Puzzle: The Runaway Pony (10 page)

Charlie tried to put that out of her mind as she trotted Phantom around the warm-up arena, riding the course in her head and repeating all Mrs Millar’s advice to herself. She breathed out, telling herself that it was only a show and it didn’t matter how they did. But secretly, deep down, she felt worried on top of a horse for the first time ever, not knowing what might happen as she rode out of the practice
ring, past the others and into the main arena.

She could tell that Phantom was on edge as soon as he’d walked through the huge doors into the indoor school. And when the loudspeaker crackled to announce that Faraway Phantom and Charlotte Hall were in the ring, he jinked backwards, his ears flat. Charlie patted him and managed to keep him contained until the bell went and he half-reared. He came back to the ground and immediately did it again, swinging round at the same time.

“I bet he remembers Sasha scaring him in there,” Pixie whispered to Alice and Mrs Millar, looking panicked as Phantom started to back up.

But Charlie didn’t give up. She suddenly realised that he was more scared than she was, and he needed her to be confident and brave for his sake. She relaxed in the saddle and, rather than hurrying Phantom, she sat quietly, waiting for him to calm down. She could sense that he wasn’t being naughty. As Charlie sat with soft hands, not
putting any pressure on him, he suddenly stopped and stood quietly for a moment. Then Charlie put her legs on gently and together the pair of them set off with a bound. Pixie and Alice both let out a big sigh of relief.

Charlie stuck to the exact route that she’d walked with Mrs Millar. Phantom fought the bit, lifting his head up, but stayed light in his mouth and arced over the first few fences when he reached them. Charlie could feel that Phantom was clearing each fence by masses and felt a buzz of excitement, until they got to the first double, where his scope would be likely to land him in trouble if he jumped in big. Charlie held Phantom together, getting him right back on his hocks going into the first fence and then again as she landed, then Phantom popped over the second fence, a big parallel, clearing it easily. Charlie stroked his neck briefly and flicked his ears back, listening to her.

They easily cleared the next couple of jumps,
then turned to the combination. It was a parallel, followed by an upright, followed by a huge triple bar, with one stride between the first two fences and two strides between the last two. The whole gallery fell silent. Charlie knew that if she went in too slow Phantom wouldn’t make the back bars of the fences; too fast, and she’d crash straight into the second fence like so many of the other riders in the class.

Charlie steadied Phantom, who shook his head, in the final few strides but she kept her legs on to maintain the impulsion and he jumped in big over the parallel. The back pole rocked as Charlie held Phantom together, snapping back in the saddle so that he didn’t run on to the middle fence. She held him for the single stride, just letting him jump out of her hands over the upright, which he cleared on a bouncy stride. But he landed further out than Charlie would have liked with his floaty jump. Now, with only a stride and a half between them
and the next fence, they were in trouble.

But rather than sit and try for the two strides, Charlie instinctively squeezed him up, her reins soft. Phantom responded in an instant and stretched out, taking one massive, raking stride before launching himself skyward and powering up over the triple bar. He snapped his hooves up to keep them out of the way of the poles. They soared over it, landing softly on the other side.

Pixie and Alice burst out cheering as they watched them clear the rest of the course, flying over the last fence easily. Phantom bucked twice before Charlie brought him back to a walk. She broke into a smile, relief washing over her. Then suddenly she got excited about what they’d just done together. In the end, they’d made a tricky course look simple.

Sasha’s face was thunderous when Charlie rode out, patting Phantom happily as he jogged his head up and down, white foam flicking from his bit. It was time for the jump-off. And it soon became
very obvious that Sasha had been so convinced that she’d be the only clear that she hadn’t bothered thinking about the second course. She snapped at Jade and Bex as they got a harassed-looking Colonel ready for Sasha to warm up. She was going first, and after a couple of jumps in the practice ring she cantered him into the arena.

In the silence, she messed up the approach to nearly every fence. The Colonel swished his tail, getting confused as Sasha pulled and kicked, until at the penultimate fence he ground to a halt in front of it, sending Sasha flying. She jumped back on, bright red, and shouted at him. He refused to budge, standing there with his heels dug in, his head high and his ears back, looking thoroughly fed up and frightened until Sasha dismounted again and left him standing in the arena. Bex ran in to rescue the chestnut as the voice over the loudspeaker announced that The Colonel and Sasha Compton had been eliminated.

“At least I know that maniac horse won’t do 
any better,” she raged, storming out as Charlie cantered Phantom into the ring.

Charlie felt more confident going back in, but after his performance at the start of the last round Charlie wasn’t sure what to expect. Phantom was more settled and only jinked once when the voice over the loudspeaker said their names.

“Come on Phantom,” Charlie whispered. He flicked one ear back. “Let’s show them what you can do.”

Then, light as a feather, he moved smoothly from walk to canter and Charlie guided him to the first fence, keeping her legs against him and allowing her hands to go forward, following his head as it stretched down. He glided over each fence and this time the striding in the double that ended the course was easier. Phantom floated effortlessly over the first one, landing lightly and adjusting his stride to pop out over the second element of the double, the last fence in the course.

As the arena erupted into a roar, sending
Phantom into a fizzing frenzy, Charlie rode him quietly out of the arena at a sideways,
slow-motion
canter, his head tucked into his chest, white foam from his bit flecking his coat. Charlie had to pinch herself, suddenly realising that she’d ridden round the whole course and hadn’t heard a single rap of the fences.

“That’s because he cleared them all by a whole mile!” Rosie squealed as Charlie rode, breathless and beaming, out of the ring.

Apart from Jade and Sasha, everyone from the yard cheered loudly during the presentation. Sasha’s mother congratulated Charlie warmly on her riding when she handed her the prize, saying that she must have another look at Sasha’s course design; she was sure she hadn’t approved quite such a stiff test for the juniors.

As they left the arena Mrs Millar disappeared to have a word with Mrs Compton and the girls saw Sasha blaming Bex for The Colonel’s poor performance.

“You must have upset him when you tied him in his stable,” Sasha shouted. “I told you to walk him round! It’s all your fault!”

“Well, if you’d have looked after your poor horse yourself then you wouldn’t have anyone else to blame, would you?” Bex suddenly shouted back, astonishing Sasha, who stood there
open-mouthed
and unable to reply.

They watched as Bex then strode straight up to an already flustered-looking Mrs Compton and handed her two pieces of paper with the course drawn on.

As Bex walked away with her head held high, Sasha blurted out that she was out of the CM club for good.

“Don’t worry,” Bex said triumphantly. “It’s not just the CM club I’m out of. It’s Compton Manor too – I’m going to move my pony to a new yard as soon as I can find a box. There’s no way I’m staying in this place for a minute longer while you’re in charge of the Under 16s!”

“Well said!” Tom laughed, joining forces. “And I’ll be following you, Bex.”

As others from the Junior yard joined in, the Pony Detectives heard a voice calling out, sounding furious.

“Sasha!” Mrs Compton, almost purple and furiously waving the two bits of paper Bex had given her, came stomping up the yard. “You’re in serious trouble!” 

Chapter Fourteen

MRS Millar had driven away from the show, calling Charlie and Phantom a ‘perfect match’, and saying that she should seriously consider making it a permanent partnership. Charlie had been floating on cloud nine, but her mood had quickly dropped as reality set in on the ride back to Blackberry Farm.

“If you
did
buy him,” Daisy said excitedly, “Pixie could see him all the time even though she didn’t own him.”

Pixie looked reluctant and Charlie shook her head. “There’s no way Mum and Dad could afford to buy Phantom,” she explained.

“Hang on,” Mia said suddenly having a bright idea. “There is one possible way! What if Charlie
took Phantom on loan? That way you still get to ride without having to sell Pirate, and Pixie still officially owns Phantom?”

“Perfect!” Alice and Rosie grinned.

Charlie looked at Pixie questioningly. Pixie frowned, then smiled. “That might just work!”

“I’d have to check with my parents first, though, about keeping two ponies,” Charlie said, feeling the excitement start to bubble up inside her again, even though she wasn’t sure what her parents would say. “I’ll give them a ring as soon as we get back!”

“And no one’s claimed Puzzle, yet,” Rosie said to Pixie as everyone else nodded, “so it makes sense for you to keep looking after him.”

“Could you imagine it!” Pixie breathed. “Puzzle’s my dream pony, and I know I shouldn’t have, but I’ve completely fallen in love with him!”

Pixie wanted to say more, but something inside her couldn’t quite believe that things could turn out so magically well, and she didn’t dare jinx it.

As soon as they got back to Blackberry Farm, Charlie called her parents, but they weren’t in, so she left them a garbled, excited message.

Daisy helped untack, then sighed. “I’ve had the best day ever,” she said, “but I’ve got to leave so I can check on Rolo. I’ll see you all tomorrow afternoon.”

She patted Puzzle once more, then disappeared on her bike, leaving the ponies noisily eating from their haynets. The others gathered in the hay barn. They rested Phantom’s silver trophy on one of the bales and toasted his and Charlie’s success with a chink of hot chocolate mugs.

“You know what this means, don’t you Pixie?” Mia said, suddenly turning very serious. “Your name gets called out at every show as the owner of Phantom – you’re the owner of your very own competition horse!”

“You’ll have to attend every show Charlie goes to,” Rosie added, as Charlie smiled, getting excited too. Pixie giggled, going pink, her eyes
wide as she thought about what lay ahead.

“Then when everyone starts raving about him,” Alice beamed, “which they will, you can say, ‘That’s
my
horse you’re talking about!’”

Pixie laughed, almost falling off the hay bale and making the others start to giggle too. Only Mia noticed Mrs Honeycott hurrying into the barn, carrying a cordless phone. As the others carried on laughing, Mia went to the top of the ladder.

“Phonecall for the Pony Detectives,” Mrs Honeycott called, as she handed the phone up to Mia. “I couldn’t quite make out who it was.”

Mia’s smile faded at once. There was only one person who would call the Blackberry Farm number and ask for the Pony Detectives. Mia held the phone to her ear, feeling her hand shake slightly.

“Hello?” she said, as she sank back down onto the hay bales, next to the others.

Everyone gradually fell silent as Mia started
talking to the person at the other end of the phone. Even though they could only hear one side of the conversation it was clear what it was about. Pixie held her breath, looking pale.

“Yes, just past the post box, then it’s second on the right,” Mia explained quietly. “We’ll have him ready.”

Mia looked up at Pixie after the call ended. They all knew what was coming.

“That was Puzzle’s owner,” Mia said. “The field where we put up the note was his, after all.”

“It’s all right, really. I mean, it was always going to happen wasn’t it?” Pixie said, trying to smile as if everything was okay, as if she was always used to things not working out for her. But she couldn’t pretend for long and she suddenly turned and rushed down the ladder. As they looked out of the cracks in the barn they saw her fly across the yard to Puzzle’s stable.

“I’d better let Daisy know,” Mia said, starting to text.

The next fifteen minutes whizzed by. Charlie’s phone finally rang and she ducked into Pirate’s stable to answer it just as Beanie started barking, rushing to the gate as he heard a car pull into the drive. Pixie stood with Puzzle, red-eyed but looking resigned. She’d undone all the roan pony’s plaits which had made his mane go wavy. His clear round rosette was still tied outside his stable.

“I want his owner to see that Puzzle’s been well looked after,” she whispered, not looking at Alice while she stroked his neck over and over.

Mia walked to the gate as a car pulling an old trailer slowed to a halt. An elderly lady climbed slowly out of the passenger seat and a tall girl jumped out from the driver’s side and suddenly brightened.

“Ghost!” she called out.

The blue roan pony raised his head and whickered softly, his ears pricked. The girl ran across and Pixie let herself out of the stable, standing to one side as the girl hugged him and
gave him a couple of carrots from her pocket. The elderly woman followed her through the gate using a stick to walk with.

After the girl had finished giving Puzzle – or Ghost as they now knew his real name was – lots of fuss, they all went into the tack room. Charlie let herself out of Pirate’s stable and joined them, sitting next to Alice on a blanket box. Alice noticed her hands shaking slightly.

“Did you speak to your parents?” Alice asked in a whisper. Charlie nodded. “Everything okay?” Charlie looked up and saw Pixie standing dejectedly in the door way. “Tell you later,” Charlie whispered back, and sat fiddling with Pirate’s headcollar.

“I’m so glad Ghost found you kind girls,” the elderly woman remarked once Mia had explained what had happened. “I’ve been trying to look after him for my granddaughter Abby here since she went to university a month ago, and it’s proved a bit beyond me.”

The girl next to her smiled sadly. “Nan said she’d keep an eye out for him. Only now I can see that wasn’t fair. On either of them.”

“It was fine to begin with,” the old woman said, patting Abby’s knee lightly as she went on, and gesturing at her stick. “I gave him hay, had the farrier out and checked on him every day. Until a couple of weeks ago. I had a bad fall and had to go into hospital. I hoped Ghost might be all right as long as he had some grass to eat – I didn’t want Abby to worry or miss any of her studies, so I didn’t say anything to her. Then I found your note yesterday when I got back and I felt terrible about the poor pony. I called Abby straight away. She left first thing this morning. As soon as she arrived, we called you.”

“What we really need,” Abby said looking round hopefully, “is for someone to take him on permanent loan, someone who wouldn’t mind me turning up every now and again in the holidays to have a few rides.”

“Did you hear that, Pixie?” Rosie grinned, turning to look at her. But the doorway was empty and there was only the sound of footsteps running through the yard. The girls exchanged puzzled looks, then ran after her. She was sitting in the barn, her arms wrapped around her knees, her chin resting on them miserably.

“Pixie? Did you hear what Abby said?” Mia asked, frowning.

“She’s looking for someone to take Puzzle on loan. Full time!” Rosie added excitedly.

“It’s perfect,” Alice said. “Charlie looks after Phantom and you loan Puzzle. It works out all round, just like we planned, right Charlie?”

Charlie nodded, scuffing the hay with her foot. Pixie looked up desperately, her eyes shining and tears streaking her pale face.

“But it’s not perfect, is it?” Pixie said sadly, shaking her head. “That was just a lovely day dream. I couldn’t afford Phantom. I can’t afford Puzzle… I mean Ghost. I can’t afford to keep him
or stable him or… or look after him properly. He’d end up in another field just like the one he escaped from.”

They all stood for a second, not quite knowing what to say.

“I’m sorry Charlie,” Pixie sniffed. “I feel like I’ve ruined everything.”

“You haven’t,” Charlie said, trying to smile. “I guess we all just got carried away.”

Mia frowned, then reached for her mobile phone and left the barn quietly.

“I’d better go and tell Abby and her nan,” Charlie said, slipping after Mia.

A few moments later Pixie, Alice and Rosie heard a bolt being drawn back and a clip-clop of hooves. Covering her ears, Pixie got up and ran out to the paddock at the back of the yard, her breath coming fast as her hair flopped over her face, tears dropping from her cheeks. With just one phone call all her dreams had been shattered. She couldn’t help but hear an engine starting up
in the distance, then the rattling of a trailer making its way slowly along the rutted drive.

“You can ride Scout any time you want to,” Alice said, coming up behind with Rosie and putting her arms around Pixie’s shaking shoulders.

“And Dancer,” Rosie added. “Not that you’d probably want to – she’s a bit of a slow coach – but you can drop by here whenever you want.”

Pixie nodded with a sniff. When they heard the noise of the engine fade they walked heavily back to the yard.

Pixie looked away from Ghost’s empty stable, but she couldn’t help one quick glance. She stopped in her tracks. There, standing quietly just like nothing had happened, was a large blue roan pony.

“But…?” Pixie asked in a whisper. “I don’t understand!”

At that moment Mia walked over, grinning, and held out her phone to Pixie. “I’ve got Daisy on speaker phone, she wants a word.”

“Daisy?” Pixie said, confused. “What’s going on?”

“Mia called me,” Daisy explained excitedly down the phone, “to tell me about Puzzle needing someone to loan him. She put me onto to Abby and…”

“…and?” Pixie asked, hardly daring to listen.

“And, I told her that I’ve got a field shelter and an unused paddock, so would she consider loaning Ghost to me?”

Pixie’s mouth dropped open. “What did she say?”

“Yes, of course!” Daisy giggled as Pixie’s eyes lit up. “Dad’s delighted that I want another pony, one that suits me this time and he’s said he’ll cover all the costs! He even suggested Abby and her Nan come over here to get everything sorted. They were about to load Ghost to take him back to his field, but they put him back in his stable instead and they’re on their way to mine now, so they can see the stables and the paddock,
and then we can go through a loan agreement. If everything’s okay, Abby said she’ll help me move Ghost later this afternoon!”

“That’s excellent news!” Alice cheered.

“Well, almost, but there’s still one snag,” Daisy said seriously. “You see, although all the costs are covered, with the job at Hope Farm I don’t have enough time to look after Ghost on my own. So I’ll need someone to share him with me. Know anyone…?”

Pixie beamed, laughing out loud. Then she skipped over to tell Ghost the good news.

Abby’s car pulled the horse trailer slowly down Blackberry Farm’s drive, with Ghost’s blue roan rump just visible from the outside. Charlie stood quietly at the top of the drive, behind the other three Pony Detectives, who were all waving wildly. Daisy and Pixie leaned out of the car and
waved back, almost bursting with excitement about showing Puzzle his new home. They called out goodbyes until the car and trailer had slowly bumped all the way to the end of the drive and turned the corner onto Duck Lane, disappearing from sight.

“Another case successfully completed,” Rosie said, sounding satisfied. “One Phantom found, one Puzzle solved and lots of missing pony nuts accounted for.”

“And one new horse for the yard, so now we have five!” Alice added as they turned towards it, the rosettes from Compton Manor pinned up against the stables, except for Ghost’s rosette, which had been taken down to be transported with him to his new stable.

“Not quite,” Charlie said, her voice wobbling. The others all turned towards her, frowning.