Puzzle: The Runaway Pony (3 page)

The others were already remounted, and within seconds they were trotting at full pelt back in the direction they’d just come from, pushing
branches out of their faces with raised arms as Mia urged Charlie to go faster. Alice, still shaking, looked over her shoulder and saw Rosie, at the back of the pack frantically urging Dancer on faster as the roan’s ears flattened and her eyes goggled, looking more frightened than the rest of them put together.

When they reached the end of the path, in sight of the lane, they were all so relieved to have got out of there that one by one they started to giggle and in a second they were all weak with laughter.

“Sorry, Mia… Who was it that said ghosts only exist in fairytales?” Rosie managed to say, after she caught her breath.

“Okay, so maybe I got that a bit wrong,” Mia admitted, smiling, “but now I know that ghosts do exist, I never, ever want to go anywhere near there again! And nor does Wish – I’ve never seen her so scared!”

The rain started to ease slightly. Rosie claimed
everyone else had been far more scared than her, which set them off laughing again as they turned towards the warm and dry of Blackberry Farm.

Chapter Three

TEN minutes later, the Pony Detectives were back on a familiar path, and after cantering around the edges of various fields linked by dirt tracks, gates and small jumpable hedges, they emerged onto a lane they’d ridden down quite a few times. As the ponies clopped along, heads down, they passed an isolated cottage. The girls saw a familiar face at the window and pulled up their ponies by the cottage gate. A second later, the front door opened and a girl with long
dark-brown
hair popped out and walked carefully down the path, carrying a kitten.

“Hi Daisy!” Alice grinned.

They all knew Daisy – she used to have a pony called Shadow, who was dark and devious
and deposited her from the saddle at every opportunity when out riding. Shadow had been sold at the end of the summer to someone much more experienced, after one fall too many for Daisy. Since then, they’d bumped into her quite a few times, in town or when she’d been walking her dog in the woods where they were riding.

“What a gorgeous kitten,” Rosie cooed as the others pulled up too just outside her front garden. “Is it yours?”

Daisy shook her head. “No, I’ve just started helping out at Hope Farm – the animal rescue place. Rolo here’s the tiniest of the litter, and although she’s been weaned she still needs lots of care, so Fran Hope has entrusted her to me.”

The girls all exchanged impressed looks. They often went to shows at Hope Farm and knew how fussy Fran Hope was about who was allowed to help with her rescue animals.

“I go on Saturday and Sunday mornings,” Daisy continued. “I decided that I want to be a vet
when I leave school so it’s really helpful. There are vets up there all the time because of the problems some of the rescue ponies have.”

“That’s amazing!” Alice smiled.

The others all crowded round to see the mewing bundle of tortoiseshell fur. Daisy nodded proudly, and it was obvious that she was loads happier than she had been at the start of the summer.

“I want to specialise in horses,” Daisy said, a bit shyly.

“Please tell me you were not inspired by that menace, Shadow?” Rosie said, flabbergasted.

Alice, Mia and Charlie all glared at her.

“What?” she shrugged “I’m just asking.”

“Definitely not!” Daisy laughed. “Although he wasn’t to blame for me falling off him every five minutes, to be fair. But I do miss having a pony. Only trouble is that now I wouldn’t have the time to look after one on my own, not with all the work at the vet’s. Anyway, I’d better get Rolo back inside before she gets cold!”

With that Daisy said goodbye and the four girls set off again, trotting along various bridleways in single file until they got to one wide enough for the ponies to canter alongside each other. At least they could have done if everyone had kept up. Alice loosened her reins and Scout put his head down and leaped forward. Next to him Pirate fired along with Charlie balancing easily above him, her contact soft as Pirate poked out his nose, determined to reach the end first. Wish stretched elegantly beside them, easily keeping up as the part arab in her came out.

“Well, thanks very much for that!” Rosie puffed as she pulled up near the end of the path and slowed to a trot. Alice looked behind her as she patted Scout and started to laugh. Rosie and Dancer were completely splattered with mud; even Dancer’s white blaze had disappeared beneath a layer of it. But, unlike Rosie, Dancer wasn’t frowning. Instead, she shook her head and looked slightly confused, her ears flopping
sideways as she skidded to a leg-splaying stop.

At that moment the heavens opened and the rain started to fall in great swirling sheets.

“Oh, perfect – that’s all I need,” Rosie sighed dramatically as they headed for home at a slow trot.

“I don’t know what you’re grumbling about,” Alice smiled. “At least the rain’ll wash the mud off.”

Rosie couldn’t help smiling at Alice as they turned the corner and reached the rutted drive that led up to Blackberry Farm.

“Look!” Charlie said suddenly, squinting through the rain at the old rustic gate that led to the little yard. “Someone’s at the gate – I wonder what they want?”

Chapter Four

AS they got nearer they saw a girl hunkered down by the gate beside a propped-up bike. She looked about their age, wearing pale-blue jods and a padded pink jacket with a colourful stripy jumper poking out underneath. Her plaited brown hair was soaked, as if she’d been waiting for ages, and she was shivering in the cold, hugging a
heavy-looking
yellow canvas bag. She turned when she heard the ponies’ hooves scrunching on the drive and looked slightly startled, almost as if she was going to make a run for it.

“Hi there!” Rosie called out cheerfully.

“Oh, you’ve only just got back from your ride,” she said in a high, small voice, “I’ll come back later. You must have loads to do.”

She turned and walked back to her bike, with her head down, but Mia called out to her.

“That’s okay. It won’t take us long to put the ponies away if you can hang on five minutes. How long have you been waiting here, anyway?”

“Oh, only about… well… forty minutes maybe,” the girl replied shyly.

“What? In this rain?” Rosie exclaimed, noticing how un-waterproofed her jacket looked. The girl nodded. “What’s worth getting
that
soaked for?”

“I… I’ve got a bit of a problem,” the girl said, pulling her coat closer around her. “I wondered if you might be able to help.”

“What kind of problem?” Charlie asked.

The girl stood for a second. She opened her mouth as if she was about to speak, then she stopped and shivered, looking miserable.

“Why don’t we put the ponies away first,” Alice suggested. She was starting to really shiver too and wanted to get herself out of the rain and Scout rugged up. “It won’t take long. Then we can
go round to the barn and you can tell us what the problem is.”

The girl nodded and dodged sideways while the others led their ponies past. She hung about, not quite knowing where to put herself as the ponies were settled in. Mia spent ages carefully inspecting Wish’s legs, running her hands down them and checking for any cuts or signs of heat after her escapade. But her mare’s legs were clean, much to her relief.

They dried their ponies off and put on their warm rugs over their sweat rugs, then left them munching happily on full haynets. Then they found the girl, who was standing out of the rain, just inside the feed room, and headed for the hay barn. The girl gazed at the pictures, rosettes and posters that had been pulled out of
Pony Mad
and stuck haphazardly over the barn’s wooden wall while Charlie and Rosie hauled shut the big door to keep it as snug as possible. They climbed the ladder to the loft which was filled with sweet-smelling hay. If they squinted through the
little gaps in the wood, they could see the yard below and the ponies as they bobbed their heads out under the eaves of the stable roofs every now and again.

With hay bales piled up around them to help them stay warm, blankets wrapped over their shoulders and an old sleeping bag covering their legs, the girls were really cosy. Mrs Honeycott, Rosie’s mum, appeared, draped in a huge yellow mac with a big hood covering her paint-streaked hair. She was balancing a tray of steaming hot chocolates, along with a huge, still-warm banana cake for them to share – although they quickly discovered with a giggle that she’d forgotten to put any banana in. Mrs Honeycott had only made four cups of hot chocolate, so Alice gave hers to the new girl, and shared with Charlie instead.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” the girl asked, uncertainly.

“Course not.” Alice smiled.

The girl thanked Alice, looking a bit awkward, then sipped from her cup nervously.

Once they were all settled with their drinks, she told them that her name was Pixie.

“Are… are you the ones who found Moonlight?” she asked hesitantly. She had dark circles around her eyes and her face was pale. The girls all nodded, glancing at one another. They had an inkling of what was going to come next. Even though they felt bad for Pixie, they couldn’t help feeling the slightest rush of excitement about the possibility that she was bringing them a new case.

“My mum knows Moonlight’s owners, not well or anything, but she said that I should come and see you with my… my problem,” she continued. “Mum made me promise I’d come here, but I didn’t want to bother you, not if you’re really hectic with big cases – you’re probably way too busy to help, aren’t you?”

Pixie glanced up, looking almost as if she was waiting for them to agree, so that she could disappear.

“Well, it’s true, we do always have big cases on
the go – that’s the nature of being a successful Pony Detective,” Rosie lied.

“But we can always make room for one more,” Mia added quickly, glaring at Rosie, who hid behind a huge bite of cake.

Pixie sighed quietly and her shoulders drooped as she gazed at the floor. “Mum said you’d probably say that.”

“So what’s the problem?” Charlie prompted her.

“It’s my horse – Faraway Phantom,” Pixie said dully. “He’s disappeared.”

“Dish-appeared?” Rosie asked through a mouthful of cake. “Really?”

Pixie glanced up at Rosie, then looked away. “Well, he’s gone missing at least.”

Mia pulled out her notebook from behind one of the bales, then started to write, her head down, and her long black hair falling neatly over her shoulders. Even after being drenched, Mia still somehow managed to look immaculate. When she’d got up to speed, she waited with pen
poised for Pixie to go on. But she didn’t.

“When did it happen?” Charlie prompted, as Pixie fiddled with the strap on her bag.

“Um, yesterday – Saturday,” Pixie replied quietly. “One minute he was there, and the next he was gone… no trace.”

“There’s always a trace,” Rosie said knowingly, tapping the side of her nose and not realising that she had cream from her hot chocolate on her finger.

Pixie looked slightly scared for a second. “Is there?”

Rosie nodded. “Even when people think a case is unsolvable, the Pony Detectives pick up on the tiniest clues. And what do they find?”

Pixie gulped. “Er, ponies?”

“Well, technically, yes,” Rosie said. “That, and
success
. Success is our middle name.”

“Er, that’s good news.” Pixie half-smiled, before looking down at the hay-covered floor again.

“So, going back to Faraway Phantom…” Mia said, chewing her pen.

“Oh, that’s his show name,” Pixie explained in a small voice. “I just call him Phantom.”

“Okay, so can you tell us exactly what happened yesterday? I mean, like when you noticed he’d gone, stuff like that?”

Pixie thought for a second. “I got to the yard in the morning at my usual time, which was pretty early, and he… well, his stable door was open and he’d just gone. He can open the top bolt and if he kicks the door he can flip open the bottom bolt too. Bit of an escape artist, you see. Normally I always put the lead rope clip on the bolt so he can’t but… well I’m
sure
I did but I can’t be a hundred per cent certain. Maybe I forgot…”

“What does Phantom look like?” Alice asked.

“He’s 15 hands high,” Pixie said, “and black.”

“Any markings?” Mia asked, head down, writing.

“Um, he’s got a star and half a white blaze over his nose.”

“Anything else?”

Pixie shook her head then sat quietly for a second.

“Do you know his breeding?” Rosie asked.

“Oh, yes – he’s three-quarters thoroughbred and a quarter Welsh,” Pixie said, putting down her mug and looking over towards the loft ladder.

“Was he wearing a rug?” Charlie asked.

Pixie nodded. “A purple one, with light purple piping.”

They all agreed that at least he wasn’t wandering around the countryside in the cold and wet totally exposed to the elements. Being part thoroughbred he wouldn’t have a nice thick coat to help him keep warm.

“Age?” Alice asked, after waiting to see if Pixie was going to speak in the silence that followed. She frowned, finding it increasingly odd that Pixie was being so quiet. They were having to extract information from her piece by piece. Alice knew that if she had been describing Scout, it would take her at least two hours to go through
all his best bits, not two seconds, and she wouldn’t need any prompting.

“Six. And a half,” Pixie replied before glancing at her watch and standing up. “Look, I’d better go, it’s getting late. And, honestly, I know Mum’s all worried and she wanted me to come and everything, but if you’re really busy with other stuff then, well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll just tell her that. It’s okay.”

The others looked at each other, frowning.

“It doesn’t sound okay,” Mia replied. “In fact, a thoroughbred cross running round in this weather sounds like an emergency to me. We’ll get onto it right away.”

“Oh, right, of course,” Pixie said. “Thanks.”

She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked towards the ladder.

“Have you got a photo or anything we could look at?” Charlie asked, thinking that they would need it because they had very little else to go on.

“Not on me,” Pixie said, looking worried.
“I could bring you one though.”

Mia suggested that she could drop one off the next day after school.

“Erm, okay,” Pixie said hesitantly, then started to climb over the top of the ladder.

“Oh, one more thing,” Mia called out just as Pixie was about to disappear. “I almost forgot – where was Phantom stabled?”

A cloud crossed Pixie’s face.

“Compton Manor,” she replied, looking down as the girls all exchanged glances.

“Funny, we were there earlier,” Mia smiled.

“I guess you think I’m lucky to have Phantom stabled there,” Pixie said quietly, gripping tightly on the ladder. “Everyone else seems to think so.”

“I might have done up until we visited,” Mia replied. “Now I’m not so sure.”

Pixie looked up, and for the first time seemed to relax for half a second.

“Oh, and what’s the CM club?” Alice asked before Pixie disappeared. “I heard someone
there talking about it.”

“You mean Sasha, right?” Pixie asked. Alice nodded. “It’s the Compton Manor club. It’s very exclusive, and you’ve got to earn your way to being Sasha’s best friend to be in it, which basically means you have to do everything she says when she orders you around, including all her mucking out and grooming. Oh, and laugh at her horrible jokes.”

“And at other people when she’s mean to them,” Alice finished.

Pixie nodded.

“If you’re not in her club, she makes life pretty miserable. Trouble is, she runs the place, for the Under 16s anyway,” Pixie sighed despondently, “and her mum’s always so busy she hasn’t got time to listen to any of us if we go and complain. Sasha gets away with
any
thing, there’s nothing anyone can do about her. Anyway, I guess I don’t have to worry about that any more. Look, I really have to go now.”

The girls called out goodbye, then waited until they heard Pixie’s light footfalls pattering out of the barn.

“Sounds like she had a horrible time at Compton Manor,” Mia said, re-reading the notes she’d made.

“That’s hardly surprising, with Sasha running things,” Rosie agreed.

“But, apart from that, does anyone else think that Pixie was acting weirdly?” Charlie asked. “I mean, I know she came to see us, but I reckon that was only because her mum
told
her to.”

“Exactly, not because she wanted to,” Alice agreed.

Suddenly they heard a skidding of hooves outside on the concrete and all the ponies started to neigh at the top of their lungs, as if one of them had got out of their stable. Beanie appeared from nowhere, barking territorially.

The girls looked up and stared at each other for a second. Then, without saying a word, they flew
downstairs and out of the barn, slipping on the loose hay that covered the floor as they raced round the corner to the stables. There, outside the gate but clambering back over it to safety, was a petrified Pixie. In front of her, head raised high, stood a wild-looking pony.