Starlight Stables: Bush Bolts

by Soraya Nicholas

  About the Book

  Poppy is thrilled that her best friend Sarah is finally coming to visit Starlight Stables. She is sure that Sarah will love it all as much as she does – especially Poppy’s beautiful pony, Crystal, and her horse-mad friends, fiery Milly and sweet Katie. But it soon becomes clear that Sarah doesn’t share Poppy’s love of horses and riding – in fact, she’s more interested in helping Poppy’s uncle with some injured animals. When a bushfire erupts nearby, Poppy finds herself fighting not only to save her friendship but also to save her beloved Starlight Stables. Will she lose everything she loves?

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE Three Becomes Four

  CHAPTER TWO Uncle Mark’s Surprise

  CHAPTER THREE Back in the Saddle

  CHAPTER FOUR Sarah’s First Ride

  CHAPTER FIVE Prince

  CHAPTER SIX Ready for Adventure

  CHAPTER SEVEN Adventure Time

  CHAPTER EIGHT Trouble

  CHAPTER NINE Lightning Strikes

  CHAPTER TEN Koala Crazy

  CHAPTER ELEVEN Home Time

  Bushfire Survival!

  About the Author

  Read all the books in the Starlight Stables series:

  Horse Sense

  Katie’s Pony, Cody, is A 14 HH Pretty Palomino

  Pony Detectives

  Gymkhana Hijinks

  Saving Starlight

  Acknowledgements

  For Mackenzie & Hunter,

  my budding little horse riders!

  I also need to make special mention

  of the real Missy, who features in this book.

  She’s the best pony our family

  could have wished for.

  ‘I can’t believe you’re actually coming with me!’ Poppy laughed as she jumped onto the bed beside her best friend Sarah and flopped down on her stomach.

  ‘You can’t believe it? Imagine how I feel!’ Sarah swatted at Poppy, but Poppy rolled out of the way, smiling.

  ‘You’re going to love it,’ said Poppy, thinking about all the things she couldn’t wait to show her. She’d been trying to convince Sarah to visit Starlight Stables forever, even though she knew her best friend wasn’t exactly horse crazy. Poppy was pretty sure Sarah had only finally said yes because she was so curious about Milly and Katie.

  ‘I know.’ Sarah was grinning back now as she tucked her long, glossy black hair behind her ear, eyes full of excitement. ‘It’s going to be awesome meeting your new riding friends.’

  ‘Don’t forget Crystal!’ Poppy joked, knowing that Sarah would want to put off meeting any horse, even Poppy’s beautiful pony, for as long as possible.

  ‘And your aunt Sophie seems pretty cool,’ Sarah continued. Poppy knew she had ignored her on purpose.

  ‘She is cool.’ Poppy had forgotten that Sarah met Aunt Sophie when she came to stay. She tried not to think about that time, after her dad had died and her mum went all quiet. Everything was much better since Aunt Sophie had come and helped her mum. Poppy enjoyed being at home now, even if she did spend most of the time looking forward to being back at Starlight Stables.

  She poked Sarah. ‘It’s going to be a bit of a squash in my room there, with Milly and Katie bunking on camp beds too, but it’ll be fine.’

  ‘I don’t care about being squished.’ Sarah sighed. ‘It’s just the horses. I wish I loved them like you do.’

  ‘Me too,’ Poppy said, rolling off the bed and opening her suitcase. She was hoping that once Sarah actually spent some time with the horses, she’d change her mind. Sarah loved smaller animals, but for some reason she just wasn’t interested in riding. Poppy had decided she was going to change all that.

  ‘Come on, help me finish packing,’ she said. Her friend was still lying on her tummy, ankles crossed in the air behind her, munching happily on some biscuits. Poppy held out her hand for one. She had no idea what they were called, but she loved the little chewy chocolate snacks that Sarah’s grandma often sent over from China.

  ‘Okay, so I’ve got a spare pair of jods for you and my old riding boots.’ Poppy threw them into the suitcase alongside her two pairs of good jods, boots and a few T-shirts. Finally, she tossed in her hoodie. ‘I think that’s all. Aunt Sophie has all the other stuff you’ll need like a helmet, and . . .’ She bit down on a biscuit, savouring it as she mentally ran through everything her friend might need. ‘Yep, we’re good to go.’

  ‘I hope they like me,’ Sarah said, holding out the packet again. Poppy took a few more.

  ‘Milly and Katie already think you’re awesome after you came up with the idea to catch Jessica out,’ Poppy said. ‘Your idea saved the day!’

  ‘Has Jessica left Starlight Stables now? Like for good? I still can’t believe what she did to your horse.’

  ‘Can we not talk about Jessica?’ A shudder ran through Poppy just thinking about how close she’d been to losing her gorgeous Crystal.

  Sarah jumped off the bed and threw the empty biscuit packet in the trash. ‘Okay. But back to the horses . . .’

  ‘Just give it a go.’ Poppy zipped up her case and then slung an arm around Sarah’s shoulders. ‘It’s going to be awesome.’

  ‘Yeah, says the horse nut!’ Sarah rolled her eyes.

  Poppy laughed. ‘You’ll be great. If you don’t like it, we’ll just do something else.’ Of course, there was no way she wasn’t riding Crystal this weekend, but if Sarah still hated horses once she’d given riding a go, then Poppy wasn’t about to make her miserable by forcing her on a trail ride.

  Poppy thought back to all the times Sarah had sat with her, watching DVDs and feeding her dumplings, when Poppy was worried about her mum and didn’t want to leave her home alone. She was sure Sarah would have much rather been out doing other stuff. This was only one weekend, and Sarah had been her best friend forever. Poppy was desperate to show her how much fun her aunt and uncle’s place was. And she had a grand plan to get Sarah visiting Starlight more often, maybe even over the Christmas holidays. She hated not seeing her for weeks at a time while she was there.

  ‘Girls! Time to go. We’ve got ten minutes to get to the station and buy your tickets before the train leaves!’

  Poppy squeezed Sarah in excitement and grabbed her suitcase. She couldn’t wait to get back to Starlight Stables.

  Poppy bit down on her bottom lip as the car turned slowly into the driveway. The tyres crunched over the gravel, and Poppy looked at the open gates with Starlight Stables emblazoned on them, the big trees waving at them in the breeze all the way in. She glanced at Sarah, who was looking out the window as they passed the wooden fences, then the show-jumping arena with the perfect red-and-white striped poles.

  When the car pulled up outside the stables, Poppy couldn’t keep her mouth shut any longer.

  ‘What do you think?’ she asked excitedly. There was no way Sarah wasn’t impressed.

  ‘It’s really pretty,’ Sarah said, smiling back at her.

  ‘Out you get, girls,’ Aunt Sophie said, turning in the front seat and winking at Poppy.

  Poppy flung the door open and grabbed Sarah’s hand, tugging her out with her.

  ‘I’ll grab your bags,’ Aunt Sophie called out. ‘Go and see that pony of yours.’

  Poppy was dying to see Crystal, and she grinned at Sarah again, still holding her hand. ‘Ready to take a look around?’

  Sarah shrugged. ‘Sure.’

  Poppy was convinced they were going to have an amazing weekend as she dragged Sarah after her.

  ‘These are the stables,’ she said as they passed them. ‘We turn the horses out when we’re here and only stable them when they’re in work. I mean, when we’re bring
ing them in to ride.’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Sarah said.

  Poppy hurried them past the big wooden stable block and barn and down to the first paddock. Her heart started beating fast like it always did when she was about to see Crystal, and she quickly called out, spotting her in the distance grazing with the others.

  ‘Crystal!’

  Crystal pricked her ears and lifted her head. Then she started to trot towards them. The other ponies followed.

  ‘Should we run?’ Sarah asked, sounding worried and moving to stand behind Poppy.

  ‘No, they’ll slow down soon.’ Poppy had forgotten that Sarah might be scared. ‘I promise.’

  Crystal slowed to a walk and approached hesitantly, until Poppy held out her hand and she sniffed it. Then she relaxed and Poppy moved to stand beside her.

  ‘Isn’t she gorgeous?’ Poppy slung her arm around Crystal’s neck, trying not to laugh at the expression on her friend’s face.

  ‘Um, I guess. For a horse.’ Sarah wrinkled her nose and kept her distance from Crystal, watching her like she was a wild beast.

  ‘She just wants a pat,’ Poppy said, unable to understand Sarah’s reaction. She loved everything about horses, even if it was just hanging out with them in the stables. ‘She’s so sweet that I can put a biscuit between my teeth and she’ll eat it straight from my mouth. Wanna see?’

  Sarah shook her head. ‘No way, that’s gross.’

  Poppy rolled her eyes and gave Crystal a big hug, passing her pony the biscuit she had in her pocket. ‘It’s not gross – horses don’t have bad germs or anything.’

  ‘Argh!’

  Sarah’s wail made Poppy jump. She spun around to see Milly’s horse nudging Sarah roughly with his nose. Sarah leapt forward and grabbed Poppy, and Poppy couldn’t help it – she burst out laughing.

  ‘That’s just Joe,’ she snorted, when the little chestnut pony tried to nudge Sarah again. Poppy dug another biscuit from her pocket and held it out to him. ‘He’s Milly’s pony, and he’s not used to anyone not liking him.’

  ‘He nudged me hard! I felt his teeth!’ Sarah exclaimed as she linked her arm tightly through Poppy’s.

  ‘He’s not going to eat you. He just thinks you have treats for him.’

  Poppy couldn’t help but giggle again when Sarah glared at her.

  ‘I’m not scared of him,’ she insisted. ‘I just . . .wasn’t expecting him to be so badly behaved. And so smelly.’

  ‘They smell delicious,’ Poppy disagreed, snuggling up to Crystal and giggling when Joe stretched his neck out and tried to snuffle Sarah again. ‘If I could bottle the smell of horse, I’d wear it as a perfume every day.’

  ‘You are so gross, and if you did that I’d never sit beside you at school,’ Sarah laughed. ‘Come on, let’s go explore some more of the farm. And I really want to meet Casper.’

  Poppy sighed and let go of Crystal, pushing Joe out of the way for a third time.

  ‘Okay. Sorry, girl,’ Poppy said to Crystal. ‘But Sarah’s my guest, so I have to let her be annoying and drag me away.’

  She flashed a grin at her best friend, but Sarah was already walking quickly back across the paddock.

  Poppy caught up with Sarah as she fumbled with the gate. Poppy leaned over to help her, unlatching it and letting them both through.

  Poppy smiled and looped an arm over Sarah’s shoulders, casting just a quick glance back at her pony. ‘Come on, I’m going to make sure you have a great weekend, and you’ll be happy you came once you meet the others.’

  The others were Poppy’s other best friends. When her aunt and uncle had given her Crystal, her first pony, they’d also given scholarships to Milly and Katie, meaning they got their own ponies to ride, too.

  The three of them had fast become the best of friends, and Poppy couldn’t wait to see them again. Since the Christmas holidays they’d seen each other every second weekend, but this time they had Monday off school for Labour Day, which meant three whole days of riding.

  ‘My mum told me this weekend would be character building when I told her I wasn’t sure about coming,’ Sarah said. ‘She’s so weird sometimes. But I think she was happy that I wanted to give riding a go.’

  ‘That’s what my dad used to say about anything I didn’t want to do!’ Poppy giggled, relieved she could finally talk about her dad without bursting into tears. He’d died less than a year ago, and she still missed him so much, but it was getting easier to think about him without feeling too upset.

  They walked, arm in arm, past another paddock where Aunt Sophie’s big horse Jupiter was turned out. Usually Poppy would have stopped to give him a pat, but she doubted Sarah wanted to meet another horse.

  ‘Is that one of them?’

  Poppy looked up, waving the second she saw Milly getting out of her mum’s car.

  ‘Milly!’ she called. ‘Come and meet Sarah!’

  Milly’s grin was huge and her braces glinted in the sun as she hauled her bag from the boot and dropped it on the gravel driveway. Her dark curly hair was loose and wild, and she was already dressed in her jods and riding boots.

  ‘Look who I brought with me!’ Milly cried.

  Poppy laughed when she saw Katie appear from behind the back of the car. She hadn’t been expecting them to arrive together.

  ‘Katie!’ she cried excitedly.

  Katie was the complete opposite of Milly. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a pretty fishplait that hung gracefully over her shoulder. Poppy thought her friend was starting to look a lot like Aunt Sophie now that she braided it the exact same way. She was in her jodhpurs, too, helmet under her arm and a bag in the other hand.

  ‘Hey!’ Katie called, smiling.

  Sarah tried to let go of Poppy’s hand, but Poppy wasn’t going to allow her to hang back. She dragged her along, clasping her hand tight again, wanting her to meet the girls properly. She’d been so excited for days and she wasn’t used to Sarah being so shy. She definitely didn’t want to think about how awful it would be if they didn’t all like each other!

  ‘Come on, they’ll love you,’ Poppy whispered.

  Sarah’s smile was small, but Poppy saw it. She knew why Sarah was being quiet. She was worried Poppy’s horsey friends wouldn’t like her, but Sarah didn’t realise how excited Milly and Katie were to finally meet her. How could they not like her when she was Poppy’s best friend? She was fun and silly and kind; aside from not being horsey, there was nothing about her not to like. It was weird to see Sarah unsure of herself, when at home she was the one who always took charge.

  ‘You been to see the horses yet?’ Milly asked, jumping the last step and throwing her arms around Poppy for a big hug.

  Poppy dropped Sarah’s hand and hugged Milly back, giggling when Katie joined in the group hug, their arms tangling around each other.

  Conscious of not wanting Sarah to feel left out, Poppy stepped back and held out one arm.

  ‘Ta da!’ she said with a laugh. ‘This is the famous Sarah.’

  Milly instantly leapt toward Sarah and pulled her in for a big hug.

  ‘We love you!’ she declared dramatically. ‘You saved us from the evil Jessica!’

  Poppy smiled, grateful to Milly for being, well, Milly. She felt herself relax. Any worries she had over her friends getting along instantly evaporated. Katie pushed Milly out of the way and awkwardly opened her arms to hug Sarah too.

  ‘Ignore Milly,’ she said. ‘I’m Katie. As in the not crazy one.’

  ‘Sarah,’ Sarah mumbled once Katie had let go of her. ‘Nice to meet you.’

  ‘Who are you calling “crazy”?’ Milly demanded, hands on hips.

  Poppy elbowed Milly. ‘You!’

  Milly rolled her eyes and Poppy was happy to see Sarah stifle a giggle.

  ‘Fine. I’m off to see Joe. Who’s coming with me?’

  ‘Is he the one who shoved me?’ Sarah asked.

  Poppy winced and was about to answer when Milly planted her hands on her hips. ‘Joe would n
ever shove anyone,’ she declared.

  ‘He did,’ said Sarah. ‘We were – ’

  ‘He was just excited to see us,’ Poppy interrupted quickly. Just when she’d thought the first meeting was going so well between her friends, and now Milly was looking upset.

  ‘I’m dying to see Cody. Sarah, do you want to come with us?’ Katie’s smile was kind and sweet as always as she put an arm around Sarah. Poppy knew she was trying to smooth things over.

  Sarah looked at Poppy. ‘Um, Poppy was about to show me around. I’m not that into horses so I was going to meet the dog.’

  Milly made a face like she was about to say something, but Poppy quickly jumped in.

  ‘Maybe later . . .’ She shrugged apologetically. The one thing she wanted more than anything else in the world was to go back down and smother Crystal with kisses and cuddles and head out for a ride straightaway. But she couldn’t just leave Sarah now that the others had arrived, not when she was trying to make it fun for her. ‘We’ll catch up with you two soon. I’ve already been down to see Crystal, and I want to finish showing Sarah around the farm.’

  Milly frowned and gave her a puzzled look. ‘You sure?’

  Poppy nodded firmly. ‘Yup.’

  ‘Hi, girls!’ Aunt Sophie appeared from the stables. She was wearing her trademark pink shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and cream jodhpurs. ‘Mark has a surprise for you all if you want to pop into the garage. He’s dying to show you something.’

  Poppy felt her eyebrows shoot up and she swapped excited glances with the others.

  ‘What is it, Mrs D?’ Milly asked, her brown eyes huge.

  Aunt Sophie winked and walked away. ‘Go and see your ponies and then come down to find out,’ she called over her shoulder.

  Milly and Katie raced off to the paddocks, arms pumping as they tried to outrun each other. Poppy was torn, wanting desperately to follow them, but also wanting Sarah to love it here.

  Milly glanced back, so Poppy linked her arm through Sarah’s and walked her in the opposite direction. It was only one weekend, after all, and she needed to do whatever it took to make Sarah love Starlight Stables, even if that meant spending less time with her pony. She could give Crystal extra cuddles later to make up for it, but right now they could be first to find out what Uncle Mark’s surprise was.