Sarah suddenly let go of her.
‘What are you doing?’ Poppy yelled.
But Sarah either didn’t hear or didn’t care, slithering to the ground before Poppy could stop her. Poppy jumped off too, thrusting her reins to Milly and hoping she’d be able to hold Crystal. If her pony bolted, they’d be in terrible danger. Thunder boomed again and Poppy braced for more lightning, hoping it didn’t strike another tree.
‘Help me!’ Sarah was already standing by the koala, but it was no longer moving. Poppy watched as Sarah yanked her backpack off, and she quickly realised what her plan was. Poppy ran towards her and helped her empty it, dumping everything on the ground. Her own backpack was strapped to Missy, so she’d been able to double with Sarah behind her, and she was pleased that her friend’s was the larger pack and that she’d thought so quickly on her feet.
Poppy kept an eye on the fire in the forest back where they’d just ridden past, a lump in her throat making it hard to swallow. The fire was starting to spread greedily, moving to another tree, the red flames licking fast. The air was warmer now, the heat from the fire spreading, smoke starting to curl into her lungs. She pulled her eyes away, focused on the koala. The fire wasn’t so close that she needed to panic . . . yet.
‘His paws are burned bad. That’s why he’s not moving anymore,’ Sarah said.
Poppy grabbed Sarah’s drink bottle. She knew they didn’t have much time but the poor koala was terrified and probably thirsty. She couldn’t believe it when the animal touched one of its damaged paws to her hand, the other on the bottle, as Poppy tipped it and let him drink. The koala knew exactly what she was trying to do, that they were trying to help him!
‘I can’t believe it!’ Poppy exclaimed. Sarah grinned back at her.
‘Hurry!’ Milly screamed from her horse.
Poppy prised the bottle from the koala and grabbed the backpack. While she was opening it, Sarah gathered up the animal, the look of awe on her face something Poppy was sure she’d never forget.
‘He’s not even trying to hurt me,’ Sarah said softly.
Poppy was so proud of her for picking up a wild animal. She might not love horses like Poppy did, but she had been so brave helping with the koala. Sarah placed him carefully in the backpack and Poppy zipped it up as much as she could without hurting the scared animal.
‘I hope he won’t fall out.’ Sarah looked as worried as Poppy felt.
‘He’ll be fine. But we need to go!’
There was a loud crack then and Poppy panicked, not wanting to let the fire come any closer to them. She lifted the pack as Sarah held out her arms, and secured it on her friend’s back.
‘Run!’ she yelled. She was faster than Sarah but it meant she had time to grab hold of Crystal when Milly thrust the reins at her. Joe was freaking out big time and she was having a hard time controlling him. Poppy thrust one foot in the stirrup and left the other for Sarah.
‘Quick, put your foot in there and I’ll pull you up.’
Crystal was almost prancing on the spot and Sarah kept missing her footing.
‘I can’t!’ she cried.
Poppy shook her head, determined. ‘You can. Lift up, hold onto me, and I’ll help.’
Sarah was heavier to pull than Poppy had realised, but finally she was in the saddle behind her, arms clamped around Poppy’s waist.
Joe reared again and bolted, and Poppy bet that Milly had no chance of holding him any longer. Crystal followed and Poppy let her canter fast. Her pony had two girls on her back plus a koala, but she was acting like she was carrying no weight at all she was moving so quick!
The rest of the bush that was untouched by fire rushed past them in a blur as they galloped.
Please let the koala be okay. Please let it not fall out, prayed Poppy. Now they had rescued it, the last thing she wanted was for it to fall and hurt itself even worse.
Suddenly, Aunt Sophie appeared ahead of them. Katie was way up front, looking like she was struggling to keep hold of Missy, and when Sophie neared, Missy pulled free and galloped past her. Poppy’s heart sunk, but Missy still had her reins over her neck, which meant she shouldn’t get caught up in them.
Poppy had no idea how fast the fire was spreading or what was going to happen, but she was sure they were going to be okay. They weren’t that far from home and they could just keep riding if they had to. She wasn’t going to let the fire come close to her pony!
A loud whirr jolted her from her thoughts and made her look up. She imagined it was more thunder, part of the storm, and then she saw the big, powerful machine in the sky. It was a helicopter carrying a huge bucket. Just as she was thinking that one bucket wouldn’t do much, as the fire roared loud and sent shivers through her all over again, the sky opened up and the rain poured down like a tap had been turned on full. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to see the farm burned, the bush they loved to ride through gone or charred black, so the rain was the most beautiful, amazing thing she’d ever seen. Rain this hard would surely have to put the fire out!
Tears stung her eyes and streamed down as they continued to canter. Today was supposed be a fun day with her friends, an adventure, and instead it had turned out to be a disaster. And what about the mother koala and her baby? Did they have the mother in their backpack and her baby was still out there, burned or terrified? Or was this a different koala?
Poppy clenched her teeth together, refusing to think about the animals that could have been in those trees. They’d done everything they could, and they’d saved an injured animal.
The stables came into view then and Poppy almost sobbed in relief. They were home.
‘Are you all okay?’ Aunt Sophie’s face was flushed as she dismounted and hauled the reins over Jupiter’s neck, her eyes searching Poppy’s face for a moment before turning to the other girls now they were outside the stables.
Their ponies were heaving, and when Poppy ran a hand down Crystal’s neck she realised her pony was soaked with sweat. Poppy touched her own wet cheeks, wanting to brush the tears away, but her hand was shaking so much she just dropped it back onto Crystal’s neck. The horses all seemed calmer now they were back, or maybe they were just too exhausted from being ridden so hard to do anything other than stand. They’d cantered all the way in from the fire and hadn’t been cooled down, and Poppy had no idea what they were supposed to do next.
The rain continued to fall and Poppy realised her T-shirt was soaking. Aunt Sophie rushed over and helped Sarah down, then Poppy dismounted, her legs wobbling when her feet hit the ground.
‘Take the koala into the wildlife hospital,’ Poppy told Sarah.
‘Koala?’ Aunt Sophie asked.
Poppy pointed at the black nose and soft ears poking out of Sarah’s backpack. Aunty Sophie’s eyes widened. She didn’t say anything, just grabbed her phone and dialled. Poppy knew without being told that the heavy rain would probably stop the fire from spreading, that they’d been so lucky, but she also knew it was better to be safe.
‘Follow me,’ Poppy called out, taking Jupiter’s reins and leading both him and Crystal into the stables. ‘Tie them all up, take their gear off and we’ll get them to the safe paddock.’
She heard the clip-clop of hooves over concrete and knew that her friends were following her. They hastily tied up together and removed saddles and bridles, and even though Poppy felt terrible that the horses were heaving so much, she knew they had to act fast.
‘It’s Missy!’ Milly’s shout made Poppy stop what she was doing and dart under Jupiter’s neck and out the door.
‘I’ll get her,’ Poppy said, holding out a hand and smiling at the pretty grey as she trotted, head held high, towards her. Her heart leapt at seeing the pony uninjured. The lead rope was dangling and Poppy managed to grab it as she came closer. It helped that the other horses were all there, otherwise she doubted it would have been so easy.
Poppy quickly led Missy in and took her saddle off too, and passed the rope to Milly.
> ‘Come on,’ she said, when they’d all finished.
Katie was the first to follow as she only had one pony to lead, although Poppy couldn’t actually see her over Jupiter. It was lucky the big horse was so well behaved, because she was way too short to deal with a giant like him if he was naughty!
‘Do you think the koala is okay? Did he scratch you?’ Katie asked.
Poppy smiled, thinking of how cute the furry animal had been. ‘He was so cute. He even drank from the drink bottle when I held it!’
‘I can’t believe how close we were to that fire,’ Milly said, not far behind them. ‘That was so scary.’
Poppy didn’t even want to think about the fire and what it could have done to the land she loved so much, to all the animals that could have been injured or killed. The rain drenched them as they walked, but the thunder had stopped and Poppy hoped the lightning had, too. She’d never been scared of a storm before, but then again she’d never seen lightning strike a tree down either!
‘It wasn’t the baby with its mum, was it?’ Katie asked, her voice full of sadness.
‘No,’ Poppy admitted. ‘Or if it was, there was no sign of the baby.’
They led the horses in silence the rest of the way, letting them go only once they were all inside the safe paddock. The other horses were already in there. Aunt Sophie must have moved them as soon as they told her about the fire, or maybe the minute she heard about the storm. Poppy watched as Jupiter trotted away, Crystal sticking by his side and cantering to keep up with him. Cody, Joe and Missy walked more slowly to join their friends. They were obviously exhausted.
Poppy couldn’t imagine what it would be like to see fire spread rapidly across the farm, taking over every blade of grass, every tree . . . She squeezed her hands into fists. The stables.
‘The fire’s out!’ Aunt Sophie called, standing at the gate and waving, mobile pressed to her ear. ‘The monsoon buckets had nothing on that rain. The weather started the fire, but it saved us, too.’
Poppy grabbed hold of Katie’s hand. Milly grabbed her other hand and they all stood for a moment in the rain, looking at each other in relief.
‘Come on, girls!’ Aunt Sophie called. ‘I hear you’ve got a koala to show me!’
Poppy forgot all about the terror of the fire and burst out laughing. Her hair was plastered to her face, dripping down her neck and into her eyes. Even her boots felt like they were full of water!
She grinned at her friends. Everything was going to be okay.
‘You girls sure know how to find trouble, huh?’ Uncle Mark said, not looking up from his assessment of the koala.
‘This one wasn’t my fault,’ Milly said, hands on her hips, dripping. ‘It was all of us.’
Poppy smiled over at Milly. ‘We couldn’t just ride away.’
They huddled around, shoulders pressed tightly together, and gazed down at the injured animal.
‘Can we call him Bill? You know, after Blinky Bill?’ Sarah asked.
Mark laughed. ‘You could,’ he said, looking up from bandaging the little guy’s last paw, ‘but I don’t know if that’s a very good name for a girl.’
Poppy giggled. ‘Maybe Blinky Belinda then.’
Her friends were all laughing too, but then Sarah spoke up. ‘Mark, we saw a koala and her baby yesterday. Do you think this could be the mum?’
He frowned. ‘I doubt it. A mother would still be producing milk for a joey, even if it was big enough to be riding on her back, and I doubt this girl is more than two years old. She’s not old enough to have a joey that size yet.’
The koala was sitting there, looking up at them with her big brown eyes like it was the most normal thing in the world for four humans to be standing around her. She was so beautiful and Poppy was so proud that they’d saved her.
‘It was Sarah who thought to put her in the backpack,’ Poppy blurted out, wanting everyone to know that Sarah was the one to be praised, not her. ‘She just scooped her up and put her in.’
‘That was very brave of you, Sarah,’ Aunt Sophie said from the other side of the shed. She was tending to the other babies while they watched Mark.
‘Her paws are badly burned, but she’s got a great chance of healing up just fine,’ Mark said. ‘You girls did a great thing saving her today. I’m really proud of you all for thinking so quickly in an emergency.’
Poppy wasn’t so sure Aunt Sophie would like the fact that they’d spent a few minutes saving a koala when the fire was spreading behind them!
‘What now?’ Milly asked.
‘Well,’ Uncle Mark said, taking off his surgical gloves and throwing them in a bin. ‘I’m going to put Blinky Belinda somewhere safe and then we’re all heading up to the house for dinner.’
Poppy yawned. She hadn’t realised how tired she was. Her stomach rumbled. Or how hungry!
‘I’ll go down and take the horses some hay. They can stay there all night. It won’t do them any harm,’ Aunt Sophie said. ‘There are pizzas in the freezer. Can you girls get them out and pop them in the oven for me?’
Poppy nodded. ‘Sure thing.’
Katie and Milly both turned to follow her, but Sarah stayed still.
‘I’m going to wait for Belinda to settle in, talk to her for a little bit. If that’s okay with you, Mark?’ Sarah asked.
Poppy’s uncle smiled and gave Sarah a pat on the shoulder. ‘You saved her, you can do the honours,’ he said. ‘How about I show you how to pick her up properly and you can bring her over.’
Poppy happily left Sarah to it. She deserved to be the one helping after what she’d done.
‘You were right about her being awesome,’ Katie said as they walked out of the makeshift hospital and headed for the house. It was only raining lightly now, but Poppy’s boots were still making a squelching sound and she shivered in her wet T-shirt.
‘Yeah, she is,’ she smiled.
‘I feel bad for saying that I didn’t know why you were friends with her,’ Milly confessed. ‘That was so stupid. She’s fun and super brave, and I can’t believe she actually rode all the way back! That was pretty awesome to gallop like that on her second ride.’
Poppy slung an arm around Milly, pulling her in tight. Milly laughed and they all linked arms and ran the rest of the way to the house.
‘I hope those other koalas are safe,’ Katie said.
‘Yeah, me too.’ Poppy let go of her friends and leaned against the side of the house to take her boots off. She tipped them up to get some water out, then took off her dripping wet socks and squeezed them out. She looked down and realised that it was probably a good idea to take her jods off too. She didn’t want to drip water through the house. ‘I’m going to strip off here.’
Two minutes later they were running through the house in their undies and T-shirts, racing each other for the bathroom. Poppy leapt up the stairs, but Milly got to the bathroom first and raced in, claiming the shower.
‘Ugh,’ Poppy moaned, slumping down outside the bathroom and sinking onto the carpet. She was desperate for a hot shower.
‘I’m already dreaming of my warm hoodie, thick socks and a hot Milo,’ Katie said.
‘Oooooh, me too!’ Poppy sighed, exhausted. ‘Oh, I forgot about the pizza.’
‘Make Milly do it when she’s out,’ Katie said.
Poppy laughed. It had been a crazy day, and for once they couldn’t even blame Milly for it.
Meow.
Poppy sat up straight, blinking, wondering if she’d just imagined it.
‘Did you hear that?’ Katie asked.
Poppy laughed. ‘Was that you being stupid?’
Meow.
Poppy stood up, peered down the hall, certain Sarah was about to jump out from somewhere. And then she saw a little blur of black disappearing into their bedroom. She padded down the hall, toes sinking into the thick carpet. She peered into the room and then clamped her hand over her mouth. ‘It’s the wild cat! It’s Ghost!’
Katie put her hands on Poppy�
�s shoulders as she looked into the room. ‘Looks like you and Sarah are sharing the bed with someone else tonight.’
The little black kitten yawned as it watched them, before kneading in a circle and then curling into a ball on Poppy’s pillow.
‘At least she’s not cold and alone.’
Katie laughed. ‘Yeah. If you don’t mind wet cat on your pillow!’
Poppy was about to answer when she heard the bathroom door open. She raced past Katie and scooted down the hall, almost knocking Milly over as she leapt into the bathroom.
Yes! She stripped off the rest of her clothes, turned the hot water on and jumped into the shower. So she had to share her bed with a wet cat. She didn’t care. All she cared about was being at Starlight Stables, with her friends sharing her room and her pony safe in a paddock she could see from the window. In fact, she grinned as the hot water poured down, the more animals the better.
The rest of the weekend went by in a blur, and Poppy could hardly believe that it was only yesterday that they’d ridden for their lives across the farm, racing for safety as the fire breathed down their necks like a dragon chasing them down. Now all the ponies were grazing quietly in their paddocks as if nothing had happened.
‘I can’t believe we didn’t ride today,’ Milly moaned.
‘Seriously?’ Katie said, rolling her eyes at Milly. ‘After yesterday I think your poor pony deserved a day off.’
Poppy hated missing a day riding too, but they’d had fun feeding the baby animals and watching the koala. Sarah had hardly left Belinda’s side except to come out for lunch, and now it was almost time to go. Because the fire hadn’t spread, it was almost like the whole thing had never happened.
A toot signalled that Katie’s mum had arrived, and Poppy looked at her friends. It was only another two weeks before they were back, but it always felt like a lifetime to wait. She still hated saying goodbye.
Starlight Stables: Bush Bolts Page 9