Hot Potato (12 page)

Hayley cupped her hands around her mouth. 'It's a
chestnut mare! She's in the back paddock.'

The crowd in the middle of the arena started
talking excitedly again. Some of the younger girls
bounded out of the arena and ran down the lane, each
wanting to be the first to spot Gwen Stefani's horse.
Soon the rest of the crowd streamed after them.

Lindsey's mother was in the middle, being pushed
along like a twig in a river, still with her tomato sauce
bottle in hand. One of the ladies explained to her who
Gwen Stefani was.

'A singer?' Mrs Edel looked lost. 'American?
You're sure? Then why is she so far behind? I should
have been charging double! Lindsey, is this true?'

A group surrounded Lindsey, herding her down the
laneway and peppering her with questions. She tried
to answer, but then someone else would interrupt with
another question.

'No, I didn't see her in person . . . I have no idea
why she would keep it here . . . I've never seen her
ride . . . I can't remember what sort of float it was.'

The group of spectators watched them head down
the laneway and then returned to the food. Some
tucked into the potato salad while Mrs Crook was
distracted. Shelby heard her father ask, 'So is it always
like this?'

Hayley, Erin and Shelby followed the group down
the laneway at a discreet distance. 'Are you going to
tell?' Shelby asked Hayley.

Hayley frowned. 'Why should I help you? You never
include me in any of your things. How do you think it
feels? You get to have all the fun and do whatever you
want.' Her mouth turned down at the sides and she
crossed her arms. 'I hear you laughing, and meanwhile,
I just go round and round in circles while Mum yells,
"
Win! Win! Win!"
at me. It's not fair.'

Erin shook her head, confused. 'You want to hang
out with
us
?'

Hayley shrugged. The rims of her eyes were
turning red. She wasn't exactly crying, but Shelby
didn't think she was far away from it.

The three girls stared at each other for a moment
and then Shelby could feel the sides of her mouth
twitching. She started to giggle.

'What?' Hayley looked puzzled.

Soon Shelby had tears in her eyes. She was
laughing so much that her nose scrunched along the
top. Her cheek hurt, and she held it, but she couldn't
stop giggling. Erin laughed until she snorted and then
got the hiccups, which set the other two off. Soon all
three of the girls were laughing together.

'You want to hang out with
us
!' Erin said again,
between breaths.

'Why is that so funny?' Hayley asked, still grinning.

Shelby shook her head. She thought about telling
Hayley that being Shelby or Lindsey, or even Erin,
wasn't that great most of the time. They bickered
between themselves. They didn't always support each
other like they should and sometimes achieving the
goals they set for themselves was a struggle – but then,
she'd thought being Hayley Crook would be the best
thing ever. From the sounds of it, it was a lot of
pressure, and lonely too.

She put her hand on Hayley's shoulder. 'Hales, you
can hang out with us whenever you want.'

By the time the girls had made it through the gate
the crowd had gathered at the ridge. The herd of
horses was standing on the edge of the hill warily
eyeing the people.

'It must be that one,' said Mrs Edel, pointing to
Hotty. 'That's the only one I don't recognise.'

The group looked on, quiet for a moment.

'It's a bit small,' commented Miss Anita.

'Yeah, I was expecting – I dunno, something a bit
more flash!' said Kim.

Monica said, 'I thought it would be tobiano, for
some reason – a mustang or something – like in
Hidalgo
.'

'That's not really Gwen Stefani's horse, is it?'
asked Olivia, tugging on the sleeve of her mum's shirt.

'I don't think it's true, sweetheart,' her mother
answered.

'Well then, whose horse is it?' asked Mrs Edel.

'Lindsey?' Mrs Edel asked.

Shelby's heart beat fast. She should confess and
save her friend – but what if Mrs Edel was so
cranky that she sacked Shelby? Where would she keep
Blue?

She wondered if Erin would do it. Erin was in the
best position, because she had the least to lose, and
people expected this kind of thing from Erin.

Shelby knew she should do it herself. It had been
her idea in the first place, and if she hadn't bid then
Hotty wouldn't be there. Lindsey's mum might evict
her, but she would find a new place. It wasn't fair to
let Lindsey take all the blame.

She opened her mouth.

'It's my horse.'

Shelby turned, surprised. Hayley had taken the
words out of her mouth.

'Hayley!' Mrs Crook's voice wavered with
emotion. She slapped her hands to her cheeks and
tears sprang into her eyes.

Shelby was thinking that Hayley was very brave,
when she realised that Mrs Crook's tears were of
joy
.

'I thought you were losing interest! Looking after
the horses is our special time together. It's so precious
to me, and I was sure that you were ready to move on.
Oh, Hales!' She rushed forward and wrapped Hayley
in a bear hug. 'And now you've gone and bought a
pony all by yourself. I'm so
proud
of you.' She rubbed
her daughter's shoulders so fast that Hayley's head
jiggled. Mrs Crook looked at Hotty. 'And such a
pretty pony too! Oh, this is the best surprise a mother
could ever receive.'

Shelby watched all the other mothers trading
glances and guessed that they didn't agree.

It was the Saturday after the barbecue. The four girls
sat on the edge of Lindsey's veranda with their
gumboots swinging back and forth. Hayley and Erin
had finished their lessons. There were no more trail
rides to lead. Shelby and Lindsey had already mucked
out the stables, and the afternoon feed was still hours
away.

Mrs Crook was about to put Hotty on the float and
the girls were staying nearby in case she needed help.

'So what did the vet say?' asked Shelby.

'There's nothing physically wrong with her,'
Hayley answered. 'It's behavioural. Basically she's a
nutcase. Mum wants to get a shrink, but there's no
rush. We're not going to ride her anyway.'

'Like a horse counsellor?' asked Shelby. She didn't
know such a job existed. That was a career she hadn't
considered before.

'Yeah, I know,' said Hayley, rolling her eyes. She
slipped her hand into the pocket of her jodhpurs and
handed each of the girls a fifty-dollar note.

'You don't have to do that!' Lindsey protested.

Hayley shrugged. 'I'm buying her from you guys.
It's only fair. Besides, it's no big deal. You've all lost
more than fifty bucks from the whole thing anyway.'

'Yeah, I'm grounded for a gazillion years for
messing with the accounts,' Lindsey groaned.

'But at least all your friends come over every day,
anyway. Shelby's lost her saddle,' Erin said. 'And I'm
not allowed to vote on
Australian Idol
for a whole
year! My dad even confiscated my phone.'

The girls sat in silence. In the paddock across the
driveway the two Arabs stood near the water trough
taking it in turns to drink. Beyond them Shelby could
make out Blue and Hiccup standing under a tree,
dozing nose-to-tail.

Shelby leaned back, slipping off her gumboots and
wiggling her toes.

'Hey, I've got those exact same socks!' Hayley
said. 'Twins!'

Shelby smiled.

'So, what are you going to do with CC anyway?'
Erin asked.

'Mum's getting her registered. She's found some
imported Riding Pony stallion she wants to put her to.'

'I
knew
she was good quality!' said Shelby. 'I'm
telling you, I have an eye for it.'

'Sorry, Hales,' Lindsey said, 'she's not my cup of
tea. I don't like the little ones.'

'That's OK – neither do I, really.' Hayley smiled.
'But she is well put together and quite distinctive.
We'll have no trouble getting papers for her.'

'Hey, we should start a business where we buy
horses from the sales, do them up, and then sell them,'
suggested Erin, sitting up straight.

'I'm only buying this one,' Hayley said, quickly.

Erin was getting excited by the idea. 'We all have
different skills; we could train some brilliant all-rounders.
People would call it
The Erinshelindhale
Method
.'

'Didn't you just hear the part about how we all
lost out on this fantastic scheme?' Lindsey asked.

'I think it's a great idea, Erin, but we'll have to wait
till we're older and have our own money,' said Shelby.

'OK, you're on. Are you two in?'

'No way!' said Lindsey.

Hayley shrugged.

'Fine! It will have to be
The Erinshel Method
then.
You'll be sad when we're famous, and everyone in the
world is wearing an
Erinshel
tee-shirt except you.
Then when you come to one of our clinics and bring
all your friends, and we go, "I'm sorry, what did you
say your name was?" you will be sooo embarrassed.
That's if we speak to you at all. You'll regret this day
for the rest of your life. You have five seconds to
change your mind. Five, four, three . . .'

'I'm willing to take that risk,' interrupted Lindsey.

'Two, two and a half, two and three-quarters . . .'

'You do realise you're counting upwards now?'
added Hayley.

'One, zero! Errrr! You've just missed out on the
opportunity of a lifetime.'

Neither of the girls looked particularly distressed.

'So what are you going to call her?' asked Erin.
Lindsey and Shelby glanced at each other and then
looked quickly away.

'We're been thinking about Quicksmart,' said
Hayley. 'She'd be Smarty for short – unless we find
she has a registered name already.'

Shelby liked it.

'So who's this stallion?' Lindsey asked.

Hayley waved her hand. 'Mum is so excited.
Apparently he's won everything everywhere. They
even take him to the UK to do a season there every
year. Hotty will stay agisted at the owner's stud until
she's foaled.'

'Oh no!' groaned Lindsey. 'Instead of having one
little chestnut horse you don't want . . .'

Hayley put her hands over her face. 'I know! I'll
have two.'

Erin giggled. 'Well, at least you have a year – two,
really – before you can do anything with either of them.'

'And by then you'll be even more too big for her!'
added Shelby.

They watched while Hotty refused to get on the
float – kicking and squealing her heart out near the
tailgate. Jill Crook stood at the end of the lead rope
kicking and squealing right back.

'I know what you're all thinking,' Hayley said. 'It's
a match made in heaven!'
Shelby couldn't help but laugh. 'Yes, I think you're
right. She wasn't the horse for me after all.'

'Not the horse for
us
, don't you mean?' teased
Erin.

Shelby put her arm around Erin's shoulder and
smiled. 'Yes, of course! That's what I meant.'

Alyssa Brugman's first novel,
Finding Grace
, was shortlisted
for the New South Wales Premier's and Queensland
Premier's Literary Awards and the Children's Book
Council of Australia Book of the Year (Older Readers).
It was a Commended Book in the 2002 Victorian
Premier's Literary Awards and has been translated into
Dutch (for which it was shortlisted for the 'Gouden
Zoen' Award), Danish and German.

Walking Naked
, Alyssa's second novel, was shortlisted
for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award and
awarded Honour Book in the 2003 CBCA Book of the
Year (Older Readers). It is distributed in the United
States, United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium.
Alyssa's third novel for young adults,
Being Bindy
,
was released in 2004. It was a Notable Book in the
CBCA Book of the Year Awards, and shortlisted for
the Children's Peace Literature Award.

Hot Potato
is the sequel to
For Sale or Swap
and
Beginner's Luck
, which were published in 2005.

Alyssa lives in the Hunter Valley, where she writes
full-time and keeps four horses. Shadow, her first
pony, is a bay mare in her early thirties. Istana Khazra
is a chestnut Arab mare. Greenwood Elizabeth is a
six-year-old grey Riding Pony mare. Reddy is a bay
thoroughbred gelding who belongs to Alyssa's sister.