The Palomino Pony Runs Free

by Olivia Tuffin

  Emily giggled. “I don’t think that would help convince Mum, would it?”

  “Maybe not,” Poppy agreed. “Unless you managed to find a really nice small well-behaved dog, and sort of compared it to Billy to make it look even more perfect.”

  “Yeah, that might work.” Emily sighed. “Except I’ll never get the chance to try it out.”

  They were all silent for a moment, thinking.

  “Isn’t there another way you could have a pet, without actually owning one?” Maya suggested slowly.

  “Adopting a zoo animal, you mean?” Emily nodded. “I already have. I’ve got a snow leopard,” she said, rather sadly. “Gran gave me him for my birthday. It’s nice – I got a letter about him, and I’ve got a toy version of him on my bed. But it isn’t the same. I’ve only ever seen him once, and then he was up at the top of his – well, it wasn’t a cage. Sort of a big pen with trees and rocks. He wouldn’t come down.”

  “I didn’t quite mean that,” Maya said. “It was what Poppy said about having Billy for a holiday. Couldn’t you be a petsitter? I don’t mean having the pets living at your house, but popping in to feed them and give them a cuddle while their owners are away. Or maybe you could take dogs for walks when their owners can’t manage it?”

  Emily stared at her. “Do you think people would let me?” she asked excitedly. “I mean, I love dogs, and I’ve got loads of dog books, but I’ve never actually owned one.”

  “I bet they would if they saw you with a dog,” Poppy agreed. “You’re brilliant with Billy. Anybody could see that you’re a dog person.” She smirked. “And other pets too, of course. Maybe Sam would like you to pop in and cuddle his tarantula while he goes on holiday.” Then she dodged as Emily pretended to smack her.

  “Seriously, I bet you could do that. You’d just need to find a way to let people know about you.” Maya frowned. “And I suppose you’d really only be able to help out people in Appleby, wouldn’t you? Unless your mum would let you go to any of the other villages on your bike.”

  “I don’t think she would.” Emily frowned. “She gets panicky about us being out on the roads on our bikes. Which is totally fair when you think about Toby and James, but not for me. But there are lots of people with dogs and cats round our village. Somebody must need a dog-walker.”

  “You know what else there is in Appleby?” Izzy put in, her pale-blue eyes round with excitement.

  The others shook their heads, and Izzy beamed. “The shelter. You know,” she added as they looked at her blankly. “The animal shelter! Ummm, it’s called Appleby Animal Rescue, or something like that?”

  “Oh! Yes, I forgot. But Mum isn’t going to let us adopt a pet from there, Izzy, even though I’d love to,” Emily objected.

  “I know, I don’t mean that,” said her friend. “Couldn’t you go and help out?”

  Emily looked at her blankly for a moment, then she squeaked with excitement. “Why didn’t I ever think of that before? I know I’m always saying it, but you’re a genius, Izzy!” She jumped up off the bench and hugged Izzy so hard that she squeaked too, and her nose went bright pink, the way it always did when she was pleased.

  Emily perched herself on the arm of the bench, frowning thoughtfully. “Today’s Thursday, and Toby’s got judo after school, so I can’t go tonight—”

  “Your mum lets him do judo?” Poppy asked disbelievingly. “Like, so he’s being trained how to fight people? Is that a good idea?”

  Emily shrugged. “Apparently, it’s supposed to help you calm down – by kicking things, I guess. Who knows. Anyway, we’ll have to take him to the sports centre, so Mum’ll be trying to cook dinner and everything in a rush. She won’t be up for me disappearing off to the animal shelter. But I could definitely go tomorrow afternoon.” She bounced excitedly. “Oh, I really hope they do need some help. Even if it’s just cleaning out guinea pig hutches or something.”

  “Will your mum let you do it?” Maya asked suddenly. “I mean, if she’s not keen on dogs…”

  Emily shook her head. “Oh no, that’s the stupid thing. Mum loves dogs. She had a gorgeous Labrador when she was my age. But she says she hasn’t got time to look after one properly now. I’m sure she’d be OK with me going to the shelter. Especially if it stops me moaning about having a dog of our own. Oh, I can’t wait to go!”

  “Emily, it’s me! Maya. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow. What did your mum say about helping out at the shelter?”

  Maya knew right away how excited Emily was – her words were falling over each other, she was talking so quickly!

  “She was fine – she said it was a great idea, and she knows how much I love dogs. Dad said it sounded brilliant, but I had to make sure I still had time for my homework if I go and help at the shelter, because I’ve already got dancing, but I told them it would be OK. Dancing’s only on Mondays, I could help any other night for a bit, or maybe at the weekend.”

  “So you’re definitely going to go and ask tomorrow?” Maya asked.

  “Yee-ees,” Emily agreed. “That’s the only problem. What do I say to them? And what if they say no, they don’t want anybody?”

  “Mmmm. I should think they’d need as much help as they can get,” Maya said thoughtfully. “They’d be more likely to hug you and hand you a bag of dog food. You’re not really nervous, are you?”

  “A bit,” Emily admitted. “It’s just the thought of walking in and talking to someone I’ve never met before…”

  Maya hmmmed for a moment. “Want me to come with you?” she suggested.

  “Yes!” Emily yelped. “I mean, yes, please. Are you sure?”

  “I’d like to. I’ve never been to an animal shelter,” said Maya.

  “Actually, me neither,” Emily admitted. “I’m not sure what it’s going to be like.”

  “Would your mum let you come back to my house tomorrow? You’re on the bus on Fridays, aren’t you? Then we could go to the shelter together. It’s really close to mine.”

  “Hang on, I’ll check.”

  Maya could hear discussion going on in the background, and what sounded like a full-on fight between Toby and James at the same time. She could see why Emily had said it would be too tricky to get to the shelter tonight. She should have rung later on, she thought to herself crossly. But she’d been so keen to know what Emily’s mum and dad had said.

  “Yes!” Emily said breathlessly into the phone.

  “Sorry! I shouldn’t have rung now, your mum’s trying to do tea and everything.”

  Emily giggled. “No, it’s fine. James squirted ketchup all over Toby while I was asking her, that’s all. She was dithering a bit because she wanted to take me to the shelter so they could see she was OK with the idea, but now she says she’ll write me a note, with her mobile number and everything. Then they can call her.”

  “OK. I’ll check with Dad, but I know it’ll be fine. He’ll come with us, or maybe Anna will if he has to work.”

  “Is your mum away, then?” Emily asked. She and Poppy and Izzy couldn’t help being a little bit curious about Maya’s mum, who was a singer called India Kell. She didn’t record as much any more, but she did a lot of TV work, and she was always flying off all over the place. (Which made Maya really cross. She was always trying to get her mum to use trains instead, but her mum said it wasn’t really practical to get a train to the US, and a boat would take weeks. She and Maya had agreed that she’d do carbon-offsetting and pay for trees to be planted instead. Maya’s mum said this meant that somewhere there was a small forest that belonged to her, and she was planning to build a log cabin in it.)

  “Mmmm, she’s gone to some awards thing. She’s presenting an award for Best New Act. I hadn’t heard of any of the people who were up for it, and Mum said she wasn’t sure she had either. But one of them had really nice hair, so she reckons he should win. Anyway, she won’t be back until Monday.”

  “I know you don’t like it when she’s away, but you are lucky, you know…” Emily sighed. “Your d
ad’s there most of the time, and Anna’s the best cook. Do you think she’d make chocolate-chip cookies if we asked her really nicely?” Anna was Maya’s family’s housekeeper. She made gorgeous food, but she didn’t approve of Maya being a vegetarian. She cooked lovely veggie stuff for her, but she knew how hard it was for Maya to resist bacon sandwiches, so she was always cooking them for Maya’s dad, and wafting the delicious bacon smell all over the house.

  “I bet she would. Especially if you ask her, Em. She likes you. She knows you help look after Toby and James and Sukie, and she says children should help out. She thinks I ought to have a little sister or brother, and then I wouldn’t be spoilt rotten.”

  “But you aren’t!” Emily told her in surprise. “That’s why none of us could really believe it when you said you were India Kell’s daughter. When you read about celeb kids, they’ve always got tiny sports cars, and pet zebras and things—”

  Maya snorted with laughter.

  “I’m serious! Or they’ve got half of Chelsea football team coming to help at their birthday party or something like that. You’re normal. Well. Almost normal, anyway,” Emily added sweetly. She was on the phone, so Maya couldn’t slap her. “You do have your own laptop – which I’d kill for, by the way – and a mobile, and your house is enormous, but otherwise, you’re not that different from me and Poppy and Izzy.”

  “I love you too,” Maya said, still trying not to laugh. “Anyway. Tomorrow at mine, and I’ll make Dad come with us. He could do with a walk.”

  “Do you think they’ll say yes?” Emily asked anxiously, for about the fifth time since they’d set off.

  “Yes!” Maya rolled her eyes.

  “I think they’d be really glad of the help, Emily,” Maya’s dad put in. “The shelter’s pretty tiny, and I’m sure I remember seeing an article about it in the paper – it’s mostly run by one lady, and she’s really overworked.”

  Appleby Animal Rescue was an old farmhouse, just outside Appleby village, where Emily and Maya both lived. It was a nice-looking house, not very big, but with a square yard in front of it, with stables and outhouses all round.

  “Do you think all those building have got animals in them?” Emily asked, looking around in surprise. “I didn’t think it would be this big.”

  “I suppose there isn’t another animal shelter anywhere close,” Maya said thoughtfully. “Any abandoned animals would have to come here.” She nudged Emily. “So, are we going in?”

  Copyright

  With special thanks to Michelle Misra

  For little Grace, who’s pony mad like me! – O.T.

  THE PALOMINO PONY RUNS FREE

  First published in the UK in 2015 by Nosy Crow Ltd

  The Crow’s Nest, 10a Lant Street

  London, SE1 1QR, UK

  This ebook edition first published 2015

  Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and / or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd

  Text © Olivia Tuffin, 2015

  Cover photography © Rebecca Lupton, 2015

  The rights of Olivia Tuffin and Rebecca Lupton to be identified as the author and photographer of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictiously. Any resemblence to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN: 978 0 85763 445 0

  www.nosycrow.com