Starlight Stables: Bush Bolts

by Soraya Nicholas

  ‘You did great, right?’ Sarah grinned. ‘I’m seriously impressed!’

  ‘I loved it.’ Poppy smiled. ‘Crystal’s pretty awesome, isn’t she? You okay?’

  ‘I’m fine. It’s nice finally seeing you ride, and I’ve been looking at the trees to see if I can spot a koala.’

  Poppy leaned against Crystal as Sarah tenderly stroked Missy’s neck. She knew exactly where they might find a koala, and she couldn’t wait to show Sarah. But first she had something to say.

  ‘I’m really sorry you heard what Milly said about you being here.’

  Sarah shrugged, but Poppy knew she was hurt. ‘It’s fine,’ she murmered, looking away. ‘But if you’d rather me leave. I mean . . .’

  ‘No!’ Poppy hated being torn between her friends. ‘No way. I want you here, and if Milly says anything else mean then she’ll have me to deal with.’

  Sarah looked uncomfortable. ‘So you don’t think I don’t belong here?’

  Poppy shook her head. ‘I wish you loved horses like I do, but no, I think you belong just fine.’

  ‘So I just have to make friends with Milly and convince her I’m normal, huh?’

  Poppy laughed. ‘Leave Milly to me.’

  While Katie was walking Cody to cool him down, Aunt Sophie headed over to where Poppy, Milly and Sarah were standing with their ponies. Poppy had a feeling now was the time Aunt Sophie planned to get Sarah on a horse. She passed Milly her reins so she could help.

  ‘What I’d like is to get you up onto Missy, and then take you for a nice little walk around on the lead,’ Aunt Sophie said to Sarah gently. ‘I’ll be right beside you every step of the way, and I’ll keep my hand on your leg until you’re ready for me to let go.’

  Sarah glanced at Poppy, and Poppy gave her an encouraging smile. ‘You’ll be fine. Missy is used to teaching beginners, and I can walk on the other side if it makes you feel safer. Besides, she’s so nice and small.’

  Sarah let out a big sigh, and Poppy knew that she was about to say ‘yes’. Whenever she wanted her friend to do something she just had to pester her over and over, and eventually she’d sigh and give in, just like when she’d agreed to come to Starlight in the first place. Poppy crossed her fingers behind her back.

  ‘Fine,’ Sarah said. ‘But don’t go laughing at me if I fall straight off the other side.’

  Milly smirked and Poppy frowned at her. While Sarah secured her helmet, Aunt Sophie quickly stepped in and checked Missy’s girth, before throwing the reins over her neck and clipping on a lead rope that she’d been carrying. Poppy stepped up to hold the rope while Aunt Sophie guided Sarah up onto the pony’s back.

  ‘You feeling okay?’ Aunt Sophie asked.

  Sarah looked nervous, but she reached for the reins and let Aunt Sophie put her feet in the stirrups. ‘I’m okay. The ground’s just a long way away.’

  ‘Hey,’ Aunt Sophie said with a laugh, ‘I think that all the time! You should see how far the ground is from Jupiter.’ Aunt Sophie’s horse was a whopping 17.2 hands high, but although he was huge Poppy doubted her aunt ever worried about how far away the ground was.

  ‘I want you to sit up nice and straight, shoulders back, chin up, eyes forward.’

  They were familiar instructions to Poppy – not only had her aunt told her the exact same things when she was learning, but she’d heard her use those words to every new rider she taught.

  ‘You’re a natural,’ Poppy told her friend happily as she walked along beside her. She touched Missy’s neck, loving how soft the grey pony’s hair felt beneath her fingers. She was all cute and cuddly like a teddy bear, and Poppy had spent plenty of time snuggling her when she’d first started coming to Starlight.

  ‘It’s actually not as bad as I thought it would be,’ Sarah said as she rode.

  ‘Told you,’ Poppy said, ready to burst she was so excited that her friend was actually, finally, on a horse.

  ‘I didn’t say I liked it, just that it wasn’t bad.’

  Poppy rolled her eyes and pulled a silly face, which made Sarah laugh.

  ‘Okay, now that you’re up there, let’s halt and I’ll show you how to hold the reins properly,’ Aunt Sophie instructed. ‘When we ask for a halt, we sit up straight, squeeze our butt and sit deep in the saddle, with a light pressure on the reins, hands closed.’

  Of course, Aunt Sophie was the one making Missy stop this time, but she was teaching Sarah how to do it if she was riding on her own. She went on to show Sarah how to hold the reins properly with her thumb on top, and Poppy stayed put when they walked off. Once she’d watched them walk around for a few minutes she went back to stand with Milly.

  ‘She looks good,’ Katie said as she approached them from behind.

  Poppy nodded. ‘I just can’t believe she’s actually sitting on a horse.’

  Milly silently passed her Crystal’s reins, but Poppy could see she was bursting to say something and it wasn’t like Milly to hold back when she had an opinion.

  ‘What is it?’ Poppy asked.

  Milly made a face, then collapsed dramatically over her pony’s neck, arms looped around him. ‘I know this sounds bad, but I just don’t get how you and Sarah can be best friends if she doesn’t even like horses a little bit.’

  ‘Milly!’ Katie scolded.

  ‘What? It’s true! Don’t tell me you weren’t thinking the exact same thing.’

  Poppy leaned against Crystal, eyes trained on Sarah and Missy. Aunt Sophie had her twenty-foot rope extended now so that Sarah was being lunged in a small circle, still just walking, but learning properly.

  ‘It’s all right, I know what you mean,’ she told Milly. ‘I guess, where I grew up, none of my friends have ever been that into horses. It was always just me who was lucky enough to have an aunt with stables. And before Crystal, I only ever came here in the holidays.’

  ‘It’s just kind of crazy when you are completely obsessed with horses.’

  Katie reached over and slapped Milly’s helmet with her whip. ‘Don’t be mean to Poppy.’

  ‘I’m not being mean!’ Milly scowled. ‘You’re the one whacking me!’ They didn’t usually carry whips for their ponies, but the last time they’d been riding Aunt Sophie had told them to practise holding them sometimes when they were riding.

  ‘I guess at home it doesn’t matter. We have heaps of fun and she lets me harp on about horses anyway.’ Poppy laughed. ‘I spend so much time at her house, it’s so cool; her mum makes the most amazing noodles and dumplings.’

  ‘She seems really nice,’ Katie said. ‘And I’ll bet she ends up loving riding once she gets the hang of it.’

  ‘She is. She’s super nice,’ Poppy said, wanting to defend Sarah. It was tough sometimes because she didn’t love horses, but she was still her best friend. ‘We met when her family moved to Melbourne, when we were like six. She’s been my best friend ever since.’

  ‘Is she Chinese?’ Milly asked.

  ‘Duh.’ Katie hit Milly with her whip again and Poppy tried to flick her with her reins, which made Milly howl and leap out of the way, alarming a sleepy-looking Joe.

  ‘Yes. Why?’

  ‘I dunno, just wondering if it’s a Chinese thing, not liking horses. But she seems cool. I don’t want to not like her.’

  Poppy cracked up. She was pretty sure there were millions of Chinese girls who loved horses. It annoyed her that Milly thought it was weird to be friends with someone just because they didn’t like horses. She’d never have thought about it like that. Sarah was Sarah. They’d been best friends since forever, and nothing was going to change that. If Sarah discovered that she liked riding, then Poppy’d be over the moon. But if she didn’t, so what?

  ‘That was kind of cool,’ Sarah announced when she joined them, a grin on her face that made Poppy’s heart leap. She couldn’t believe Sarah was actually smiling when earlier she’d just about been in tears over the idea of riding.

  ‘But of course! Horses are, like, the best things EVER!’ Milly
said.

  ‘I knew you’d love it!’ Poppy laughed.

  ‘I wouldn’t say that I loved it, but it wasn’t that bad. Once I got used to the movement.’

  Poppy met Aunt Sophie’s gaze, and she could tell that her aunt was pleased with how everything was going, too. It must have been strange for her, teaching Sarah. The kids who came to Starlight for riding lessons loved horses and were desperate to learn.

  ‘I mentioned to Sarah that you might like to take her for a look around the farm on horseback. Perhaps do a short trail, just at a walk.’

  ‘Sure thing,’ Poppy agreed. ‘I’ll lead her and we can go really slow.’

  ‘Sounds good,’ Katie agreed.

  ‘We might even have Sarah jumping by the time we get back!’ Milly announced dramatically.

  Poppy rolled her eyes. Milly was always over-enthusiastic, and it seemed that getting Sarah to learn everything about horse-riding in a couple of hours was her next harebrained idea.

  ‘The only jumping I’ll be doing is off this horse!’ Sarah replied.

  Poppy gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. ‘Don’t listen to Milly,’ she said as Milly started to ride away. ‘We all know she’s kind of cuckoo.’ Poppy made a face and twirled her finger in circles around her ear.

  ‘I can hear you. You do know that, right?’ Milly called out.

  Poppy just laughed, holding up her hand for a high-five with Katie.

  ‘So you’re okay about going on a trail ride with us?’ Poppy asked in a low voice so only Sarah could hear. Poppy absently stroked Missy’s soft neck as she looked up at Sarah.

  ‘Does that mean riding on a trail?’

  Poppy smiled and nodded. ‘Yep. We go for a nice ride through the bush, and we might even see some koalas out there. It’ll be cool.’

  Sarah shrugged. ‘If you keep a very tight hold of me with this lead thing, I’ll do it.’

  ‘Lead rope,’ Poppy corrected. ‘And I promise not to let you go. We’ll ride side by side the whole way and I’ll be in control of Missy because I’ll have hold of her. But she’s always perfectly behaved, so you don’t have to worry.’

  ‘I’ll take your word for it.’ Sarah laughed suddenly and Poppy looked up at her.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You’re just so different here. So sure about everything.’

  Poppy grinned. At home, Sarah was the confident one, the one who always knew what to do. ‘It’s because I actually know what I’m doing here, I guess.’

  ‘It’s cool,’ Sarah said. ‘I can see why you like coming here so much now that I’ve been able to watch you ride Crystal.’

  Aunt Sophie had finished talking to the others and walked back over to hold Missy while Poppy mounted. Poppy settled into her saddle and kept her stirrups short, preferring them at jumping length when she was hacking out. Not that they’d be cantering or jumping today, but still. It just felt more comfortable.

  ‘So which way are we headed?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘That way,’ Poppy replied, pointing off into the distance, past the arena. She was going to take her on a nice easy trail. ‘It’ll take maybe ten minutes walking before we enter the bush.’

  ‘Listen up, everyone,’ Aunt Sophie suddenly said. ‘I want you all to remember what I said about fire today. Stay alert and be safe. I want you to enjoy yourselves just like normal, but be careful.’

  Poppy traded glances with Katie. Her friend’s eyes were as big as saucers.

  ‘I’m being overly cautious, girls – the fires aren’t in this area – but you’re my responsibility while you’re here, all of you, and so there is nothing wrong with a quick recap about safety. Okay?’

  ‘We’ll be careful, we promise,’ Poppy said solemnly.

  ‘I always have my phone on me,’ Katie chimed in, patting the belt with her phone attached to it.

  ‘Good. Me, too. So call me if anything happens. And nothing crazy, Milly,’ Aunt Sophie warned. ‘I don’t need any heroes if we do have a fire situation; I just need you all safe.’

  Milly blushed and nodded, and Poppy knew that no matter how fun and wild her friend could be, there was no way she’d be silly if it actually came to something as dangerous as a bushfire.

  ‘Anyone else thinking that we should just flag the trail ride and stay home?’ Sarah asked in a small voice.

  Poppy laughed it off, although she could tell her aunt’s seriousness had shaken them all. ‘Don’t be silly. The fires are in the next valley – not around here. Aunt Sophie is just being overly cautious. We’ll be fine, right, Sophie?’

  Her aunt patted her knee before stepping back. ‘Absolutely. If I didn’t believe that, then I wouldn’t be letting you out of my sight. And I’d definitely be getting all the horses to a safer location.’

  The girls set off in silence. Poppy fell deep into thought, imagining what would happen to Crystal if the fires reached Starlight Stables. She shook her head, trying to make the thoughts disappear.

  ‘I’ve got goosebumps,’ Milly said, making Poppy look up. Milly and Katie edged forward to ride side by side in front of Poppy and Sarah as they approached the trail leading into the bush and the path narrowed. Poppy tightened her grip around Missy’s lead rope and smiled at Sarah.

  ‘You’re doing great,’ she whispered quickly. ‘I can’t believe how good you look up there! You’re a natural.’

  ‘What if these guys got hurt?’ Milly leaned down and flung her arms around Joe, her chest pressed against his chestnut neck as she hugged him. ‘I love him so much.’

  Katie ran her fingers down Cody’s neck, and Poppy instinctively stroked Crystal’s neck with the back of her knuckles. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Sarah’s hand pat Missy, too, and she smiled to herself. Missy might succeed in winning Sarah over after all.

  They were surrounded by bush now and it was so peaceful, except for the sound of creaking leather and the occasional birdsong. The girls chatted quietly about school and feeding the animals with Mark, and she relaxed as Sarah started to laugh and open up. They had been riding for almost half an hour when Katie stopped and pointed up into the tree canopy high over their heads.

  ‘Hey, look up there!’ she cried excitedly.

  Poppy halted behind her, looking up into the trees and trying to see what she was pointing at.

  ‘Poppy! Look! There’s a koala!’ Sarah exclaimed. She was grinning like mad, leaning back to get a better view as if she’d totally forgotten she was sitting on a horse.

  ‘No way!’ replied Poppy, placing a hand on Crystal’s bottom and tipping back to get a better look. It was exactly what she’d wanted Sarah to see. If everything kept playing its part as well as this, maybe she’d get Sarah back here after all. ‘I haven’t seen any this close to the edge of the bush for ages.’ The koala was directly above them, not moving except for the slow chew of its mouth as it ate a leaf. Poppy loved the wildlife around the farm; the towering blue gum trees that were home to the koala, the low-hanging branches near the creek where the kangaroos often relaxed in the shade. It felt like a special place, and she felt special because she got to see it all and ride among it – she hoped Sarah was feeling some of that specialness, too.

  ‘Oh! Is that a . . .’ Sarah’s voice trailed off for a second. ‘Yes! It’s a baby, on her back. See it peering over her head now?’

  Poppy clamped her hand over her mouth, unable to believe her eyes. Sarah was right – there was a baby on her back, almost camouflaged against its mum because they were the exact same shade of grey.

  ‘That’s amazing,’ Milly whispered. ‘They look so cute!’

  Poppy laughed. They did look cute, but she’d never forget Uncle Mark’s description of them. ‘Cute outfit, nasty surprise,’ he’d told her.

  ‘Uncle Mark says their claws are crazy sharp and you should never try to touch them,’ Poppy said. ‘He said that just because they look like cuddly bears doesn’t mean they are.’

  The girls all sat in silence a while longer, watching the koala. H
er baby was almost invisible half the time because she was tight to her mum’s back, only peering over between her ears every now and then.

  ‘You were right about this place,’ Sarah said. ‘It is pretty amazing.’

  Poppy looked over at her friend, smiling. ‘I knew you’d love it if you gave it a chance.’

  ‘I’m not crazy about horses, but it is really special coming here. Thanks for making me.’

  ‘Thanks for coming!’ Poppy grinned. She’d been begging Sarah for years to come with her. It wasn’t until she had started talking non-stop about Milly and Katie that she’d finally been able to convince her. If only she’d told her about all the other cool stuff at Starlight, she bet Sarah would have come sooner.

  ‘Want to keep going?’ Milly called out from the front, already moving on. She was often the leader because Joe always liked to be in front, the little part Arab pony was used to stepping out and keeping his nose just in front of the others.

  Poppy nudged her pony back into a walk. ‘You okay?’ she asked Sarah as they headed off again.

  Sarah was still staring back at the koala and its baby as she gathered up her reins. ‘Yep, fine.’

  ‘You sure you don’t want to try trotting?’ Milly called back. ‘Or cantering or jumping?’

  Sarah looked shocked, so Poppy answered for her. ‘Yeah, she’s sure. Besides, the horses have already had a big workout this morning.’

  ‘Yeah, I know,’ Milly grumbled. She was never content with going slow.

  ‘Where did you ride onto that guy’s land?’ Sarah asked, her voice carrying loud and clear.

  ‘Oh, just up through there,’ Milly replied, pointing to where the bush thinned and you could glimpse paddocks stretching away. ‘We jumped an old rickety gate and raced to the barn. It was crazy cool.’

  At the time Poppy knew they’d all been terrified, but it was fun thinking back. She looked around, imagined seeing the farm and bush arrounding Starlight Stables for the first time. Sarah had a much bigger house than the one Poppy shared with her mum and brother, but even though it was large, there was only a small lawn outside. Poppy didn’t mind living in the city because she got to come here so often – she had the best of both worlds – but Sarah was such a city girl, Poppy bet she’d never trekked through the bush like this and seen what it was like in the country.