Pony Detectives

by Soraya Nicholas

‘I’m in,’ she said defiantly, even if deep down she wasn’t that sure about the plan.

  Katie looked bewildered. Out of them all, she was by far the meekest. She was pretty, sensible, a really good rider and certainly not a trouble seeker. Poppy was starting to think her summer would have been far less worrisome if it was just her and Katie.

  ‘I just wanted to come here to ride, not get in any trouble,’ Katie moaned.

  Now Poppy stood next to Milly, watching Katie. She hated teaming up against her, but no one was going to call her a wimp. And, besides, it was kind of starting to sound like fun. If Milly wanted to investigate, then Poppy didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

  ‘What happened to “let the fun begin”?’ demanded Milly, her hand outstretched.

  Poppy shrugged and placed her hand over Milly’s, sick of worrying. ‘Come on, Katie. If it looks like trouble, we’ll just ride back fast. I don’t want to get into Sophie’s bad books, either.’

  Katie let out a deep sigh and shuffled over to Poppy and Milly, her hand limply resting on the other two.

  ‘Let the fun begin,’ she mumbled.

  ‘Make it sound like you mean it,’ said Milly. ‘Let the fun begin!’

  They all laughed.

  Saddle in hand, bridle over her shoulder, Poppy followed Milly and Katie as they trooped back to the horses, saddled up and rode out to the trail. There was only one other farm boundary to ride past after negotiating the first tight cluster of trees and bushes, and then they’d be there . . .

  ‘So, have you ever actually seen Old Smithy up close?’ asked Milly, pulling back on the reins to slow down Joe as they rode out onto the trail. ‘Like, talked to him or anything?’

  ‘Just that one time I already told you about, when he scared me as I was riding past. He was being really rough with this poor cow.’ Poppy shuddered. She hated people being cruel to animals. ‘Otherwise just from the car, or in the distance when we’ve been riding past,’ Poppy answered.

  ‘Do you think we need, like, a plan?’ asked Katie, riding fast to catch up with Poppy and Milly. Cody, as usual, was behaving like a perfect gentleman, while the other two seemed jittery.

  ‘Plan?’ repeated Poppy.

  ‘Yeah, like, a getaway plan if something goes wrong. Or maybe what our goal is once we get there.’

  Milly bounced in the saddle, her excitement contagious.

  ‘Yes! We do! Let’s brainstorm.’

  The girls all reined their ponies in and formed a half circle.

  ‘There are two main things we have to think about,’ continued Katie. ‘We need an entry and an exit strategy, plus an emergency plan.’

  Poppy grinned. Katie sounded like a grown-up sometimes because she was so sensible. ‘See, this is why Katie is so valuable. You come up with the adventure stuff,’ she said, pointing at Milly. ‘I have the practical knowledge of the farm and bush trails, and Katie is like the genius mastermind.’

  ‘So, then, Miss Planner, let’s make a plan so we can do this already!’ Milly clearly wasn’t the best at sitting still. Poppy giggled as she watched her shift in the saddle, chomping at the bit to get going.

  ‘Well,’ said Katie, looking at Poppy. ‘How do we get onto his land?’

  ‘There’s an old gate, about ten minutes ride from here. It’s padlocked shut, but I reckon we could jump it. It’s lower than the piece of fence we were looking over the other day.’

  Katie was focused, her hands resting on Cody’s wither. ‘What about where we’re going to ride to once we’re on his land?’

  ‘The big barn,’ said Milly, her mischievous eyes glinting. ‘I reckon we need to get inside it.’

  Poppy gulped. That sounded way more dangerous than she’d been expecting. Did they really need to go into the barn?

  ‘Inside?’ Katie asked.

  Milly waved her hand and made Cody jump. ‘We’ll see when we get there.’

  Katie calmed her pony with a soothing hand to the neck. ‘First, we need to practise jumping,’ Katie said, ‘so we can jump that gate and get in and out of Smithy’s land as quickly as possible. And maybe we should come up with a noise that means danger.’

  ‘Oooohhh, that sounds good. How about a horse noise, or a bird?’ Milly said.

  ‘Yeah, like an owl hoot or something. Like in the movies,’ agreed Poppy.

  ‘But I’m not up for the practice part,’ moaned Milly. ‘Let’s just get going!’

  Katie shook her head. ‘We don’t have to go back or anything, but don’t you think we should go over the log in the track a few times? That gate will be bigger than anything I’ve jumped in a while.’

  Poppy agreed. ‘Yeah, imagine if we were chased off the land or something, and one of the horses wouldn’t jump!’

  That seemed to get Milly’s attention. ‘Okay, so who’s up for a canter ’til we reach the fallen tree? We can go over it a few times, and then find this gate.’

  ‘Let’s go!’ Poppy didn’t feel as brave as she sounded, but she’d decided that it was about time she had some crazy fun. It seemed like she’d been covering up for her mum for so long that she was more like the parent than the kid. Now felt like as good a time as any to start being the kid again.

  As the three girls rode Crystal, Cody and Joe along the track towards the old log, Poppy knew she was being naughty, especially when her aunt and uncle seldom gave her rules to obey. But she could hardly ruin the fun, could she? And besides, what was the worst that could happen? Even if Old Smithy did catch them, what could he do? If he was that dangerous, wouldn’t Aunt Sophie have given her a reason for why they weren’t allowed over there?

  Crystal thundered along the track toward the fallen blue gum. Poppy focused on the parched trunk – the bark had all peeled off, making it almost pure white. Crystal cantered confidently and cleared the jump with ease. Poppy pulled Crystal up to the side of the log so they could watch the others take the jump. Joe was hot on Crystal’s tail, zipping over the log and then pulling up to a halt from his canter. Cody approached gracefully and soared elegantly through the air.

  ‘Okay, so practice done,’ said a bossy Milly. ‘This time, we’re going over the real thing.’

  Poppy’s stomach churned nervously, but she didn’t let it show. She was ready for this. She was on a fast pony and she was with her friends. She just had to tell herself that nothing was going to go wrong.

  ‘Let’s run through it one more time,’ Katie said.

  Poppy was amazed – Katie now looked even more confident than Milly. Poppy remembered hearing about that type of person: cool, calm and collected in the face of crisis, or something like that.

  ‘I’m leader, you guys follow me,’ said Milly.

  ‘Fine, but I’m lookout,’ said Poppy. She knew Milly was too set on adventure to pay attention to potential trouble. Best keep an eye on things myself, she thought. ‘If I say go, we all get out of there – fast!’

  ‘Good idea, Poppy,’ said Katie. ‘And so I’m in charge if there’s an emergency. If we need to go, the lead falls on me, because Cody will always do as he’s told. And I have the phone in case we need it, too.’

  They all nodded their heads, pushed their heels down hard and gathered up their reins.

  ‘Ready?’ asked Poppy.

  ‘Ready!’ said the other two in reply.

  Poppy watched Milly keep Joe at a steady canter. The trail stretched out to the left, but they were diverting off the trodden path and making for the old, rickety wooden gate with its rusted chain and padlock. The three horses fell back into a trot as low-hanging branches slowed their pace and scratched at the girls’ bare arms.

  ‘I’m just going to check it out first,’ Milly called, riding on into the clearing ahead. ‘Make sure it’s safe on the other side.’

  Poppy watched Milly trot toward the old gate and inspect the paddock.

  ‘All clear,’ Milly hollered, walking Joe around and riding back to Poppy and Katie.

  Milly made Joe canter again, circling him o
n the grassy clearing before pointing him toward the jump. Poppy followed on at a safe distance, with Katie close behind her.

  Poppy saw Joe pop over up ahead and land on the grassy field, only the slightest hesitation slowing him down. Crystal felt strong beneath her, eager to clear the fence and land with her friends on the other side. Poppy enjoyed the way her stride became slightly faster, pulling to get her head. Poppy held the reins firm, kept contact with the bit, and gave Crystal her head just as she took off from the ground.

  Poppy hardly had time to think about how great they had jumped, though. The pounding of Cody’s hooves behind made her move fast, and then it dawned on her exactly where they were. Old Man Smithy’s place. Goosepimples ran down her arms and up the back of her neck. She needed to stay alert.

  Cody cleared the jump with ease, too, and the girls were off. Milly signalled with her hand for them to ride straight for the big barn. It loomed within their sights. A big, dark building that was looking scarier by the second. The red paint was peeling from it and seemed almost brown it had faded so much. Poppy could see that the glass in one of the windows was broken, as if something had been thrown through with great force and left a hole right in the centre.

  Katie moved up beside her, holding Cody in check as they headed toward the barn. There was a banging that startled Poppy, but it made her feel more sure about what they were doing, that the ponies could really be in there. Up ahead, Milly went faster still, sending them all into a cross-country gallop. Poppy even started to relax, her body softening from its rigid stance.

  ‘Did you hear that?’ she called out.

  ‘Yes!’ Milly called back at the same time as Katie.

  Poppy leaned forward in the saddle, urging Crystal faster again, but then Milly was pulling Joe up hard, spinning him around almost on the spot, and yelling at them.

  ‘Get back! Back to the bush!’

  What? Poppy almost fell off she stopped Crystal so fast, yanking hard on her mouth. She was never usually rough with her hands, but Milly had scared the breath from her!

  Katie didn’t react quite so quickly, allowing Cody to turn in a more balanced circle, but she looked just as worried as Poppy felt.

  And then Poppy saw it. The beat-up old truck was coming across the field, descending the low hill and approaching the barn. It was Old Smithy!

  They raced back to the boundary jump, side by side, across the yellow grass. All three horses were lathered up in a sweat, galloping as quick as they could. Poppy’s heart was racing, but she leaned low over her pony’s neck, remembering to stay still in the saddle and focus. The last thing she needed right now was to panic and fall off.

  ‘Slow down!’ Poppy yelled, trying to make her voice heard in the wind.

  They all steadied to a slow canter, falling back into position as they approached the old gate. Cody went first, popping over just like before, followed by Crystal and then Joe, who was fighting hard to get back into first place.

  What would they have done if one of the ponies had stopped? He could have captured them, or worse! Poppy couldn’t even think about it. A car horn tooted loudly and it sounded close, but no one dared look back. He’d seen them. And he was letting them know.

  Once they were hidden by the tall trunks of the blue gums, they all slowed again. Poppy took the lead on Crystal, maintaining a fast trot.

  ‘Keep going!’ called Katie, her voice full of terror.

  Poppy shook her head, just as scared as Katie, but thinking clearly now.

  ‘We can’t take the horses back blowing this hard,’ Poppy explained, her voice unsteady. ‘We need to cool them down a little, or Sophie will know something’s up if she sees us.’

  Milly broke into a canter and pulled up next to Poppy. Her eyes were shining, and Poppy wondered if she had actually liked almost getting caught!

  ‘Do you know any secret tracks back?’ Milly asked. ‘Like the one we took yesterday?’

  Poppy thought for a second, catching her breath.

  ‘Yeah,’ she replied. ‘Not secret, but kind of overgrown and tucked away.’ At least this way Old Smithy wouldn’t find them if he tried to follow.

  Milly fell back and Poppy resumed her lead position. She couldn’t help worrying that it had been her job to keep an eye out, and yet she hadn’t seen anything. She had been so focused on riding, daydreaming about Crystal, that she’d forgotten how serious their quest had been.

  They wound to the left and trotted over a small log in the track, but no one slowed. They were all too scared to even come back to a walk until the stables came into view. Their arms were scratched, the path was almost too narrow for horses to pass, and Poppy was beginning to wonder if they were on the right track. But Starlight Stables appeared like a safety net before them, and Poppy almost didn’t care if they got in trouble. So long as they were all home safe. That was all that mattered.

  ‘Everyone heard the banging coming from the barn, right?’ said Milly as they started to hose the ponies down. Even a vigorous brush down wouldn’t get the thick sweat off their coats, and so they were hosing them first to clean and cool them.

  Poppy nodded along with Katie, wondering if the others were thinking the same as her – that the banging sounded like hooves. They’d been almost silent since dismounting, and Poppy was certain the other two were still in shock, just like she was.

  ‘The horse thief. It’s got to be him, don’t you think?’ asked Katie as they entered the stables.

  Poppy looked at Milly and nodded. They were all in agreement. Old Smithy was the horse thief. But how were they going to prove it?

  ‘What if he comes for our horses now that he’s seen them?’ Katie asked.

  ‘I think we need to stay down here with them,’ said Milly.

  Poppy saw that she had that determined look on her face again.

  ‘In the stables?’ asked Poppy.

  ‘Yes, in the stables. Who’s with me?’

  All three girls raised their hands.

  ‘Let’s give the ponies a quick scrape down to get the water off, and get them back to the paddock,’ suggested Poppy. ‘Hopefully, Sophie will never know anything’s happened.’

  Poppy pushed her bedroom door ajar and listened, her ears straining against the silence. The house was completely dark, and she could only just make out the sideboard on the landing as her eyes adjusted. The light was off in her aunt and uncle’s room, but she wanted to make sure they were asleep. She heard Mark’s whistley snore and relaxed.

  ‘Is the coast clear?’ whispered Milly.

  Katie and Milly were behind her, sleeping-bags under their arms. They had been waiting for over an hour for Sophie and Mark to go to bed, but it had seemed like forever.

  ‘I think so,’ Poppy whispered back. ‘Just follow me, and try to avoid the creaky steps.’

  The old farmhouse was full of noisy floorboards but, after years of staying over, Poppy knew where most of the squeaky spots were. She pushed the door open enough to fit through, and stopped to check she could still hear her uncle snoring. She waved for the others to follow her, and walked into the hall. They headed for the stairs on tiptoes. Poppy carefully stepped over the stair that she knew to avoid, and winced when it squeaked behind her, sounding deafeningly loud in the silent house.

  Poppy turned around and glared at Milly, and could just make out her friend mouthing a silent ‘sorry’ in the darkness. Poppy had a torch in one hand, and she switched it on once they had all got safely out the front door.

  ‘They might see the light if we use it close to the house,’ whispered Katie.

  ‘How will we find our way then?’ Poppy asked.

  ‘Let’s just link arms and go slowly. Once we’re down the drive, we can switch it on,’ said Milly.

  ‘What if Casper starts to bark when he hears us on the gravel?’ Katie asked.

  ‘We’ll call out to him before we get there, so he knows it’s us. He’s probably sound asleep anyway,’ said Poppy. She could just make out the outline of th
e barn in the darkness ahead of them. Milly and Katie were either side of her, and she felt them pulling her gently forward, eager to get to the barn as quickly as possible.

  All around them, unidentifiable objects lurked like creatures waiting to get them. Trees that were pretty in the daytime loomed like haunted skeletons in the dark, swaying ominously.

  ‘Geez, I’ve never been so scared here,’ muttered Poppy.

  Katie squeezed her arm tighter, her voice soft. ‘Me neither.’

  The big stable block looked almost as scary as the trees, just because it was so big and dark. Poppy would never have walked out here alone in the pitch black without her new friends.

  ‘Casper,’ Poppy called softly. ‘Hey, boy, it’s just us.’

  She turned the big handle and tugged the door until it slid open, then heaved it across as quietly as she could. Casper was waiting with his tail wagging.

  ‘Woof!’

  ‘Shhhhhhh,’ they all hissed.

  His bark had echoed but they all jumped on top of him. Showering them with licks, Casper wriggled, but didn’t bark again, loving the attention.

  The girls yanked the door shut and secured the latch, before sprinting over to check the stalls. Poppy raced to a very surprised Crystal. She was standing, happily munching her hay, startled only by the fact that the light from the torch had been swung directly into her face.

  ‘Hey, girl.’

  Poppy shone the light on the ceiling instead and reached a hand out to her. Crystal nuzzled it before turning her attention back to the hay.

  Phew! Poppy had been so worried about Crystal, it had been all she could think about. She walked down to check on Jupiter next, who was snoozing, and then back to Milly and Katie.

  ‘Do you think we’ll get any sleep?’ she asked.

  Katie shook her head. ‘I’m way too scared to sleep.’

  ‘Me too,’ Poppy said.

  Milly was the only one who looked confident. ‘Who needs sleep when we’re protecting our horses?’

  ‘Maybe we should do, like, a roster,’ suggested Poppy, ignoring Milly.