Starlight Stables: Saving Starlight

by Soraya Nicholas

  Poppy watched her go and then dismounted. She leant into Crystal and gave her a big hug. ‘This is our big chance, Crystal. I’m not going to let you down, I promise.’

  Poppy led her back to the stables to take off her gear and turn her out in the paddock where the ponies were kept during the week when they weren’t being ridden. She wanted to talk to her friends about her plan, but she didn’t want to worry them more than they were. They were already upset about what was going on, and there was nothing she could do to help them raise money. But if she could just do her bit to help . . . she wished it were that easy. What she needed to do was text her mum before she came to pick her up and ask her to check her bank balance.

  ‘I don’t want to go back to school!’ Milly moaned loudly from behind her.

  Poppy turned around and made a face. ‘Imagine if we could just live here and ride every day?’

  Milly grinned. ‘If only.’

  ‘We better go pack,’ Katie called out from Cody’s stable. ‘Mils, my mum will be here in half an hour to take us home.’

  Poppy sucked in a deep breath. She hoped they would be able to come up with a plan to save their ponies, too.

  ‘See you next weekend,’ she said, waving as Milly and Katie led their ponies out to the paddock. ‘I’m going to stay here with Crystal a little longer.’

  ‘See ya,’ Milly called, blowing her a kiss. ‘Can’t wait till next weekend!’

  ‘Bye,’ Katie waved.

  Poppy watched them go, then looked around at the stables. Her aunt and uncle just couldn’t lose this place. No way.

  ‘Mum, stop,’ Poppy said, running out to the car. She’d been waiting, watching, desperate to speak to her mum before she went inside.

  ‘Hey, Poppy.’

  Poppy grinned down at her little brother, his dark curls so badly in need of a cut. He was smiling, like he always was, dimples shining back at her. ‘Hey, Tom.’

  He sprinted past her, squealing when Casper came bounding out. He loved the dog as much as she did, and within minutes he was rolling around on the grass with Casper in a big bear hug.

  ‘Hi, Mum, great to see you,’ her mum said with a laugh.

  Poppy smiled. ‘Sorry. It is good to see you.’ She threw her arms around her mother and gave her a quick hug. ‘Did you check my bank account for me like I asked?’

  Her mum put an arm around her as they headed for the front door. ‘I did. But are you going to tell me why you need to know?’

  Poppy stopped walking and looked up at her mum. ‘I don’t want to say anything, in case they don’t want you to know, but I overheard . . .’

  ‘Oh, I know what you’re going to say. Sophie told me what happened, and she’d already mentioned that they were having some difficulties financially.’

  ‘Mum! How could you know that and not have told me! How long have you known?’ Poppy was furious and she bunched her fists at her side, digging her short nails into her palms. How could her mum have kept something like that from her?

  ‘Poppy, I didn’t want you worrying about it. It’s not something children should have to be concerned about.’

  She glared at her mum. ‘I’m twelve, Mum. I’m not just a child.’ Poppy held her head high, not about to back down. When her mum had been struggling she’d stepped up and done everything – looking after her brother, cooking and making lunches, stopping anyone from noticing that something wasn’t right. She wasn’t just a kid. ‘You should have told me.’

  Her mother frowned. ‘And what good would that have done?’

  ‘I could have started doing more work! Saving more money!’ She took a big breath, not wanting to argue with her mum. ‘I can’t lose Crystal, Mum. I can’t. And I need to pay for her myself.’

  The frown on her mum’s face turned to a sad smile, and then suddenly she was wrapping her arms around her and holding her so tight Poppy couldn’t breathe.

  ‘I’m sorry. I never thought about Crystal, what this could mean for you. I know how much you love her.’ Her mum took her hand and held it. ‘You have almost six hundred dollars in the bank, which includes the money you got for Christmas and your last birthday. And . . .’

  Poppy was happy. It was way more than she’d realised, but then she had been doing the dog walking for a really long time, plus helping with other jobs when Old John, the neighbour, had needed help, like when he was planting his new vegetable garden. ‘And what, Mum?’ she asked.

  Her mother cleared her throat, and Poppy knew she was just delaying, trying to decide whether to tell her something or not.

  ‘What?!’ she asked.

  ‘Your dad had some money tucked away, money that we’d been putting in a jar since we were married. We were always dreaming of going on a special holiday one day, just the two of us.’

  Poppy’s body went hot then cold. She didn’t want to ask, didn’t even want to react. She had no idea what her mum was about to say, but . . .

  ‘If it means helping you save Crystal, I’ll give you five hundred dollars. It’s a huge amount of money, and I need to keep the rest to cover any emergency car repair bills or to fix things around the house now that your dad has gone. But Sophie and Mark have done so much for us, and your dad would have wanted you to have some of it.’

  Poppy couldn’t believe it. Another five hundred? ‘Ohmygod, thank you!’ she squealed, grabbing her mum and jumping up and down. ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you!’

  That would do it! If she won the competition, plus her own money and the money from her mum, she could actually do it!

  ‘What’s going on out here?’ Uncle Mark called from the front door. He was standing in his socks, watching them with a smile on his face.

  Poppy shot her mum a fierce look and shook her head. She didn’t want anyone else to know what she was planning – she wanted to come up with as much money as she could, but she wanted to keep it quiet until she managed to actually do it. It had to help if at least one pony was paid for, and then it would mean Cyrstal wouldn’t have to be sold.

  ‘I was just telling Mum about how awesome Crystal’s been jumping,’ Poppy said. ‘I’m so excited about next weekend.’

  Mark waved to Tom as he rushed past them into the house with Casper bounding after him. Then he turned back to Poppy. ‘Sophie told me how well you’ve been doing. Said I should place my bet on you in the single jump contest.’

  He dodged sideways like he was going to grab her, and Poppy laughed. Uncle Mark was always joking around, but this weekend he’d been so quiet and serious, and seeing him like this made her realise how much she’d missed it.

  ‘Are you going to be there watching?’ she asked him.

  ‘Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Now how about you go down and show Tom the two koalas in the wildlife hospital while I get your mum a drink and finish off my famous spaghetti and meatballs.’

  Poppy groaned. ‘Not your cooking again!’

  ‘Poppy!’ her mum scolded.

  She rolled her eyes. ‘Seriously, Mum, even though it’s yum, there’s only so many times you can eat spaghetti.’ She grinned at Mark. ‘Sorry, but it’s true.’

  Her uncle only had one dish he could make, so when he was cooking it was the only thing on the menu. Poppy laughed and went to get her brother. She was happy to go down to the garage that was doubling as a makeshift wildlife hospital. When her best friend Sarah had been to visit, it had been bushfire season and they’d had a narrow escape from a fire at Starlight Stables. They’d saved a koala named Belinda, who was almost recovered from her burns, as well as another koala that her uncle had taken in. Once they were gone it would go back to being a garage, so she had to make the most of spending time with the gorgeous animals.

  ‘Come on, Tom, I’ve got something to show you,’ she called, already heading back out the door.

  Her little brother was a pain in the butt sometimes, but she couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he got to hold and feed an actual koala.

  It had been the longest
week ever at school, but finally she was almost back at Starlight. Poppy jumped out of the car the minute Aunt Sophie stopped, seeing Milly already walking towards the stables. Poppy usually caught the train and Aunt Sophie collected her, but today Sophie had picked Poppy up from home because she’d been doing some jobs in Melbourne. Milly and Katie lived a bit closer, so Milly’s mum usually dropped them off early Saturday morning.

  ‘I can’t believe it’s tomorrow!’ Milly shouted, running towards Poppy with a big bag over her shoulder.

  Poppy couldn’t believe it either. ‘School was so boring this week,’ she moaned, giving Milly a hug. ‘Every day just dragged on, but now it’s the weekend I’m freaking out big time.’

  Milly dumped her bag on the ground outside the stable. ‘Come on, let’s go get them. I’ve just had my braces tightened and they’re killing me! If riding doesn’t make me forget about them I’m seriously going to die.’

  Poppy frowned. ‘Poor you.’ She had no idea how much braces hurt, but it sounded bad.

  Milly made a face. ‘I only have a few more months to go, but it still sucks.’

  Poppy hurried to get Crystal’s halter and lead rope, matching her friend’s fast walk. They were just heading outside into the sunshine when Milly stopped suddenly beside her.

  ‘Look.’

  Poppy stopped and stared, already seeing what Milly was looking at. Sophie was standing in the dressage arena with Prince trotting around her, his beautiful black neck arched gracefully as he seemed to float across the ground.

  ‘Who’s that?’ Milly asked, pointing.

  Poppy snapped out of her trance when she realised that there was someone she didn’t know watching Sophie and Prince intently.

  ‘I don’t know,’ she muttered, knowing deep down that it wasn’t good. ‘Aunt Sophie doesn’t usually push Prince that hard.’

  Her aunt had first introduced them to her new young horse, Prince, when Sarah had been visiting Starlight. Prince was going to be Aunt Sophie’s new horse once Jupiter was too old to keep competing at such a high level, but he’d only just turned two and Aunt Sophie was very particular about giving him time to grow and mature before doing too much work with him.

  ‘You don’t think . . .’ Milly started, wide-eyed as her words trailed off and she met Poppy’s gaze.

  That the other person is a buyer! Poppy knew that was what her friend had been going to say, because it was exactly what she’d been thinking herself. Poppy swallowed hard, feeling like there was a rock in her throat.

  Poppy jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder. She spun around.

  ‘Katie! You scared me.’

  ‘Sorry.’ Katie moved to stand next to her. ‘I thought you heard me coming. I called out. What are you looking at?’

  Poppy pointed. ‘Prince.’

  ‘Wow, he looks amazing.’ Katie sighed in appreciation. Then she frowned. ‘I thought Mrs D wasn’t working with him yet?’

  ‘She wasn’t,’ Poppy said with a grimace. ‘I hate that everything’s changing.’

  It was what she’d been worrying about all week, what had been keeping her awake at night and making her wake up with a feeling like she was suffocating, like something heavy was sitting on her chest and stopping her from breathing. She lived for Starlight Stables, for her friends and riding and Crystal. And there was this weird feeling like everything she loved so much was about to disappear, and even though she might be able to pay for Crystal, she couldn’t do anything else to help. It hadn’t been that long since her dad had died, and Poppy felt like she was about to lose something she loved all over again.

  ‘Do you really think she’d sell him?’ Katie asked.

  ‘If it meant saving Starlight Stables and Jupiter?’ Poppy asked. ‘I don’t think she’d want to, but she’d probably have to.’

  ‘I think so too,’ Milly agreed. ‘Besides, he must be worth a fortune. Maybe selling him would save Starlight?’

  Poppy looked at Prince one last time, watched his elegant trot turn into a big, powerful canter. ‘Come on, let’s go get our ponies. We need to practise.’

  ‘Can’t we just go for a trail ride?’ Milly moaned.

  ‘Nope,’ Poppy said. ‘I’m going to win that money tomorrow, and if I don’t, then I want one of you to win it. So that means we’re going to jump and jump and jump today to get them ready.’

  She took a deep breath, deciding to tell them. ‘If I win, I’m going to give Sophie and Mark the money. I reckon we were wrong – any money we put towards our ponies would definitely help.’

  She immediately felt better for telling them. They would understand.

  ‘Okay, well one of us has to win then. Good plan. Besides, I wracked my brain all weekend and couldn’t come up with anything,’ Katie said. ‘Let’s go get training!’

  Milly groaned and Poppy nudged her hard in the side.

  ‘Ow!’ Milly howled.

  ‘Toughen up,’ Poppy giggled. ‘We’re going to do this!’

  Milly ran ahead a few steps before turning around to walk backwards, looking at them. ‘I dare you to jump it bareback. Bet I’ll win that one.’

  Poppy shrugged. ‘I’ll let you win that one, just not the single jump contest tomorrow.’

  She wasn’t usually so competitive, especially with her friends, but she’d never, ever been this determined in her life.

  ‘You really want to do this, don’t you, Pops?’ Katie asked in a low voice. ‘You’re desperate to win it.’

  Poppy nodded fiercely. ‘I would do anything to save Crystal and help Aunt Sophie and Uncle Mark. I just don’t see how else I can get the money otherwise.’

  ‘Do you think it will be enough to pay for Crystal?’ Katie asked. ‘I’ve been wondering all week how much we’d need to give them, how bad it all is with them.’

  ‘I don’t know, but it’s got to help,’ Poppy answered honestly. She didn’t tell them about the other money she had, or that she knew how much was owing on Crystal. Because what if it was a whole lot more on their ponies? It wasn’t because she didn’t want them to know, just that she didn’t want them to worry about the fact that she was able to offer Sophie and Mark some extra money towards Crystal when neither of them probably could.

  Katie suddenly burst into tears and Poppy turned to her, astounded.

  ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ She put her arms around her. Katie sobbed and Poppy held her tighter. She hadn’t ever seen Katie cry before!

  ‘I don’t have any money,’ she cried. ‘I asked my mum and dad but there’s nothing they can do to help me. They don’t have any extra money. I just love Cody so much!’

  Poppy didn’t know what to say. And then Milly grabbed hold of them both and was squeezing her as well.

  ‘We’re not going to lose them,’ Milly said, in her usual bossy voice. ‘There’s no way Mrs D would let that happen, I just know it.’

  Poppy wished she believed that, but she knew that adults often made things sound better than they were. What if Aunt Sophie didn’t have a choice?

  ‘Come on, last one to the paddock has to do all the mucking out tonight,’ Milly said with a grin.

  Katie was still crying but she was wiping away her tears. Poppy pulled a tissue from her pocket and passed it to her.

  ‘Anyone else want to ride them in and race bareback?’ Poppy asked.

  Milly had already started running. ‘Me!’ she yelled back.

  Poppy reached out and grabbed Katie’s hand and they ran together. Once they were riding everything would feel better.

  ‘Go!’ Milly screamed.

  Poppy wrapped her legs tight around Crystal as they lurched from a halt straight into a canter. They were going fast, too fast for slippery bareback riding, but it was fun and Poppy didn’t care if she fell off.

  Milly, of course, had raced off just before shouting Go, which meant she was in the lead. But only just.

  Joe flew over the jump ahead, his little knees tucked up tight, and Poppy urged Crystal on. They took off just after Jo
e landed, and Cody was right beside them. She caught Katie’s eye as they both cleared it, laughing at the grin on Katie’s face.

  ‘No!’ Crystal let rip with a buck that almost sent Poppy flying. The only thing saving her was the tight grip she had on her mane and lead rope. Crystal had been a bit too frisky lately!

  ‘Ha ha, beat you guys!’ Milly called.

  Poppy kept her legs clamped to Crystal, not caring that she’d nearly tumbled to the ground. ‘Wanna bet?’ She raced past Milly, which sent Joe into a tailspin. The little chestnut reared and bolted after them as Poppy kept watch over her shoulder, but she quickly straightened and kept her eyes on where she was going. They cantered down the paddock and towards the gate, slowing only when they had to. Poppy tried to reach to get the latch, but Crystal was dancing and jumping all over the place, excited from the race.

  ‘Whoa, easy girl,’ Poppy soothed, running a hand down her neck, the other fisted in her mane in case she spooked or bucked again.

  ‘You’re a cheat, Poppy!’ Milly declared as she rode up beside them.

  Poppy grinned at her. ‘Me? You’re the one who got a headstart the first time around.’

  ‘I want a re-match,’ Milly demanded, staying mounted as Poppy slipped off Crystal.

  ‘Fine. Once we’re through the gate, we race fair and square.’ The look on Milly’s face made her groan. ‘Oh no. What do you have planned?’

  Poppy opened the gate, pushing it wide so she could lead Crystal through, and then held it for the others.

  ‘The show-jumping course,’ Milly said. ‘We race around it bareback one by one. Whoever doesn’t fall off and knocks over the least poles wins.’

  Katie let out a big sigh just as Poppy was closing the gate behind them. ‘I thought we were supposed to be training properly today?’ she asked.

  ‘This would be training. Just bareback instead of saddled up,’ Milly said, like she’d thought the whole thing through. ‘Then we can prove who the better rider is.’

  Poppy glared at Milly. ‘Fine. Let’s do this.’

  ‘You guys sure this is a good idea?’ Katie asked with a groan.