodded. “Yes. If you are riding me or we are very close.”
“Cool! That should make it easier to find her. Maybe, when you do, you could both come and live with me,” she said hopefully. “I’ll be going home from camp in a few days. You’ll like it where I live.”
“I am afraid that is not possible,” Comet neighed. “I must take Destiny back to our family on Rainbow Mist Island. I hope you understand, Lins.”
Lindsey nodded mutely as she forced herself to accept that Comet would not be staying forever. But she didn’t want to think about that. He was here now, and she wanted to enjoy every single moment with him.
“Shall we go on searching?” she said.
“What about over there? That looks like a farm up on that hill.”
Comet nodded and glanced around with renewed interest as they set off again. After a long, steep ride, they crested the hill. But they had no luck with the farm and its outbuildings. They paused to look down into the valley before they went on.
Allsorts was panting, and his sides were heaving. Lindsey decided she’d better take the little black-and-white pony back.
“He’s willing to go on, but I’ve ridden him quite hard. I think he needs a drink and then to rest and cool down,” she reasoned.
Comet neighed agreement. “Allsorts is a fine pony. He has done well. But if you were to ride me, we would be able to cover more ground and search for longer.”
Lindsey realized that he was right, but it was always going to be difficult to slip away by herself without someone noticing and asking awkward questions. “I think there’s a movie night sometime soon. Everyone will be there. That would be a good time to sneak out to meet you.”
“Thank you, Lins.”
Lindsey smiled at him, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world. She was really looking forward to riding her very own magic pony friend.
Chapter
SIX
Lindsey left Comet nibbling the sweet grass on the hillside. As soon as she had given Allsorts a drink and rubbed him down, she went looking for Penny. She found her sitting in the living room, flipping through a magazine and looking a bit bored.
Lindsey went over to her. “Hi, what are you doing?” she asked quietly. She really hoped Penny wasn’t too mad at her for
riding off earlier.
Penny looked up. “Oh, hi. I came here for a bit of peace. Tash, Shawna, and a couple of other girls are having a picnic outside the cabin.”
“Didn’t you want to join them for the picnic?”
Penny rolled her eyes. “With Tash bossing everyone about? I’d rather sit in a bath of cold oatmeal!”
Lindsey burst out laughing. Penny said such funny things.
A serious expression crossed the other girl’s face. “Didn’t you hear me calling you earlier? I thought we were going riding together?”
“Oh, I . . . um, wasn’t sure if you meant it!” She spread her hands apologetically. “I’m so sorry. I messed up.”
Penny’s face cleared and she smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I ended up exploring around the big lake. It was great to give Chance a good long ride. Maybe we can go riding in the woods together another time?”
“Definitely,” Lindsey said, relieved. Thank goodness Penny had accepted her explanation. She would have hated to upset her, especially now it seemed they really were becoming friends, but at the same time she had to keep her promise to Comet.
It rained heavily overnight and it was still raining the following morning. There were puddles everywhere and the ground squelched beneath Lindsey’s riding boots as she made her way to the stable yard.
Inside, Lindsey reached for the body brush from the grooming kit by Allsorts’s stall and began working on his black-and-white coat with long, firm strokes.
The stable gradually filled up with other kids. Sounds of laughter, pony noises, and rustling hay filled the air. Not long after, Penny came in to groom Chance, and the two girls chatted as they worked. Soon their ponies’ coats were gleaming.
Lindsey admired Chance’s unusual blue-roan coat. “She’s so gorgeous. Your sharer is going be a lucky rider.”
Penny nodded. “It might be a bit difficult to find one. We’re moving to Blakestone soon after I get back from camp.”
“Blakestone! But that’s only a few miles away from where I live!” Lindsey said delightedly.
Before Penny could reply, Gina Morgan walked in. “Listen up, everyone. We’ll be doing stable management today and training work in the yard tomorrow,” she announced. “Cross-country and team games will take place when the weather’s better. Sorry, but we’ll be mostly indoors today, guys.”
There were a few groans of disappointment at not being able to go out riding on the ponies.
Lindsey had been looking forward to riding Allsorts, with Comet galloping alongside them again as they both kept an eye out for Destiny. She hoped Comet had found somewhere dry to shelter until this awful weather broke.
“Greetings, Lins,” his soft neigh sounded close to her and she felt his breath ruffle her hair.
“Oh!” She almost jumped out of her skin.
Lindsey bit back a grin as she turned and saw Comet’s head hanging over the door of an empty stall behind her. His deep violet eyes were glinting cheekily. She wished she could give her invisible magic pony a hug, but she didn’t want to risk it with so many people in the stable.
Gina was now talking about skips, brushes, and hay forks. “It’s good practice to get used to putting things away. Leaving things lying around can cause accidents to you and your pony . . .”
“No one can tell me anything about stable management,” Tash boasted. She looked sideways at Lindsey. “You learn a lot from looking after your own pony. I’ve been taking care of Jewel ever since Dad bought him.” Jewel was her showy black thoroughbred gelding.
Lindsey tried to ignore Tash’s comment, but she knew the other girl was referring to her losing Allsorts soon. She chewed at her bottom lip.
“Is something wrong, Lins?” Comet whinnied.
“It’s Tash. She’s such a pain. I’ve had enough of her little digs at me!” she whispered angrily.
Comet twitched his ears thoughtfully.
“Muck piles,” Gina said. “Not very glamorous maybe, but they’re a fact of life for pony lovers. They can easily spread out of control, unless you’re firm with them. Right?”
There was a ripple of agreement.
“The thing to do is to give some thought about building them up. It’s not
enough to tip your wheelbarrow and run away .You want a muck heap with a dip in the center, like a saucer, not heaped up in a soggy mess. So it’s build and squash—jump up and down on it every day.”
“Anyone knows that!” Tash commented to Shawna.
The instructor looked at her. “If you’re such an expert, why don’t you demonstrate for the rest of us? There’s a wheelbarrow of soiled bedding over there.”
“Sure!” Tash smiled confidently. She took hold of the handles and wheeled the light plastic wheelbarrow to the muck pile across the yard. Everyone watched as she pushed it up the steep ramp.
Lindsey felt a familiar tingling feeling flow down her fingers as violet sparkles glinted in Comet’s dark-brown coat, and a fine rainbow mist, invisible to everyone but Lindsey, swirled around Tash and the wheelbarrow. What’s he up to? Lindsey wondered.
The rainbow mist dissolved into glittery dust and disappeared. Suddenly the wheelbarrow seemed to give a jaunty little skip and tipped backward. The pile of smelly hay teetered. And a huge mess of hay and smelly poo fell, splattering all over Tash.
Everyone fell about laughing.
“Oh, Comet. That was mean!” Lindsey spluttered. “But she deserved it!”
Penny was helpless with laughter.
“Oh dear,” the instructor said, her lips twitching. “Are you all right, Tash?”
“No! This is my best designer top!” Tash said through gritted teeth. She stalked back out to the yard and stood picking strands of smelly hay off her clothes.
“Phew! Anyone got a spare clothespin?” Penny said, holding her nose.
“Oh, shut up!” Tash fumed, looking at her angrily. “You think you’re so clever, don’t you, Penny Cookson? Well, we’ll see who has the last laugh!”
“Uh-oh,” Lindsey whispered worriedly to Comet. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
Chapter
SEVEN
Despite Lindsey’s fears, nothing else happened between Tash and Penny. In fact, they appeared to be ignoring each other. Which is probably for the best, she thought.
By the following afternoon, the rain had stopped and the yard had dried out a bit. Lindsey watched as Allsorts trotted in a circle while Gina held him on a lunge rein.
“Show Allsorts what you want him to do, okay? That’s how you get a pony to adjust his stride. Now you try,” the instructor handed her the rein.
Lindsey took it and did as she’d been shown. Allsorts obligingly lengthened his stride and cantered around in a wider circle.
“That’s it. Well done,” Gina praised.
Lindsey smiled, proud of the way Allsorts held himself as she put him through his paces. She would miss the little pony very much.
The rest of the day passed quickly. And just before dinner, everyone went back to their cabins to change out of their riding kit.
Lindsey was taking her muddy boots off when, from inside their cabin, Penny gave a yell. “My favorite toy pony! Petal the Palomino. She’s gone!”
“Maybe you put her away somewhere,” Lindsey suggested.
“No, I didn’t. Petal was right here on my bedside chest with all the others this morning!” Penny opened drawers and looked under the bed.
Lindsey and Penny practically turned the cabin upside down, but there was no sign of the tiny palomino pony.
By now, Penny was close to tears. “Someone took her And I know who! Tash!”
Lindsey suspected that Penny might be right. She’d been afraid of something like this happening. “Let’s go and tell Gina Morgan,” she suggested.
Penny swallowed, crestfallen. “What’s the point? We don’t have any proof. Besides, I’ve never been a tattletale, and I’m not starting now.”
“You could ask Tash and see what she says. Maybe she’ll give Petal back if she sees how upset you are,” Lindsey suggested.
“I wouldn’t hold your breath,” Penny said bleakly. “She can’t stand me. And I feel the same way about her.” She took a big breath and wiped her eyes. “Well—I’m not going to let her see me cry. Would you come with me to the movie room? It’s National Treasure—one of my favorites. And it’s all about a racehorse, so I’m sure it’ll cheer me up in the meantime.”
Lindsey’s heart sank. She’d promised to meet Comet, but how could she leave Penny now when she was upset and needed her—especially after riding off the other day? She racked her brain trying to think of a solution as she walked toward the main building with Penny.
The movie was really good, but Lindsey couldn’t concentrate. All she could think of was Comet waiting for her in the woods.
After a while, she leaned over to whisper in Penny’s ear. “I have headache, and I . . . um, feel a bit sick. I think I’ll go back to the cabin.”
“Poor you. I’ll come and take care of you,” Penny said at once.
“Don’t worry,” Lindsey whispered hastily. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. I’ll probably just go to sleep. You stay and watch the movie. I’ll see you later.”
“Well, okay then. If you’re sure,” Penny said.
Lindsey nodded and slipped outside, leaving Penny engrossed in the movie. She set off in the direction of the woods and found Comet waiting patiently. He whinnied softly and took a step toward her.
“Hi, Comet.” She reached out to stroke his silky dark-brown neck. “Sorry I’m late. I only just managed to get away.”
“You are here now. Thank you, Lins,” Comet neighed, tossing his head. “Climb onto my back.”
Excitement stirred inside Lindsey as she mounted Comet and took a firm grip on “Let’s go!”
“Hold tight!” Comet snorted eagerly and sprang forward into a gallop.
Lindsey crouched low on his back, moving in time to his strides, and her breath caught in her throat with excitement as they raced along. Comet was thrilling to ride, so smooth and fast. His magic seemed to swirl around them as he flew along. His shining hooves barely touched the grass.
Moonlight silvered the trees and the woods were a map of shadows. It was very quiet. With no one else around it could have been a bit creepy, but Lindsey felt perfectly safe with Comet.
They left the woods and flashed across fields, soaring up and down hills and valleys with dizzying speed, looking for Destiny. But they saw no signs of any ponies.
“Let’s try over there.” Lindsey pointed to Hamilton Hall, the stately stone house that she’d seen on the hill when her parents first drove her to pony camp.
After exploring the large gardens and grounds of Hamilton Hall, Comet headed for the lake. His hooves made no sound as they crossed a stone bridge. He paused and bent his head to the moonlit water that was as smooth as a deep-blue mirror. Ripples spread outwards as he drank.
Lindsey looked around her. The ghostly cry of an owl echoed in the still air. She felt as if there was no one else in the world except her and Comet. And she knew she would remember this special night for as long as she lived.
“We’d better go back soon,” Lindsey said regretfully. She could happily have ridden Comet for the entire night, but the movie would soon be over. When Shawna, Tash, and Penny returned to the cabin, they were bound to notice if she wasn’t in bed.
Comet nodded. Pricking up his ears he headed across the fields and back to the woods. But as he approached the trees, Lindsey felt him stiffen. He stopped and leaned down to stare at the grass.
Lindsey looked down too. In front of them and stretching away into the distance was a faint line of softly glowing violet hoofprints.
“Destiny! She came this way!” Comet whinnied excitedly.
Lindsey felt a pang. Did that mean that he was going to leave, right now? “Do you want me to get down, so you can go after her?” she asked anxiously.
Comet shook his head. “No, Lins. This trail is cold. But it proves Destiny was here.” He pricked his ears forward again with fresh h
ope. “When she is very close I will be able to hear her hoofbeats. And then I may have to leave suddenly, without saying good-bye.”
“Oh.” Lindsey didn’t think she could bear it if that happened. She knew that she had to face up to the fact that Comet could not stay forever, but she would never be ready to lose her magical friend.
Comet snuffled Destiny’s trail for a moment longer, lingering over the faint scent. Lindsey was touched by how much he missed his twin sister. He must love her very much. She leaned forward to pat his neck.
Raising his head, Comet shook himself. “I will take you back,” he snorted.
Flicking his tail, he moved up into a full gallop and, once again, his long strides ate up the ground. In no time at all, the fields and woods were behind them and the cabin came into view.
Lindsey dismounted at the edge of the wood. She put her arms around Comet’s neck and laid her cheek against his warm neck. Comet blew out warm breath and nuzzled her shoulder very gently.
She moved away reluctantly. “Night, Comet. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Good night, Lins.”
As she walked away, he melted into the trees.
When Lindsey reached the cabin, the door opened and Penny flew out. “Lins! I came back to see if you were okay, and you weren’t here. Where have you been?”
“I felt . . . um, a bit better, so I . . . um, went out for some fresh air.” Lindsey stumbled over the hasty explanation. It wasn’t exactly a lie. She had gulped huge lungfuls of fresh air while out riding Comet.
“But you were gone for ages. I was just about to go and tell Gina Morgan that I couldn’t find you!”
“Sorry,” Lindsey murmured. “I just lost track of time.”
Penny smiled, looking relieved. “Oh, well, you’re back now. Let’s go inside. We have to get up early tomorrow. It’s cross-country, remember?”
“Oh, yes!” Lindsey was looking forward to it. Allsorts loved jumping. It would be fun to see how well the plucky little pony did over a whole course of fences.