Scout and the Mystery of the Marsh Ponies (8 page)

Immediately, the difference in Roger Green was obvious. He remained quiet, as a sweet dun pony, who looked a bit uncared for, walked in
nervously. Roger spooked him each time he was paraded past him, by dropping his hammer or coughing suddenly, and the little pony grew increasingly jittery. Normally, Roger would be into his sales chatter by now but this time he remained silent for some time before gradually building up. The enthusiasm in his voice was missing; he wasn’t drumming up any interest. There was only one bidder: Mrs Valentine. She waited for as long as possible before raising her hand. Another person entered the bidding for a couple of minutes, and there were a few rises in price, but with Roger’s subdued commentary the dun was quickly knocked down cheaply to Mrs Valentine. She hurried from the ring with a secretive smile as the girls hid their faces.

“So
that’s
what she’s up to!” Mia shook her head as they jumped down the stairs and followed the hat once more. “Roger Green keeps the price low for certain ponies who have potential but who are looking a bit ragged, and Mrs Valentine
buys them, puts them out on loan then sells them once they’ve been improved.”

“Then she splits the profits with Roger!” Charlie added as they saw Mrs Valentine disappear into a small Portakabin which had a printed sign saying ‘SALES’ on the door.

“And the one ‘maturing’ tomorrow”, Alice said, her stomach lurching at the thought, “must be Scout.”

They stood just outside the Portakabin, straining to hear as Mrs Valentine filled in the necessary paperwork, getting the dun pony signed over to her. They heard her counting out money. She wasted no time on small talk, and they soon heard her step out of the office and saw her head off in the direction of the stables. Keeping their caps pulled down, they watched as she quickly reappeared leading the dun pony and headed towards the car park with its hundreds of horseboxes.

They tried to keep behind Mrs Valentine but
got blocked by the crowds. Just as they started to get closer at the edge of the car park, a stern-faced attendant in a hi-viz jacket stepped in front of them.

“You girls can’t go into that horsebox park unaccompanied,” he announced solemnly. “Sorry.”

The girls watched Mrs Valentine frantically as the dun pony was swallowed up among the sea of horseboxes.

“Quick, we’ve got to find Jock!” Charlie cried.

“Ah, I was just looking for you four.”

The girls turned. They’d never been so glad to see anyone.

“Perfect, because we have to go, like now!” Rosie said urgently, pulling on his arm. “Mrs Valentine’s bought a new pony. She’s taken him over to the car park so she must be about to load him in her trailer before making her escape!”

“We know what she’s up to,” Alice explained as quickly as she could when she saw Jock frowning, “but we didn’t get a chance to confront
her before she disappeared into the horsebox park. The only chance we’ve got now to challenge her about what she’s doing is if we follow her trailer – then we’ll find out where she lives and we can talk to her there instead!”

“If we don’t,” Mia added, “the next chance we’ll get won’t be until tomorrow, when she comes to collect the money from Tallulah’s dad and it’ll be too late by then – Scout will be sold! We have to talk to her today, now we know what her game is – it might just make her change her mind about selling!”

“We’d best get going then!” Jock said, looking at Alice who was pale and jittery.

But at that moment they saw the back of a trailer roll towards of the exit of the racetrack with a dun pony’s rump and tail just visible inside. Within seconds it disappeared from sight. The five of them ran to Jock’s Land Rover and jumped in. But Jock was parked furthest away from the exit, and as they pulled out they got stuck in
a snaking queue of trailers all converging towards it at the same time.

After what seemed like for ever Jock was finally roaring away from the racetrack. There were horse trailers everywhere, almost all of them being towed by Range Rovers or Land Rovers – they all looked the same!

“We’ve lost her!” Alice said, starting to panic. “What do we do now?”

“Trouble is, there are lots of different roads Mrs Valentine could take to get back to your neck of the woods,” Jock said, leaning forward over the wheel, nose pressed to the window and his foot down hard. “And there’s no knowing which one she’d have taken.”

Everyone fell into an intense silence, racking their brains for a plan.

“I’ve got it!” Mia suddenly exclaimed. “It’s obvious! Mrs Valentine won’t be going straight home – she’ll be dropping off the dun pony first. And we know exactly where that’ll be if the
pattern’s the same as before, don’t we?”

Alice, Charlie and Rosie looked at each other as they bumped about in the back of the jeep, holding on to whatever they could.

“Dragonfly Marsh!” they all cried, breaking into smiles.

“Yes!” Mia replied. “We can cut her off there!”

“Ah, now though,” Jock explained apologetically, “I need to be at my next job straight after I get back. It’s at two o’clock.”

“I know! If you drop us back at Blackberry Farm,” Charlie said, all fired up, “we can ride over to the marsh and then catch Mrs Valentine there as she drops off the dun pony!”

Jock looked anxious. “Well, if you really
have
to, but make sure you ring me straightaway if you run into any trouble. Deal?”

The girls agreed excitedly, knowing that the chase was back on. They sat on the edge of their seats, willing Jock to get back as fast as his Land Rover could carry them.

Chapter Twelve

As soon as they came to a halt at Blackberry Farm they leaped out of the Land Rover, shouting their thanks and goodbyes to Jock, who told them to hurry. He called out good luck as the doors slammed and the girls raced to the tack room. The ponies were already in their stables as Rosie had called her mum earlier to ask if, on this one occasion, she could bring them in from the paddock and give them some hay.

Dancer looked rather taken aback as Rosie rushed into her stable, giving her a quick kiss and a hug before she had the briefest of flick-overs and was tacked up. The strawberry roan mulishly left her stable, her head stretched out, not enjoying all the rush around her, as the others brought
their ponies out onto the yard and jumped into the saddles. Even Beanie looked bewildered as Rosie raced past, patting his soft head briefly before she lifted Dancer’s saddle flap to tighten the girth.

“Just this once,” Rosie said as her mare stubbornly puffed herself out on purpose, “I need you to sprout wings and not be on a go-slow day…”

Rosie led her to the concrete mounting block, closing the yard gate behind her after the others had all jogged out, and climbed on board. Pirate, sensing that they were on a mission, was already cantering on the spot, and as soon as Charlie relaxed her hands slightly he burst forward, with Scout jogging just behind. Wish strode out and even Dancer sensed their urgency and didn’t do her usual loitering by the gate but followed the others quickly, a surprised look in her goggly eyes.

They trotted briskly along the track, out onto Duck Lane, then turned off on the first bridleway,
cantering every bit that they could, even if it was only for a few strides through the woods, until they reached an open field and let the ponies fly. When they reached the end, Alice glanced over her shoulder as she pulled up and saw Wish right behind her and Dancer not far off, a look of pink determination on Rosie’s face.

Charlie glanced at her watch. Jock had driven as fast as his jeep would allow, which hadn’t been all that fast, but she could guarantee that a car and trailer with a pony loaded would be slower. Even so, they’d be cutting it fine to get across to the marsh in time. She pressed a willing Pirate on and he took off once they’d got through the next gate and had shut it behind them.

The others flew after him, with Wish excited by the chase and enjoying herself as she raced alongside Scout, who had his head down, galloping fast. Alice and Mia were out of their saddles, tucked low like jockeys on their ponies’ backs. Dancer was only a few strides behind as
they thundered across the long, open, undulating field. At the end of it they pulled up and rode out onto a lane. They walked the ponies along in tense silence. They knew that they had to get to Dragonfly Marsh in time to catch Mrs Valentine unloading lot 107, so that they could tell her everything they knew, but the ponies needed a quick break too.

“Everyone ready?” Charlie asked up at the front after they’d been walking quickly for a while, turning in the saddle to see how the others were doing. They all nodded back and Charlie popped Pirate back into trot, the ponies’ rhythmical hoof beats echoing on the lane between the overhanging leafy trees. Suddenly they ducked off onto a bridleway and found themselves on a path alongside some ancient, dilapidated post-and-rail fencing. Beyond that lay Dragonfly Marsh.

They cantered the last bit, riding along the fence line until they got near to the gate
where Mrs Valentine would have to unload the dun pony.

The landscape had opened up, with the flat marsh stretching to the right of them, so they could see for what felt like miles. And that’s when they noticed the puff of dust and just saw in the midst of it a trailer. The only trouble was, it wasn’t heading in the direction of the gate, but away from it. And there, standing nervously in front of them, was lot 107 with the sticker still stuck on his rump.

“We’re too late!” Rosie cried desperately, collapsing on Dancer’s neck as they reached the dun. He neighed and rushed forward, poking his head over the gate to meet them and looking grateful for the company.

Mia watched as the puff of dust slowly snaked into the distance.

“I’ve got to follow her,” Alice suddenly said. Her insides, which had been tied in knots on the way over, suddenly started somersaulting at the
thought, but she didn’t have a choice, Scout’s future hung in the balance and she’d do anything to keep him. Mia pulled their map out of her saddle pouch. They quickly flipped it open, turned it round and studied it.

“Look, the track Mrs Valentine is driving along goes right around the edge of the marsh before it comes out onto a little lane,” Charlie said. “If we ride straight across the marsh, we’ve still got a chance of cutting her off!” 

Rosie looked as worried as the dun.

“I’m not being funny but I don’t know that Dancer will make it across there,” she said seriously. The marsh was uneven, with tall reeds and marsh grasses. There were paths but they were fairly narrow, criss-crossing across the boggy land. If they came off the paths, who knows what they might be sploshing about in? It made Rosie shiver just thinking about it. “Dancer could end up being swallowed by the bog. And what if we got lost? We might still be riding round at midnight!”

“Er, it’s a marsh, Rosie, not a swamp,” Charlie reminded her, but Rosie wasn’t convinced.

“I know! Why don’t me and Rosie stay here while you two both ride across?” Mia suddenly suggested. “That way we split up, but Dancer doesn’t have to wait here on her own.”

“Perfect! Charlie, what do you reckon?” Alice asked, knowing they couldn’t hang around talking about it much longer; they had to get going. “I can go on my own if you’d rather not come?”

“Try and stop me,” Charlie smiled, pushing her hat onto her head.

Alice felt a rush of relief at not having to go it alone, grateful that Charlie and Pirate were both fearless. She opened the gate and rode through it, leaving the safety of the path. Scout stepped lightly onto the vastness of Dragonfly Marsh.

Mia jumped out of the saddle and handed her reins to Rosie. She followed Charlie and Alice off the path into the marsh and clicked shut the gate behind them. Then she pulled the belt off her
jodhpurs and slipped it over the dun pony’s neck, holding both the ends so she could keep him with her and Rosie, rather than let him race loose after Charlie and Alice. Mia watched as Scout and Pirate jogged along the narrow track which was just about visible, before they disappeared into a dip, ducking out of sight below the level of the tallest reeds.

Charlie kept Pirate tucked in just behind Scout, following his every hoof print in the soft ground. Alice swallowed hard as she popped Scout into a steady canter. His ears were pricked and it was clear that he remembered Dragonfly Marsh from his time being turned out on there the summer before, confident in his footing as he dodged through the tall reeds. Alice let his pace increase, calling over her shoulder to check that Charlie was okay. Charlie shouted out that she was fine.
Like Alice, she was hovering out of the saddle, holding a handful of mane so that Pirate had his head to help him balance. Charlie stretched out her fingers on one hand and scratched his withers, watching his ears flicker briefly before he turned his attention back to the narrow path ahead, ignoring the mud spatters thrown up by Scout’s hooves.

All the time they cantered fast, whipping between the reeds, Alice kept one eye over to the left on the little cloud of dust, watching Mrs Valentine’s slow progress along the higher track around the edge of the boggy marsh. Every now and again she disappeared from view as the ground dipped down so that all Alice could see were the tall, dry reeds like a wall on either side of her. She trusted completely in the sure-footed Scout and she half closed her eyes, raising her arm every now and again to brush aside the reeds if they blew too close. It was just after she’d opened her eyes again that she heard a squeal behind her.

She turned quickly, just in time to see that Pirate had stumbled. Charlie had tipped forward and was clinging onto his neck, hanging precariously to the side. Alice sat back in her saddle.

“Whoa, steady Scout,” she called as she squeezed on his reins.

He came back to a bouncy canter, then to a trot. Alice glanced round just as Charlie slipped to the ground. She landed on her feet in a boggy puddle with a splosh. Pirate jogged to Scout, barging into his rump. Alice was terrified that he was going to scrape past and go flying off across the marsh, not knowing where he was headed, and with stirrups and reins flying everywhere. She swiftly leaned across and grabbed his reins, but she realised as Charlie ran up to him that he was sticking by Scout and not going anywhere.

“Are you okay?” Alice asked as she watched Charlie flip her offside stirrup back over the saddle. Charlie nodded, smiling ruefully.

“I was so busy watching the dust cloud that
I forgot to look where I was going,” she said, jumping back into the saddle.

“The track’s starting to curve back towards us,” Alice noticed as Charlie got her stirrups and they set off again at a fast trot, “and that must mean that we’re nearly at the other side. I just hope we find a gate to the lane quickly!”

The ponies picked up canter again and they threaded their way through the reeds, ducking left and right, and keeping to the raised path until the reeds started to thin out. The dust cloud was getting nearer, and they could hear the car engine with the clatter of the trailer rattling behind it. Alice noticed some fencing just ahead as the car drew level with them. She bobbed down low in the saddle, taking cover in what reeds were left around them as Scout fell back to trot. The car drove past. It picked up speed as it left the bumpy track and reached a smooth-surfaced lane. Alice looked around wildly.

“There isn’t a gate!” she panicked. “How are we meant to follow her?!”

Charlie looked ahead, keeping her eyes fixed on the trailer bumping off into the distance. She watched helplessly as it indicated left, then turned between a break in the hedge and disappeared out of sight. Her shoulders slumped.

“We can’t lose her now, not after all this,” Alice groaned, her legs aching from standing in the stirrups for so long. She could tell that after their epic ride Scout was starting to feel tired beneath her too.

Suddenly she heard the engine stop. Not like it was going out of earshot but as if it had been switched off. Without hesitating, she flung herself out of the saddle. Charlie grabbed Scout’s reins, caught by surprise, as Alice clambered over the wooden fence and started to sprint up the lane, making for the gap in the hedge.

Her legs were like lead and it felt as if she was treading water, but the thought of catching Mrs Valentine spurred her on. She slowed gratefully at the edge of the gap. Before ducking round it,
she parted the hedge. There stood the sleek Range Rover and the trailer, parked right next to a huge, ultra-smart caravan that was tucked away to the side out of sight. At that second, she looked across and caught a glimpse of someone stepping into the caravan. Suddenly, her phone vibrated. Glad she’d remembered to switch it to silent, she quickly grabbed it and answered it with shaking breath.

“What’s happening?” Charlie whispered.

“I’ve found the trailer and I just saw someone heading into a caravan!” Alice whispered back.

“Someone? You mean Mrs Valentine, right?” Charlie asked, lying along Pirate’s neck, craning to see.

“Well, I only saw their leg, so I can’t be a hundred per cent sure,” Alice replied hesitantly. “I’ll have to get a bit closer.”

Alice tiptoed around the hedge and up the rubble drive. She crept past the empty trailer and the Range Rover, her heart thumping as the
rubble crunched beneath each step. She looked up and saw someone appear for a second at the window of the caravan. Alice ducked behind the trailer as the woman inside peered out then drew the curtain. As the lights inside the caravan flickered on, Alice frowned, confused suddenly – something didn’t add up.

She was hiding behind the same trailer that had dropped off the pony which Mrs Valentine had bought, the trailer they’d followed from the other side of the marsh. But the person she’d seen in the window of the caravan was
not
Mrs Valentine. This woman’s hair was definitely
not
long and blonde.