Barefoot (12 page)

‘Keep the faith,’ she called and drove off, leaving Toni to go inside and face everyone.

Gramps was sitting at the breakfast table, eating silently and radiating disapproval and disappointment. He’d travelled all the way from South Africa to watch his daughter’s horses being eliminated. No reflected glory there.

Arabella drank her coffee, but ate nothing as usual.

‘Morning, Toni. Such a shame about the rain yesterday,’ Nola said brightly.

Toni was grateful to her for making an effort, but she wasn’t about to sit down and join them. She was late for the bus anyway, so, grabbing a piece of bread and her schoolbag, she left quickly.

Lauren had saved her a seat as usual and listened impatiently while Toni told her all about Jen being sacked.

‘That’s really tough.’ Lauren moved on quickly to what really interested her. ‘What happened? You didn’t reply to my texts and I didn’t like to call in case I interrupted something.’ She grinned. ‘Sooooo. How did it go? Did you get your guy?’

‘Not exactly…’

Lauren frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

Toni confessed. ‘He found out Arabella is my mother.’

Lauren was puzzled. ‘What’s the big deal?’

‘He said it was like me being part of the Royal Family.’

‘Sounds like he’s got a pretty big chip on his shoulder to me.’

‘Then
his
mother warned me off, too.’

‘So what?’ Lauren never gave up easily. It was one of the things Toni loved about her. ‘Text him. Ask to meet up. What’s the worst that can happen?’

‘Complete humiliation.’ Toni squirmed at the thought.

‘The way I see it, one of you has to back down,’ Lauren advised. ‘And guys have all that macho pride, so it’s going to have to be you.’

Toni stared out of the bus window. Everything seemed grey and pointless.

‘I so don’t want to go home tonight.’

‘Don’t then,’ Lauren said immediately. ‘Come back to mine for a sleepover. We haven’t done that for ages.’

Toni longed to say yes, but she shook her head. ‘It’ll only make things worse. Anyway, Dad should be back tonight, so I’ll have one ally at least.’

*****   Eight  *****

Her father didn’t make it back for supper after all, leaving Toni to dig around in the freezer with Nola for a fish pie and some peas. Another meal passed in almost complete silence, though Toni could feel her mother’s eyes on her the whole time and dreaded whatever she was planning. As soon as she could, she claimed she had homework and went to her room.

She couldn’t sleep at all. As the hours dragged by, she lay in the single bed, staring into the darkness. All she could think about was Cal.

Running his fingers up her cast.

Handling Rebel with that gentle touch.

His look of horror when he found out Arabella was her mother.

She reached across to the bedside table and fumbled for her phone in the dark. The screen lit up and she turned on her side, pulling her knees up to her chest, then scrolled through the texts from him.

They were short and gave nothing away.

Did that mean he felt nothing? Or was it just a boy thing. Like Lauren was always telling her. She rolled onto her back again and watched the screen fade to black, and stared into the darkness. Except it wasn’t dark, she realised. A faint glow lit up her room through a gap in the curtains. She activated her phone again to check the time.

Just after three. Too early for dawn.

Something didn’t feel right. She threw back the duvet and crept over to the window and opened the curtains. Just beyond the lower barn, she could see the flames rising.

Oh my God! The barn was on fire.

Toni knew she should do something, but found herself completely paralysed.

An image of Grace crashed into her mind. Buster was safe in his field, but Grace was trapped in her stable.  Along with all the other horses who came in at night.

Toni catapulted across the room and flung open the bedroom door, screaming as she went.

‘Fire! Get up! Fire!’

She shot into her parents’ bedroom, turning on the light as she went, and Arabella sat bolt upright immediately.

‘What the hell’s going on?’

‘It’s a fire. In the yard.’ She looked round frantically, but her mother was alone. ‘Dad. Where’s Dad?’

Arabella was on her feet already.  ‘He’s sleeping downstairs in the snug.’ She shoved Toni out of the way and headed for the stairs. ‘Stephen!  Fire!’ she yelled as she half-stumbled down to the bottom, then limped heavily across the hall. ‘Stephen! Up now!’

Her father appeared before Toni was even halfway down the stairs, his hair messy from sleep. Arabella had vanished.

‘Where?’ He rubbed his face, trying to wake properly.

Toni shook her head. ‘I can’t tell. The lower barn, I think.’

Her grandfather appeared at the head of the stairs, Nola behind him in her dressing gown. ‘Have you called the fire brigade?’

She shook her head again.

‘Do it, darling. Now,’ her father kissed her briefly.  ‘And stay safe inside. I mean it.’ He disappeared too, leaving her alone.

Toni found she was still gripping her phone tightly. She punched in the emergency number, and they answered immediately. She crossed the kitchen as she gave the operator directions, then rang off and stood by the open back door. Her father had told her to stay inside, but the image of Grace sprang into her mind again and she knew she had to help her.

She stepped outside into chaos. There was no Jen and only Beth, the temporary groom, to help. Toni could hear Arabella barking orders to her.

‘It’s no good leading them one-by-one. We haven’t got time.’

The smoke was swirling round the yard now. Toni had difficulty seeing her mother, but she headed in the direction of her voice.

‘One of you get down and open the gate to the fifty-acre,’ Arabella yelled.  ‘We’re going to have to herd them down the track.’

Where are the flames coming from?

Smoke was spreading and the horses were beginning to whinny in fear, the sounds of their shod hooves on the concrete stable floors building up to a cacophony.

Grace. I have to get Grace.

She could see the source of the fire now and was overcome with relief to realise it was a horse lorry. Not the barn. Only a lorry, she thought with relief. A hunk of metal.

No, wait. Two lorries.

With shock she realised
both
vehicles were burning.

She could hear the fire engines approaching in the distance. This was no accident. The thought penetrated the fog of her fear.

And then another.

The lorries were too close to the barns for comfort. The buildings were clad in wood and filled with straw and shavings. They could go up in flames at any time. Arabella was nowhere to be seen, the expensive event horses clearly her priority.

Toni’s fear escalated again. She had to get to Grace.

‘I said stay indoors.’ Her father appeared at her side.

‘I need to get Grace out. I can’t leave her, Dad,’ she pleaded with him.

He looked at the flames, assessing the danger. ‘We can’t risk going in the front. Stick close to me.’ He led her round the back of the barn to a door rarely opened, and shoved it with his shoulder several times, but it didn’t budge.

‘Looks like it’s locked from the inside?’

Toni shook her head. ‘We never lock that one.’

He tried shoving the door again, then stood back and began to kick it instead.

The horses inside were getting more and more distressed, smelling the smoke, transmitting their fear from one to another. The fire engines sounded really close now, approaching down the long drive.

The door gave way without warning, and her father half fell into the barn, Toni following close behind. She fumbled for the light switch and the fluorescents flickered to life. Grace was prancing round the stable, eyes rolling.

Toni threw back the bolt on the stable door. ‘It’s OK girl, it’s going to be OK.’ She tried to soothe the mare, but Grace instantly backed into the far corner, half-crazy with terror. She threw her head up again and again, making it impossible to get her head collar on.  ‘Please Grace. You have to let me get you out,’ Toni found herself sobbing. Her father tried to help corner the mare, but it was simply no use. Grace wouldn’t let them near her head.

‘I think you just need to let her loose, Toni,’ he urged.

She stood for a moment, filled with the agony of indecision, then heard shouts from the other end of the barn and saw Beth and Arabella. For once she was thrilled to see her mother.

‘I can’t get Grace’s head collar on,’ she shouted.

‘Then don’t bother.’ For one horrified moment Toni thought she was suggesting leaving Grace.

‘We’re herding them down the track,’ Arabella yelled, as she limped from stable to stable, opening doors and using a lunge whip to encourage the horses. ‘Just let her go, Toni.’

Toni wavered. Grace could be badly injured in the stampede. But worse could happen if she stayed.

‘You’ve got to do it.’ Her father’s urgent voice decided her. She dropped the head collar and stood aside from the doorway. Grace didn’t hesitate. She shot out of the stable, passed Arabella and disappeared, hard at the hooves of the other horses without a backward glance.

‘She’ll be fine. Honestly,’ her father tried to reassure her, putting an arm round her shoulder. ‘Come on, love,’ he urged. ‘We need to get out of here. Now!’

She nodded, letting him lead her out of the barn to safety.

************

The sun finally rose, but it was a dismal dawn. A grey mist hung low over the paddocks and around the still-smoking, blackened horse lorries.

As soon as it was light enough to see, Toni went down the track to find Grace. The horses were unused to being in such a large group together and were competing for their position in the new herd. She could make out Grace through the mist on the edge. Each time she bent her head to graze, a gelding would nudge her on, putting her pretty low down in the pecking order. Toni knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to go into the field with them this morning.

The cold and damp penetrated the thin fleece Toni had thrown on over her pyjamas, and she began to shiver. Grace wasn’t going anywhere, but she needed to change and warm up.

In the kitchen she found the firemen crowded round the Aga warming their hands, with Nola doling out cups of tea and chocolate biscuits. She handed her a mug and Toni cupped her hands round it gratefully.

‘Where’s Grandad?’

‘I sent him back to bed.’ Her grandmother looked worried. ‘All the excitement isn’t good for him.’ She glanced across to the table, where Toni’s father was sitting being questioned by a policeman. ‘That man looks terribly young.’ She frowned. ‘Do you think he knows what he’s doing?’

‘I’m sure he does.’ Toni sipped her tea, moving closer to hear what they were saying.