“I think it was a good idea,” said Nicholas, “and Noel looked most impressive up that tree.”
“Oh, you and Noel!” shrieked Margaret Radcliffe. “Honestly, he’s nuts about her; he talks about her the whole time.”
Nicholas blushed and Judith told him, “It’s not a bit of good, Nicholas, you can’t compete with Henry.”
“I know I’m not good enough for her,” said Nicholas in dramatic tones. “I’m content to admire her from a distance.”
“It would be super if they married,” said Gay Millwood, “we could all go to the wedding.”
“If who married?” asked Susan.
“Henry and Noel, of course.”
At tea, the major had an announcement to make. “Tomorrow afternoon,” he said, “three old friends of mine and of this branch of the pony club have asked if they may come and see us in camp. As they are all military men I have decided that we will stage a full inspection of ponies and riders as well as letting them see round the camp. This means that we shall want the ponies and tack cleaner than ever; we shall want you looking really clean and well-brushed and we shall want the camp tidy. There will not be an inspection before riding tomorrow; our visitors can mark you in the afternoon. There will be time for sock and tail washing and time to give the tack a rub up after instruction tomorrow. But the tack should be cleaned really well tonight.”
There was a loud groan at this. “Any questions?” asked the major.
“Yes,” said Christopher, “Who are the visitors?”
“Captain Barton, the well-known judge, my cousin Colonel Shellbourne and the Master of the East Barsetshire, Sir William Blount.”
“Lawks!” said Christopher, suddenly remembering a summer holidays when they had visited Colonel Shellbourne and won the major ten pounds. “Gosh! Any bets laid this time?”
“No,” said the major, “he’s learned his lesson, unfortunately.”
Noel said, “Thank goodness Sonnet’s looking respectable,” for Sonnet had been given her by Colonel Shellbourne as a prize. And James said, “I’ll have to posh Rocket up, he belonged to Colonel Shellbourne once, before he was broken in.”
“The East Barsetshire is an awful pony club,” said Jean. “Some of the people at my school belong and, honestly, they all ride in the most awful old-fashioned way. They don’t have any decent rallies and when they do have rallies they have hopeless instructors and no one learns a thing.”
“Well, we’ve got a jolly high standard of riding in this branch,” said Gay.
“Yes, it’s a jolly good branch,” agreed Sally.
“But of course it is,” said Nicholas, “with us in it.”
“I bet other branches don’t have half so much fun,” said Jonathan.
“No, I expect they all sit around being frightfully polite and goody-goody,” remarked Margaret.
“I think it’s a super branch,” said Lynne.
“Of course it is; it’s the best branch there is, everyone knows that,” Christopher told them in authoritative tones.
“When you’ve all finished with your trumpets,” said Major Holbrooke, who’d been listening to the conversation with a slightly sardonic smile, “I should like to point out that they are not coming to inspect your riding, which is average, your attacks of giggles, which are excessive, or your conceit, which is enormous; they’re coming to inspect your turn-out and the standard of tack cleaning in this branch is disgraceful; you’re much worse at it than the East Barsetshire people.”
“What is he on about now?” asked Joy.
“He says your tack is absolutely filthy and if you don’t do something about it before tomorrow he’s going to murder you,” said Donald beginning to giggle.
7
ON SATURDAY there was wild excitement in the horse lines when Christopher, who had rushed down to the barn to look at the graph, reported that the Blues were now level with the Oranges; the Blacks were a close third, the Reds fourth and the Greens, though still last, had come up miles and were very close to the Reds.
It was rumoured, correctly for once, that the major had given Donald six good marks for going in pursuit of Joy; the Greens, suddenly realising that they possessed a hero, insisted on telling everyone all over again how Donald had jumped the stile.
As Judith filled her haynet she announced, “The washing up today is going to be quite perfect.”
“You wait until you see the lines,” Donald told her, “the Lord High Chief Inspectors will be able to eat their tea off the ground, it’ll be so spotless. Hurry up, Greens.”
“Of course we’re behind, we didn’t have a duty yesterday,” Susan told the Reds, “but we’ll make up for it today.”
“Yes, we’ll fetch enough water to drown the whole camp,” said Nicholas. And then he suggested, “Susan, how about taking the Assistant Adjutant some hot water? She’s not up yet and she does so hate washing in cold; she’s sure to give us a good mark.”
“We might try it, I suppose,” said Susan doubtfully.
“Look, you hay up for me, there’s my net behind Wonder, and I’ll go and persuade Mrs. Quayle to produce the hot water, then Sally shall deliver it, she’s the sort of person people like giving extra marks to.”
“O.K.,” said Susan.
Marion said, “We must get better marks for our tents. The boys only got seven yesterday. Look Lynne, as soon as we’re hayed up let’s go over and make Jonathan’s and Guy’s beds; we’d better ask Henry if it’s O.K., but I’m sure he won’t mind.”
“What a super idea,” said Lynne, “and afterwards you’d better come and inspect mine. Yesterday we all had attacks of the giggles after we’d made them and they got awfully untidy.”
Christopher told the Blues, “We haven’t got a duty today, so you’ll have all the more time to see to everything else. We must get tens for both the inspections, if we’re going to beat the Oranges. Carola, you’ve got to turn your horse out properly. Seven isn’t good enough, you’re letting us all down.”
Jean said, “Well, she got more for her tent than you did. She got eight and you boys only got seven. Honestly, it’s you who are the disgrace.”
“I don’t want any cheek from you,” said Christopher.
“You can’t always have what you want,” Jean told him as she shouldered her haynet and marched off down the lines.
“Jean got awfully good marks yesterday. She had nine for her tent and nine for her horse inspection. She had the best marks of everyone in the camp,” said James.
“It’s the limit the way you people go round finding out the marks,” stormed Christopher, “they ought to tell the section leaders.”
“Oh, they’ll tell anyone who asks,” said James.
“The camp competition is reaching fever pitch,” said Henry as he sat down beside Noel at breakfast. “The line guard appeared to be metal polishing the horse lines. The Oranges offered to make my bed and the girls seem to be spring cleaning the boys’ tents.”
“There’ll be a terrible anticlimax, I expect,” observed Noel, “but the Greens are very merry now that they’ve caught up.”
“Yes, they’re different people,” agreed Henry. “And it’s anybody’s race now.”
“Look,” said Gay to Lynne, who was sitting next to her, “there they are talking again. Anyone can see that they’ve fallen for each other; all they need is a little encouragement; Noel’s so bashful.”
“Oh, Gay, you are awful,” said Lynne.
“She’ll be able to run a marriage bureau when she’s grown up,” remarked Nicholas.
“But what’s wrong?” asked Gay. “They’ve got lots in common, they’re both horsy, they could spend all their spare time at Folly Court. Noel’s quite glamorous now that she’s had her hair permed and wears lipstick and Henry must look simply smashing in uniform. Besides, if we don’t do something they’ll probably go off and marry people who hate the pony club and then we shan’t have any junior instructors. You’ve got to look ahead and think of all these tots gro
wing up.”
“Listen to Granny,” said Jonathan. And Sally said, “Tot yourself.”
“Well, you’re all to be tactful,” said Gay. “No interrupting them. Make a point of leaving them together; if we see them talking in the horse lines we must all fade away.”
“And leave the ponies with no hay, I suppose?” asked David Minton. “Anyway Gay, they had plenty of time together during the Scavenge Hunt. No one saw them at all and Merry was riding round by herself so they weren’t chaperoned.”
“Well, it obviously wasn’t long enough,” said Gay. “I want them engaged before camp ends, otherwise Henry’ll go back to Sandhurst and he may not see Noel again for ages. I’m sure the major would approve; he likes Noel.”
“Send some of the older girls to talk to Noel,” suggested David.
“I wouldn’t trust them,” said Gay, “they’re making eyes at Henry themselves. At least I might trust Susan, because she swears she prefers John Manners, and Judith’s mad about the head boy at Frensham Park, but Carola and Poppy think Henry’s absolutely it.”
“What about Marion?” asked David.
“Oh, she has fits when she’s all for Henry, but at the moment she’s fallen for Christopher, haven’t you noticed?”
“Whew, has she really? I say, Christopher,” he yelled down the table, “do you know…”
Nicholas stifled his words by putting a hand over his mouth and Gay said, “Shush, do show some tact. Christopher’s quite keen on her.”
As the ponies were only having a brush over, instead of a proper groom, and as there was no inspection, the instruction began half an hour earlier than usual. The major decreed that everyone who wished might jump a course as a practice for the camp gymkhana and when they heard this, practically all the members were delighted.
Noel’s ride had a very low course, round which Jean, Lynne and Jonathan all jumped clear rounds. Penelope had one refusal, Sally two, and Joy and Martin were eliminated. Exasperated by so many refusals, Noel put Lynne on Mousie and mounted Tommy herself. She soon found that he could jump; it was a matter of keeping him balanced and on the aids between the fences. After the first fence he would try to shoot off by putting his weight on his forehand, and then, of course, he was in no position to jump the next fence. Noel jumped him round several times and then she gave him back to Joy and explained to her how she should ride him.
“He’s just obstinate,” answered Joy. “He can jump five feet; you should see him when Dad gets behind him with the whip.” She turned him by tugging at his mouth, kicked him and galloped past the brush. “Oh, Tommy,” she said crossly.
Mousie did one of her last minute refusals at the brush and Lynne fell off, but after that she got her going and jumped round without being eliminated.
Martin said that it wasn’t fair, that he had got Mousie half-way round and so of course it was easier for Lynne. When he tried again and was still eliminated, he said that Mousie was tired.
Rob Roy, Biddy and Beauty were all clear again in the jump off and their riders were rather indignant when Noel refused to let them go on jumping off, but she pointed out that this was only a practice and the competition was next day.
Finally, Sally and Penelope had another attempt with the fences at the original height and this time they were both clear too. Henry’s ride jumped at two different heights for Rocket and Guy’s Smudges were only between twelve and thirteen hands and all the other ponies were about fourteen hands. Carola jumped at the ponies’ height, but even then Amber was eliminated for three refusals, though Smudges and Guy went round with one run out and the fence down and James was clear.
Henry felt sorry for Amber, he looked so dispirited. “That pony wants eight pounds of corn a day,” he told Carola, “then he might have some life in him.”
“But he has two feeds a day now,” objected Carola, “and if he has any more he goes quite mad.”
“I’d rather see him quite mad than half dead,” Henry told her.
Margaret, Nicholas and David all jumped clear rounds. So while the major was practising his ride over a combination consisting of a straight fence followed by a spread, Henry appropriated the rest of the Dragoons’ course; the railway gates, the wall, the road closed and the white gate. David jumped them clear, Margaret had the second railway gate down and Nicholas had one refusal at the railway gates and one at the wall. “That’s because you will think of your legs as an aid to go faster,” Henry told him; “you forget that they are also used to keep the horse balanced and straight.”
James persuaded Henry to take all the bricks off the wall, lean the white gate against its posts and make the road closed as low as possible, and then he jumped Rocket round with only one stop at the wall.
The Dragoons, having been roared at for not using their brains or their legs while jumping the combination fence, were feeling very alert when it came to jumping their full course and Susan, Marion, Christopher and Gay all jumped clear rounds. When the fences were raised Susan and Tranquil, jumping with unusual verve and dash, were clear again. Marion and Gay hit the railway gates. Sweet William brought down several fences with his hind legs which Christopher said was due to poor old William getting on in years and never having been as hot as all that at show jumping, and the major said was due to Christopher using too much hand and too little leg which caused his pony to flatten.
Frolic Wind was still inclined to stop and take a look at any fence that was new or strange, but as she was a youngster, she was taken very quietly and with Judith was treated very differently from Poppy Newland who was in perpetual trouble for being faint-hearted. The major insisted that it was Poppy who refused and not Jackdaw. Since the episode of the stile Donald had gained confidence in Seafire as well as in himself and now, instead of being classed as faint-hearted with Poppy, he found that he had risen to being inexperienced with Judith.
After the instruction, which ended earlier than usual, the major took everyone for the activity ride practice, and, for the first time they practised it straight through and the members began to see how it would look for the parents. They entered as a single ride and having ridden round the manège once, they turned down the centre and divided into two rides, Susan leading one and Marion the other. The scissors movement came next and usually a roar of fury from the major accompanied it, for Joy, second from the last in Susan’s ride, invariably collided with either Jean or James, the people whom she was supposed to pass between. Eventually the major decided that he would have to change Joy’s position and he moved Sally and Penelope round so that Joy could be last of everyone and could, consequently, only run into one person—Sally. Sally wasn’t at all pleased by this arrangement. She grumbled that Star liked Pickles and hated Tommy and that they were perfectly certain to kick when they had to go in pairs. Then when the rides turned down the centre in pairs, she gave Joy so many instructions about keeping away and using her legs and her reins and minding out that the major had to roar at her to mind her own business and ride her own pony which was already more than a length behind. After trotting once round in their pairs, the ride advanced down the centre in fours and then in eights with a four of Sally, Penelope, James and Joy following behind and finally in a sixteen with the four odd riders still following behind. Then they halted and patted their ponies.
“Is that all?” asked Marion when they had ridden it once through, “I mean, can’t we do some more; it seems so awfully short.”
“That would mean all the more to forget,” Susan pointed out. And Christopher said, “I agree with Marion; couldn’t we make it more elaborate with turns across the school or a few movements at the canter?”
The major grinned. “It’s nice to hear you all so keen,” he said, “but I don’t want to make it too complicated; the parents would rather see you do something well, however easy.”
“If we dropped some of the hopeless people we might do something complicated well,” suggested Christopher.
“The point of a camp ride is to use all the me
mbers in camp,” the major told him. “Those of you who are more expert can exhibit your brilliance in the other competitions.” Then he turned to Susan and Marion and asked, “Are you completely happy about it? You realise that tomorrow I shan’t say a word? And if you go wrong you two must just sort it out.”
“Oh, goodness,” said Susan, and, “Well, I think I know it.” Marion was turning in her saddle as she worked the ride out.
“Well, we’ll do it once more without orders,” said the major. “When you change the rein you must ride accurately for the quarter markers and those people at the back must keep their distance. Ride, lead off from the left, ride, trot. All right, Susan, carry on.”
Except that Joy followed Sally instead of going the opposite way when they divided into two rides, that Nicholas and Carola failed to keep together when they were in pairs and Mousie ran backwards when she was supposed to be in an eight, the ride went off quite well.
“That wasn’t at all bad,” said the major when they halted, “and we shall be having another practice tomorrow morning after church. Now you can put the ponies away in the lines and start grooming and washing.”
“I thought it was awful,” said Marion to Susan as they rode towards the lines, “the eights nearly ran into each other and that stupid Joy did everything wrong.”
“I dare say it looked better than it felt,” comforted Susan, “and it’s no good bothering about the little ones, anyway people think it’s sweet when they do the wrong thing.”
“Sweet,” said Marion, “Joy’s not sweet.”
“Hear, hear,” said Christopher, “If I were the major I’d expel her from the pony club.”
“Oh, Christopher, you are mean,” Susan told him, “she can’t help being stupid.”
“I don’t care whether she can help it or not,” said Christopher, “she wrecks our ride.”
Noel was cutting cakes of soap into quarters and handing them round and people were beginning to shout, “Is there any blue bag?” and “Who’s got the blue bag?” and “Noel, he won’t stand still,” “Oh, do come and help me.”
Pony Club Camp (Noel and Henry Book 5) Page 9