The big triple spread, the bounce, the hanging gate, they all disappeared under Secret’s flying hooves as Alice laughed with delight. And to think she wasn’t going to jump! But she knew Secret so well: if he’d lost confidence then there was no way he’d be able to clear the fences like he was doing now. It had taken the crowd, and being with Alice, to put the spring back into his step.
Alice could sense the collective breath of the audience being held as she made a daringly tight turn down towards the last two fences, the last double. Had it been too daring? It left Secret barely two strides to jump, but as if one with Alice, the little red pony made the most tremendous effort and cleared the fence, landing and taking one perfect stride before the very last jump on the Olympia course disappeared under his flying hooves. All of a sudden the arena had become blurry as Alice’s vision was clouded by tears. The roar from the crowds grew as the commentator announced their time, which put them firmly in the lead, and Alice reached down as Secret slowed to a trot, hugging him over and over.
“Amazing, amazing!”
There was quite a crowd of people waiting backstage for Alice, all patting Secret and hugging her at the same time. Alice’s mum was crying and hugging Alice’s dad, who’d managed to make it just before Alice went on. Angus was grinning from ear to ear, pride all over his face. Celia and the Rebel Riders led a chorus of applause as Rosie and Edward clapped her heartily on the back.
“Bravo, young lady!” Edward smiled, and Alice blushed.
“Thanks to you and the rest of the mounted police last night,” she said, knowing it had helped Secret get his confidence back, and Edward nodded.
“The least we could do,” he said happily. “Your pony’s quite the hero!”
Devon gave her a cheer as she walked back to the stables, but there was no sign of Leah. Alice thought perhaps it was too painful for her. However, everything melted away when she saw the one face she’d been searching for: Finn. And just like at the summer championships when she’d leapt off Secret and he’d hugged her so tightly, he did the same again, and Alice felt nothing but contentment. It was her, Secret and Finn, and now they could go home.
In the end, no one could come near Alice’s time. They were the fastest by over three seconds. There was a huge cheer as the last rider finished, a red-haired boy on a lovely bay who congratulated Alice backstage where she was walking Secret round and round.
“Congratulations,” he grinned. “I tried, couldn’t do it. Your pony is something else. You’re totally going to be the new pony club hero now!”
Alice remembered the days of coaxing Secret into the show ring, how he’d hated it so, and how she’d had to really convince her mum to let her go to the jumping lessons at pony club. Everything had been worth it, for this moment. A steward brought over her gorgeous winner’s rug, and, fastening it over the saddle, Alice swung herself back up, ready to go back into the huge arena for the best lap of honour of her life. But something was niggling away at her.
As Secret stood proudly between the two Christmas trees, the spotlight beaming down on him as a lady in a sparkly black dress handed Alice a huge trophy, the commentator stood next to them and gave Secret a pat.
“Wonderfully ridden, young lady,” he smiled, before turning to the audience. “For those who weren’t here last night,” he continued, “you might not realise that this pair have been very brave recently…”
And as he recounted Secret’s tale, Alice felt tears prick her eyes. When the commentator handed her the microphone, she knew she had to say something.
“Um…” She hesitated, her voice sounding years younger as it resounded around the arena. “I just wanted to say…” She swallowed hard. “There was another pony entered for this class, a pony who has someone who loves him just as much as I love Secret.” She held the trophy up. “This is for you too, Leah and Kite.”
The audience erupted into applause. Alice wasn’t even sure if Leah was still at Olympia. She wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d already gone home. But she’d meant every word, even if Leah couldn’t hear them. Seeing how Leah had had her future taken away had only made Alice appreciate Secret more, if that was possible. They’d won the biggest class of their career so far and they had so much more to give. But as Alice cantered round, waving at the crowds, delighting in Secret’s joy at showing off in front of such a huge audience, she knew that for now, she wanted to get home and reflect on what had happened.
“I came to say goodbye.”
Alice gave a start as she untacked Secret back in the temporary stable, once all the well-wishers had disappeared. She’d fully expected Leah to be long gone by now.
“You were amazing,” Leah continued. “I’m sorry I didn’t stay backstage with everyone. It was just too hard.”
“It’s OK.” Alice gave her friend a hug. “What’s going to happen now?”
Leah shook her head. “I’ll go home,” she said quietly. “Tomorrow will be the first day in years I don’t have to get up to muck out a pony. I guess I’ll be OK, I’ll have to find something else to do. I just don’t know what.”
“Actually.” A friendly voice made them both jump and Devon Jenkins leaned on the stable door along with a lady Alice didn’t recognise. “That might not be necessary.”
“Jackie!” Leah gave a gasp, and the lady with Devon smiled. Alice realised this must be the lady who’d taught her to ride, the one Leah had talked about on their hack through the park.
“Hello, Leah.”
“Now, if you want to come with me,” Devon grinned at Leah, “I think you might find you have a stable to muck out after all.”
Exchanging glances, Alice followed Leah out of the stable, giving Secret a pat.
“Back in a minute, boy.”
In Devon’s stable a familiar conker and white head popped over the door on the other side, giving a deep, rumbling whicker.
“Kite!” Running forward, Leah hugged the pony, burying her face in his mane before turning to Devon, her face wet with tears.
“I … I don’t understand!” she stammered, and Devon smiled.
“He’s yours,” she explained gently. “When I found out what had happened, I knew it was too late for Tally.” She held up her silver bracelet and touched the little horse head, her eyes full of sadness. “But I could honour him by buying Kite, securing his future.” Her voice cracked with emotion. “You remind me of myself. And someone needed to give you that chance.”
Leah was too overcome to speak, but tears continued to stream down her face as she clung to Devon and to Kite. Alice wiped her eyes as well, the emotion of the moment overwhelming.
“I’ve arranged it all with Jackie,” Devon continued with a smile. “She told me how you loved helping at the yard before Nick came along. Kite can live there if you’re happy to help out there again.”
“We’ve all missed you,” Jackie said. “I won’t be able to do the big shows, but we can go back to local stuff, all those things you enjoyed before.”
Leah nodded. “I’d love that. I’ve missed you all so much.” Then she turned to Alice. “I can’t believe it! Isn’t this amazing?”
Alice nodded. They were both getting to take their beloved ponies home after all.
“It is,” she agreed in a choked voice. “It’s a miracle. A Christmas miracle!”
“Are you sure you want me to wear this?” Finn said, sounding grumpy, but he was grinning as well.
“Yes.” Alice giggled, reaching up to arrange the toy antlers she’d clipped on to Finn’s skullcap. “It’s tradition – we always used to have a Christmas Eve fancy-dress ride.”
“OK.” Finn mock-rolled his eyes. “For you … I’ll do it.” And he smiled at Alice with such warmth that despite the freezing temperatures, she felt warm inside.
Turning back to Secret, she gave her little pony a hug. He’d been welcomed back home just a few days ago with a hero’s reception and had adored every second, going from stable to stable to nudge all his friends. Alice won
dered if he was doing it partly to reassure himself he was home and safe.
She’d gone all-out on his Christmas Eve outfit, and he was wearing a special red exercise rug trimmed with a furry white border, matching bandages and antlers attached to his bridle. Alice had always ridden out on Christmas Eve in festive wear, until the year Honey had been killed. It felt good to pick up the tradition again with Finn by her side.
“So tell me,” Finn said, his breath hanging in the cold air as they clattered up the road and towards the village where they were going to circle the green and get a hot chocolate from the café. “What did Devon say?”
“Well,” Alice said, thinking back to the amazing afternoon she’d won the Pony Club Christmas Tree Stakes and Devon had bought Kite for Leah. “She’s offered both me and Leah a work-experience spot next year at her yard. We can take our ponies.”
“That’s cool!” Finn said. Then he looked at Alice closely. “Isn’t it?”
Alice nodded, waving at a car whose occupants were smiling delightedly at the sight of the ponies and their riders in festive fancy dress.
“Yes, it’s amazing. She’d give us lessons, we can help at shows, we might even get to ride her horses. But…” She tried to think about how she’d felt as they’d returned from Olympia. Mainly exhausted from the whirlwind of emotion that had accompanied their London visit. Putting Secret back in his familiar stable with the nibbled manger, and sinking into her own bed surrounded by posters from years of Pony magazine had been the best feeling of all. “I guess I just want to soak everything up, just for a bit.”
Finn nodded, as if he understood.
“It’s next year,” he said. “Just enjoy Christmas first. Actually I—” He paused. “I’ve been offered something as well. Something that would take me away from here. Celia’s offered me a full-time job. Obviously there’s loads to sort, school, home, that sort of thing.”
Alice was silent for a minute. It had been hard when Finn had been away training, but it had always been temporary. They were always going to be reunited.
“What do you think you’ll do?” she asked finally, and Finn paused.
“I think I’m going to go for it,” he said, and Alice gave a start, absorbing his words. But to her surprise, it felt OK. She was OK. They were moving in different directions, different worlds, but their one connection – their shared love of ponies – would always draw them together even if they lived far apart. “But first,” Finn continued, “I’m just going to enjoy Christmas.”
Then as they reached the village green, he turned to Alice and smiled. Even with the ridiculous reindeer antlers, he was still the most handsome boy Alice had ever met.
“Whatever happens, I’ll always be there for you, Alice, if you need me.”
“Ditto.” Alice smiled, placing her arms around Secret. He jigged a bit in the cold air, and the green glittered and sparkled in the weak winter sun, just as the sound of jingle bells spilled out of the village pub as the door opened and some jolly pub-goers burst out into the early afternoon.
Alice smiled happily. She and Secret had been catapulted into the spotlight, both for their jumping success and Secret’s part in the dramatics of the Hadley Feeds scandal. Pony mag had even put them on the front cover of their Christmas special, and Secret’s face was suddenly everywhere.
Winning at Olympia had been a dream come true, and it felt like just the beginning of something truly amazing. But for now, Alice was going to enjoy being at home, hanging out with her beloved red pony. Burying her head in his mane, she smiled.
“Merry Christmas, Secret. And thank you.”
Thank you to the wonderful team at Nosy Crow, in particular Kirsty and Fiona for all their expert help and guidance and Nic for her amazing design skills and for producing the most beautiful covers. A huge thank you to my lovely editor Sarah who totally ‘got’ Finn and Alice from the start and has been amazing to work with. And thanks to the whole team at Nosy Crow who support the books so brilliantly from start to finish!
Special thanks to Jolie Darton, former owner of Butler – our beautiful cover star. Jolie made sure Butler looked like a superstar ready for his photo shoot! Good luck in your new home, Butler!
Finally, writing pony books really is the best job in the world and I must thank my husband Clive who supports me every step of the way despite his own very busy job running the family farm. And of course my children Lara, whose love for ponies mirrors my own, and sweet baby Jasper who smiles all day.
Copyright
First published in the UK in 2018 by Nosy Crow Ltd
The Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place
Crosby Row, London SE1 1YW
www.nosycrow.com
ISBN: 978 1 78800 0536
eISBN: 978 1 78800 0543
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd
Text © Olivia Tuffin 2018
Pony photographs © Matthew Bishop Photography 2018
The right of Olivia Tuffin to be identified as the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Nosy Crow Ltd.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.
Typeset by Tiger Media
Papers used by Nosy Crow are made from wood grown in sustainable forests.
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