‘Last one back’s a rotten rat!’ Milly yelled, kicking Joe in the side and cantering over toward the log.
Poppy exchanged glances with Katie, and they both burst out laughing and raced after Milly, side by side. Still wearing a smile, Poppy felt better than she had in ages. She thought back on all that had happened the past week, and knew that telling her aunt about what was going on with her mum had been the right thing to do. She trusted her to help.
As she rode alongside Katie, she realised how relieved she was that her friends now knew what had happened to her dad. It was like a huge weight had been lifted, and she was free to be a kid again. They might have almost got sent home, thought Poppy, but it was still the best holiday she’d ever had.
As a horse-crazy girl, Soraya dreamed of owning her own pony and riding every day. For years, pony books like The Saddle Club had to suffice, until she finally convinced her parents to buy her a horse. There were plenty of adventures on horseback throughout her childhood, and lots of stories scribbled in notebooks, which eventually became inspiration for Soraya’s very own pony series. Soraya now lives with her husband and children on a small farm in her native New Zealand, surrounded by four-legged friends and still vividly recalling what it felt like to be 12 years old and head over heels in love with horses.
Penguin Random House would like to give special thanks to Isabella Carter, Emily Mitchell and India James Timms – the faces of Poppy, Milly and Katie on the book covers.
Special thanks must also go to Trish, Caroline, Ben and the team at Valley Park Riding School, Templestowe, Victoria, for their tremendous help in hosting the photoshoot for the covers at Valley Park, and, of course, to the four-legged stars: Alfie and Joe from Valley Park Riding School, and Carinda Park Vegas and his owner Annette Vellios.
Thank you, too, to Caitlin Maloney from Ragamuffin Pet Photography for taking the perfect shots that are the covers.
PUFFIN BOOKS
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Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies
whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
First published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd, 2016.
Text copyright © Soraya Nicholas, 2016.
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Design by Marina Messiha © Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Cover photograph © Caitlin Maloney, Ragamuffin Pet Photography
puffin.com.au
ISBN: 978-1-76014-301-5
THE BEGINNING
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Pony Detectives Page 11