The Palomino Pony Comes Home (9 page)

 “Couldn’t you sleep either?” he said in a low voice.

“I thought I heard something,” Georgia whispered back.

They both stood still, listening hard. The ponies were quieter now, and Wilson and Callie looked calm. Yet Lily’s neck was still arched, and she appeared to be gazing at something unseen in the inky black distance. The little palomino looked as mystical as a unicorn, her white mane
sparkling in the moonlight.

Dan crawled closer to Georgia to reassure her. It felt weird sitting so close to a boy but he was warm and solid, and his presence was comforting.

“It was probably just a fox,” said Dan. He turned to face Georgia in the gloom. “Listen, nothing is going to happen to those ponies,” he said. “Especially not to Lily. I’m too attached to that pony of yours now, after saving her life!”

Georgia mumbled her agreement. “I still don’t think I can go back to sleep,” she said eventually.

“Nor me,” said Dan. “I’ll sit up with you, if you like.”

And so the two of them fetched their sleeping bags and sat quietly for the rest of the night, watching the ponies until the first rays of sunshine broke over the fields, bathing them in a warm pink glow.

C
HAPTER
E
IGHTEEN

G
eorgia felt stiff and tired by the time morning dawned properly. After the three friends had breakfasted on the remains of their picnic and drunk the hot mugs of tea that Simon brought out to them, she decided to take a shower to wake herself up. It would have to be a quick one as she wanted to exercise the ponies before it got too hot.

“I’ve got to go home to help Dad with the cows,”
Dan said apologetically. “But I’ll come back later.”

“That would be great,” said Georgia. “See you then, and thanks for everything.”

“I can stay and help out,” Emma offered. “I could ride Wilson while you take out Lily, so you’re not on your own.”

“Fantastic,” said Georgia gratefully.

So after Georgia had showered, the two of them rode out, keeping to the woods rather than the open fields. They still only managed an hour before the heat got too much for them. It was going to be a blisteringly hot day.

To Georgia’s surprise, Tory was waiting in the yard when they rode back in. She was lounging against the yard gate, wearing skin-tight breeches and a fitted black T-shirt. Her long dark hair was drawn back in a sleek ponytail and she had dark glasses covering her eyes. Pushing herself upright she strode over to
Georgia, who felt Lily tense beneath her.

“Where’s Sophie?” she demanded, not even bothering to say hello.

“Sophie?” Georgia frowned, surprised that Tory didn’t know where her friend was. “She’s not here. She’s gone to look at universities with Melanie.”

A slight smile curled on Tory’s lip but it wasn’t a particularly welcoming smile. “Has she now?” she said, moving a bit closer to Lily, who took a sudden step backwards.

“Hey! Careful!” Georgia said. “You’re unsettling her.” She jumped down and took hold of Lily’s reins, brushing past Tory as she led her off.

“How’s that palomino doing then? Still a bit skittish, is she?” Tory’s voice called after her.

“Lily’s just fine, thanks,” Georgia replied firmly, glancing back as she reached the mare’s stable.

“Good…” Tory’s face broke into an unnerving
smile. “Well, be sure to tell Sophie I dropped by, won’t you?”

Wondering why Tory couldn’t tell Sophie herself, Georgia watched the older girl as she turned on her heel and strode purposefully out of the yard. Tory opened the door of a silver sports car that had been waiting in the lane outside and slid into the passenger seat. Georgia couldn’t tell who was driving but it definitely wasn’t Tory’s mum. The driver was male, as far as she could make out, and had a baseball cap pulled low over his face.

“What was that all about?” Emma exclaimed.

“I don’t know,” Georgia replied, feeling a familiar cold chill run down her spine, “but I intend to find out…”

There was a lot to do in the yard, and the girls tried to forget about Tory’s visit as they got stuck into their jobs. Even when everything was done,
Georgia found herself sweeping the yard all over again in an attempt to distract her from thinking about Tory’s words.

Eventually, feeling hot and sticky, the girls decided it was time to cool off in the Haydens’ swimming pool. Georgia quickly changed into her swimming costume and plunged into the clear water. She swam a few lengths and then spread herself out on a towel next to Emma and lay on her stomach, gazing out at the paddock. The swim had done her good. And the ponies looked so peaceful, so serene. Perhaps she was just worrying unnecessarily after all.

At six o’clock on the dot, Dan strode through the yard gates.

“Hey, girls,” he called. “All OK?”

“Not so bad,” Georgia called back, scrunching up her eyes in the evening sun. Dan’s hair was still wet from his shower and he was wearing shorts
and a frayed shirt. Georgia watched him pause at the fence to stroke the ponies, who jostled for his attention.

A little later, once the ponies and dogs had been fed for the evening, and the chickens put away, the three friends flopped on to the grass.

“Who’s for a drink?” asked Dan, producing some glasses and ice he’d fetched from the house and opening a bottle of cola.

“Me!” said Emma. “I’m parched!”

“Me too,” said Georgia, gratefully accepting a drink. “Oh, Dan, you know what? A strange thing happened today…” She quickly filled him in on Tory’s visit.

“It was like she was checking up on us or something,” Emma said finally, “and she didn’t even seem to know that Sophie had gone away.”

Dan shrugged. “That’s weird, if they’re supposed to be such good friends. Maybe
they’ve had a bust-up.”

“Maybe,” said Georgia, shrugging. “Anyway, shall we all camp out again tonight? Simon doesn’t mind, and he’s away overnight for work anyway. Mum said I could if you two were up for it. And she said she’d drop off some food if I let her know.”

“Yup, I’m in,” said Em. “I’ll let my parents know.”

“That makes three of us!” Dan added. “Dad won’t mind.”

After the scorching-hot day it was another warm, pleasant evening. It had been so dry of late that the grass was starting to turn yellow and there were cracks appearing in the hard ground.

Emma took charge of preparing their supper once Georgia’s mum had dropped off supplies. They had baguettes with cold meats and cheese
followed by chocolate brownies and fresh peaches. Em dug out her iPod and speakers from her bag and they spent another happy evening singing and laughing together. Georgia was really enjoying herself but she still had that niggling feeling that something was wrong. To try to put her mind at rest, she sent a text to Sophie to let her know that Tory had been round, hoping that Sophie’s response would make everything clear.

But Sophie didn’t reply. They must have gone out for the evening. With a sigh, Georgia put her phone back in the tent and tried to get into the spirit of things with her friends.

It wasn’t until later that night, when everyone was sleeping, that Georgia woke with a start. What was that noise? It sounded like a car pulling up in the lane. Georgia felt her heart beating. It
was
a car pulling up in the lane! She could just about
make out muffled voices, and footsteps. Quickly she grabbed her phone, which was flashing with a text message. It was from Sophie.

Now Georgia knew something was wrong.

Hurriedly waking Emma, she pulled on her boots over her pyjamas and crawled out of the tent.

“Dan … Dan…” she whispered, trying to keep the rising panic out of her voice. “Dan, wake up!”

“Urrgh. What time is it?” Dan answered, crawling out of his tent.

“It’s gone midnight,” said Georgia. “Listen, can you hear that?”

They huddled together, trying to work out where the voices were coming from.

“OK,” Dan said authoritatively. “I’m going to go to the front of the house; you two get to the ponies!”

Georgia and Emma did as they were told, sprinting across the garden, climbing over the gate and into the field.

To Georgia’s relief, all three ponies were at the far end of the paddock.

“It’s all right, Em,” she whispered. “They’re all right.”

“But look!” Emma hissed.

Georgia looked over to the far side of the field into the shadows beneath the trees. She gasped. There were two figures climbing over the fence from the road!

C
HAPTER
N
INETEEN

“G
o and get Dan! And bring the ponies’ head-collars from the tack room!” Georgia whispered urgently to Emma, who immediately turned and ran off to the yard.

As if sensing sudden danger, all three ponies trotted over to Georgia, Wilson snorting, and Lily and Callie quivering. She tried to calm them by whispering to them but the ponies
were definitely skittish.

Steeling herself, Georgia stood guard in front of the animals and watched the figures approaching. With a jolt of fear she realised they were the same boys that had been with Jemma on the mountainside. Even worse, one of them was carrying a rope in his hands. They were coming for Lily! Georgia felt anger growing inside her. How dare they try to steal the little palomino! She took a deep breath and drew herself up tall, her rage masking her fear.

“You again,” one of the boys sneered. “Now, are you going to play nice or are we going to have to deal with you first?”

“You are
not
taking her,” Georgia said loudly. “She belongs here and I won’t let you have her.” She tried to keep the panic out of her voice and glanced towards the house for any sign of Emma. Where was she? And where was Dan?

“Now, come on,” the boy said a little more gently. “We don’t want to hurt you, but we’re here to take back what doesn’t belong to you. This is Jemma’s pony. She’s missed her!”

Georgia could almost have laughed at this statement if it wasn’t so threatening.

“She’s not Jemma’s pony any more!” she argued. “She was sold to us, remember!”

“Well, according to Jem, she wasn’t,” the other boy broke in now. “Her granddad’s been losing it, you see. He doesn’t know what he’s saying any more. Jemma and her mum run the business now – buying, selling, breeding––”

“And beating up ponies?” Georgia hissed, her body shaking with fear and anger.

“Look,” the boy continued, his voice growing more impatient as he coiled the heavy rope in his hands. “I suggest you just get out of our way before we have to make you.”

Lily was still behind Georgia, and as the boys stepped forward, she reared. The boys, who were clearly not horsemen, retreated nervously.

“Get out of my way,” the older of the two boys growled at Georgia, suddenly lunging at her. She screamed as his rough hands grabbed her arm. Pulling backward she took a handful of a now-terrified Lily’s mane, kicking out with both feet.

Before he could react, Georgia had swung herself on to Lily’s back. Closing both legs tightly around her sides, she entwined her hands in the white mane. “Go!” she yelled.

The palomino leapt forward into a half-rear before galloping straight between the two boys, forcing them to jump sideways to avoid her flying hooves.

Girl and pony thundered across the length of the paddock, a flash of gold as Georgia gripped on for dear life. Wilson and Callie were following
in a cloud of dust, their manes and tails streaming behind them.

As Georgia reached the fence that divided the paddock from the meadows beyond, she whirled Lily round to face the boys. They were running now, their faces red with anger, as they shouted instructions to a third boy who had suddenly appeared and was approaching from the other side of the field. To Georgia’s horror, he was twirling a lunge whip in his hands and what looked like a piece of hessian, which he clearly intended to use to blindfold Lily!

Looking frantically around, Georgia spotted a cattle trailer parked in the lane and for the first time ever she wished that the Haydens lived a little closer to a main road. There was no way anyone in the village would be able to hear the commotion.

Where
was
everyone? Georgia hoped that
Emma had found Dan and prayed that they weren’t in any danger.

Just then, as Georgia wheeled Lily round to face the yard, she heard a muffled scream. It was Emma! Georgia could just make out that it had come from the tack room and through the gloom she could see a tall, dark-haired girl pressing against the door and fumbling with the padlock.

Tory! What on earth was she doing here?

But there wasn’t time to think about that now. One of the boys was trying to herd Wilson and Callie back into the yard so that they could close in on her and Lily. They were trapped.

“Are you going to hand her over? Or are we going to have to pull you off?” the younger boy asked again.

In one last desperate attempt, Georgia turned Lily again and squeezed hard on her sides, aiming her at the post and rail fence. The palomino burst
into a canter and quickly covered the ground. Then, for one moment, Lily hesitated, but before Georgia had time to think about how high the fence was, the little pony had tucked her hooves into her chest and soared over, clearing it as gracefully as a bird.

Laughing with delight despite her terror, Georgia and Lily galloped through the meadow, the long grasses brushing Georgia’s feet as they raced and raced. They were safe! They just needed to reach the footpath and they’d have a clear run round to the front of the house.

All of a sudden, headlights dazzled Georgia and a four-by-four descended fast upon them. Lily veered sharply to the right and Georgia fell hard to the ground. She was aware of shouting and of Lily’s frightened whinny, and then the faint wail of sirens. After that, everything went black, and she sank into darkness…