Snowflakes, Silver and Secrets

by Tracey Corderoy

  The pond down the lane was completely iced over and now a skating rink for ducks. And the happy little things were having the time of their lives!

  ‘Quack! Quack!’ They slipped and slid and whirled. To Bryony, it sounded as if they were calling a noisy, ‘Merry Christmas!’

  Further on, as the girls approached Seaview, they saw the Stormy Point Lighthouse on the tip of the headland. The overnight snow had gathered on its top and frozen in a tall fluffy peak.

  ‘Oh, Em!’ Bryony pointed. ‘Lookout Towers is wearing a bobble hat!’

  Seaview looked busy with riders coming and going. Amber Stepney came out on Dash and Jess on Destiny behind her.

  ‘Tons happening today, Bry!’ Jess called to Bryony.

  ‘I know,’ nodded Bryony. ‘Can’t wait!’

  At the stable gate Bryony turned to Emma who was about to head on to White Mouse Farm.

  ‘Em, fancy a quick gallop before pamper-time?’ she asked. ‘We could meet at the beach at nine thirty?’

  ‘Sounds like a plan,’ Emma smiled back. ‘See you there!’

  With a wave, Bryony went in through the gate, the snow squeaking under her boots. The Christmas tree was lit. But the clear plastic bauble with Red’s picture in was no longer at the top. It seemed Tiberius had now taken top spot!

  ‘Huh!’ Bryony couldn’t help but laugh. Some mischievous elf must have switched them in the night. (Tabby’s mum!)

  She hurried on to the yard. Red’s top door was open and there he was, peeping out.

  ‘Happy Christmas Eve!’ Bryony cried. His ears perked up and his eyes twinkled as he let out the happiest of nickers.

  ‘Yes, I know!’ Bryony giggled. ‘It’s so exciting!’

  She stroked his muzzle and he nudged her hand, his little kiss curl bouncing. Tomorrow, thought Bryony, he’d love his new play ball. She was going to wrap it too. She was bursting to tell him but that would spoil the surprise, so she resisted being a chatterbox for once.

  Opening the stable door, she went inside and quickly began her chores. When Red had had breakfast and a nice fresh drink, it was time to get on with the mucking out. She was always very thorough when it came to keeping his stable clean, but she wanted it to be extra spick and span when Christmas Day dawned.

  Bryony led him out to the turnout paddock to have some exercise while she did this. There were a few other ponies there too, including Daffy and Princess P.

  Returning to the stable with a wheelbarrow, Bryony began by forking out Red’s droppings, then the wet patches of sawdust.

  Each time she got a wheelbarrow full she had to take it round to the heap. Today this was taking slightly longer because she had to make sure she didn’t slip in the snow.

  ‘Right!’ said Bryony, now adding fresh sawdust to the clean stuff she’d left on Red’s floor. She fluffed it with a pitchfork as she went, and did the same when adding clean straw. This she then banked up along the walls to stop any nasty draughts. And finally, after a quick brush around, she brought Red back in to groom him.

  ‘Isn’t your stable smart?’ said Bryony. ‘And later tonight, if you hear any hooves tippy-tapping across your roof, you know who it’ll be, don’t you, eh?’

  Red nuzzled her playfully, his dark eyes twinkling.

  ‘That’s right!’ nodded Bryony. ‘Santa’s reindeers – that’s who. And do make sure that you tell them where Plum Cottage is!’

  Bryony brushed Red down and rubbed oil into his hooves. Then she checked his tack. His saddle looked a bit dusty so she cleaned it with saddle soap and finished off with conditioner to add shine. Just a little, though, so it wouldn’t be too slippery when she rode him.

  ‘Good boy, Red,’ said Bryony as she tacked him up. He was standing really still. ‘Now I just need to check you over. Let’s see . . .’

  Red’s bit looked comfy and in the right position, his noseband and throatlatch weren’t too loose or too tight, and the reins were fastened properly.

  His saddle looked nice and comfy too. The pads were straight, the girth straps weren’t twisted and the buckles were all correctly positioned with none pressing into Red’s skin.

  ‘You are an absolute picture!’ Bryony said.

  She quickly jumped on and off they went, meeting Emma and Piggy at the beach right on time. With a brisk sea breeze flying through his mane as he galloped along the sand, Red felt like he could happily exercise for hours.

  Piggy, as ever, really struggled to keep up. But he was trying so hard today. In the end Bryony had to rein Red in a little, mindful not to push Piggy too hard or he’d be reluctant to move later in the play!

  After a brisk gallop, they returned to Seaview where Red went in for a rest. Bryony then joined Emma, Alice and Piggy in a spare stable that Abi had said they could use to get Piggy ready for the play.

  ‘Ready to detangle then?’ Alice asked with a smile.

  ‘As ready as I’ll ever be!’ gulped Emma.

  First they gave Piggy’s mane and tail a quick sponge down. Then, using a fresh tack-cleaning sponge, they massaged the detangler into his tangles and finger-combed it, starting at the bottom and working upwards.

  Piggy didn’t seem to mind this at all, and with three of them it was much faster than Emma doing it alone. When his mane and tail looked nice and shiny, they gave them a little shampoo to get rid of any traces of detangler. Finally, when it was dry and carefully brushed, Alice took over French-braiding Piggy’s mane. By the time she’d finished you could hardly recognise him.

  ‘Oh, Piggy!’ beamed Emma. ‘You’ll look even prettier than Cinderella!’

  Bryony checked her watch. It was half past twelve. They had to be at the school hall in half an hour so it was almost time to head off. It usually took about eight or so minutes to walk to town from the stables but it was bound to take longer in the snow.

  After wolfing down their sandwiches, the girls hurried to the gate. The others were waiting, and as they walked to town, Finn filled them in on Cuthbert and Fig.

  ‘Hooray! We’re getting somewhere!’ Alice cried.

  ‘Yeah, we are,’ Bryony nodded. She still had no answers, but discussing theories felt somehow very useful.

  The closer they got to her old school, the more excited Bryony became about the play. The entire town seemed to be out doing last-minute things before it started. Some were bustling about getting last-minute Christmas presents, while others picked up turkeys or cakes. Fresh snow was being shovelled from pathways and steps. And the postman was only just making it around town delivering the final cards and parcels before the big day.

  Children were absolutely everywhere too – building snowmen, throwing snowballs, or whooshing along on sledges. Miss Pigeon had closed the post office early and was back in the hairdresser’s again. Bryony saw her with a head full of curlers.

  ‘Huh! Miss Parsley won’t be happy about that!’ grinned Bryony.

  Hurrying on, they turned up Chestnut Lane where they bumped into Farmer Jenkins who was sitting in his tractor.

  ‘Gritting again?’ called up Bryony. But the farmer shook his head.

  ‘Nah, me bloomin’ tractor’s just broke!’

  ‘Oh, no!’ gasped Bryony, and she whispered to Josh, ‘He’ll be totally lost without his gritting.’

  ‘And for once,’ replied Josh under his breath, ‘it actually needs doing!’

  As they shuffled in through the snowy school gates, a group of helpers were getting things ready. Some were clearing the car park, while others put up lights and a tree.

  The Friendship Jars had to be left in the Year Six classroom. ‘Best do that first,’ Bryony said. Some of the others had their jars too.

  As she stepped back into her old classroom, it felt odd, but in a good way. And the Friendship Jars looked so pretty all gathered together.

  The children peeped inside them and read the tags, which all had different messages on. Some even had pictures – reindeers, and trees, and Bryony spotted one of a cat waving a pirate flag!
/>   When the postman collected them after the play he’d be surprised to see a new address too . . .

  The Cooper Family.

  The Caravan,

  Near the Holly Bush,

  Bluebell Wood

  Next they went to check out the hall. ‘Ooo!’ cried Bryony. ‘The stage looks great!’

  Mr Pettifour was up there with his ‘set-painting party’ giving Cinderella’s village backdrop its final dabs of paint.

  Bryony also spied one of Mr Thimblefold’s beautiful clocks for when the clock struck midnight at the Ball scene later.

  ‘Hey, there’s Gramps!’ said Josh and Bryony waved.

  ‘Oh, and look!’

  Helping Grandpa decorate the sidecar with flowers was Mr Thimblefold! She didn’t know how Gramps had managed to do that, but was thrilled to see Mr T out and about again.

  The infant classrooms had been set up as dressing rooms. Bryony and the others checked each of them out to see which had most space – and it was like peeping into very busy fairy tales!

  There were swarms of little children dressed as white mice in fluffy dressing gowns with crepe paper ears. They were whooping and shrieking as they chased about, trying to pull off each other’s tails. Bryony then heard one being ‘spoken to’ by her mum . . .

  ‘Cinderella’s mice were all sensible, Eloise – so please calm down.’

  There were one or two Village Crowd wandering about too, and lots of Ball Crowd getting ready for the Palace. The back end of a cow (Saul Salmon, the fishmonger) had lost its front end (Cabbage Patch Charlie), and there were footmen and trumpeters (including Jed’s gran!), and a very smart coachman in a red and gold tailcoat, called Rory.

  Bryony then saw the rat (Henry Pringle) who, in the original fairy tale, ‘magically transformed’ into the very smart coachman in the red and gold tailcoat. Henry Pringle was wearing a dark grey leotard, pink tights and a very big scowl.

  As he obviously couldn’t be ‘magically transformed’ into the coachman on stage, when Fairy Godmother tapped Henry with her wand, his stage direction was to ‘Belt off left – fast’ so that Rory, the coachman in the red and gold tailcoat, could be ‘Shoved on left – fast’. Fingers crossed, thought Bryony, both boys knew their ‘left’ from their ‘right’!

  Henry did not look happy to be there. His mum said he was ‘totally over’ his recent bout of chickenpox, but Bryony wasn’t so sure. Even plastered in stage make-up, Henry’s blisters still looked weepy. Like volcanoes about to erupt. Plus, he was crying. And scratching. (An awful lot.)

  All the costumes looked great as people fussed, smoothed and pinned them. Tabby made a wonderfully evil Wicked Stepmother in a no-nonsense jacket and bustled skirt, Miss Lightfoot (Fairy Godmother) wore a lilac ballet tutu, and Jed Jenkins was pulling out all the stops, giving his wellies a quick spit and polish.

  The Miss Ps, however, easily took the prize for the most over-the-top hairdos. They could hardly stand straight, their buns were so high as they teetered about practising their lines . . .

  ‘Tie my dress!’

  ‘Fetch my comb!’

  ‘I is prettier than you.’

  ‘NO YOU AIN’T!’

  Bryony and her friends slipped into their own costumes and helped Will into his pumpkin suit. It was clear that Emma had used a bit too much padding because Will was getting wedged in doors. But Josh soon came up with a technical solution.

  ‘What?’ asked Bryony.

  ‘Squeeze him.’

  The Super Six now took themselves off to a quiet corridor to run through their tricky Ball dances, and were right in the middle of a Viennese Waltz when . . .

  ‘Miaaowwww!’

  Bryony stopped in mid-spin. It was Blueberry Muffin. Mum had brought him up in his carry-case. The sweet smell of roses suddenly wafted through the air. Clearly Mum had bathed him for the Ball!

  ‘How’s Stepmother’s cat then?’ Bryony asked.

  ‘Disgustingly grouchy,’ Mum replied.

  ‘Completely in role then!’ Bryony beamed. ‘Well done, Berry!’

  ‘But never mind the cat,’ said Mum. ‘I have a bit of bad news.’

  ‘What?’ cried Bryony, and the others gathered round.

  ‘Well, Piggy’s arrived,’ Mum went on. ‘But no one, it appears, thought how to attach the sidecar. Abi’s not sure. They’ve tried – but nothing’s working. So Mr Pettifour has said that Piggy can’t go on. And Cinderella will have to walk to the Ball!’

  ‘Oh dear!’ Emma gasped. ‘Now everyone will blame Piggy!’

  ‘Wait, don’t worry, Em!’ Bryony cried. ‘There must be something we can do.’ She wracked her brains. ‘Oh! I’ll pull the sidecar!’

  Everyone looked dumbstruck.

  ‘No – listen,’ said Bryony. ‘I’ll crouch down round the side of Piggy so that the audience won’t see. Then I’ll pull the sidecar but they’ll all think it’s Piggy!’

  Emma looked petrified, and Bryony felt a bit nervous. But the show had to go on! So, grabbing Emma’s arm, Bryony dragged her off to pitch the idea to Mr Pettifour.

  They found him on the field, still with Abi and Piggy, and Bryony delivered her solution.

  When she’d finished it was Mr Pettifour’s turn to look dumbstruck.

  ‘Trust me!’ said Bryony.

  ‘Piggy does,’ added Abi.

  ‘And we can’t have Cinderella walking to the Ball,’ chipped in Emma.

  Mr Pettifour flicked his fringe, thinking. He wasn’t happy but finally agreed. He flounced back in and a beaming Abi followed as she needed to get a seat. It was a quarter to two and the doors were about to open to the public.

  On the snowy lane the audience were arriving in droves. Most people were crunching up on foot. But one or two cars had just about made it up to the car park beside the school.

  To her delight, Bryony then saw the Coopers coming along in their caravan. Blossom was making very light work of all the snow!

  ‘Hello!’ called Bryony. She waved but they didn’t see. She hadn’t expected them to come, but was thrilled that they had. They deserved to be here as much as anyone else!

  ‘Ah! Here you are.’ Georgina Brook now swanned out in a beautiful pink silk dress. She was meant to be in rags for the opening scenes but had refused to wear anything that looked ‘tatty’.

  ‘Get that dozy pony in, we’re about to start!’ she snapped. ‘And he better not mess up – or else.’

  ‘He won’t!’ frowned Bryony but Georgina just marched off. Then Bryony turned to Piggy.

  ‘We can do this, Piggy,’ she said with a nod. ‘Just follow my lead, okay?’

  ‘And please don’t poop on stage!’ added Emma nervously.

  Piggy blinked back, as laid-back as ever, but who knew what he’d be like in the spotlight.

  ‘Good luck, guys!’ came a friendly voice, and Bryony turned to see Jasmine Stepney heading in with her sister, Amber.

  ‘Just in time!’ Bryony called.

  ‘You’re telling me,’ puffed Jasmine. She nodded to the car park behind her where a van – with a model of a big tap on its roof – was being redirected into a better space.

  ‘It’s Callum’s,’ called Jasmine. ‘My brother – he’s a plumber. Right drip, if you ask me, too. We told him to set off earlier but does he ever listen?’

  She stomped the snow off her boots, then she and Amber went inside to get seats.

  ‘Time to get Piggy in too,’ said Bryony. ‘He can’t be late to the Ball!’

  It was going so well. So very well. No tears from Tabby, no wedged moments from the pumpkin, no stropping from the VERY Beautiful Sisters.

  The audience were loving it, oooing and booing in all the right places. And Berry was being a right little grump-bag – tick!

  Piggy looked just the part too. Waiting patiently in the wings with Bryony, he was even hitched up to the sidecar. Mr Cooper had kindly helped attach it, used to getting Blossom on and off the caravan all the time. Dare Bryony think it – but this play was t
urning into a triumph!

  In a sudden flourish of tinkly music, Fairy Godmother then twirled onto the stage. It was time for Cinderella to get her beautiful ball gown, for Will pumpkin to transform into a carriage (well, sidecar), and for Henry the rat to ‘Belt off left – fast’ to be replaced by Rory the smart coachman.

  All the little white mice (headed by chief mouse, Eloise) were waiting in the wings to go on. Will was growing nicely in Cinderella’s garden, and Henry Pringle was standing beside Bryony in the wings, picking a scab, and grizzling.

  Georgina Brook was up on stage and Blueberry Muffin was sat at her feet looking grumpy.

  Bryony listened as Georgina discovered Fairy Godmother tiptoeing along through the pumpkin patch. Georgina was word-perfect as she delivered her lines. Actually, thought Bryony, she was doing a really good job.

  Fairy Godmother then asked her to find a pumpkin, which she did. Then a couple of small white mice.

  ‘Go on!’ Bryony gave Eloise’s gang the nod and they scampered out onto the stage looking cute. They had pony ears to wear later on when they’d transform into Piggy’s assistant ponies. Bryony had never been sure about this. It was going to be very ‘busy’ on stage. But Mr Pettifour had said it would add to the ‘dramatic effect’.

  Bryony now turned to get Henry Pringle set.

  ‘Hang on,’ she said.

  Where had he gone?

  Then she spotted him further back down the wings, talking to Jed Jenkins (and still scratching a scab).

  ‘Psst! Henry!’ whispered Bryony. ‘You’re on in a sec, come back up here now!’

  But Henry shook his head.

  ‘Shan’t!’ he called back. ‘I’m poorly and I’m not going to do it!’

  Bryony froze. There had to be a rat. The rat who turned into the coachman!

  ‘Henry,’ hissed Bryony. But Henry stomped off and Jed came clumping up instead.

  ‘Listen, don’t worry,’ Jed whispered with a nod. ‘I knew Henry was poorly – so earlier on I sent Gramps back up to the farm. He had to walk it of course, ’cos his tractor’s bust, but . . .’

  ‘Jed!’ whispered Bryony, her head starting to spin. ‘Why?’

  And then she saw it. A fat hairy rat’s tail dangling down out of Prince Charming’s pocket!