Stormchaser and the Silver Mist

by Belinda Rapley

“It’s going to be a busy Christmas,” Alice yawned, draining her cup. “What with this and the Greenfield’s Riding School Christmas show next weekend.”

  “And the Hope Farm charity ride the day before Christmas Eve,” Charlie added, nestling into her duvet.

  “Don’t forget about the Winter Cup,” Mia said. The others looked across, and they began to grin infectiously.

  “Of course! How could we forget about watching our first ever polo match?” Rosie giggled. “On New Year’s Eve, too!”

  She glanced across to a shiny red biscuit wrapper that was sitting on her bedside table. It had the Abbey Polo Club emblem printed on the side. She’d picked up the small packet of biscuits from the Abbey café back in September, at the open day held in celebration of the new polo club that had been set up there. The wrapper was the same bright red as the jackets and polo tops that all the staff at the yard wore, and Rosie had kept it as a memento of an amazing day.

  The four friends already knew all about the Abbey itself, because it was renowned for its awesome rides. They didn’t head over there very often, because it was a fair distance from Blackberry Farm. But it was their number one destination when they wanted a long hack, as they could always fit in a quality gallop even if the ground everywhere else was boggy or frozen solid.

  The girls had never had an interest in polo before the Abbey Polo Club was started up. But this new club was different. It was run by a champion polo player called Nick Webb, whose daughter, India, went to the same school as the girls. India was glamorous and had featured in the local newspaper, the Eastly Daily Press, as an up and coming young polo star. She’d even lived in Argentina while her dad was there to train. When they returned to England so that India could concentrate on her GCSEs, Nick Webb got a job managing the highly exclusive Perryvale Polo Club. The Perryvale Club was situated right next to the Abbey grounds, so the girls had ridden past its grand entrance a few times. What they could see from the lane looked plush, but it was mainly hidden from view by huge hedges. They did see Mr Perryvale himself now and again too. They’d often had to jump their ponies onto the grass verge to get out of his way as he flashed past them. They always knew it was him, because he rode around in a polished Range Rover, complete with the Perryvale insignia on the side.

  While the Perryvale Polo Club had never really caught their imagination, the Pony Detectives had become fascinated by India Webb. It was earwigging as she chatted to her horsey friends on the school bus that had first sparked their interest in the sport. India had spoken about exercising polo ponies at the Perryvale Polo Club, riding one and leading three more from the saddle. Then, one morning a few months ago, India had leapt onto the school bus, her eyes sparkling. Her dad was taking the plunge and renting the Abbey estate. He was about to open up a rival polo club, right next door to Perryvale!

  The Pony Detectives had got swept up in India’s enthusiasm and when an open day was held just before they’d started back at school in September, they’d jumped at the chance to get a peek at the inner workings of a polo yard. The girls had enjoyed a group tour around the smartened up stables. They’d even stepped into the main arena. When no one was looking, they’d pretended to be polo players, galloping their imaginary polo ponies up and down the all-weather surface.

  During the Open Day, Nick Webb had been promoting the Winter Cup, a big one-day arena tournament. It was held every year, hosted by different teams in the surrounding counties. Perryvale had hosted it before, and had won it when Nick Webb was the team manager. This year, Nick would be hosting it at the Abbey. Nick had wanted to drum up lots of interest, and get everyone talking about it. It had worked, and the girls couldn’t wait to go back on New Year’s Eve to watch the tournament.

  Rosie had scoffed the biscuits from the Abbey café ages ago, but every time she looked at the little red wrapper, it reminded her of the excitement to come. She leaned across to turn off the bedside lamp. The girls were still smiling sleepily as they settled back down into the darkness. There was already so much horsey stuff to look forward to in the next few weeks, and now, to top it off, the Pony Detectives had a brand new mystery to solve.

  DESPITE their disturbed night, the girls woke early the next morning, eager to check on the new horsey arrivals. Even Rosie didn’t bother trying to sneak an extra five minutes in bed, like she usually did. They rushed downstairs in their pyjamas, and ran into the kitchen to look for their clothes, which Mrs Honeycott had promised to hang next to the Aga the night before. It only took a second to see that the damp jumpers were still sitting in a heap on the kitchen table.

  “It must have slipped my mind,” Mrs Honeycott smiled vaguely, putting Beanie’s food into Pumpkin’s bowl, and Pumpkin’s into Beanie’s.

  “Oh, it doesn’t matter,” Mia said, trying to sound like she wouldn’t really mind getting frozen. “We’ll just put our coats on.” She half knew what was coming next, and was trying to avoid it like the plague.

  “Oh, no, you can’t go out in this weather without wrapping up warmly,” Mrs Honeycott tut-tutted, nodding to the window. The mist had disappeared, leaving a vivid blue sky, and a sparkling frost. “Rosie can lend you some jumpers, don’t worry.”

  Rosie beamed at her friends, who rolled their eyes jokingly and followed her back upstairs. Rosie dug out some of her spare jumpers from deep inside her wardrobe. She dished them out over her shoulder. Alice pulled hers on. The red woolly jumper with a Christmas tree on the front hung limply on her small frame. It fell past her fingers and drooped halfway to her knees. She pushed her mousy fringe out of her eyes, hiccupping back a giggle. Charlie’s wasn’t much better. She yanked the scratchy-necked sweater over her cropped dark-brown hair. It didn’t quite reach the wrists of her skinny arms and barely covered the top of her jods. Charlie and Alice glanced at each other and, with a grin, quickly swapped jumpers. Rosie selected the last jumper for Mia. Mia groaned as she took the rainbow-coloured article, complete with frayed wrists and a hole in one elbow. She quickly smoothed down her long hair and applied a swish of lip gloss, but nothing was going to save her style that morning.

  “As long as you’re warm,” Mrs Honeycott said, as the girls bundled back downstairs, “that’s all that counts.”

  “Really?” Mia sighed, unconvinced. But once she’d hidden the jumper under her fleece-lined purple coat and stepped outside, she was grateful for the extra layer.

  “I don’t care if it’s minus a hundred degrees today,” Rosie exaggerated, pulling her woolly bobble hat further down over her ears, “now the mist’s disappeared, we can ride later.”

  The friends walked over to the yard gate. They were greeted by soft whickers from their four ponies, who stood bobbing their heads up and down over the stable doors. Great white plumes of breath blew out into the frosty air.

  Alice thought for the thousandth time that Rosie was so lucky to actually live at Blackberry Farm, just a stone’s throw from the ponies. Staying the night here was Alice’s favourite thing in the world, besides Scout. She saw her pony yawn, showing his neat, even teeth.

  “I think Scout’s tired after last night’s excitement, too,” Alice smiled.

  Dancer began to kick her stable door impatiently. “And some of them are clearly tired and grumpy,” Rosie added, as they all ducked into the feed room.

  “Well, Dancer’s got a point. The quicker we get sorted here,” Charlie said, grabbing Phantom’s feed bucket and scoop, “the quicker we can check on the new horses!”

  The Pony Detectives hurriedly made up their ponies’ morning feeds, stirring the chaff and pony nuts, and mixing in handfuls of chopped carrots and broccoli stems. They quickly carried the buckets across the yard, opened the stable doors and dropped the feeds inside. Even though they were all keen to get to the new horses, none of them could rush off without giving their own ponies some fuss. Charlie kept her fussing to a minimum, knowing Phantom didn’t like being mollycoddled. She just gently pulled her black horse’s ears as he ate, and rubbed the side of his
cheek. Wish broke away from her breakfast to share a cuddle with Mia, while Dancer goggled her eyes as Rosie hugged her chunky neck. Alice stroked Scout’s velveteen muzzle. He raised his head and she planted a kiss on the very end of his nose, breathing in the smell of his breakfast. She smiled as his long whiskers tickled her face.

  While Alice untied the sagging haynet on Scout’s stable wall, the others headed over to the barn. They slid open the huge door and bounced over the straw-and-hay-covered floor to the nearest bales. Once they had broken the bales open, the girls grabbed great armfuls of sweet smelling meadow hay and carried it back the stables for their own ponies’ nets. Then Charlie and Rosie ran back to the barn. Between them they dragged a whole bale of hay out into the yard, where Charlie quickly cut the orange baler twine and shoved it in her pocket.

  Once they’d divided the bale up, the Pony Detectives set off across the crunchy, frosted sheep field, carrying armfuls between them. The sheep trotted behind them, nibbling at the trailing strands. Rosie was lugging a filled bucket, and squealed when the freezing water sloshed down the inside of her welly boot.

  “Careful, Rosie!” Mia sighed. “By the time we reach the field there won’t be any water left!”

  At the end of the field the girls climbed through the fencing onto Duck Lane, keen to get their first glimpse of the two horses.

  “They’re still here!” Rosie cried. “We weren’t dreaming!”

  The horses were standing with their heads close to each other in the middle of the bare, patchy field.

  “There’s not a single trace of the hay we left last night,” Charlie pointed out. “They must have been starving.”

  The girls climbed into the field carefully and dropped the hay in three piles. The horses cantered over, their heads and tails held high. They stopped just short of the girls, and stood for a moment. The bigger of the two horses, the bay, snorted, shaking his head. The frosted appaloosa stood slightly behind his companion, looking past him shyly to the tempting hay But neither moved. Instead they just looked over, agitated.

  “I think they’re nervous of us,” Mia said quietly. “We’d better come back out so they can get the hay.”

  The girls retreated through the fence. Instantly, the dark bay approached the furthest of the three piles. The appaloosa followed, not wanting to leave the bigger horse’s side, but wary of the girls. As the horses ate, the girls had their first chance to get a proper look at them. The bay was a rich, dark colour with a white star. He was a similar height to Phantom, but much more solid. His mane was short, and a bit stubby and unkempt. The appaloosa was more finely built, with a big white face speckled with chestnut spots. His mane was just like the bay’s – a bit spiky and upright where it was so short.

  The girls could see each rib on both horses, even through their thick winter coats.

  Charlie tutted. “They need feeding up,” she said crossly.

  “They’re not going to get that staying here,” Rosie said, looking round at the barren, weed-strewn field.

  “They look nicely bred, though,” Alice said, squinting against the bright sun. “Maybe the owners will come back to sort them out today?”

  “Well, most people round here know that this land is empty, and that the gate’s unlocked,” Mia said, leaning against a rickety fence post. “And the horses were unloaded in the middle of the night, without rugs, and left with no feed or water. Whoever left them here can’t really care about them, so I wouldn’t hold your breath for anyone coming back any time soon.”

  “Do you think they’ve been dumped then?” Charlie frowned, shifting her feet as she felt them turning to ice blocks on the frozen grass. She couldn’t imagine anyone being so mean as to abandon horses in the icy depths of winter, leaving them to fend for themselves on such poor grazing.

  Mia nodded. “Looks like it, don’t you think?”

  The others had to agree. Rosie walked slowly towards the gate. It stood back from Duck Lane, with a broad earthy verge separating it from the tarmac. “There’s a wide tyre track here,” she said over her shoulder, “and the earth’s freshly broken – probably where a trailer back ramp has been lowered and it’s sunk into the ground with the weight of the horses walking down it.”

  “And here’s more proof,” Alice said, studying the area nearby, “lots of hoof prints, right where the horses must’ve been backed down the ramp!”

  The rest of the Pony Detectives joined her, being careful not to trample over the area near the gate, in case there were any more clues that could help solve the mystery.

  Charlie stared at the ground. The start of a case was always exciting because there was something new to investigate, but it was frustrating too. There were never many clues to go on, although, Charlie reminded herself, they had solved cases before that started from next to nothing. But right now, standing in the icy lane, she was stumped over how they were going to find out who dumped the horses.

  Then suddenly, something caught her eye and she felt her heart skip a beat. “Look!”

  The appaloosa started and jogged in a circle, away from the dark bay. He stood for a second, then dropped his head again. The girls quietly gathered around Charlie, looking at where she was pointing. “Boot prints,” she added quietly.

  The girls peered closer at the footprints nestled among the many hoof prints.

  “But there’s something odd here,” Alice said, kneeling down to get a closer look. She ran her gloved fingers over one of the prints. “Whoever dropped these horses off hasn’t got identical boot prints. Look at this – the left boot print is complete, but the right boot print is missing the heel part. How weird’s that?”

  Rosie gasped. “Maybe whoever dropped them off has only got half a foot!”

  Mia rolled her eyes. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Charlie and Alice couldn’t help collapsing into giggles.

  “It was just a thought,” Rosie said, trying not to smile as Mia gave her a withering look.

  Mia took out her phone and took a photo of the trailer tyre marks, the half boot print and both the horses.

  “So, what do we do now?” Alice asked. “There’s no way we can just leave the horses here to look out for themselves, can we?”

  “Well, there’s only one spare stable in the yard at the moment.” Rosie frowned. “The other one’s having its roof mended. We can’t take in one horse and not the other.”

  “I guess we could start by seeing if any of Wish’s old rugs might fit them,” Mia said, shivering from standing about in the icy cold for so long. “They might be a bit of a tight fit on the bay, but if we loosen off all the straps we could get away with it. And anything’s got to be better than standing around in this freezing weather without anything to keep them warm.”

  “If we can get near enough to put the rugs on, that is,” Alice added. “We might need to wait until they know us a bit better.”

  “We could see what they’re like coming over to us later this afternoon if we put more hay out then,” Charlie suggested.

  “I guess,” Mia agreed reluctantly, as they all stood watching the horses eat. She wanted to get them all tucked up right away. “But at least we can get the rugs sorted out, ready.”

  “Come on, then,” Rosie said, turning back towards the sheep field, suddenly on a mission. “If we’re going to come back here later and ride today, we better get a move on.”

  “What’s the rush?” Alice asked, jogging to catch up.

  Rosie checked her watch. “Because, Alice, I’m standing here watching these horses feed with my tummy rumbling. Mum said that she’d do us eggy bread for breakfast this morning and I’m convinced I can smell it from here! Come on!”

  Rosie sniffed the air dramatically, and set off, marching across the field and scattering sheep in her path. The others giggled and followed their friend, suddenly realising how hungry they were, too.

  “IT says here that some horses escaped from Mrs Maplethorp’s field the night before last,” Mr Honeycott said, reading from
his copy of the Eastly Daily Press, the local newspaper. Everyone was sitting at the large, battered wooden table, polished smooth over time by countless elbows. It was cosily nestled next to the ancient Aga in the farmhouse kitchen. Mrs Honeycott had made a huge stack of eggy bread, which was rapidly reducing in size.

  Alice paused mid-mouthful, looking worried. “Isn’t that the second time that’s happened recently?”

  “The second time?” Rosie asked, her voice thick with gooey bread. “It sounds like Mrs Maplethorp’s being a bit careless, if you ask me.”

  Charlie grinned and swatted Rosie. “Not the second time that they’ve escaped from Mrs Maplethorp’s, dopey. Alice means the second time some horses have got loose from their field.”

  “Exactly,” Mia nodded. “Last time the horses escaped from Long Lane Livery. Remember, a week or so ago – when there was that really bad fog?”

  Rosie eyes lit up. “Oh yes! That was just an accident, though, wasn’t it?”

  “Well, that’s what everyone thought at the time,” Mr Honeycott said, putting the paper down so that the girls could read the article, “but now it’s happened a second time, at a different yard, within the space of two weeks, the police are a bit suspicious. They think there might be a pattern developing.”

  “It is a bit of a coincidence,” Charlie frowned.

  Mia slid the paper nearer and read out loud to the other girls. “It says here that it looks like seven horses and ponies at Mrs Maplethorp’s farm escaped after a gate was opened deliberately. Three of the ponies got onto one of the main village roads, causing chaos. The police have asked all horse owners to double check that their gates are securely locked.”

  “Mrs Maplethorp’s the local Pony Club District Commissioner, isn’t she?” Charlie asked.

  Rosie grimaced. “She’s a real old dragon.”

  Mia carried on reading. “She said that she didn’t notice anything odd, but she thinks she heard a powerful motorbike roaring away at some point during the night.”