Foxy: Rivalry at Summer Camp

by Belinda Rapley

  Everyone began by walking and trotting their ponies down the slope into the water and back up the other side before they tackled the log pile, water, and skinny fence together.

  “Any volunteers to go first?” Freddie asked, looking round.

  “I’ll go,” Amber offered, and pressed Copper into a strong canter.

  “Short and bouncy, remember,” Freddie called out, but Amber kicked on.

  “Looks like she’s going for top marks today,” Charlie said, wincing as Copper stumbled slightly going into the water.

  “I guess she wants to get back up to first place on the score sheet,” Mia said, holding her breath as Amber sat still in the saddle.

  Copper didn’t see the skinny brush until the last second. He made a huge effort to twist over it, and Amber just managed to cling on.

  “Amber, you’ve got a very honest pony there who wants to please, but you can’t just sit there expecting Copper to do it all for you,” Freddie called over. “You’ve got to ride as the fences get trickier.”

  Amber didn’t look over, but jagged Copper in the mouth, looking frustrated. Freddie noticed and took a deep breath. “And don’t tell your pony off. It wasn’t his fault.”

  The rest of the riders followed. Dancer goggled and refused the skinny, but on the second attempt, with Rosie growling at her, she bundled over. Then they all moved on to the next fence, a trakehner.

  “That looks hideous!” Rosie groaned as they stared at a thick telegraph pole elevated diagonally across a shallow ditch.

  Freddie talked through the approach, but there were still quite a few refusals, including a rare one from Wish. Mia’s mare snorted and insisted on being allowed to inspect the ditch before she’d even think about jumping it. Once she’d seen it, she jumped it neatly enough.

  Phantom ballooned over it, chucking Charlie so far out of the saddle that she flew off and landed on her feet next to him on the other side of the fence. She and Phantom both looked as surprised as each other. Freddie legged her back up and next time they stayed intact. By the third time, they jumped it perfectly.

  Copper didn’t bat an eyelid as he went over but Skylark had a good look at the trakehner, slowing on his approach. Holly kept her legs glued to his sides, and with a flicker of his ears, he ballooned over it. But, like Phantom, the next time round he was better, and soon Phantom, Skylark and Copper were leading the other less confident ponies over the jump.

  The copse came next. The ponies had to jump over some tyres, taking them from the sunshine into shady woods, ride downhill to a log pile at the bottom, then back up the other side of the hill and out into the sunshine over some more tyres. Alice sat back over the first fence as Scout jumped hesitantly. His hooves skidded down the hill before he scrambled over the log and flew up the hill the other side. He gave an excited buck after jumping back into the sunshine.

  Holly sat back in her saddle. She steadied Skylark right up so that he popped into the shade slowly, earning a “well ridden” from Freddie. Phantom, on the other hand, nearly sky-rocketed Charlie when he launched over the first tyres not realising there was a drop the other side.

  “Remember that your pony doesn’t know what’s coming next,” Freddie called out to everyone as they rode to the next fence, “but you do. That’s why you have to get the approach right so that they don’t fly a drop fence, or go too slow for a big spread. And the approach is especially important for this next one.”

  Freddie walked over to the steps with them. There were three bounces up onto a level bank, then two strides followed by a drop down at the other end.

  “You need to approach this fence with enough impulsion to get you to the top,” Freddie explained, jumping up each step to demonstrate, “but at a very steady pace so you don’t jump too big up the bounces. Has anyone ridden steps before?”

  Amber’s hand shot up.

  “Um, okay, but maybe we should have Phantom or Skylark to go first,” Freddie suggested hesitantly.

  But Amber didn’t listen. Instead, she trotted Copper in a sweeping circle, then picked up canter. She lined up for the first step.

  “Steady him,” Freddie called out. “You need to tell him to steady into this!”

  But Amber kept on coming. Copper leaped up the first step with too much speed. He landed close to the next step but somehow managed to scramble up it. The honest gelding was about to stop, when Amber gave him a sharp tap with her whip on his shoulder. Copper flattened his ears and redoubled his efforts. He leaped up onto the top level in a tangle of legs, but was almost down on his nose and knees, with his rump higher than his head.

  “Sit up!” Freddie yelled, but Amber was already halfway up Copper’s neck as his momentum took him to the edge of the drop on the other side of the bank. He slammed the brakes on to avoid it. Amber was tipped over Copper’s shoulder, and landed with a thud on the ground below.

  Freddie rushed over to her, just as she stood up and dusted herself down. Copper turned and popped back down the steps. He bumped into Wish and stopped, shaking. Mia leaned over and caught up his reins, scratching his withers to try and reassure him.

  “I only fell off because my saddle was so slippery,” Amber said. Mia could see the tears welling up in Amber’s eyes as she took Copper’s reins back. “Watty and her gang have been cleaning it every five seconds. If they’d left it alone I would have been fine!”

  “You should be cleaning your own tack,” Freddie pointed out, not unkindly.

  “It’s not like I don’t try,” Amber said, frustration making her voice waver, “they just won’t leave my stuff alone.”

  Freddie nodded, then checked Copper. “He seems okay,” Freddie said. “We were going to do the tiger trap last – but I think you should just pop Copper over something simple like the brush fence.”

  “But I’m fine to jump the tiger trap,” Amber said, “honestly!”

  “I’m thinking of Copper,” Freddie said gently, “not just you.”

  Amber sighed, but she didn’t argue any further. “I’ll just take him back, then.”

  Freddie watched them walk away for a moment, then turned back to the others. “Right, let’s see how the rest of you do.”

  As Holly and Skylark bobbed up the steps in a bouncy canter, Alice glanced behind her. Amber had stopped Copper and turned around to watch Holly jump.

  At lunch, Amber looked subdued. Watty and her gang had fussed round, asking if she’d hurt herself, carrying her lunch for her and not leaving her side for a second.

  “I can’t believe you fell off!” Watty said, rubbing it in without meaning to, as all the camp headed back out of the Hall to eat outside. “Even I got up the steps in one piece!”

  “You might get points for falling off with style, though,” Emily giggled.

  Amber smiled, but it looked to Alice like her teeth were gritted. When everyone started to separate into teams for the stable management lesson, Amber seemed relieved.

  Freddie talked to the purple team about good and bad conformation in a pony. He used Wish and Copper as examples of well-balanced conformation, pointing out their deep girths to house their lungs and heart, their short cannon bones and their strong backs.

  “What about Dancer?” Rosie asked. “I’m sure she’s an example of something. I’m just not quite sure what.”

  Dancer’s eyes softened as Rosie rubbed her mare’s nose affectionately.

  Next Freddie ran through how to age a pony by looking at his teeth. The Pony Detectives and Holly spent the next ten minutes putting their fingers in Dancer’s and Scout’s mouths. They tried not to get their fingers crunched as they gently pulled back the patient ponies’ lips to get a better look. Amber wandered off to check Copper’s on her own.

  When they were done, Freddie checked his watch.

  “Right, your ponies have got a well-deserved break for the rest of the afternoon, but you all need to be ready in fifteen minutes,” he said. “You’ll be riding the specially trained vaulting ponies at Hilltop, so don’t
forget to bring your riding hats. And for those of you who want to go into the village afterwards, remember to bring some money with you for the shop.”

  The Pony Detectives exchanged an excited glance, which didn’t have much to do with the vaulting. They slid their ponies’ headcollars off and walked back to the stables with their teams.

  “Are you both going to the village afterwards?” Rosie asked Amber and Holly.

  Amber shook her head and Holly shrugged.

  “Um, I’m not sure yet,” Holly said elusively. “I’m looking forward to seeing the ponies at Hilltop again, though.”

  She rushed off ahead, and the Pony Detectives hung back to talk.

  “I wish we were going into the village first,” Charlie said quietly. “If we don’t get hold of a copy of Pony Mad, how are we supposed to even recognise Foxy?”

  “We’ll just have to memorise all the chestnuts at Hilltop,” Rosie suggested. “Then we can compare them once we’ve bought a copy.”

  “We’d better get in there quick, though,” Alice said. “Watty and her gang were all after copies too, remember?”

  They hung up their headcollars, grabbed their damp riding hats and rushed to gather by the gates to walk to Hilltop Riding School. The blue team’s instructor, Beth, was staying behind, but as they did a head count, they realised that one of the riders was missing, too.

  “It’s Amber,” Holly said, looking round.

  “We’ll go and see where she is,” Alice volunteered, dragging Rosie with her. They raced back through the stables, calling out to Skylark as he whickered to them, and out again to the tents. They flew through the tent door to find Amber sitting alone on her sleeping bag, her mobile phone next to her. She hastily wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before she looked up.

  “I just called Mum,” she said, trying to smile like nothing was wrong. “She didn’t answer, though. She must be busy with Lily somewhere.”

  Alice felt bad for her. “Everyone’s waiting by the gate for you,” she said. “We all wondered where you were.”

  “I’ve got a bit of a headache,” Amber explained, “so I thought I’d stay behind. I might pop back and check on how Aunt Becca’s doing at home instead, if Beth says that’s okay.”

  Rosie was about to leave with Alice, when she suddenly thought of something. “If you do go home,” she said, “could you find a photo of Foxy for us to see?”

  Irritation flashed across Amber’s face, just for a second. “If I remember,” she muttered, before looking back down at her phone and lying back on her bed.

  “This is CRAZY!” Watty shrieked. She was kneeling on top of Monty, a chunky bay horse who was being lunged at walk in the outdoor school. She tightly gripped the surcingle, which circled his girth with a loop by his withers, until her knuckles turned white. “I think I’m going to fall off!”

  “Try concentrating, Sarah,” Freddie called out from centre of the ring, smiling as Watty let out another yelp and almost slid off the pad on Monty’s back. The rest of the camp was watching from the side of the ring, waiting excitedly for their turn and giggling at Watty’s antics.

  Holly watched for a bit, then sneaked off to say hello to some of the ponies. Mia watched as Holly leaned over the first stable door and gave a skewbald pony some fuss. Mia nudged her friends. “If we tag along with Holly,” she whispered, “it gives us the perfect excuse to look round. And she’ll know if any of the ponies are new.”

  Holly smiled when she saw them walking over.

  “This is Patches, the very first pony I sat on,” she said. The skewbald closed his eyes as Holly rubbed his ear.

  “Do you know all the ponies here?” Alice asked, looking at the small, neat yard.

  Holly nodded. “I’ll show you round if you like,” she said happily as she stepped to the next stable. “This is Bilbo – he’s really naughty.”

  The four girls walked round the yard with Holly. There were a couple of chestnut ponies, but they both looked ancient and Holly said they’d been at the yard for ages. Finally they reached the last stable and any hope of finding Foxy at Hilltop disappeared at once.

  “And this is Jester,” Holly said, letting herself into the chunky dun pony’s stable. She gave him an affectionate hug as he frisked her pockets and nudged her. “I always used to ride him – every Sunday since last summer.”

  “Is he your favourite?” Rosie asked.

  Holly hesitated. “Um, kind of. At least, he was until this week. He taught me to canter and to jump, and he’s really sweet. But now he’s my joint favourite with Skylark.”

  At that moment Freddie’s mum walked out of the office and joined them in the yard.

  “Aha, did I hear Skylark’s name?” she asked Holly, smiling at the girls. “How are you getting along with him, Holly?”

  “I love him to pieces,” Holly confessed, going slightly pink. “I’d have had fun on any pony, but Skylark’s just so magical. He’s what Grammy would call my once-in-a-lifetime pony, even though it’s only for one week.”

  “I bet she’d love him too, and I’m so pleased you’ve clicked,” Freddie’s mum said, squeezing Holly’s shoulder. “Freddie found Skylark for the school earlier this year. I’m still not convinced he’s good riding-school material, but we’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds for him.”

  Alice noticed Holly’s crestfallen look, while Freddie’s mum turned to the Pony Detectives. “And I hope you girls are getting a lot out of Freddie’s teaching too?”

  Rosie nodded. “He’s been ace, especially considering that he’d rather have been at Burghley this week!”

  “Whoever told you that?” Freddie’s mum asked, laughing off the suggestion. Mia rolled her eyes at Rosie’s lack of tact.

  “Oh, I… I can’t remember,” Rosie mumbled.

  “Well, they got it wrong,” Freddie’s mum smiled breezily. “It was Freddie’s choice to stay for camp. He could have gone to Burghley, but he’s passionate about teaching. He’s been helping Georgie Belle, his girlfriend, with her training all summer, too.”

  Charlie had a sudden thought. “Does she keep her horses nearby, then?” she asked. “Has she got her own yard?”

  “Oh, goodness, no. She’s only got the one top horse at the moment,” Freddie’s mum explained. “She lives nearby, but she doesn’t have her own land to keep her horse on, so she’s always stabled him here. That’s how she met Freddie. Anyway, you better get back to your vaulting. Unless there was anything else you’d like to see?”

  “Holly was just showing us your ponies,” Mia said. “Have we seen them all?”

  “This is it,” Freddie’s mum said, looking round. “It’s not a big yard, but it suits us.”

  The girls thanked her and walked back to the school in time to see one of the boys stand up on Monty’s back. He wobbled, his arms circling, but he managed to stay up without holding onto the surcingle for a whole turn of the school before sliding off and landing on his feet to a round of applause. As Holly rejoined the group by the side of the school waiting for their turn, Charlie turned to her three friends with a disappointed sigh.

  “Is anyone else thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked.

  Mia nodded. “If Foxy isn’t anywhere at Dovecote Hall,” she said quietly, “and he isn’t being hidden here, then it can’t have been Freddie that took Foxy, could it?”

  “What about the phone call to Georgie, though?” Alice reminded Mia. “That was pretty suspicious.”

  “True,” Mia agreed, “but I don’t think that’s enough on its own. Do you?”

  Charlie shook her head. “I guess you’re right.”

  “So that leaves us right back at square one,” Rosie said, slumping against the fence.

  “And we’re running out of time,” Alice added. “Today’s Wednesday. We’ve only got a few days left at camp to find Foxy.”

  “Well, let’s wait till we’ve got a copy of Pony Mad,” Mia said, “and see if that gives us any inspiration.”

 
; “What do you mean all the copies have gone?” Rosie asked the man behind the counter.

  “We sold the last two copies to someone about an hour ago,” he snapped. The village shop was brimming with noisy campers who were choosing treats for midnight feasts. The man was on his own, and a redness was creeping up his neck as he tried to serve everyone bundling up to the counter with their mixtures of sweets and handfuls of coins.

  “But we’ve all been at Hillside,” Mia frowned. “And why would someone buy two copies of the same magazine?”

  “Do you remember what that person looked like?” Charlie called over, but the harassed shopkeeper had moved on from their conversation to serve the next camper.

  The girls retreated from the bustle of the shop, and stood on the pavement outside in the hot sunshine.

  “Great,” Rosie said. “Our chief suspect suddenly seems innocent and we still haven’t got hold of a copy of Pony Mad. So what now?”

  “All we can do when we get back to camp,” Charlie said, “is go over what we’ve got so far.”

  Mia pocketed the mints she’d bought for Wish, and felt something else in there. She pulled it out. It was the devil’s claw sachet. With everything else that had been going on, the Pony Detectives hadn’t even given this clue a second thought. Mia turned the sachet over in her hand. Suddenly the shop door pinged open behind her and the rest of the camp spilled out noisily onto the pavement.

  As Mia quickly slipped the sachet back into her pocket, she wondered again why a rider would keep the devil’s claw a secret. It couldn’t be linked to Foxy’s disappearance, she thought to herself. Could it…?

  THE four girls headed straight to the paddocks to check on their ponies. In the next field, they saw Amber sitting near Copper, deep in thought.

  “Are you feeling better?” Rosie called over.

  Amber nodded. “Thanks for asking,” she smiled back, looking much happier than when they’d left her at lunchtime. “I popped home to see Aunt Becca and helped with the animals.”