Stormchaser and the Silver Mist (9 page)

Rosie found just enough change to buy a bar of fudge. She had planned to have a bite and share the rest with the others. Only, with Rosie distracted by the noticeboard, the fudge had disappeared bite by bite without her realising. She had found the petition and borrowed a pen from Mrs Gleeson behind the counter. Rosie flipped over the first, completely filled page, and added her and her three friends’ names at the top of the next. Then she began to scan the first page to see who else had signed. Suddenly her eyes almost popped out of her head.
She dropped the pen, started to choke on the last mouthful of fudge, and rushed to the door.

“You… you…” Rosie gulped and coughed and spluttered. “You’ll never… believe… this! You… have… to see it!”

Rosie dashed back inside the shop, leaving the others staring, mystified, at each other.

“I’ll wait with the ponies,” Charlie offered, not wanting to leave Phantom. “You two go in and see what Rosie’s on about.”

Mia and Alice jumped down, wincing with pain as they landed on frozen feet.

“This had better be worth it,” Alice said, hobbling into the shop. Charlie stood, peering through the window, while holding all four sets of reins. The others were only inside for a few moments, before they crashed out of the door again.

“You’ll never guess what,” Alice said, taking Scout’s reins and jumping back into the saddle.

“Just tell me!” Charlie said impatiently, handing the others back their reins and mounting again. She hated being the last to know news.

“There are loads of names on the petition,”
Mia filled her in, as she and Rosie jumped up and the four ponies started to walk the short distance home. “But, starting from the top, the first is Long Lane Livery…”

“The next is Mrs Maplethorp,” Alice continued.

Charlie started. “So, the first two the people who’ve objected to the Abbey shutting off their rides have ended up with their ponies being let loose! It’s like it’s some kind of revenge or something!”

“And wait for it,” Rosie pressed on. “The third name on the list is—” But Rosie didn’t get a chance to finish.

“Don’t tell me,” Charlie jumped in, “it’s Mrs Greenfield, from Greenfield’s Riding School.”

“Got it in one!” Rosie said, all fired up.

“So who signed the petition next, then?” Charlie asked, as the ponies pricked their ears and lengthened their stride, recognising that they were on their way home.

The others looked at each other, then at Charlie.

“Fran Hope,” Alice said.

They all thought about the ragged collection of animals up at Hope Farm, every single one of them dear to Fran’s heart. But for Charlie, there was one animal that was dearer than all the rest. Pirate. Her beloved first pony, whose paddock at Hope Farm sat right alongside the road…

Chapter Nine

B
Y
the time the girls got back to the yard that afternoon, the chilly darkness was already closing in. The four friends were still a bit shaken from what had happened at the Abbey, but there was no time to sit down. They led their weary ponies into the stables, and untacked, groomed and checked them thoroughly for injuries.

All Charlie wanted to do was collapse, but she knew that Phantom was her first priority. Although it was cold, Charlie stood Phantom in the yard and hosed his lower legs down with cool water. She ran her hands down them, relieved that the hard tendons down the back of his cannon bones were not showing any lumps or swellings. Then she dried his legs off, and wrapped them in stable bandages.

Each of them rugged up their ponies extra
cosily, then lugged stuffed haynets into their stables. While the ponies tucked in gratefully, the girls turned on the yard lights, and made up the feeds. They took them back to the stables, and left the ponies to finish eating in peace.

Next, it was Cracker and Frostie’s turn. The girls made up more feeds, then trudged over the sheep field in the almost darkness. As they appeared by the rickety wooden railings the two horses whickered and trotted up to meet them, ears pricked. They nose dived into the buckets, eating alongside each other companionably, raising their heads to chew and have a relaxed look round.

“As soon as we get back to the yard,” Alice said, “we’d better ring Fran. We need to warn her about the names on the petition list.”

The others agreed, as they stood watching the two horses chomp their feed contentedly. Charlie stood, resting one gloved hand on Cracker’s stocky neck. She could feel that he was toasty and warm in his rugs. Once Cracker had finished, Charlie bent down and scooped the last morsels of food from the curve of the
feed bucket, and swished it into the middle. Cracker nudged her hand out of the way, and greedily lipped the last few mouthfuls.

“I know it might sound horrible,” Charlie said, “but I don’t want these two to go to Fran’s now, not if there’s any chance that Hope Farm might be targeted next by the Abbey, or Billy at least. I’d hate for anything to happen to either of them.”

“Me too,” Rosie agreed, quickly. “Can’t we ask Fran if they can stay here? I can see if Dad can fix that spare stable.”

But Mia, forever the sensible one, shook her head. “That stable won’t get mended overnight,” she pointed out, “and this field is seriously insecure. All we can do is let Fran know what we suspect, don’t you think?”

The others agreed, reluctantly.

Mr Honeycott had been out and topped up the horses’ hay and water earlier in the day, so after the girls had hugged the horses goodnight, they headed back to the yard. By now, it was dark, and the Christmas lanterns flickered and the tinsel sparkled under the
bright stable lights. But instead of heading towards the stables, the girls made their way to the hay barn. They picked out their way by torchlight and bundled in, climbing the ladder into the loft. The barn sat just behind the stables, overlooking the paddocks. From there, they could just about hear their ponies when they snorted, or stomped a hoof.

The Pony Detectives snuggled down amongst the hay bales. Rosie had sneaked some freshly made cinnamon rolls from the farmhouse kitchen, and as they huddled together and ate, they finally started to warm up. There was a sudden pitter patter of light footsteps and Rosie flashed the torch round in the dark. Pumpkin’s green eyes blazed, and he meowed as he headed over, looking for a toasty lap to curl up on. He chose Rosie’s. She wrapped the blanket around him, as well as herself, tucking it under his chin.

Charlie held the torch as Mia pulled out her phone. Mia’s fingers were almost too frozen to activate the screen, but she managed to tap in Fran’s number and press Call. Then she put her
phone on speaker and gave Fran an update. She didn’t mention that they’d sneaked into the Abbey grounds, and had the fright of their lives, or overheard Billy and Archie’s argument. But Fran didn’t sound overly convinced by the connection the girls were making between the petition list and the horses being let loose.

“I’m sure it’s just a coincidence,” Fran sighed. “Although… the local gossip
is
that Billy Pyke might be involved with what happened at Greenfields last night. According to some, he’s done this kind of thing before… Anyway, I will keep an extra eye out, petition list or no petition list. Luckily we’ve got enough barns here to move all the horses and ponies into them overnight. The weather’s so bitter at the moment that I was half thinking about doing that anyway. It’s more work, but I don’t think the horses will mind too much.”

Mia felt an instant flood of relief, knowing that if the horses at Hope Farm were kept in overnight, they’d be safe.

“Now, about this Friday,” Fran continued. “My lorry’s being serviced at the garage, so I’ll
have to lead Cracker and Frostie in hand. Fancy helping?”

“Of course we will,” Mia said. Even though she was happier that Cracker and Frostie wouldn’t be out in the fields at their new home, she still couldn’t quite manage to feel happy about them going. It already felt like Blackberry Farm would be too quiet without them. But she also knew that the horses couldn’t stay on the common land forever.

“Perfect,” Fran said. “In that case I’ll see you this Friday at 10 a.m. And try not to worry about Pirate, or the other horses. Like I said, I’ve got eyes all over the place at the moment, believe me.”

After Mia ended the call, she grabbed her notebook from under one of the hay bales. She slid out a pen, which she kept pushed down inside the notebook’s spiral binding wire, and removed the lid.

“So, we’ve got three mysteries,” Mia recapped, running her finger over the clues already written on the page. “The first is Cracker and Frostie.”

“And all we’ve got on that is the half a footprint clue,” Rosie said, reading over Mia’s shoulder. “And a tyre track.”

“And the fact that someone dumped them in the middle of the night,” Charlie added.

“Then there’s the mystery of the horses escaping from Long Lane, Mrs Maplethorp’s and Greenfields,” Alice said.

All the girls brightened at mention of this one, because there was more to go on. Mia flattened out the newspaper article on the hay bale in front of them, which had reported Mrs Maplethorp’s ponies getting out of their paddocks.

“A powerful motorbike’s been heard at each place where ponies have been set loose,” Charlie said. “And we found out today that Billy’s got a motorbike.”

“On top of that, Billy’s got a history of doing this kind of stuff, too,” Alice added, “according to Mr Perryvale’s hints, at least, and local gossip.”

“And we know Archie found something at Greenfield’s Riding School, in the grass right
next to the field where the ponies were let out,” Mia said, scribbling down notes. “We just don’t know what. But I bet it was something that pointed towards Billy being guilty, judging by Archie’s reaction.”

“And Billy wanted Archie to keep something a secret from Nick and Mr Pyke,” Alice said, “which makes it sound like Billy’s acting without their help.”

“Although half the village seem to be pinning the blame on Billy,” Charlie added. “So I don’t really see how he could keep it a secret from Nick for long.”

“Don’t forget that the owners of each place that has been targeted so far have signed a petition to get rides at the Abbey reopened,” Rosie continued, playing with Pumpkin’s soft ears. “So, that points the finger of blame directly at someone from the Abbey. Add that to our other clues, and that someone
has
to be Billy.”

Charlie nodded. “We all heard Billy saying to Archie that he couldn’t afford to let the Abbey polo club fail. Maybe he’s trying to scare
everyone into dropping the petition so they leave the Abbey alone.”

Mia paused for a second in her writing. “But that doesn’t actually add up, does it?” she said, scratching the tip of her nose with the end of the pen. “Frightening everyone on that petition list is not the way to increase the club’s popularity round here.”

“Exactly,” Alice sighed. “All that would do is turn everyone against the Abbey even more. That’s the exact
opposite
of what Nick Webb wanted. He had hoped everyone would be part of the Abbey.”

“Well, he
said
that,” Charlie pointed out, “but as soon as he brought the ponies to the yard he started blocking off the Abbey rides, without telling anyone why.”

“And that leads to the third mystery,” Rosie said. “Why has Nick Webb suddenly changed his mind about the Abbey rides? What made him close them off, and why is he letting Mr Pyke shoot at riders to keep them away?”

The girls sat in silence for a moment, deep in thought.

“Well, maybe something happened after he moved into the Abbey to make him change his mind,” Alice finally said. “It’s the only explanation.”

“But we’re still no closer to finding out
what
,” Charlie sighed.

The wind whistled outside, rattling the barn walls and sending snakes of icy air in through the gaps. The girls snuggled deeper into their blankets for a second.

Rosie looked at the newspaper again. She skimmed through it, then frowned.

“What’s up?” Alice asked, hunkering down further into her blanket.

Rosie used her cinnamon roll to point at the words. “It says there a
powerful
motorbike.”

“So?” Charlie asked.

“Well, I don’t know much about motorbikes,” Rosie shrugged, “but I didn’t think Billy’s bike sounded that powerful at all…”

The others looked at each other, quizzically.

“No, it’s got to be Billy,” Mia said decisively. “Him letting the horses out of their fields is the one mystery we
are
sure about.”

“
That
bit might make sense,” Charlie said, feeling impatient, “but we’re only guessing at why Billy’s let the horses out. And we still don’t know what’s made Nick Webb change his mind about keeping the rides open. What if Alice is right, and something’s happened inside the Abbey grounds?”

“If that is the case, the only thing we can do,” Rosie sighed, “is head back for another poke about, see if we can unearth anything.”

The four of them sat glumly in the
torchlit
silence. These were the first mysteries that the Pony Detectives wished they hadn’t got involved with. But before they had a chance to say as much out loud to each other, the barn door creaked open. A pale face loomed into view, spooking them so much that they squealed in fright and nearly fell off their hay bales.

“Charlie, your dad’s here,” Rosie’s brother Will called out, grinning into the darkness.

Acting like they hadn’t been scared, the girls raced out of the barn and back to the yard. After shouting out a goodbye to Rosie, the others piled into Charlie’s car.

On the way home, Charlie’s dad chatted away to them about their last week at school, and about Christmas. But their minds were miles away, filled with thoughts about motorbikes, escaping ponies and secrets locked deep within the Abbey grounds.

The final week at school passed in a blur. There was a Christmas carol concert held in the main hall, cards exchanged on the school bus and in class, a school play and a non-uniform day. Everyone was in really high spirits except India and Archie. The pair had kept themselves to themselves the whole week, not even joining in with the high spirited banter on the bus. It hadn’t helped that Sophie and some of the other horsey girls had been overheard chatting loudly about Billy Pyke, and how everyone suspected he was the one letting all the ponies out of their fields.

Alice had felt terrible for Archie, especially when she noticed him look round anxiously
at India. India had given him a stare in return which was halfway between sympathetic and a warning, and he’d turned back, saying nothing. The only good thing was that at least Sophie had looked mortified when she’d realised Archie had overheard.

But India looked down in the dumps on the last day of term, too, despite the fact that they were breaking up at lunchtime. The Pony Detectives didn’t get it. They couldn’t wait to have the chance to spend some extra time with Cracker and Frostie, before their relocation to Hope Farm the next day.