‘The two girls we’ve chosen are heading up here tomorrow, and we have our fingers crossed that you’ll like them. We want the three of you to have fun together, and to eventually represent Starlight Stables as a team.’
Uncle Mark kept talking as he took his empty plate into the kitchen. Poppy followed her uncle. She had to admit, their plans for her this holiday did sound like a whole heap of fun, even if she was worried about staying for so long. Aunt Sophie had always said that she would be ready for some real competitions once she turned twelve, and it was all starting to come true.
Uncle Mark smiled at Poppy. ‘Happy?’ he asked.
Poppy threw her arms around her uncle and squeezed him so tight he had to fight to get away.
‘You’re the best uncle in the world,’ she whispered. And she meant it. Sometimes, she dreamed that Sophie and Mark were her parents, that she had a mum and a dad again, and lived with them all the time. But then it only made her feel guilty, because she loved her mum.
She just wished her mum would go back to how she used to be. Because Poppy didn’t know how much longer she was going to be able to pretend like everything was okay.
‘Can I give my mum a call?’ Poppy asked Sophie as she walked out of the kitchen. She just wanted to make sure her mum wasn’t missing her too much.
‘Of course,’ Aunt Sophie said. ‘You call her whenever you like, you don’t have to ask.’
‘I’ll just need to talk to her, about staying longer. Make sure she’s . . .’ Poppy paused, not wanting to say too much. ‘I just want to talk to her.’
Aunt Sophie touched her arm, her smile as warm as her soft blue eyes. ‘I already spoke to your mum, before we chose Crystal. I wouldn’t have done this if she wasn’t okay with it, and I’ve asked her if it’s okay for you to stay longer.’
Poppy leaned into her aunt when she hugged her. ‘So she knew about this?’
‘Yes. She was thrilled for you, especially after everything you’ve all been through.’ Aunt Sophie let her go, patting her arm as she walked away.
‘I’ll still just give her a quick call,’ Poppy said, reaching for the phone. She was happy her mum knew, but she still wanted to hear her voice, make sure she was coping. And then she’d be able to figure out if Tom would be all right at home without her, so she could enjoy her stay at the farm, with Crystal, for a little while longer.
Poppy pushed the soft brush firmly along Crystal’s shoulder, making her already gleaming coat even shinier in the morning sun. She still couldn’t believe it. There was just something different about grooming her own pony, something so much more special. Running her hand down Crystal’s legs, she brushed under her tummy, exploring every groove and indent.
Crystal turned her head and breathed on Poppy’s arm, making her giggle. Poppy threw her arms around Crystal’s neck again. She just couldn’t stop touching her.
‘You ready for a trail ride this morning?’ she asked, and imagined Crystal saying ‘yes’ as she put the brush down.
She shielded her eyes against the low sun and looked over to the arena where Aunt Sophie was riding her big warm blood horse, Jupiter. Sophie had been riding for almost half an hour now, so she must be almost done, Poppy reckoned. She was training for the national dressage champs, and once they were finished, Sophie was going to take Jupiter on a short hack to stretch out his muscles. Poppy was hoping to tag along for the ride with Crystal. She’d purposely tied up outside the stable block today, on the concrete wash-down bay, so she could keep an eye on the arena.
Jupiter trotted smoothly over the sand, head tucked down on the bit, white foam frothing at the corners of his mouth. Poppy loved watching her aunt ride. Aunt Sophie was so graceful, so still, her body moving as one with her horse. It was like her aunt was glued to the saddle. Poppy desperately wanted to be that good.
Sophie made Jupiter round the arena’s far corner and come to a halt – a dead stop from such a forward-moving trot. Then she made him walk on, before loosening the reins.
‘Do you want to get Crystal saddled up and ready?’ Sophie called out. The light breeze carried her voice, and she sounded closer than she was.
‘Are you finished?’ Poppy called back.
Aunt Sophie gave Jupiter a pat on the neck and swung her ankles from the stirrups to stretch her legs, walking closer. ‘He’s a little stiff today so I’m going to finish up now. Go saddle that pony and meet me out front.’
Poppy sprinted inside the stables to get her saddle, leaving Crystal tied up. She was going on her first proper trail ride with Crystal and she couldn’t wait!
‘Walk, Poppy!’ called her aunt. ‘No running near the stables, remember?’
Poppy threw one arm in the air and gave a thumbs up, slowing to a half-walk run. A low nicker caught her attention and her grin doubled in size. Crystal was already calling out to her, like she knew she was her new mum!
Crystal had her ears pricked, listening to Poppy and occasionally breaking into an excited jog.
‘You guys are getting on well together,’ observed Aunt Sophie.
Poppy sat a little straighter and patted Crystal on the shoulder. ‘She feels great.’
‘Do you want to trot?’
Oh yes. There was nothing better than trotting next to Jupiter. He was a whopping 17 hands high, which meant that his trot equated to cantering in the pony world, and she couldn’t wait to go fast on Crystal.
‘Yep, let’s go!’
Aunt Sophie broke into an elegant working trot, and Poppy tried to do the same, before Crystal took it upon herself to canter to keep up with Jupiter. They bounced along under Sophie’s watchful eye, trotting over the pine needles and around the odd fallen branch, a canopy of blue gums and pine trees surrounding them.
‘There’s a log coming up so go around. Don’t feel you have to jump so soon if you don’t want to,’ Sophie said.
Poppy was listening but she had no intention of missing her first real jump on her pony. Crystal could see it coming, Poppy knew, but she held her in check, keeping their canter slow and steady. She waited for Sophie to pop over the log – Jupiter hardly lifted his legs from a trot – but Poppy had a feeling that Crystal intended to jump big.
Sophie had pulled up and was watching her, calling out to her to stay steady in the saddle. Poppy could hardly hear her, though. Excitement was building fast inside her, making her feel jittery.
Two strides out, one and jump! Poppy squeezed lightly with her legs and leaned forward as Crystal lifted up over the almost-white blue gum bough. She pushed her hands forward so that her pony could jump freely without Poppy pulling on her mouth.
Thump. They landed perfectly on the other side. Poppy pulled back to a walk as she heard Sophie clapping.
‘Well done! You were both perfect,’ Sophie said.
Poppy beamed. This was the sort of pony she could do anything on. They would win ribbons, take out local championships and be the envy of all others. She intended to do everything she could to make Crystal love her, too, so the pony would try her best for Poppy in return.
‘Keep that up and we might enter you in the show jumping at the gymkhana,’ Sophie said.
The gymkhana? Poppy knew that the big Pony Club Gymkhana was on the last weekend before school started, and she calculated in her head how long that gave her to perfect her jumping. It would mean she’d be at the farm for four weeks. She gulped. As much as she wanted to stay and ride, she still wasn’t sure about being away from home for so long, for the entire holidays.
‘Would I be here the whole time until then?’ Poppy asked her aunt.
‘I was thinking you could go home for a few days, after the two weeks we’d already planned. But then you’d come back for the rest of the break. Does that sound okay to you?’ Aunt Sophie asked.
Poppy nodded. ‘I think so.’ She wasn’t going to tell her aunt her worries, not yet.
‘Can I definitely compete?’ asked Poppy as they walked off down the homebound trail. She had only ever competed in h
er aunt’s riding school games-day before now. Poppy knew Sophie would only let her compete in the local Pony Club Gymkhana if she thought she was truly ready for it, and that sent shivers of excitement down Poppy’s spine.
‘Of course. It’ll be the first competition for you three girls as a team.’
Poppy felt a bit nervous about meeting the other girls. She thought about her best friend Sarah back home. Sarah didn’t even like the look of horses, but she was heaps of fun to hang out with. Poppy had tried so hard to get her to come here to the summer camp, but Sarah had just rolled her eyes and said no every single time. Luckily, they both had their own phones now, which meant they could text each other at least. The phones were only supposed to be for emergencies – their mums had given them each a phone for Christmas, now that they walked to school on their own – but Poppy and Sarah managed to get away with texting each other while Poppy was away. She couldn’t wait to message her and fill her in on these new girls.
Poppy realised that Sophie was still talking to her. ‘There’ll be four local pony clubs competing this year,’ Sophie said.
‘Are you still running the Starlight gymkhana this summer before the big Pony Club one?’ Poppy asked as they rode side by side down the wider part of the trail, the sun shining down on her arms now the trees became more sparse closer to the farm.
Sophie nodded and turned in her saddle to look at her.
‘Of course! All of my pupils are looking forward to it, and it’ll be good practice for you on Crystal. The competition will be a lot harder against the Pony Club competitors, so the Starlight gymkhana will be a great chance for you girls to prepare for that.’
Oh yes, Poppy knew. She might win all the games at the Starlight gymkhana, like her favourite bending and barrel racing competitions, but it was only practice for the big event a few weeks later. Out of all of Sophie’s pupils, Poppy knew she had the most experience, which is why she had always been given first pick of ponies. But riding in her age group at the big Pony Club competition would be a whole new experience, and she was going to have to put in hours of extra practice with Crystal if she wanted even a chance of winning a ribbon.
‘Talking about the other girls,’ said Sophie. ‘We’d better get a move on. Mark only had a couple of hours off work to look after things while we rode, and they might already be here.’
Poppy sat up in the saddle, alert, at the edge of the grass where the trail ended. Aunt Sophie brought Jupiter to a halt, and Poppy followed suit with Crystal, facing Starlight Stables. Two cars were parked near the stable block, which meant that the other girls were here. Poppy felt her stomach flutter, like it was full of butterflies. It was the same kind of nervous feeling she got before approaching a big jump on horseback – a mixture of excitement and nerves.
Poppy noticed that the cars weren’t the usual big and expensive types that most of Sophie’s pupils arrived in, which she was secretly pleased about; if the girls weren’t fancypants horse riders, they were more likely to be like her and super excited about having their own pony.
‘Looks as if we’ve got company,’ Aunt Sophie said.
‘Do you need me to do anything this morning? Like help out with the feeding or mucking out?’ Poppy asked her, secretly wanting an excuse to escape and watch the girls from afar before meeting them.
‘Since you and Crystal are doing so well, why don’t you stay mounted for now? Mark and I can bring the ponies out for the girls to have a quick ride, and then you can take them for a trail ride, maybe.’
‘Okay.’ Poppy smiled, pleased she could keep riding Crystal.
Uncle Mark came out of the barn with two neatly turned-out ponies, both already saddled up. Sophie jumped to the ground and led Jupiter on foot the rest of the way back to the stables.
Poppy swallowed a lump in her throat and rode Crystal slowly behind her aunt. She was kind of scared about meeting the new girls. Aunt Sophie and Uncle Mark were counting on her getting along with the other girls, but what if they didn’t like her or want to hang out with her?
‘Poppy!’ Uncle Mark’s voice called out.
She rode closer to him, nudging Crystal to keep walking when she saw four adults come out of the barn. They must be the girls’ parents, she realised. Her pony must have sensed her hesitation and thought she wanted her to halt. Poppy gave a feeble wave as all eyes turned on her. At almost the same time, two girls emerged from the barn, helmets on, whips in hand. One wore smart cream jodhpurs that looked as if they hadn’t seen daylight before, let alone horses, and the other was in dark blue jods.
‘Ah, hi,’ Poppy stammered. It felt like her stomach was leaping up and down, over and over.
The other girls seemed every bit as nervous as she felt.
‘Poppy, I’d like you to meet Amelia Walker and Katie Richards,’ Uncle Mark said.
Poppy looked from one girl to the other, trying to figure out who was who. She was desperate to look over the two ponies, but she didn’t want to seem rude.
The dark-haired girl in the cream jods giggled and rolled her eyes. ‘I’m Milly,’ she said, tucking a loose strand of curly brown hair behind her ear. She had freckles across her nose and she was the shorter of the two, and her grin showed off her braces.
The man she now realised was Milly’s father groaned. He must have liked Amelia better. The other girl just smiled and said a quiet ‘hello’. Her arms were crossed, like she was hugging herself.
Katie’s parents looked rather reserved in comparison to the Walkers, but at least they were smiling. Katie’s mum was like an older version of her, only her blonde hair was cut shoulder length while Katie’s golden hair was braided in a fish plait.
‘I’ve just showed Milly,’ Uncle Mark said with a wink, ‘and Katie their ponies. If all goes well today, then they’ll be back here for the rest of the holidays, commencing at the end of the week.’
He beamed at the girls. But the moment was short-lived as the woman standing next to Milly’s dad started speaking.
‘I’m just not sure about Amelia staying for all that time. Is it really such a good idea?’
Milly glared at her parents. ‘I’ve told you, Mum, I’m staying. It’s the best thing that’s happened to me, like, ever!’
Aunt Sophie arrived in the nick of time. Everyone liked Sophie – Poppy had seen firsthand how she always managed to calm parents down when their kids were riding.
‘Hello there.’ Her aunt had changed into a clean pair of jodhpurs and a crisp shirt, her hair swept up into a swishy ponytail. ‘It’s so good to see you all again. How are we, girls?’
Poppy watched as the parents all smiled back at her aunt, and, before they could start complaining again, Sophie had turned to the girls. ‘How about I take you out to the arena and, Mark, you can give the Walkers and the Richards a proper tour of the farm. Do you have time before your rounds?’
‘Sure thing.’ Uncle Mark gave her a smile but flicked her on the shoulder on his way past, like the last thing he wanted was to be stuck with the parents. Poppy clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle and noticed that Katie had seen it, too.
With the parents and Uncle Mark gone, Aunt Sophie had hold of both the other girls’ ponies and was focusing again on riding.
‘Let’s meet the four-legged friends,’ she said.
That got all three girls’ attention. Poppy stayed mounted on Crystal, pleased that Milly had come to stand beside her and was stroking her pony’s neck. All the horses were gorgeous, but Crystal had that something special, or at least she thought so.
‘Okay, girls, this is Poppy’s brand-new horse, Crystal. Crystal measures 14 hands high, and she’s a Welsh/Arab cross.’
Aunt Sophie paused and Poppy tried not to smile too hard.
‘Here we have Joe,’ she continued, indicating toward the bigger of the two ponies she held. ‘Joe is a full 14.2 hands high, and he can be a little cheeky sometimes, so he needs a firm hand. He was owned by a young friend of ours who has now outgrown him. She had a l
ot of fun on him.’
Poppy watched Joe, his ears pricked. He looked like a real character, with his slightly up-turned nose and white blaze.
‘Any ideas of his breeding?’ asked Aunt Sophie.
The three girls all looked at one another. Poppy bet the other two were as scared as her to get it wrong, and she bit down on her lip as she glanced quickly at first Milly then Katie.
Sophie looked between them all and continued, not seeming to notice their nervousness. ‘Joe is three-quarters Arab, so that’s why he’s fun and looks like trouble. All being well, he’ll be Milly’s horse.’
Milly dropped her whip and flung her arms around a startled Joe. Poppy thought they kind of suited each other, because Joe didn’t even flinch.
‘This here is Cody,’ added Sophie, indicating for a still-shy Katie to come forward. ‘As you can see, Cody is a palomino, and he’s the same height as Crystal at 14 hands. He’s an English riding pony, and he’s a very talented dressage and event mount.’
Katie moved forward tentatively and stood beside him. She didn’t look scared, but she still didn’t say much. Poppy watched as Cody sniffed her and then drooped his head down for a cuddle.
‘Okay then, let’s see you both up there for a ride. Let me know what you think, and if your pony is suited to you. Then maybe you girls could all head off for a bit of a ride around the farm and through the surrounding bush. What do you say, Poppy?’
‘When have I ever said no to a ride?’
That earned her a nervous laugh from Katie and a big grin from Milly. Poppy was relieved they seemed to like her.
While Poppy sat on Crystal, watching the others in the arena, she realised how being back at the farm was making her feel like her old self again, like everything was okay. She still missed her dad all the time, and wished he could come home, but being with horses and riding Crystal made her feel so much better.
Pony Detectives Page 2