The Riverdale Pony Stories Box Set (Books 1-6)

by Amanda Wills

  ‘No, you haven't,’ said Poppy, offering Nina another tissue. ‘Anyway, it's not your fault. You've just been unlucky. Isn't there anything else you could do? Sell off some land or a couple of the ponies, to give you a bit more time?’

  ‘No, it would be too little, too late. Unless I come up with two thousand pounds by the end of the week the house and land will be repossessed by the bank and I'll probably be declared bankrupt. It'll be down to the bailiffs to sell the horses, and they're not going to care whether they go to good homes or not. How will I tell Lydia that we're moving, let alone that she's going to lose Frank? He and Beau were the first horses I bought for the business, that's why I'm so fond of them both. They've been my talismans from day one, although they don't seem to have brought me much luck recently.’

  Poppy remembered why she had sought Nina out and felt immensely relieved that she hadn't added to her troubles by complaining about the piebald cob. She could kick herself for being so petty and self-centred. She gave Nina the box of tissues. ‘I'm going to make you a cup of tea. You sit and watch the end of the news. I won't be long.’

  Nina was watching the weather when Poppy let herself back into the study, a mug of tea in each hand. The map of the UK was awash with black clouds and lightning symbols.

  ‘Uh oh. Are we in for a storm?’ she asked.

  Nina had used the short time while Poppy was in the kitchen to collect herself and her voice was almost back to normal.

  ‘Yes, I'm afraid so. The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for tomorrow night. We're getting the tail-end of a hurricane that hit the Caribbean last week, apparently.’

  ‘So our last night might go out with a bang, then?’ said Poppy, attempting to raise a smile. Nina nodded bleakly.

  Scarlett was already in the top bunk when Poppy let herself into their bedroom.

  ‘Scar, are you awake?’ she whispered. Scarlett's shoulders were stiff and her shallow breathing wasn't the rhythmic inhale, exhale of someone fast asleep. But she didn't reply.

  Poppy sighed. She would have liked to have talked to her best friend about Nina's revelations. As Poppy had left the study Nina had asked her not to say anything about her money troubles to the others. But Poppy always shared everything with Scarlett.

  At least she always had.

  Chapter Ten

  Scarlett was nowhere to be seen when Poppy arrived for breakfast. Everyone else was sat around the table, plates of toast in front of them. Nina hadn't touched hers and her face was pale but she gave Poppy a wide smile.

  ‘Has anyone seen Scarlett?’ Poppy asked.

  ‘She said she didn't feel like breakfast. I think she's in the yard,’ said Chloe.

  Poppy bolted down two slices of toast. ‘Thanks Nina. I'm going to go and find her if that's OK? What time are we setting off?’

  ‘Ten o'clock. I've got an extra special route planned for today.’

  Frank met Poppy at the back door and followed her across the yard to Topaz's loose box. She hesitated outside. Scarlett was talking to Topaz as she groomed the palomino mare. Poppy knew eavesdropping only led to trouble but she couldn't help herself.

  ‘ - I'm going to miss you so much. I've had such a great holiday. I wish Mum and Dad had the money to buy you. You'd love it at Ashworthy.’ Poppy heard a sob. She reached into her pocket for a tissue and let herself into Topaz's box. Scarlett was standing with her arms around the mare, her shoulders shuddering. Poppy had never seen her friend cry.

  ‘Have this,’ she said, handing Scarlett the tissue.

  ‘Oh, it's you.’ Scarlett looked far from pleased to see her.

  Poppy took a deep breath. ‘I'm sorry I was so thoughtless yesterday, I really am. I didn't realise how much Topaz meant to you.’

  Scarlett was silent. Poppy persisted. ‘I know I haven't been much fun to be around and I don't blame you for hanging out with Cally. But I've missed you, Scar. Please forgive me so we can be friends again.’

  Scarlett sniffed and wiped her face on the sleeve of her sweatshirt. She ran her hand down Topaz's neck and looked at Poppy coolly.

  ‘You're doing it again. Me, me, me. You have to remember that it's not all about you, Poppy. At least Cally is interested in what I think and how I feel. She doesn't just go on about herself all the time.’

  Poppy was stung. ‘Yes she does!’ she said indignantly. ‘If she's not boring the pants off us with stories about what a good rider she is she's going on about how popular she is at school. She never stops talking about herself. And you encourage her by hanging onto her every word like some kind of saddo.’

  ‘How dare you! At least I'm not always feeling sorry for myself. Some people would give their eye teeth to be given a horse like Beau for a week and all you've done is whinge and moan since the minute we arrived.’

  ‘You ought to try riding the lumbering great brute before being so quick to judge. My legs are killing me, and as for my back -’

  ‘There you go again!’ Scarlett exploded. ‘You just can't see it, can you?’

  Poppy bit her bottom lip as Scarlett turned her back to her, picked up a body brush and started sweeping it over Topaz's golden flank.

  ‘I'm going then, seeing as you obviously can't stand my company anymore,’ she said, hoping Scarlett would dissolve into giggles and tell her that she was only kidding and that Poppy would always be her best friend.

  But she didn't.

  Instead she said tonelessly, ‘Suit yourself.’

  Poppy, shaken by the indifference in Scarlett's voice, let herself out of the loose box, almost colliding with Beau, who was making a beeline for the hay barn.

  ‘How on earth did you get out?’ she cried, grabbing his headcollar. As she did she saw a car pull up the track. It was the silver saloon. Poppy stood and watched as the driver's door swung open and the man in the shiny suit emerged. He saw her and beckoned her over. Poppy glanced at the back door of the bungalow. Nina must still be clearing up their breakfast things. She strode purposefully towards him, dragging Beau behind her.

  ‘Oh, it's you,’ he said, echoing Scarlett. No-one seemed pleased to see her today. Poppy nodded, noticing with satisfaction that his suit was still peppered with flecks of dried snot.

  ‘Before you ask, Nina's not here,’ she told him, her voice hostile.

  The man looked pained. ‘Do you know when she'll be back?’

  Poppy shrugged. ‘No idea.’

  He reached inside his jacket. ‘Here's my card. Give it to her and tell her to call me, will you? It's vital that I speak to her and the sooner the better. Do you understand?’

  Poppy grunted, stuffed the card deep into her pocket and pulled Beau back towards the barn. She sneaked a look over her shoulder as she tied him up but the car had disappeared down the long, bumpy track.

  Chapter Eleven

  For once Poppy was glad of Beau's snail's pace, which put a welcome distance between her and the others as they headed down the lane towards the forest. It gave her head space to analyse the row with Scarlett. Poppy wasn't blind to her own faults. She knew she'd been thoughtless. And maybe she had gone on a bit about Beau. But she also felt aggrieved. Scarlett had virtually ignored her ever since they'd arrived at Oaklands. When Poppy had said sorry her best friend had thrown the apology back in her face. And then she'd had the nerve to say it was Poppy's fault for being self-obsessed. She wished Caroline was with her so she could talk it over, but as there was no mobile phone signal at the house she couldn't even give her stepmum a call.

  She looked down at Beau's tufty black ears, which were pointing resolutely ahead as he followed the others down a narrow bridleway that wound its way through beech trees. As Nina had handed them their sandwiches she'd told them they were heading deep into the forest for their last ride of the holiday, and that they were to keep their eyes peeled for fallow deer and wild boar.

  ‘What do you think about it all, Beau?’ The piebald cob flicked back an ear at the sound of her voice. She talked all the time to Cloud, sh
e realised guiltily. There was no reason she shouldn't talk to Beau, too. ‘Is it my fault, or Scarlett's fault? Or is it six to one and half a dozen to the other? I wish I knew.’

  The path opened out into a plantation of imposing pine trees whose gnarly trunks soared high into the sky. The air was warm and still and there was no sign of the storm the weather forecaster had predicted the night before. A grey squirrel darted down one of the trees head first and paused at the bottom where it eyed Poppy and Beau warily. Scarlett temporarily forgotten, Poppy tugged at Beau's reins and they stopped to watch the squirrel streak across the path in front of them and up a tree on the opposite side. It settled on a branch above their heads and began nibbling on a pine cone, its whiskers twitching and its tail wrapped around its back like an inverted question mark. Tired of the pine cone the squirrel discarded it and it fell to the forest floor like a stone. Beau, who had been nibbling on a patch of grass, walked over to the cone and snorted loudly, making Poppy laugh. The squirrel froze at the sound and vanished through the leaf-laden branches. Poppy picked up her reins and looked along the path for Rocky's chestnut rump. But it had disappeared from sight.

  ‘Great, they've gone without us.’ They picked up a trot until they reached a fork in the path and Poppy pulled Beau up. ‘Left or right?’ she pondered. Beau took a step towards the left-hand fork, which climbed steadily through the conifers. ‘No Beau, I think it's this way,’ she told him, turning him down the path to their right.

  When twenty minutes had passed and there was no sign of the others Poppy began to doubt her wisdom. She should have trusted Beau. He'd probably been on this ride dozens of times. She'd just decided to cut her losses and turn back the way they'd come when she heard hooves pounding behind them. Cally was cantering up on Blue, her face like thunder.

  ‘There you are!’ the older girl said in exasperation. ‘Nina sent me to find you. The others are way ahead. How on earth did you end up here?’

  ‘We must have taken a wrong turn,’ said Poppy. ‘Sorry.’

  Cally exhaled loudly. ‘We'd better cut the corner to catch them up, otherwise we'll be here all day.’

  She steered Blue off the path and Beau and Poppy followed them into bracken so tall it skimmed their stirrups. Under the canopy of green fronds the ground was broken and uneven. Almost as though it had been turned by a rotavator like the one Caroline had hired to dig over her vegetable patch when they'd first moved to Riverdale. Although why someone would want to plant vegetables in the middle of the forest was beyond Poppy. Beau tripped over a mound of freshly-turned earth, forcing Poppy forwards as his nose almost touched the ground.

  ‘Steady on, Beau,’ she said, pulling his head back up. Cally shot her a disparaging look. Even Blue flicked her silky tail with derision. Poppy pulled a face at them and patted the cob's neck. ‘I'd ignore them if I were you,’ she said to him under her breath.

  The bracken was by now virtually impenetrable and Poppy was about to question Cally on the wisdom of her short cut when she heard a rustle to their left. Beau stopped and stared intently into the undergrowth, his ears flicking back and forth. Poppy clicked her tongue and squeezed firmly with her legs.

  ‘Come on Beau, it's just a rabbit or something. Walk on,’ she instructed. But the cob was deaf to her aids and stood rooted to the spot, his nostrils flared.

  Cally spun Blue around. Her face was a mask of irritation. ‘What's wrong now?’

  As she spoke, the bracken rippled and the russet head of a tiny animal poked out. It had a black snout and vertical dark stripes ran along the length of its body.

  Poppy couldn't believe her luck. A wild boar piglet! Beau was stock still beneath her and she stroked his neck to calm him. She watched, enthralled, as three more piglets joined the first and began snouting around in the long grass a few metres from where they stood.

  Blue began backing out of the bracken, snorting with fear.

  ‘They won't hurt you, you silly horse, they're tiny,’ Cally said, kicking her on. ‘Come on, Poppy, we really need to go.’

  But the highly-strung Arab was trembling with fear. She had seen something far more dangerous than a litter of wild boar piglets thrusting its way through the undergrowth. Poppy gasped as an enormous sow, ready to defend her young, burst through the bracken with an angry squeal.

  In the split second before the wild boar charged Poppy registered her bright black eyes and thick, bristly black coat. The boar had short, stocky legs and a powerful body with a ridge of coarse long hair along her spine, like a raven-haired punk with a Mohican. Her head low, she hurled herself towards them, scattering the piglets in her wake. Poppy gripped her reins and prepared to turn and gallop. But Beau stood his ground. She felt his strength beneath her, so solid and utterly dependable, and suddenly knew what they had to do. Kicking Beau into a canter she took a deep breath and began yelling at the top of her voice. She stood up in her stirrups and waved her arms in the air as they thundered towards the sow.

  After ten years' living wild in the forest the boar knew which fights to pick and when to give in gracefully. The sight of a black and white, blue-eyed beast with a screaming banshee on board galloping hell for leather towards her was enough to stop her in her tracks. She slid to a halt, her snout quivering, and turned and fled back through the wall of bracken.

  Poppy whooped, her adrenalin levels sky high, and swivelled around to Cally. The older girl was struggling to control Blue. The sight of the boar had sent the mare into a blind panic. Her ears were flattened and Poppy could see the whites of her eyes. She was spinning around like a pirouetting ballerina. Cally tugged at Blue's reins in an attempt to steady her but it only seemed to terrify her more. The mare's head shot up and her muscles tensed as her instinct for flight took hold.

  Poppy saw Blue shift her weight onto her hindquarters and knew with dread what was going to happen before the mare's front feet left the ground.

  ‘Lean forward! She's going to rear!’ she shouted. Cally shot a frightened glance in her direction as Blue stood on her back legs, waving her forelegs wildly in the air.

  ‘Wrap your arms around her neck! She's losing her balance!’

  Time slowed down as the panic-stricken mare thrashed about in the bracken. Cally had lost a stirrup and was fighting to keep her own balance. Poppy pushed Beau forwards. Maybe if they got close enough she could grab Blue's reins and stop her rearing. They were within a few tantalising feet when Blue stumbled on an old tree trunk on the forest floor that was so green with lichen it was almost invisible. The last thing Poppy heard as Blue somersaulted backwards was Cally's scream as she landed with a sickening crash in the bracken.

  Chapter Twelve

  Blue picked herself up, tossed her dished head and galloped away through the pine trees, her reins and mane flying. Poppy dithered for a few seconds, unsure whether to follow the mare or stay with Cally. The sound of the older girl groaning spurred her into action. She scrambled off Beau and ran towards the noise. Cally was sitting on her haunches at the base of a tree, cradling her head in her hands.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Poppy asked urgently.

  ‘What?’ Cally looked dazed.

  ‘Did you hit your head when you fell?’ Poppy said, crouching down next to her.

  ‘How do I know? Anyway, I'm not worried about that. Where's Blue?’

  ‘She's gone, Cally.’

  ‘You're joking. Why didn't you catch her?’ Cally stood up shakily and glared at Poppy. When she started swaying Poppy grabbed her elbow and pushed her firmly back down.

  ‘Sit down, for goodness sake. You hold Beau and I'll see if I can find her.’

  Cally was about to argue when she saw the determined set of Poppy's jaw. She sank back against the tree and took Beau's reins without a quibble. ‘I can't believe I fell off. What an idiot. And why didn't I hang on to the reins? How on earth am I going to tell Nina I've lost her best trekking pony?’ she muttered.

  Poppy felt an unwelcome twinge of sympathy. ‘You won't have to. I don't suppo
se she's gone far.’ She ran her hand down Beau's neck and gave Cally a brief smile. ‘I'll find her, I promise.’

  Shafts of light played on the acid green bracken as Poppy fought her way through the undergrowth in the direction Blue had disappeared. The smell of earth and decomposing leaf mulch all at once reminded her of the Riverdale wood. Only this time she was looking for Blue and not Cloud and she didn't have Charlie at her side, his face streaked with camouflage paint and a pair of binoculars around his neck as he inspected the ground for big cat paw prints. The seven-year-old would be gutted when he heard he'd missed a close encounter with a whole family of wild boar.

  Poppy scanned the trees for any sign of the mare. Cally had looked defeated and much younger than her fourteen years as she'd leant against the trunk of the enormous pine tree. Her bravado, the over-confidence Poppy had found so intimidating from their very first encounter, had completely evaporated. Perhaps it had all been bluster and deep down she was as insecure as Poppy. How ironic that would be.

  Broken fronds of bracken brushed Poppy's jodhpurs. When she looked down she realised the vegetation had been trampled and she was following a distinct path through the undergrowth. Her senses on full alert, she heard the mare before she saw her.

  ‘Blue,’ she called softly. ‘It's OK, I'm here.’ Blue was pawing the ground by a fallen tree, her reins entangled in the branches, her neck dark with sweat. Poppy knew that if she startled the mare she could pull back in panic, snap the leather and career off again, her reins dragging dangerously by her feet. She lowered her eyes and inched towards her, talking in a low murmur, just as she had when she'd approached Cloud in the Riverdale wood. She stole a glance at Blue and saw with relief that she had stopped pawing the ground and was watching her curiously, her velvety brown eyes fixed on Poppy. When she was a couple of paces away Poppy reached in her pocket for a Polo and held out her palm. Blue lowered her head and sniffed suspiciously, her muscles tensed. But it gave Poppy enough time to take hold of her reins and untangle them from the branch.