Alice felt relieved. He was doing it to help his dad, not because he liked Hannah. But as the big lorry pulled out on to the road home she couldn’t stop the ball of worry in her stomach unravelling. It seemed like Alice and Hannah were not only competing for a place in the showjumping team, but also for Finn’s attention…
Chapter 9
Alice wasn’t sure what to expect as Angus drove a trailer up to Park Farm the next morning. Ella had been vetted, and Alice and her mum had prepared one of the isolation stables for her.
It was another bitterly cold day, the odd snowflake drifting down into the yard and settling on the frozen grass. The radio in the tack room had been talking about this being the coldest winter on record. Alice and her mum were both wearing several jumpers and thick woolly hats, and they were still freezing.
There was a squeal and the sound of stamping and kicking as the four-by-four came to a halt. The trailer rocked from side to side like a boat in a storm. By the sound of the hooves on metal, they needed to get Ella out, and fast. Finn pulled on a hard hat, looking grim.
“It’s going to be safer if we can back the trailer into Ella’s new paddock,” he explained. “I don’t want to risk leading her across the yard.”
Josephine had an incredulous look on her face as the trailer reversed, as if she couldn’t believe what she had agreed to. Normally when ponies were delivered to Park Farm, they stepped quietly and calmly out of shiny lorries!
As Angus eased down the back ramp a moment later, Finn spoke in a low and calm voice to the grey mare. Ella was at the back of the box, which had been banked up with a thick straw bed to protect her during the journey. Her ears were flat against her head and she looked terrified. The other ponies in the yard looked on in interest, perhaps sensing Ella wasn’t like the other ponies that came and went for schooling.
Ella took a step forward, snorting, before launching herself back on her hocks and clearing the ramp of the trailer in one leap. Alice could see why Finn had suggested they didn’t lead her! After Ella had flown around the small turnout paddock a few times, Finn guided her into the stable by laying a soothing hand on her damp shoulder. Like a shot, Ella flew inside.
“Can we leave the stable door open?” Finn asked. “Then she can choose to wander outside, if she feels more confident.”
Calm was restored. The other ponies carried on eating, and Ella snorted from the safety of her new home.
“We appreciate you taking her in,” Angus said to Josephine.
“I’m doing this for Finn,” Josephine said coldly, heading back to the house.
“I’d give Ella a few days to settle here,” Angus said to Finn, “then resume what we were doing. I think it’s best you go back to basics: touch, establishing body space, that sort of thing. She’s going to be defensive for a while, settling into yet another home.”
“I wish we could tell her she’s safe here,” Alice said, thinking aloud, and Angus smiled.
“It would be much easier, if we could talk to them,” he said warmly. “But by using our body language and voice tone, we can communicate with her. I have a feeling she had a good start in life: a nice home, good training. There’s something there underneath the surface.”
Alice felt able to ask Angus things about Ella that she had been wondering for the past few days.
“Why did you rescue her? I mean, it must have taken loads of time and money…”
Angus smiled. “You’re asking why, out of all the thousands of ponies that might need help, why rescue Ella?”
Alice nodded.
“Truthfully, she just got to me,” Angus said. “Something in her eyes. We can feel so helpless when faced with cruelty to animals, and it’s happening all over the world. But someone said to me once: you can’t change the world, but for the animal you are rescuing you are their world.”
He paused, the same faraway expression Alice saw on Finn sometimes.
“Lima, Finn’s dog, was the same. There were thousands of street dogs in South America. Beaten, abused, starving. I wish I could’ve saved them all.” His eyes narrowed at the memory. “Lima just had something about him asking to be helped. I guess Ella reminded me of him in a way. Asking for help in her own way.”
Wow, Alice thought. Once again, she was conflicted, torn between loyalty to her mum and her admiration for a man who would go to great lengths to rescue a pony after seeing something in her eyes.
A few minutes later, Angus left and Finn and Alice stood outside Ella’s stable.
“So, what now?” Alice asked.
“We leave her be for a day or two,” Finn said, his eyes fixed on Ella. “I’ll just sit out here quietly for a bit to let her know she’s OK, that I’m still here.”
“But it’s freezing,” Alice said with a frown, hoping Finn would ask her to stay with him. He didn’t.
“I’ll be fine.” Finn zipped his coat right up to his chin and pulled on a thick pair of gloves.
Dragging her feet, Alice joined Fergus and Shelley in the main yard to finish the rest of the stables routine. Every time she passed Finn he was sitting on an upturned bucket watching Ella. Unlike the rest of the ponies who were resting peacefully, Ella looked as if she might flee at any moment. Suddenly Alice had an idea, and slipped off into the house, where her dad was working on his computer at the kitchen table. He smiled as she whirled around, boiling a kettle and rummaging in the cupboards for mugs and biscuits.
“Is that the new pony of Finn’s, the grey?” he asked, and Alice nodded. “She doesn’t seem like mum’s other ponies?”
Alice’s dad wasn’t horsey in the least but it seemed even he’d noticed something different about Ella!
Alice nodded again. “You could say that,” she said. “But she’s in good hands.” And grinning at her dad she gathered everything up before crossing back over the yard, balancing two mugs of tea and a packet of biscuits.
She smiled shyly as Finn looked up with a start. “Thought you could use this.”
He grinned. “Thanks.”
Alice perched on another bucket, warming her hands on the mug.
“Why was your dad so keen that we didn’t get involved with her?” Alice asked.
“Well, he just wants Fergus to do her basic day-to-day care, and I’ll do the rehab,” Finn said. “He thinks it’ll confuse her if lots of people get involved.”
“Oh.”
Alice was disappointed. She had hoped Finn might have trusted her to do some work with Ella while he wasn’t there.
Seeing her hurt expression, Finn smiled.
“But you’ll help massively,” he said, and Alice’s heart leapt, “by just being here when I handle her. Little and often is best. We’ll start by going back to basics like Dad said, and hopefully by the time she goes we’ll have progressed outside, and maybe we can even try some exercises.”
“Sounds great!”
Intrigued, Alice looked over at Secret, who was cheerfully trailing hay over his stable door. She wondered what he’d be like if he had fallen into the wrong hands. She shuddered, preferring not to think about it. Remembering what Angus had said about changing the world for one animal, Alice really hoped it would change for Ella.
Chapter 10
The next day Finn was back at the yard early to muck out Ella’s box, and he had his mountain bike with him.
The door to Ella’s stable was open, but judging by the lack of hoof prints or droppings on the frosty ground, Ella hadn’t left its safety. She gave a snort as Finn quietly pushed a wheelbarrow in. Alice had noticed that he always wore a hard hat when he was around Ella. This was unusual, given that Finn rarely wore a hat during his stunt work.
When Alice pointed this out, Finn gave a rueful grin. “She’s already bitten me on the head, and it really hurt!”
Once the stable was mucked out Finn quietly slipped a head collar on Ella, who pinned her ears back. Finn slowly and gently unfastened her rug and rolled it back, and again Alice winced at the scarring across her shoulder. S
he held her breath as Finn placed a hand on the skin, where the hair was just starting to appear back, and held it there for a while, closing his eyes and talking to Ella in a low, quiet voice. Alice watched as the little mare visibly relaxed, her tension starting to drain away.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Touch is a powerful thing,” Finn explained quietly. “By putting my hand on her injured shoulder, and thinking to myself ‘I know what you’ve been through’, I think Ella feels it somehow.”
Alice was fascinated. “Can I say hello to her?”
Taking her cue from Finn she quietly let herself into the enclosure, and approached Ella. Automatically she reached her hand out to Ella’s nose, giving it a pat. That was how she greeted every pony she met. Immediately Ella’s ears went back and, swinging her head, she snapped her teeth against Alice’s hand. Alice only just managed to pull back in time.
“What did I do?”
“You went in all wrong, over-familiar,” Finn said, raising an eyebrow at Alice. “Ponies actually hate having their noses fiddled with. Imagine an aunty ruffling your hair when you were little. It just irritates Ella, gets her cross.”
Alice felt hurt. “But I do that to Secret all the time! I always pat his nose and wibble his lip around. He likes it…”
Finn gave a smile. “Secret’s a good-natured pony. He’s never had anything bad happen to him, unlike Ella. So, although you might be annoying, he loves you, so he puts up with it. Do you notice he often starts to play with your hand when you do it?”
Alice thought hard. “Well, yes, that’s why I thought he liked it.”
“He’s asking you politely to stop it, unlike Ella who just snaps at you.”
Alice slumped. “So how do you approach Ella?”
“Here, look.” Finn put his hand on Ella’s shoulder again, holding his hand out flat and giving Ella one firm stroke, before moving it away. “Horses have amazing vision,” he said. “If you approach her quietly to the side, rather than going straight up to her face and getting in her space, she’s more likely to invite you in than to go into defence mode.”
When Alice went to see Secret a bit later she placed a hand on his shoulder, exactly like Finn had with Ella. She was pleasantly surprised when Secret seemed to relax under her touch, almost as if he was giving a sigh of relief. Alice smiled to herself. Having seen how Ella reacted to different body language, it made her think about how she should approach all ponies, even the friendliest ones like Secret.
Finn had offered to ride out with Alice, and she hoped he would notice how much more relaxed she and Secret seemed with each other as he rode Lachlan alongside her.
“My dad said he thought you were great together the other day,” Finn said, and Alice blushed with pride.
“He’s a brilliant instructor,” she smiled.
“Yeah, I guess he is,” Finn said. “I forget sometimes he’s a qualified riding instructor, because, you know, he’s my dad. I know he showjumped professionally for a bit before I came along. I think he’d like to have a permanent position with the pony club. Just as long as I’m not in the lessons!”
Alice grinned, thinking about her mum. They’d argued more than once when Josephine had taught her!
As they rode back into the yard, the ponies relaxed on loose reins, Alice was just summoning up the courage to ask Finn if he wanted to join her for a late breakfast when he glanced at his watch and gave Alice an apologetic look.
“I said I’d go over to the equestrian centre,” he said. “Hannah will have Barney waiting for me.”
Watching him cycle off, Alice couldn’t ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. Remembering Finn’s words about doing it for his dad, she tried to reason with herself but couldn’t. Hannah would be waiting there: pretty, popular and determined to get closer to Finn.
Finn was over at Park Farm most days with Ella. Alice tried not to get in his way, and instead watched from the fence, taking it all in. Finn had been working on getting Ella used to contact again.
“Now I can start to groom her,” he explained. “I can’t wait to get her looking good again.”
“Amazing!” Alice said, thrilled. “She’ll be able to go outside soon, won’t she?”
Finn shook his head. “That’s just what Hannah suggested,” he said and Alice’s stomach dropped, imaging him and Hannah having cosy chats during their secret work with Barney. “That’s my biggest hurdle,” Finn continued, seemingly oblivious to Alice’s frown. “It’s OK getting her used to us here, as this is where she feels safe. She’ll go outside when she’s ready.”
Then before he could explain any further, Josephine came over.
“Finn, we need to talk about your mare,” she said briskly.
“What about her?”
Josephine frowned. “Both Fergus and Shelley have been bitten while mucking Ella out, and I can’t risk them getting badly hurt, or Ella getting injured. She needs specialist care.”
Finn looked at her. “I’d like to come over before school and do it myself,” he said flatly. “But with the other ponies, I just can’t manage it.”
Josephine gazed at the little mare. Ella was eying her warily, but stood calmly next to Finn. Josephine’s expression softened, and she sighed.
“I’ll deal with her in the mornings,” she said. “Can you show me how best to approach her?”
Josephine had a lifetime’s experience with ponies, but she still listened carefully to Finn as he explained the best way to open the stable door and approach Ella so as not to startle her, and how to put her at ease before mucking out.
Angus seemed pleased about Josephine helping when he collected Finn a little later. “That’s what I’d hoped for,” he said. “Not that I don’t think you have brilliant grooms, but I’d like as few people as possible involved with Ella. And you’ve always been brilliant with tricky ponies, Josie.”
Alice noticed that her mum completely ignored this compliment.
“I’d rather you don’t comment on how I run my business, Angus,” she said tightly. “I’ll deal with Ella’s care, Finn does the handling, and soon it will be spring and we can all get back to normal.”
Chapter 11
A few mornings later, Alice was racing to catch the school bus when singing drifted over the yard on the still, frozen air. Stopping in her tracks, Alice headed over to Ella’s stable. Inside her mum was singing softly to Ella as she stood close to her and Ella was nuzzling her mum’s shoulder affectionately. Stunned, Alice turned back for the bus, only just catching it in time. She’d never seen her mum act like that with a pony other than Lachlan!
Her mum was back in business mode when Alice got home later that afternoon. She had only just gone over to say hello to Secret when her mum yelled at her to come into the office. As Alice quickly shut the stable door, Secret kicked it hard, annoyed at her disappearance. Hurrying into the office, Alice saw that her mum was busy filling in entry forms for the first shows of the spring.
“This will be Lachlan’s final year in the ring.” At the mention of her beloved Highland’s name, her mum’s voice softened, as she gazed up at a framed photo of the gelding at the most recent Olympia, his reserve championship sash proudly round his strong neck.
“I’ll miss riding him at shows,” Alice said truthfully. Lachlan, after Secret, was her favourite pony.
“I was thinking I might even get on him again once he retires, hack around the lanes,” her mum said, her eyes shining.
“Really?” Alice couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her mum on a horse.
“Seeing you on Secret recently has brought back lots of old memories,” her mum replied with a smile. “I miss riding.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a yell from Fergus. “SECRET!”
Alice’s mum looked at Alice resignedly. “You’d better go and sort him out.”
Outside, Alice was met by an exasperated Fergus, who held the special clip for Secret’s stable door in his hand.
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br /> “Ooops!” Alice had been so distracted by her mum calling that she’d forgotten to put Secret’s clip back on the door bolt. He was gleefully heading from stable to stable, greeting each of his friends.
“Go and get him!” Fergus said crossly. “Honestly, he’s nothing but trouble!”
Racing over to the tack room to grab Secret’s head collar and a scoop of feed, it took Alice a few seconds to realise that Secret was trotting purposefully across the yard and heading straight for Ella.
“Secret, no!”
Racing after him, Alice rattled the feed scoop, desperately trying to get his attention, but the little red gelding totally ignored her.
Hearing the commotion, Ella appeared at the door of her stable as Secret came to a stop outside the gate to her enclosure. She squealed furiously, throwing her head up and down. Secret, undeterred, whickered back. Then Alice’s mouth fell open in disbelief as Ella slowly placed one hoof outside her stable, before snatching it back in. Her ears were back in anger, but her eyes were fixed curiously on Secret. Then she took another step, and this time the hoof stayed outside. She took another step forward, then another, creeping slowly out until her whole body was outside the stable. For a second her white mane lifted in the breeze, shining in the winter sun, as she paused to sniff the air. Then she flew towards Secret, teeth bared.
Leaping forward, Alice grabbed Secret’s mane, trying to pull him away. But Secret stayed where he was, lowering his head and breathing out. The ponies’ muzzles touched briefly before Ella gave a squeal, striking out with a foreleg. This didn’t put Secret off and once again their muzzles connected, sniffing, nostrils flared. Ella stayed next to Secret, the white pony next to red.
“What’s going on?”
Alice jumped as Finn appeared behind her.
“I’m so sorry…” she started to say, thinking Finn would be furious.
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