by Amy Brown
Luana stopped and stared at Jade for what felt like half an hour, then waddled away.
A couple of boys started laughing, until Luana silenced them with a terrifyingly blank look.
When Mrs Crawford arrived and announced that there would be a seating plan, everyone except Jade groaned.
‘Right, people, starting in the far corner next to my desk, I’d like Luana, Richard, Lucy, Rhys, Whare, Rocko, Maria, Ryan, Jade (welcome to Flaxton, Jade), Pohatu, Drina—’, the list went on, but Jade stopped listening after her name was called. While her classmates whined about having to sit next to a member of the opposite sex and being separated from their friends, Jade went to her desk and almost began to relax. When she saw that the boy on her right was surreptitiously reading a Horse Trader, she felt even better.
‘What are you reading?’ she asked.
The boy jumped and quickly bundled the paper into his bag. ‘None of your business.’
‘I like horses, too. I’ve got a pony.’
‘Good for you,’ he said defensively. Jade decided that he probably didn’t want to be seen talking to the new girl about ponies, so she understood.
Pohatu, on her left, was scribbling quietly on his pencil tin.
The morning was boring but painless, as Mrs Crawford established class rules and handed out a stationery list. But at the beginning of lunchtime, as Jade had feared, the day went downhill.
In the quad, everyone was sitting in groups talking or throwing balls around. With nothing better to do, Jade sat under a tree, ate her sandwich and tried to draw a horse on the front of her new exercise book. She was good at drawing, but getting the legs right was tricky, so she decided to draw her horse standing in long grass.
A shadow fell across her drawing, and Jade thought, Oh, no—not Luana again! But it wasn’t; instead, two of the friendlier-looking girls from assembly stood in front of her.
‘I’m Laura and this is Becca,’ said the shorter one with a blonde ponytail and braces. ‘You’re new in Mrs Crawford’s class, aren’t you?’
‘Um, yeah. I’m Jade.’
‘Would you like to come and have lunch with us?’
‘Yeah, OK,’ Jade said, hoping she didn’t sound too relieved and desperate.
Laura and Becca, and their friends Sophie and Drina (who was in Jade’s class), sat in the middle of the quad, sunning their legs.
‘Oh look, Becca—she likes horses!’ said Laura, pointing at Jade’s drawing. ‘Becca loves horses. In fact, she might be getting a pony for her birthday in April, isn’t that right?’
Becca, a quiet girl with bright red hair and very pale skin, nodded slightly and smiled. ‘Becca’s shy, so I do most of the talking, don’t I?’ Laura laughed.
‘It’s a good drawing,’ Becca said when Laura had stopped talking. ‘Do you ride?’
‘Yeah, actually I just got a pony a week ago. I’m a complete beginner, but I love horses.’
‘Wow, that’s so cool. My cousin has a gelding called Shady, which I’ve ridden a bit. Because I’m getting better and would like to do the shows next summer, Mum might get me one of my own. My cousin’s in your class—Ryan.’
‘I’m sitting next to him! He was reading a Horse Trader.’
‘Yeah, that’d be him. He’s been riding for ages and is really good.’
‘That’s awesome.’
‘Don’t talk about it in class, though. The other boys make fun of him—horses are girly.’
By the end of the lunch hour, Jade had found out all about Laura and Becca—Drina and Sophie were less friendly—without having to tell them too much about herself. Laura’s mum and dad owned the café on the main street; she had one younger sister, Lucy, who was still at primary school, and two fox terriers called Bubble and Squeak; and Laura’s dream in life was to become a small-animal vet. Becca’s mum and dad had a dairy farm just out of town, and she had an older brother, Matthew, who was studying to become a vet at Massey University in Palmerston North.
All Jade had to tell them was that she’d grown up in Auckland, and that since her mother had passed away she’d been staying with her grandfather. She could tell that Laura wanted to know more, but was too polite to ask.
‘Would you like to visit Pip after school?’ Jade asked her new friends as the bell rang.
‘I’d love to!’ Becca said, grinning. ‘Meet you by the bike racks at three-fifteen.’
Jade had packed her riding gear in her school bag so she wouldn’t have to go back to her granddad’s before heading over to Mr White’s. When the last bell rang, she raced to the toilets, pulled off her uniform and slipped on her jodhpurs and a T-shirt.
‘Look at you, all got-up,’ Laura said, when Jade met them by the bikes.
‘It was just easier getting changed here—I don’t keep Pip at home, because there’s no room,’ Jade said, embarrassed.
‘No, you look cool. That’s all I meant,’ Laura said, patting Jade’s shoulder.
They’d nearly finished the long walk to Mr White’s when the familiar whirr of rollerblades on tarmac approached from behind. Oh, no! Jade thought.
‘Look, it’s the horse-lover!’ the girl with bleached hair crowed. ‘We know all about you, horse girl.’
Jade went cold but kept walking.
‘Go away, Natasha,’ Laura said, staying close to Jade.
‘You don’t know who your new friend is, Laura,’ Natasha said, more quietly.
‘Yes, I do. She’s Jade Lennox from Auckland, who lives with her granddad on Grove Road and is way nicer than any of you tarts.’ Jade was impressed at Laura’s speech, but scared of what was coming.
‘You don’t know the half of it then, do you?’ Natasha laughed. ‘Where are her parents and her grandma?’
Jade felt hot, then cold. She bit the inside of her mouth. ‘Shut up,’ she whispered.
‘What was that? Do you have something to say?’
‘I said “Shut up!” ’
‘Why? Don’t you want Laura and Becca to know that your dad’s in prison for killing your mum and granny?’
Jade wanted to kick Natasha in the shin, but instead she stood stock-still and stared at the girl with the earrings and bleached hair. She was so glad she wasn’t crying, that her dry eyes could stare this troublemaker down.
‘I don’t care who knows,’ Jade said, her voice quivering just a little. ‘But I’m not going to talk about it.’
‘I bet you’re not. Your family is a disgrace!’ Jade was still staring Natasha in eye, and the bully was starting to weaken. What Becca and Laura were doing, Jade didn’t know. They’d probably disappeared.
‘Maybe, but I wouldn’t swap places with you!’ Jade said, still staring.
‘Watch your back, and your little pony’s too!’ Natasha yelled as she bladed away.
When Jade turned around, she saw that her new friends were still there, standing on the grass verge, waiting for her.
Jade was exhilarated after the argument. She hadn’t cried! That was a success.
‘I’m sorry about that,’ Jade said.
‘You shouldn’t be sorry!’ Laura said, too quickly. ‘Those girls like being mean—they thrive on it. Like parasites or something.’
‘Is it true, what they said?’ Becca asked, quietly, once they’d started walking again.
‘Sort of,’ Jade said, unable to look at her friends while she admitted it. ‘Dad was speeding. Mum and Grandma were in the car when it crashed. They died.’
‘Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!’ Laura said, tears welling up in her blue eyes.
‘That’s terrible,’ Becca said, putting an arm around Jade.
‘Please don’t be too nice to me; I don’t want to start crying. I haven’t really talked about this to anyone except a counsellor in Auckland and my friend Rose.’
‘When will your dad get out of prison?’ Laura asked.
‘Probably just before next Christmas.’
‘Are you angry at him?’
‘No. Well, yeah, but not really. I don’t know.
He’s sad, too. And it was an accident.’
When they got to the paddock, Jade was relieved to see Pip waiting for her at the gate; it was as if she knew her owner would need comforting.
‘Oh, she’s gorgeous!’ Becca cried, scratching a bit of mud off the pony’s brow and patting her neck. ‘Are you going to have a ride?’
‘I hope so, if Mr White’s around. He’s teaching me how to do everything. Though I guess we could get her groomed and saddled without him.’
Becca and Laura went to the shed and fetched the tack and grooming tools while Jade put on Pip’s halter and brought her into the yard. With some hints from Becca, Jade remembered how to put on the saddle and bridle. When Mr White came out and saw Pip all ready, shining from perfect grooming and tacked up correctly, he was delighted.
‘Well done! You hardly need me at all now.’
‘Becca, Laura, this is Mr White. He helped me save Pip from the pound and has been very generously grazing her for me. I’m pretty useless with horses, even though I love them, so he’s been doing everything.’
‘That’s not true—look, you saddled up today just fine without me. Why don’t you mount now and show me what you remember.’
Pip was in a good mood and behaved beautifully, letting Jade relax and focus on keeping her hands still and down, knees in, heels down, back straight and head up. As they rounded the corner next to the jumps, Pip broke into a trot.
‘Oh!’ Jade gasped, bumping in the saddle.
‘Don’t worry, just shorten your reins a bit—that’s right—and rise and fall with the stride. Hands still! Let your elbows bend and straighten as you rise. That’s not too bad at all. Now sit back, squeeze with your legs and on the inside rein, and bring her back to a walk. That’s the way.’
By the end of the lesson, Jade was walking and trotting quite comfortably on both reins.
‘Pip’s being so good!’ Jade said. ‘Would you like a ride, Becca?’
‘Pip’s not too tired?’
‘Certainly not—she could do with twice as much exercise,’ Mr White said. ‘Do you ride, Becca? I thought you looked familiar. Were you at Flaxton Pony Club’s Christmas gymkhana?’
‘Yeah, but it was my cousin’s pony.’ Becca blushed slightly.
‘You were at a gymkhana?’ Jade was impressed.
It soon became clear that Becca was a better rider than she’d let on—even in her PE shorts, she was sitting in the saddle nicely. Although Jade was a bit envious, she couldn’t help but enjoy watching Pip moving so well.
‘Why don’t you try her over that little crisscross, Becca?’ Mr White said. ‘I have a suspicion that she might have done a bit of jumping in the past.’
‘OK.’ Becca cantered Pip slowly in a circle and pointed her at the criss-cross. As horse and rider popped neatly over it, Laura and Jade clapped. The jump had excited Pip, though, who’d sped up and thrown her head in the air.
‘Just sit back and pull her in a circle, Becca,’ Mr White said calmly. ‘I think she enjoyed that.’
When Becca had quietened Pip down and brought her back to the yard, her pale cheeks were flushed. ‘Thanks, Jade, that was great.’
‘You’re welcome. You’re much, much better than me.’
‘What? You’ve only been riding for a week, haven’t you? I’ve been doing it on and off for the last year. You’re doing really well for a beginner.’ This could have come out patronizingly, but from Becca it only made Jade feel good.
At dinner that night, Jade chatted non-stop to her bemused grandfather about school, Pip, her new friends and even about the nasty Natasha.
‘How did she know about our business?’ he said sharply, when Jade had finished her story.
‘I don’t know. Someone must’ve gossiped. But I think it’s OK now. I told her what I thought of her.’
Granddad smiled. ‘Good for you, girl. And I’m happy that you’ve made friends.’
That night was the first properly peaceful sleep that Granddad and Jade had had since her arrival.
5
The fall
Sunday, 15 March
Dear Dad,
I should be writing a book report for Mrs Crawford, but I’d rather write you a letter instead. Actually, I’ve almost finished the book report and I’ve done all my maths homework, so I deserve a break. After I’ve finished this letter I’m going to Mr White’s to exercise Pip. Mr White says we’re both coming along in leaps and bounds.
Mr White is a nice man, Dad. I know I should be paying for things like grazing and hoof oil, but he won’t let me. He and Mrs White keep saying that they like having me and Pip around. Granddad doesn’t like it much, I don’t think. I promise I’ll get a job in the next holidays. I really want to start paying Pip’s way.
Pip’s so cool. I haven’t fallen off yet, which Becca and Mr White said is amazing. You usually fall off at least once in the first month, apparently. Becca is a really good rider and her mum is getting her a pony for her birthday in April. We’re all really excited.
Sorry that this letter is mostly about ponies. I’ll send you a photo of me and Pip in the next letter.
I hope you’re still OK. Did you get the magazines and stuff that me and Granddad sent?
Please write back soon.
Lots of love,
Jade
This letter was written and posted quickly, as Jade was keen to get back to the paddock and continue where she and Pip had left off yesterday.
When she arrived at the Whites’, Mrs White was out in the yard, stroking Hamlet’s cheek.
‘Oh, Jade, I’m glad to see you!’ she said, her face drawn.
‘What’s happened?’ Jade asked, noticing now that Pip and Brandy weren’t in the paddock. ‘Where are the others?’
‘They got out in the night—someone left the gate open.’
‘It wasn’t me! I’m very careful about that.’
‘I know, dear, I wasn’t blaming you,’ Mrs White said. ‘We’re careful to check the gate too. Someone must have opened it during the night. Jim’s beside himself—he’s out looking for the horses now.’
Jade started to feel ill. ‘It is my fault,’ she said quietly. ‘I argued with some girls from school. They know I keep Pip here—they even said that I should watch her back!’
Mrs White climbed over the fence, out of the distressed Hamlet’s yard, and gave Jade a firm hug.
‘It’s not your fault—even if it were those girls, which I can well believe. Some children at Flaxton School are as rough as guts.’ Mrs White paused. Jade had never heard her sound anything but sweet before now. ‘Anyway, we’ve done all we can for now. I’ve called our friends with horses, and Olivia at the pound, asking them to keep their eyes open. And Jim’s out with the horsefloat. Why don’t you wait here and keep Hamlet company? He must have been asleep while the others cantered out the gate—or maybe you just didn’t want to miss breakfast, eh, Hammy?’
Jade sat on the fence, stroking Hamlet’s neck and feeding him more hay than he needed all afternoon. Twice Mrs White offered her lunch, but Jade couldn’t eat.
As afternoon turned to evening, and Mr White still hadn’t turned up, Mrs White suggested that Jade go home.
‘No,’ Jade said, ‘I’d rather wait.’ As she said this, Mr White’s ute pulled into the driveway. He parked next to Mrs White and Jade. Hamlet whinnied at the float, but there was no answer.
‘You didn’t find them?’ Jade asked.
‘I’m sorry, Jade. I tried.’
Seeing Mr White’s weary face nearly set off the tears Jade had been holding back all day. Feeling guilty and defeated, she called her granddad for a ride home.
That night, as Jade sat grimly at the dinner table, pushing a chicken drumstick around her plate, the phone rang. She leapt up, knocking her chair over, and ran to answer it.
‘Hello?’
‘Jade, love, is your granddad in?’ It was Joan.
‘Yeah, I’ll just get him,’ Jade muttered. ‘Joan on the phone,’ she
called.
Jade could have sworn that her granddad winced. ‘Tell her I’m just finishing my tea—I’ll give her a bell in half an hour.’
Jade passed on the message and hung up. She had just sat down when the phone rang again.
‘Hello,’ she said despondently, expecting Joan.
‘Jade, good news!’ Mr White said.
‘They’re back?’
‘Almost. We’ve just had a call from a woman who lives way down Amberley Road. She went out to feed her horses tonight and found our two loitering at the fence. She says they’re both fine—no cuts or scrapes, which is very lucky.’
‘That’s amazing!’ Jade said. ‘How did she know your number?’
‘Abby painted our phone number on Brandy’s rug, thank goodness, otherwise they might have been at the pound by now. Anyway, they’re safe for tonight and I’ll collect them in the morning.’
‘Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be around first thing tomorrow.’
Jade returned to her dinner, finally able to eat.
When Jade arrived at nine the next morning, Mr White was out in the yards with Brandy and Pip, while the farrier filed Hamlet’s near hind hoof.
‘You must’ve been up early. I was hoping to help you collect them,’ Jade said to Mr White, after she’d flung her arms around Pip’s neck and given her a big hug.
‘That’s a nice wee horse you’ve got there,’ said the farrier, watching Jade with Pip. ‘As I was saying to Jim last weekend, she looks familiar.’ Before Jade could reply, Mr White spoke.
‘I had to get them early, because Brian here was coming around to fix Ham’s foot—he cast a shoe during all the excitement.’
She’s not a horse, she’s a pony, Jade thought, wondering where Mr Finch had seen Pip before.
‘Pity about the four white stockings, though,’ the farrier said, hoisting up Hamlet’s leg again and fitting the shoe against the hoof.
‘I like her white stockings,’ Jade said, slightly outraged.
