“OK. Let’s have a canter,” Jess called from the front. “All meet up by those trees,” she pointed. Rosie waited for the other horses to set off and then, with a little nudge from her heels, she pushed Pepper on. She sat tight to the saddle. Racing forward as they headed for the trees, Rosie felt a rush of excitement run through her. There was nothing like riding to exhilarate her.
It was a wonderful hack. At the end of the hour, the ride wound its way along Sandy Lane. As they rode back into the yard, Rosie breathed a sigh of relief – so far so good.
“How was David’s lesson, Tom?” Rosie called, as she led Pepper back into his stable.
“Brilliant,” he answered, his eyes gleaming. “I really enjoyed teaching him. I never thought I’d have the patience.”
Rosie couldn’t help smiling. Anyone who had the patience to spend a whole summer training a horse the way Tom had Chancey, was bound to be a good teacher. Rosie looked fondly at her friend. As he turned away, Rosie crossed the yard to check the appointments book. Pepper wasn’t needed again that afternoon so she determined to make an extra good job of grooming him.
“Meeting in the tack room at five,” Jess called into Pepper’s stable.
“OK.” Rosie smiled contentedly. Everything seemed to be going so smoothly. She wondered if Tom had got hold of Dick Bryant yet. Hurrying to the tack room, Pepper’s saddle slung over her arm, she joined the others.
“OK everyone,” said Tom. “As you know, I’ve been trying to get hold of Dick Bryant all day and there’s still no reply, so we’ll have to make a group decision here. I personally think we should wait one more day. We can cope can’t we?”
There were low murmurings and everyone exchanged uncertain glances.
“I know we agreed that if we still hadn’t got hold of Dick Bryant this evening, we’d phone Nick and Sarah, but things have run smoothly enough haven’t they?”
“Definitely,” said Charlie. Slowly, the others all nodded in agreement.
“Good,” said Tom. “Let’s wait until tomorrow and if we haven’t got hold of him then, we really will have to phone Nick and Sarah.”
It had all been decided so quickly that Rosie hadn’t even had time to feel worried about it. In fact, the thought of spending another day running Sandy Lane filled her with nervous excitement. Today had gone so well. Tomorrow could be even better. Whistling to herself, she hurried out of the tack room.
5
THE NEWCOMERS
Rosie got to the yard early the next day. It was a cold, crisp spring morning and the sun peered weakly through the clouds. All was peaceful at Sandy Lane.
“Morning, Storm Cloud,” she called as the dappled grey pony looked inquisitively from her box.
Rosie smiled to herself as she propped up her bike and hurried over to the tack room. She groped around under the mat to find the key and unlocked the door. Taking the appointments book out of the drawer, she glanced at the rides. Three hacks and two lessons. She could get used to running Sandy Lane. She would be quite disappointed when they finally got hold of Dick Bryant. And then a wave of guilt ran through her as she thought of the lie she had told Mrs. Taylor yesterday – that they were expecting Dick Bryant the next day.
Thrusting these thoughts to the back of her mind, she rummaged around in the desk drawer for the key to the cottage and crossed the yard. Nick and Sarah’s black labrador, Ebony, almost knocked her over with excitement as she opened the back door.
“All right, all right,” Rosie laughed. “You’ll have your breakfast in a moment,” she said. As she turned around, she looked out of the window and saw a tall, wiry man walking up the drive. She glanced at her watch. Seven thirty.
“Strange time to be booking a lesson, isn’t it Ebony?” she said. “Well, he’ll just have to wait.”
Paws perched on the kitchen table, Ebony looked anxiously at his food. Rosie pulled the can opener out of the drawer and spooned the dog food in his bowl.
“Rather you than me,” she said, wrinkling up her nose as Ebony bounded over to his bowl.
She looked out of the window again, and this time the man was stubbing a cigarette out in the yard, grinding his foot into the ground. She felt irritated. You should never smoke in a stables, not with all the hay and straw around. Everything could so easily go up in flames.
Silently, she observed the visitor. She didn’t like the look of him. The muscles in his cheeks twitched and his eyes narrowed as he turned and surveyed the yard.
“Now what’s he up to, Ebony?” She smiled down at the black labrador.
He seemed to be counting the loose boxes. What was he doing? thought Rosie. And where had he come from? He hadn’t arrived by car and the first bus to Sandy Lane didn’t arrive till eight.
Hurrying out of the cottage, she approached the stranger.
“Can I help you?” she asked politely. The man spun around, startled.
“Phew, you made me jump,” he said, looking her up and down. “I’m here to help you actually,” he continued, smiling slowly. “I’m a friend of Nick and Sarah’s.”
Rosie looked puzzled.
“Nick and Sarah Brooks? You do know them don’t you?” the man went on, waiting for a response.
“Of course,” said Rosie. “It’s just that we weren’t expecting anyone...”
“Well, Nick gave me a ring yesterday,” the man said, not giving Rosie a chance to finish her sentence. “He told me about Beth’s accident and asked me to come along and help out. I got here as quickly as I could.”
“Oh,” said Rosie, looking the man up and down.
Rosie realized she had been staring and was quick to collect her manners. “So, you must be Dick Bryant then,” she said.
“Dick Bryant?” Now it was the man’s turn to look puzzled.
“Yes, Nick left us your number. We’ve been trying to get hold of you for the last two days, but there’s been no answer,” Rosie said.
“Oh...Dick Bryant.” The man let out a low, throaty laugh. “No, I’m Sam Durant. Sorry, we haven’t been formally introduced.” He held out his hand. “Pleased to meet you. No, Dick’s away at the moment. That’s why Nick asked me to come and help out.”
Rosie scratched her head, trying to make sense of it all. “So Nick knows about the accident then, does he?” she asked.
“Yes, apparently your stable girl phoned him,” the man went on.
“Oh,” said Rosie, anxiously. “Well, what did Nick say? Was he worried? Are they coming back?”
“Whoa, hang on a minute,” Sam said, holding his hand in the air. “One question at a time. Of course Nick was worried, that’s why he called Vanessa and me in to help.”
“Vanessa?” Rosie questioned.
“Didn’t I mention my wife, Vanessa?” he answered. “She’ll be coming too. Nick said we could use the cottage until he and Sarah get back,” he said.
“Oh.” Rosie’s brain was working overtime. “I see,” she said. “So you’re coming to live at Sandy Lane is that right?”
“That’s about the sum of it,” he went on.
“Well, I think you’d better wait and talk to Tom and the others then,” she said quickly.
“Tom?” The man looked cross. Rosie didn’t really know why she was being so stubborn. There was just something about him she didn’t really like; something about his silky smooth way of talking.
“I’m sure there won’t be a problem, but you’d better speak to them,” Rosie went on.
“Of course there won’t be a problem, my dear,” the man went on. “It’s all been sorted out, so there’s nothing to talk about is there?”
He was still smiling as he held Rosie’s gaze, but his words had a sinister ring to them. Rosie felt uneasy as he turned away again.
“Vanessa and I will be back at two o’clock to move in and meet the others,” he called over his shoulder.
And that seemed to be the end of it. Before Rosie could say another word, the man had turned on his heels and headed off down the drive.
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“But wait!” she called desperately.
Rosie’s words rang out hollowly and the man’s departing frame didn’t turn back to answer her call. She felt worried. It had all happened so quickly. She should have asked some more questions. She felt cross at herself, and at the awful man. Who did he think he was? Just wait till she told the others.
Rosie picked up a broom and started to sweep. The more she thought about it, the less she was able to find a real reason for disliking the man. She hated to admit it to herself, but perhaps she would have felt the same about anyone stepping in to take over the stables when they had been managing so well on their own. If Sam and his wife really were going to be running Sandy Lane, it wasn’t a good idea to be on the wrong side of them. Rosie felt a little nervous at the thought of having to tell her friends what had been said. Still, she hadn’t liked the man. There was just something about him...
Rosie was lost in thought when she was suddenly brought back to earth with a bump by the sound of excited voices in the yard. She peered over the stable door. Everyone had arrived. Stepping out of the box, she tried to attract their attention.
“Listen everyone. I’ve got something to tell you all,” Rosie started nervously. She cleared her throat as her friends gathered round and she began to recount the story of the early morning events.
As Rosie finished, there was a disappointed silence and then she was hit by a barrage of questions.
“What about Dick Bryant?”
“When are Sam and Vanessa arriving?”
“What did Nick say?”
“Were they worried?”
“When are they coming back?”
“I don’t know,” Rosie wailed foolishly. “I didn’t manage to find all that out. All I know is that Sam’s coming back at two.”
“But what was he like?” Jess asked.
“Awful,” Rosie said despondently.
“Why?” Tom asked. “Why was he so awful?”
“Well.” Rosie was hesitant. “He just didn’t look right somehow, that’s all,” she said, waving her hands in a flustered fashion. “I don’t know. I just don’t like the idea of strangers coming in and running Sandy Lane.”
“Tell us the whole story again,” said Tom.
So Rosie ran through the early morning events again...with a few embellishments. Then she looked round at her friends, expecting to see agreement in their faces.
“I really haven’t explained things at all well, have I?” she said.
“Perhaps we should phone Nick and Sarah in America,” Jess started.
“Look, I think it’s only fair to give Sam and Vanessa a few days to settle in first,” Tom interrupted. “I know I sound boring and grown-up, but it’s a big thing running a stables. We don’t want to do anything to muck it up for Nick and Sarah, do we? And if Nick has sent Sam in to help, well we can’t just send him away saying Rosie doesn’t like him.”
“Tom’s right, Rosie,” said Jess. “Let’s wait a while.
“Yes...maybe they are awful, but we ought to put up with them,” Charlie said grudgingly.
“And let’s try and get everything looking spick and span around the yard,” Kate added, “after all, if they’re going to be reporting back to Nick and Sarah, we want them to say we’ve done a good job.”
“OK,” Rosie said uncertainly. “You don’t think I was over the top do you?” she asked Jess as they headed to the loose boxes. “A bit rude?”
“Of course not,” said Jess, tying to reassure her friend. “We don’t want Sam coming in here and thinking he can totally rearrange things, do we? Not now that things are going so well.”
“No, we don’t,” said Rosie, encouraged by her friend’s faith in her. “You’re right,” she went on. “Come on, let’s get mucking out.”
Jess and Rosie hurried off in different directions. By eight thirty, twelve horses had been mucked out, groomed and fed.
“When’s the first lesson of the day?” Jess called, as she entered the tack room.
“Nine o’clock,” Rosie answered. Tom’s taking a private lesson and you and I are taking out the hack.”
“Good,” said Jess. “I want to get out. I feel as though I’ve been mucking out all morning.”
Two o’clock came and went. By three, there was still no sign of Sam and Vanessa.
“Come on,” said Tom. “It’s no good sitting around tapping our fingers. The 3 o’clock hack’s waiting to go out.”
“OK,” said Rosie.
It wasn’t until a quarter past five that a white Range Rover pulled up in the yard. A motley assortment of Sandy Lane heads – horses and all – popped over the stable doors to see the new arrivals to the yard.
Sam Durant jumped out of the car, followed by a stylish woman in her early thirties. Clad in a beautiful pair of designer black jodhpurs, a glossy silk scarf wrapped around her neck, she peered out from behind a pair of dark sunglasses. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a sleek French plait.
“They’re not how I imagined them, Rosie,” Tom whispered, obviously impressed.
“Why? What did you expect?” Rosie muttered back.
“Something less smart I suppose.”
Rosie felt embarrassed. “They hardly look very horsy though, do they?” she grumbled.
“I don’t know,” Jess interrupted. “Horsy people don’t have to be scruffs. They look important.”
Now the man was striding over to Tom and holding out his hand.
“I take it you must be Tom,” he said grandly. “I’ve heard all about you from Nick...said you were quite the little rider. I’m Sam Durant. You may have heard of me from my days as an eventer,” he said.
“Yes, yes,” said Tom, blushing with pride at the words of praise from an obvious expert.
Rosie shrugged her shoulders. She had never heard the name Sam Durant before and felt quite ill at ease with what she was hearing. Tom actually seemed to have warmed to Sam, and now all of her friends had gathered round.
“And this is my wife, Vanessa,” Sam continued, introducing the woman beside him.
Rosie looked on, silently watching, as her friends avidly introduced themselves. Rosie stood back from the group and frowned. She couldn’t go back on what she had said about Sam now. She had to stick to her guns.
“OK,” said Sam turning to the group. “You seem to have been managing things just fine here. How have you been going about it all?”
“We’ve each been responsible for looking after two horses and then we take turns in leading hacks,” Tom explained. “And I’ve been taking over Beth’s lessons for the last couple of days,” he went on hesitantly. “I know I shouldn’t have really but...”
“Perfect,” Sam said. “We could continue in the same way then. We’ll share taking lessons. You can do the ones in the morning and I’ll do the ones in the afternoon.”
Tom beamed. Rosie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“But Tom, you’re not really qualified to take lessons are you?” she whispered.
“Rosie,” Tom hissed. “If Sam thinks I’m up to it then I’m up to it.” He turned round to smile at Sam.
“Right...all settled?” Sam went on. “I’m happy with that.”
“I bet you are,” Rosie said under her breath. “All the less work for you.”
“Vanessa can book in the rides, that sort of thing,” Sam said now. “I don’t want it to look as though we’re completely taking over.” He flashed them a smile.
“And what about our Tentenden training sessions?” Jess asked anxiously.
“Are you entered for the Tentenden Team Chase?” Sam asked.
“Yes,” Jess said. “Nick has already picked us four to represent Sandy Lane.” She indicated herself, Tom, Charlie and Rosie. “And we’ve set up a programme of training sessions.”
“Good. I’ll take over those sessions then, if you want me to,” said Sam.
“That sounds great,” Tom enthused.
“OK,” Sam said, taking the
keys to the cottage that Tom was holding out. “That’s all agreed then. We’ll be settling in if anyone wants us,” he added. Vanessa gave them a regal wave. She hadn’t said a thing.
“Well, at least that’s the back of them for today,” Rosie muttered under her breath, as the couple slid off to the cottage.
“Don’t be like that Rosie,” said Kate crossly. “Why are you being so funny about them? They’re nice.”
“Hmm. A bit too nice,” Rosie said gruffly.
“Look, I don’t know why you’ve taken this instant dislike to them,” said Tom. “It sounds like they’re not going to bother us too much. They’ll leave us to do pretty much as we like and help with Tentenden too. It’s perfect.”
“But there’s something not quite right about them,” Rosie mused.
“You’ve been reading too many detective stories, Rosie,” Tom teased. “We’re going to have to start calling you the Sandy Lane Super Sleuth if you’re not careful.” Rosie looked hurt.
“I’m only joking,” he said, giving her arm a little squeeze.
“I know,” said Rosie, following the others into the tack room. “And I suppose I did make a mistake over Nick and Sarah closing down Sandy Lane too.”
That was it. She was being silly. Things would be all right in the morning, she was sure of it. She mustn’t be so quick to judge people. Everyone else had liked Sam and Vanessa.
Settling down on the floor, she picked up a piece of saddle soap, and set about cleaning the tack. An uncomfortable silence pervaded the room. She looked at her watch. Half past six, and she’d said she would be home at seven for supper. She’d have to leave in ten minutes. Rosie’s thoughts were interrupted as the phone in the tack room started ringing and Tom got up to answer it. It was Beth’s mother.
“Yes Mrs. Wilson,” Tom was saying. “We’re fine...no, we didn’t get hold of Dick Bryant, but it’s all right. Nick and Sarah have sent some friends in to run the stables – Sam and Vanessa Durant...yes they’re great. Tell Beth to hurry up and get better. We’ll be round to visit her soon...yes that’s fine.”
Rosie looked at her watch. She’d have to hurry. Getting up from the floor, she crossed the room to the door. Everyone was tuned into the telephone conversation, carefully listening to what Tom was saying.
Strangers at the Stables Page 4