A New Beginning (4 page)

Adjoa smiled. “I know. I'm lucky to have her.”

Pixie whinnied softly and swiveled her ears.

“I think she agrees with you,” Lily said. They both laughed.

Adjoa opened the field gate and Lily helped her saddle the pony and then both girls spent a couple of hours taking turns riding her. Lily thought with a sigh how wonderful it would be to have her own pony and ride her every day.

Storm bounded alongside the pony at first as Lily trotted around the field on her, but his short legs soon got tired. Lily couldn't lift him onto her lap with Adjoa watching. “Are you okay? You're not getting bored?” she leaned down to whisper to him.

“I am fine. I will go and explore,” Storm barked softly.

Lily watched him go frolicking off toward the open-sided, wooden shelter at the bottom of the field. She could see him sniffing all the interesting smells in patches of long grass on the way.

With Storm happily occupied, Lily went back to enjoying her ride. Afterward she helped Adjoa untack Pixie and then rub her down before letting her run free. The pony immediately threw herself onto her back and rolled around. Storm ran straight up to her barking happily.

“Oh no!” Lily gasped, only just stopping herself from calling out to warn Storm to be careful. If Pixie kicked, the tiny puppy could get badly hurt by her hooves.

“What's wrong?” Adjoa asked, frowning.

“Er . . . nothing,” Lily murmured, watching tensely as Pixie got to her feet again and shook herself. Her ears flattened as she looked down at the playful puppy, then she leaned down and gently nudged Storm's sandy fur. Storm yapped delightedly, wagging his tail.

Lily gave a big sigh of relief, which she quickly turned into a cough. She turned to Adjoa. “Sorry. I . . . um . . . thought I saw a rat in the straw in Pixie's shelter!”

Adjoa shrugged. “That's no big deal. The farmer's cats will catch it. Let's go in the house and get a drink.” She opened the field gate that led straight into her back garden.

“Okay. I'll follow you in a sec. I think I've got a stone in my boot.” Bending down so that she had her back to Adjoa, Lily motioned to Storm.

Storm scampered straight over and squeezed under the fence into the back garden. He trotted at Lily's heel, panting happily as they all walked toward the house.

In the kitchen, Adjoa's mom was getting cold drinks from the fridge. “I saw you coming,” she said, smiling. “You must be Lily. It's nice to meet you. I'm glad Adjoa's already made a new friend.” Her rows of tiny black braids were pinned up into a bun. She wore gold hoop earrings, jeans, and a pretty green top.

“Thanks for the drink, Mrs. Hardiker,” Lily said politely.

After their drinks, Lily and Storm went up to Adjoa's room. “It's just like mine!” Lily said delightedly, looking at all the pony posters and books. Red and blue ribbons that Adjoa had won for her riding were pinned around her mirror.

“That was so much fun! Thanks,” Lily said to Adjoa before she left for home.

“That's okay. You can come here anytime,” Adjoa said, smiling. “See you at school on Monday!”

As she walked away with Storm, Lily was thoughtful. “Adjoa's mom and dad don't seem to have a problem with their daughter taking care of a pony and doing homework. But I don't think I'll
ever
persuade mine to let me have one,” she said to him with a sigh.

Storm barked in sympathy, wagging his tail. His thick sandy fur gleamed with tiny golden sparks. “Maybe I can help you,” he woofed softly.

 

The following afternoon, Mrs. Benson dropped Lily and Storm off early at Greengates before she went to her yoga workshop. Lily had been silently thinking about what Storm had said; now she was bursting to ask him about it.

“Did you mean it, about helping me to get my own pony?” she asked as they walked across the stable yard.

Storm looked at her with alert midnight-blue eyes. “I did, Lily. I always keep my promises.”

Lily waited, but Storm didn't say anything more. Her imagination went into overdrive. “I bet you're going to use your magic to make a pony appear out of thin air, aren't you? Are you going to put Mom and Dad into a trance or something, so they let me keep it?” she asked excitedly.

Storm's furry brow dipped in a frown. “No. That would not be the right thing to do, Lily. I am afraid that you will have to be patient,” he woofed mysteriously. He leaped forward and went off to explore the yard, shedding a few tiny gold sparks, which glinted in the bright sunlight before dissolving.

Lily stared after Storm. She knew she was going to have to do as he said, but it was hard to be patient when you wanted something so much.

It was time that she went to see what jobs needed doing, but first Lily went to visit Bandit. She had an apple in her pocket for the pony.

But the palomino wasn't in her stable, so Lily went to check the grazing field. Bandit wasn't there either. As she was walking back across the yard feeling puzzled, Don came out of the tack room holding a saddle.

“Is Bandit out on an early ride?” Lily asked the stable boy.

“No. Bandit's already gone. Didn't Janie tell you?” Don said.

“Gone? Gone where?” Lily asked.

“To her new home,” Don explained. “Bandit's quite old now and Janie's been thinking about retiring her for some time. Someone came by during the week and offered Bandit a new home on the spot. Janie jumped at it. Bandit went to live in a field with two goats and a donkey for company.”

“Oh, she'll really love that,” Lily said, trying hard not to feel sad. But she knew she was really going to miss the gentle old pony.

Don's freckled face crinkled in a smile. “It's amazing that somewhere so perfect came right out of the blue, when Janie hadn't really started looking yet. Just like magic, really. Anyway, see you later.” He went off to tack up a pony.

Storm came rushing across the yard, with a dusty nose from where he'd been searching around in some straw. He gave her a wide doggy grin and flopped down at her feet.

Lily looked down at him thoughtfully. “Did you have anything to do with finding Bandit a perfect new home, by any chance?”

Storm gave her a sideways look. He twitched his nose. “I smell rabbits!” he yelped happily and shot off again toward the grazing field.

Lily stared after him. He was up to something, she was sure of it.

Chapter SIX

It had been another busy afternoon at Greengates. Lily was hanging up a pile of newly cleaned bridles in the tack room.

Janie popped her head in the door. “Why don't you leave that and go have a ride? Tinka's still saddled up.”

“Thanks, Janie!” Glancing over to where Storm was napping on top of the brush box, Lily called to him. “Come on, Storm.”

Storm's head shot up immediately. He jumped down and padded after Lily to where Tinka was tied to the fence.

Lily buckled on her riding hat before mounting the handsome bay pony. She walked Tinka out of the yard and onto the bridle path. This time she took the fork leading to a field that the riding school had permission to use. Storm ran along beside her, his ears flapping as Lily rode down a tractor path.

Lily had to concentrate very hard when riding Tinka. The bay pony was less experienced than dear old Bandit had been. Lily dismounted and was opening the field gate, when a wood pigeon fluttered up out of a bush. Startled, Tinka threw up her head and danced sideways.

“It's okay, girl.” Lily spoke reassuringly, petting Tinka's nose to calm her.

As Tinka backed up, Lily noticed a ditch almost concealed in the long grass by the hedge. Someone had dumped some sharp hawthorn branches in it. Luckily, Tinka had just missed it or she could have been injured. Lily made a mental note to tell Janie about the dangerous ditch when she got back to Greengates.

Storm sat in her lap as Lily continued her ride. But as she made her way back an hour or so later he ran along beside her again. She saw him run off into the field and start jumping around, barking at butterflies and sticking his nose in molehills. By the time Lily got back to the field gate and dismounted again, Storm was behind her.

Lily led Tinka through and was closing the gate, when she spotted a familiar pony and rider coming toward her along the edge of the field. “Look, Storm! It's Adjoa on Pixie!” she cried delightedly.

A moist brown nose and then two sandy ears appeared as Storm squeezed through a small gap in the hedge. He gave an excited bark and leaped toward the long grass.

Lily realized that he was heading straight for the concealed ditch. “Storm! Look out!” she cried. But the puppy was so set on reaching his friend Pixie that he didn't hear her.

Lily threw herself forward. She missed Storm, but just managed to push him sideways as she lost her balance and slid into the ditch.

“Ow!” she gasped with pain as her ankle twisted and sharp thorns dug into her leg.

Storm looked down at her in dismay. “You saved me, Lily. But you are hurt. I will help you,” he whined.

“I . . . I think I'm okay,” Lily said shakily, biting back tears at the sharp ache in her leg. Her riding pants were torn and smeared with grass stains.

Time seemed to stand still. Lily felt a familiar warm tingling down her back as vivid gold sparks ignited in Storm's fur. His tail stiffened and crackled with power. Raising a velvety front paw Storm sent a whoosh of sparks fizzing toward Lily's injured leg. For a second the pain increased and then it drained away just as if someone had poured it down a drain.

When the bright sparks faded, Lily saw that her riding pants were clean and fixed, too. “Thanks, Storm,” she whispered.