‘Self-opinionated?’ she repeated, genuinely surprised. ‘No, and I don’t think I am. In fact, I’m the direct opposite!’
‘Then you think wrong! It would serve you right if Teddy and Sandra between them took you down a peg or two!’
Before she could make up her mind whether he was serious or not, she noticed Senga strolling towards them.
How was it, Briony wondered, that at times Senga could look beautiful and on other occasions could appear almost plain? This morning she was looking her very best. The crispness of the air had tinted her high cheekbones with the faintest hint of pink, and, as usual, her clothes were excellently tailored.
‘Really, Blane,’ she began, her eyes on Sandra, who was walking the donkey about the paddock, ‘it was completely ridiculous to get a donkey for the child! Giving in to her will only make her more self-willed, and goodness knows, she’s a big enough show-off as it is. If you could only realise how troublesome she is at school! Dear old Miss Anderson is quite in despair. I think the only reason she doesn’t chuck her out is because Sandra’s daddy is so rich,’ she added derisively. ‘By the way, speaking of my revered headmistress, she mentioned that she’d like us to do some pony-trekking. “The country about Abergour is so beautiful, don’t you think, Miss MacNeil?” I’d say she thinks it would be a good advertisement for the school.’
‘Pony-trekking? The children are hardly advanced enough for that,’ he replied.
‘Exactly what I was thinking,’ Senga agreed. ‘But it occurred to me that a treasure hunt might fill the bill. I used to enjoy them so much when I was a kid. Did you, Briony?’
Briony shook her head. ‘I never went on a treasure hunt. I remember I took part in a gymkhana when I was quite small. I was very proud when I won the egg-and-spoon race.’
‘Yes, a gymkhana can be fun,’ Senga agreed, ‘but I must say I always enjoyed treasure hunts more. I remember how madly excited we used to feel when we’d deciphered a clue.’
‘Do you know, that’s rather a good idea,’ Blane told her. ‘And more interesting for kids of their age than trekking. We must think it over.’
He wheeled his horse and Senga walked away beside him, her face uplifted towards his, as they discussed this new project.
Left to herself, Briony felt a vague sense of disappointment. How quickly he had lost interest in her and her achievement in teaching the children!
For the next few days he made no reference to Senga’s suggestion and Briony wondered if he had given up the idea. But it was hard to tell with this complex employer of hers. And that sardonic face of his gave little away.
She had discovered that, as far as the work was concerned, it did not do to be lulled into a state of false security. It was at moments when she felt most complacent about her achievements that those strange steely blue eyes would flash most intimidatingly. Often, too, it was about some small omission; something a less watchful person than Blane would probably have overlooked. But then he wasn’t in the habit of turning the blind eye, even to the smallest mistake, especially when it was a matter of the welfare of the animals.
During the previous week when she was approaching a loose-box carrying a bucket of bran mash for a pony which had caught a chill, he had suddenly appeared from nowhere and had plunged his hand into the bucket and felt the temperature of the mash. ‘Too hot!’ he announced brusquely.
‘I—I thought it would be all right—by the time I’d carried it across the yard, I mean,’ Briony had muttered.
‘Well, you thought wrong!’ he had told her curtly. ‘And may I remind you that I make the decisions at Birchfields. Simply carry out my orders without any arguments.’ And without another word he had turned away, leaving her fuming.
This was why, when one evening, just as she was about to leave for Amulree Cottage, she was told she was wanted in the study by the boss—as the boys usually called their employer—she felt vaguely uneasy.
During the day he had shown no sign that she was in his black books—but then, who could tell?
As Mrs. McPhee showed her into the study she hoped fervently that she didn’t look as nervous as she felt. This time, she told herself, she would show some backbone and not stand giving weak, inept excuses for whatever transgressions Blane accused her of.
She tilted back her head and straightened herself resolutely as she stepped into the room. ‘You sent for me,’ she began, very much on her dignity.
But the effect was marred by the fact that he was standing with his back to her by one of the windows studying a large map which was spread out on a low oak table.
For a moment he continued rocking on his heels as though lost in thought, but when he turned he appeared completely affable. He waved her to a chair. ‘First of all I want to say how pleased I am about the way you’ve brought on the children. They’re taking to it like ducks to water. And as for Sandra, I admit you’ve been proved right in this case.’
In spite of her resolutions, Briony felt herself glow a little. There was one thing about Blane, she admitted grudgingly—he might be sparing in his praise but, as Johnny had pointed out, he was always fair. All the same, would she ever learn to comprehend him? she wondered.
‘But that’s not what I want to speak to you about,’ he went on.
She sat bolt upright, listening warily.
‘Senga has been telling me that Miss Anderson is quite taken with the idea of the treasure hunt and I want to iron out the details with you. If we put our heads together we can settle most of the problems here and now. It’s altogether a better suggestion than trekking. Kids are avaricious little creatures, and the prospect of a prize at the end of the hunt will appeal to them. Well, what do you say?’
‘I’d like to help, of course,’ she said slowly. ‘But, after all, this wasn’t my idea!’
‘You feel I should have asked Senga to help? I would too, but she’s too busy at the moment. Anyway, I think you’d make a good job of this, although I’d better warn you that there’s going to be a lot of downright hard work involved. The children hunt in pairs. Clues are made up, which lead them forward from place to place, until they discover the treasure. Speed in deciphering the clues is, of course, important, and the prizes go to a great extent to the most quickwitted. And also to the best riders, of course! As the children are so young, the clues had better be hidden in easily recognisable places. At first I thought of having them hunt along Deeside, but perhaps it would be better to have it on ground they’re familiar with. All the same, during the hunt they’ll have to be watched, because some of them are downright silly, and can get up to dangerous things when they get excited and carried away. I’m leaving the clues in your hands. They ought to be rhyming, which is a darned nuisance for the adults involved, but fun for the kids. Still, I imagine it will be your cup of tea. Devising the clues should suit you down to the ground, for you can be quick enough with your tongue when you want to,’ he added dryly. ‘Well, do you feel you could cope? Of course you could,’ he put in before she could reply. ‘There’s nothing you don’t seem to know about kids. And that’s one reason why I’ve asked you.’
Briony swallowed. She hadn’t quite digested what was expected of her. ‘I think I can,’ she muttered.
‘Of course you can!’ he told her. ‘I’ll take a look around tomorrow and decide on the best spots to plant the clues. The prizes might be a cut above the average, perhaps. Sweets are the usual thing, but I thought of giving a couple of little trinkets—little silver bangles, perhaps, or some such thing that little girls would like. And another thing, we must have Mrs. McPhee lay on a slap-up tea to round off the affair. I want to make sure this is a success. I’m running this place for profit and nothing must go wrong. An accident to one of the kids, for example, would be very bad publicity for me.’
How typical of him to discuss the matter so bluntly, Briony was thinking.
‘You’ll have to put on your thinking cap and get to work on those clues. Nothing too obscure! At the same time nothing too obvious, or it w
ill be no fun for the children.’
Briony smiled wryly. ‘You want it every way, don’t you?’
He nodded and, hands in pockets, strode up and down the room. ‘Yes, I expect I do. But then I aim for the best—the best riding school in this part of the country, and the best crew I can lay hands on to run it! I want to turn out the best riders. And, when the time comes—’ he hesitated, and turning, stared frowningly through the window, ‘well, the best wife that a man can have.’
For a moment there was silence, but it was an electric silence. Awareness encompassed them like a wizard’s spell. Briony drew a deep breath. ‘The Dutch barn in the ten-acre would be a good place to plant the first clue, wouldn’t it?’ she heard herself ask, her voice unnaturally high.
Blane nodded. ‘Yes, and for a second clue—’ He beckoned her towards him and she joined him at the window. ‘Do you see down there?’ He pointed. ‘That enormous granite boulder? That would be another obvious place—easily recognisable.’
She was close to him now, scarcely aware of what he was saying, her emotions in turmoil. Something had happened during this interview which had cast her into complete confusion. How could it be possible that, although she intensely disliked this man, she now wished to prolong the moment as long as possible, putting off the time when, in his brusque way, she would be dismissed?
It was just then that Mrs. McPhee announced Senga. For a moment the games mistress stared at them in blank astonishment, then her glance came to rest on the map by the window. ‘You two look as if you’re planning a battle.’
‘Let’s hope it doesn’t turn into one,’ Blane said dryly. ‘We’re having a confab about the treasure hunt. At first I thought of planting clues along Deeside—hence the map. But some of the kids are a bit wild and woolly, so we’d better keep them nearer home. It will be easier to locate them if anything goes wrong. Briony is getting to work on the clues right away.’
‘Really?’ Senga said tightly, her cheekbones bright with anger. ‘I hadn’t realised Briony knew anything about organising a hunt! According to her, the egg-and-spoon race was about her form when she was a kid.’
‘Perhaps,’ Blane said coolly. ‘But she’s a bit older now and seems to have a wonderful understanding of children, and also seems to be an expert at smoothing out tantrums. It’s pretty important in this game, I think you’ll realise.’
‘All the same,’ Senga put in quickly, ‘I’ve experience of these hunts, and I must say I think my advice would have been more useful to you than Briony’s.’
‘Look, Senga,’ he told her, ‘with children, you must admit, you’re not exactly sympatica. I mean, you don’t even want to be the motherly type, do you?’
‘I should hope not!’ Senga retorted. ‘You know perfectly well that’s not what I mean! If Briony wants to soothe the children that’s her business. But I could have done the planning!’
‘But I don’t want you to do the planning. I want you to spend every spare moment practising for the competition. We can’t have you disgracing the Lennox Riding School.’
‘That’s only an excuse,’ flashed Senga. ‘I have plenty of free time, and I know how things should be done. It’s early days yet! After all, we only thought of this recently, and—’
Briony was aware that impatience was building up in her employer.
‘I want this idea carried out quickly,’ he told Senga, his brow darkening, ‘and Briony’s capable of taking on the whole caboodle herself!’
‘I see! So you’re going to rush this thing through with Briony’s help?’
‘I don’t believe in letting projects hang in the air for weeks at a time,’ he told her, ‘and I’m quite sure your precious Miss Anderson will be satisfied. We intend to present prizes of a high quality, don’t we, Briony?’ Briony glanced away uncomfortably, as Senga turned towards her, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.
‘So you already have this whole thing sewn up? Well, don’t let me delay you. I can see you’re both busy.’
And, swinging around, Senga crashed the door behind her furiously.
A few mornings later Briony sat in the tack room, a mug of tea at her elbow, pencil and paper before her, as he struggled to compose the first clue.
She took a sip of the strong tea and was biting into the iced bun which accompanied it when a shadow fell across the doorway and Blane appeared.
With a little twinge of alarm Briony glanced up. He would be annoyed to see her spinning out the morning break in this fashion, and she could hardly tell him that she was lurking in the tack room because she did not want to be in the stable-yard when Senga put in her appearance. Senga, she felt, would hardly be in an amiable mood.
‘I’m—I’m working on the clues,’ she said quickly, as he took a girth from one of the hooks against the wall. ‘And how are you getting along?’
With relief, she knew from the tone of his voice that he was not angry. ‘I’m having difficulties with the very first clue—the one that leads to the Dutch barn,’ she told him. ‘I don’t seem to be able to find anything to rhyme with Holland.’
‘Let me see—Holland.’ He paused for a moment, then said, ‘You’re quite right—there doesn’t seem to be anything to rhyme with it. You’ll have to use the word Dutch, although it rather gives the game away, doesn’t it?’
‘It might be as well if the first clue were rather simple,’ she told him. ‘It would get things going. And after all, they’re only children.’ She scribbled for a moment and then said, ‘This is not very good, I know, but perhaps it would do.
Follow your pony’s nose
And he will lead you to something Dutch.
Let him nibble a bit,
But not too much.
The last line is to give the hint that the next clue is hidden under the hay.’
‘Yes, that should get things going,’ he agreed. ‘And later clues might be a bit more difficult. By the way, how is it that you get along so well with children? Do you come of a big family? Plenty of brothers and sisters, or perhaps nieces and nephews if you’re the youngest of your family?’
‘No, not a big family,’ she replied. ‘And it was by accident I found I had a way with children. There’s a club near us that runs outings and other events for deprived children and I used to go along and lend a hand. Right away, I found that I was getting along with them, although some of them were difficult enough—from broken homes, and that sort of thing.’
‘A natural gift, it seems,’ he said thoughtfully. And as he went out, he added, ‘Perhaps the reason is that there’s still a lot of the child in yourself.’
So that was how he regarded her, Briony was thinking with annoyance. In his own mind he was contrasting her with the sophisticated Senga.
Almost immediately the station-wagon from Laureston School arrived. With a swift, lithe movement Senga slipped from behind the wheel, leaving the children milling about in the stable-yard, and went to join Blane, who was leading out Golden Sovereign. They moved away in the direction of the paddock in which Senga usually practised jumping.
The coast clear, Briony emerged from the tack room and as she did so became aware that the children were unusually excited. Soon the reason was clear—Senga had already announced the forthcoming treasure hunt. This meant that for Briony the business of getting her pupils mounted was even more difficult than usual, because each child now demanded to be given what she felt was the swiftest pony. Briony had to exercise considerable tact before she could get them on their way to the paddock in which the lesson was to take place.
But there was still Sandra to be dealt with.
As she followed them, Briony discovered with alarm that the child was once more in her old place, perched on the top rail of the paddock. Dismay made her speak more sharply than she intended. ‘Where’s Teddy? Have you grown tired of him already?’
Sandra slid off the rail and came towards her. ‘I was waiting to speak to you,’ she said reproachfully. ‘I want to ride a pony today, but it’s not because
I don’t love Teddy any more. It’s because none of the others will ride with me if I go to the treasure hunt on him. He’s too slow, you see. I must learn to ride like the wind, so that we can get there first and win the prizes.’
Briony looked at the eager young face turned up to hers, and sighed. Trust Sandra to present her with a problem like this just when she was at her busiest! But she could not bring herself to refuse. ‘Very well,’ she said. ‘You may have a pony, if you’ll give me your word that this time you’ll learn to ride properly. But you can’t begin today. You’d better ask Miss MacNeil to bring you with her when she comes for her own lesson tomorrow. Now go and fetch Teddy and you can ride about on him for a while.’
The date for the jumping competition was drawing close and Senga was taking lessons nearly every day. Her eagerness to become as adept as possible was matched by Blane’s interest; he always made time to instruct her himself.
Sandra, it was soon clear, had carried out Briony’s instructions and had asked permission to have special lessons, because on the next occasion when Senga arrived, Sandra was with her.
Ignoring Briony, Senga went immediately to join Blane, who had already led the palomino to the jumping paddock, while Briony mounted her pupil on a docile pony and working with the lungeing rein began to give her exercises calculated to develop poise and balance in the saddle.
And now Briony was amazed at the difference she found in this once difficult pupil. Sandra, she discovered, was all eagerness and attention.
Instructing her to take her feet out of the stirrups, Briony taught her to swing her arms down and touch her toes, to throw her arms up and swing them in a circle backwards, to swing around from the waist, first to the right and then to the left, resting between each exercise and then repeating it slowly.
This was not easy for Sandra, who had been accustomed to clinging to the reins and to resting her feet heavily on the stirrups, but she persisted doggedly until Briony called a halt to the lesson.
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