The Racehorse Who Learned to Dance
Page 14
The Greatest Showman was pumping out of the shop speakers. Noble Warrior and Percy started trotting in time with the beat, side by side down the aisle that said CEREALS AND BISCUITS. The lights came on as they went, turning right past the milk, butter and cheese.
‘Impossible comes true, it’s taking over you!’ Charlie and Polly sang together. Polly asked Noble Warrior to go forward into extended trot. Percy’s little legs went faster to keep up.
They trotted up every aisle until all the lights were on and the onlookers could see the goods on offer. As they came past the tills, the staff in black and yellow cheered.
Charlie stopped Percy by the fruit and veg section to allow Polly to go forward with Noble Warrior into the open space where the daily offers would be stocked. Lots of people were crowding through the doors now and hundreds more were peering through the windows. As the music reached its crescendo Polly guided her horse to the star shape in the middle of the floor. Using this as her central point, she asked Noble Warrior to dance on the spot. She sat tall in the saddle and kept a strong contact with his mouth. She kept her leg firm and he started to trot on the spot.
‘Piaffe!’ said Miss Cameron to her pupils. ‘Oh, that’s very advanced.’ They clapped in appreciation.
Charlie was captivated, but she still noticed Percy out of the corner of her eye, slyly stretching out to help himself to something from the shelf. Charlie laughed and tried to pull him away. Meanwhile, Polly was asking Noble Warrior to spin on his hind legs, turning on the spot to face the other way.
‘Pirouette!’ Miss Cameron clapped her hands together. ‘Clever girl!’
‘It’s everything you ever want, it’s everything you ever need.’ The lyrics did the sales pitch for them.
‘This is the greatest show!’ Charlie and Polly sang at the top of their voices, before coming together and bowing to their audience. The applause rang loud and long before the crowds started their first shopping experience at One Market.
DANCING HORSE IS A ONE MARKET WINNER! read one headline the next morning. The papers were full of the story of Noble Warrior and Polly opening the new supermarket, and the film of them trotting through the aisles had made the news bulletins and got over a million downloads online. Charlie and Polly were looking at the papers over breakfast when the boys came charging into the kitchen.
‘We’ve got bookings a go-go!’ Harry told his sister excitedly. ‘This is amazing.’
‘The blog has got loads of new subscribers,’ said Larry. ‘What’s more, we’ve had an email from the organizers of Olympia asking if we want a guest slot at the Christmas show and asking how much we would charge.’
‘We’ve had a few enquiries about sponsoring the blog,’ Harry added. ‘One company asked if we would rename it The Redline Racehorse Who Learned to Dance.’
‘What?’ Polly asked.
‘It’s the name of a health company,’ Harry explained. ‘They insure people against illness.’
Charlie put her hand up to stop the rush of words tumbling from their mouths.
‘Hang on. Hang on. This isn’t what we did it for.’ She looked at Polly as she spoke. ‘We did this to give us a sense of purpose. We did it to give us something to aim for.’
‘I thought we did it for the money,’ said Larry matter-of-factly.
‘Me too,’ Harry agreed.
‘No.’ Charlie was firm. ‘We did it to create a team and I think we’ve done that. We said yes to One Market because they’re different. They believe in the same things we do – friendship, team spirit and celebrating difference. We’re not going to say yes to every single offer just because it comes with a big fat pay cheque.’
‘We’re not?’ Harry looked crestfallen.
Polly spoke up. ‘I know you all did this for my benefit and I don’t want to stop your business plans, but we need to have priorities, and Charlie and I have decided that training for the Paralympics is number one on the list. There’s a Retraining of Racehorses class we can enter next month in Liverpool, and after that we need to be competing as regularly as we can.’
‘Oh,’ said Larry. ‘So turning on the Christmas lights is out of the question?’
‘It all depends where it is and what it’s for,’ Charlie reasoned. ‘If we can raise money along the way for RDA, then it’s always worth considering. After all, the team isn’t just me and Polly. It’s you guys as well.’
Harry and Larry puffed out their chests and fist-bumped each other.
‘I guess it wouldn’t have happened without you,’ Charlie continued. ‘And I do realize that you were the ones who said Noddy had to pay his way. We can look at every request and discuss it as a team but I have one condition.’
‘What?’ asked Harry and Larry together.
Charlie picked up the newspaper and pointed at the photo.
‘Next time they take a photo, you make sure Percy doesn’t have a great big cauliflower sticking out of his mouth!’
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE!
QUIZ:
The Racehorse Who Learned to Dance
How closely were you paying attention when you were reading this book? Take our quiz to find out! But beware – the questions start off easy but get quite tricky at the end!
Q1.What is Noble Warrior’s nickname?
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Q2.Which three celebrities are the Bass cows named after?
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Q3.How much prize money did Noble Warrior win at the Derby?
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Q4.What kind of cake does Charlie’s mum make?
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Q5.Who suggests bottling a scent called Eau de Farmyard?
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Q6.What is the name of the big horse race that takes place in Ireland?
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Q7.What is the name of Harry’s blog?
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Q8.What kind of arena do Harry and Larry build for Polly and Charlie?
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Q9.What is the term for when a horse stays in one spot and trots?
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Q10.Who suggests using the word diffability?
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Q11.Who is the captain of the school’s first netball team?
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Q12.Who suggests that Noble Warrior and Polly would be a good match?
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Q13.What does Miss Cameron keep telling Polly to use to help her ride?
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Q14.What startles Noble Warrior during his first visit to Wilmington RDA?
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Q15.What position does Charlie play for her first netball game of the season?
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Q16.What does Percy eat from the picnic basket?
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Q17.Which movie do Harry and Larry use the songs from to make a medley for Polly’s dressage debut?
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Q18.What competition does Marjorie Pearson think Polly has the potential to compete in?
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Q19.Who is Ama Agbeze?
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Q20.What kind of company wants to sponsor the blog and suggesting renaming it The Redline Racehorse Who Learned to Dance?
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Now let’s see how many you got right!
Answers!
Check your answers to the quiz below. How did you do?
Noddy
Taylor Swift, Princess Anne & Madonna
A million pounds
Green pea cake
Mrs Williams
Irish champion stakes
The Diary of an Ex-Racehorse
A dressage arena
Piaffe
Charlie
Flora Walsh
Joe
Her Buttdar
His reflection
Wing defence
A cucumber sandwich
The Greatest Showman
The Paralympics
Captain of the England netball team
A health insurance company
15–20 correct: Astounding! You are a true champion – first place!
10–14 correct: Well done! You were just pipped to the post, but you’re still in second place!
5–9 correct: Not too bad. It’s a third place rosette for you – better luck next time!
1–4 correct: Oh dear. You may need to go back and read the story again to brush up on your know-how!
DID YOU KNOW?
Fantastic Facts!
Read these facts about ponies and horses. How many did you already know?
There are more than two hundred breeds of ponies, but the Shetland Pony is the best-known.
When compared to standard-sized horses, ponies are actually stronger, pound for pound.
During the Industrial Revolution, some ponies were called ‘pit ponies’ as they were used to haul coal.
Ponies and horses have two blind spots where they cannot see. One blind spot is behind them and if they sense someone or something behind them, they will give a powerful kick.
In the wild, ponies often live in harsh, bleak areas such as moors and fields, where they are able to survive with little food.
All members of the horse family have just one toe (a hoof) on each foot. For this reason they are often called ‘odd-toed animals’.
Stallions (male horses) defend their territory and protect their mares (female horses) by lashing out with their front feet.
THE BEGINNING
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First published 2019
Text copyright © Clare Balding, 2019
Illustrations copyright © Tony Ross, 2019
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted
Illustrated by Tony Ross
The lyrics on p. 249 and p. 251 are from ‘This Is Me’, written by Justin Paul and Benj Pasek. Those on p. 282 and p. 284 are from ‘The Greatest Show’, written by Ryan Lewis, Justin Paul and Benj Pasek. Both songs feature on The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Atlantic Records, December 2017)
ISBN: 978-0-241-33677-9
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