Foxy: Rivalry at Summer Camp (15 page)

“Foxy!” Alice screamed.

They clambered out of the brook, their hearts pounding, then scrambled out of their saddles and walked their ponies through the trees on the other side.

“I don’t want to look,” Rosie whispered, as they emerged onto the lane.

There in front of them, scrambling up from the road, stood Foxy. Alice saw ugly grazes all down his near side, blood beading rapidly from each one. There was a deep gash on his hip, stifle and hock. Foxy was trembling all over, his head low, his breathing laboured. He attempted to move, then clearly thought better of it. He swayed, then stood stock still.

Charlie grabbed hold of Wish’s reins. Mia wanted to rush forward, but she made herself step quietly up to Foxy, before gently taking his bridle. Rosie chucked Dancer’s reins to Alice and quickly undid Foxy’s scuffed girth and slid off his saddle.

Further up the road, a car had come off the road and come to a halt. The driver climbed out, shakily, as the door to the blue cottage was flung open.

“It’s Holly’s Grammy,” Alice whispered.

The old lady was very sprightly for her age. She ran to the road, her face full of concern,
and helped the driver over to the wall to sit down and recover.

Melissa splashed through the brook and emerged onto the lane. She already had her mobile phone glued to her ear, and within seconds the girls realised she was on the phone to the vet. She acknowledged the Pony Detectives with a nod, then took in Foxy’s injuries and the dented car with a sweep of her eyes.

“Yup, it’s bad,” she said, catching her breath. “Fifteen minutes? Okay, I’ll organise a trailer.”

She radioed through to Freddie and the girls heard him say that he’d get a trailer from Hilltop.

Melissa spoke to the driver to understand exactly where Foxy had been hit, so that she could tell the vet.

“He came out of nowhere,” the driver kept saying. “The pony came out of nowhere. I… I couldn’t avoid him. Will he be okay?”

Melissa avoided answering the driver’s
question as Amber appeared behind them, a grass stain on her hip from where she’d hit the ground. She froze, taking in Foxy’s drooping head, the dark sweat on his neck, his heaving flanks and the blood pouring from where he’d hit the tarmac. And he was pointing his near foreleg, not wanting to put weight on it.

“Amber, what were you thinking?” Charlie demanded, shaking with anger at the sight of Foxy.

Amber didn’t respond. She just stood there, staring at Foxy and barely breathing. “That’s the leg he injured before.” She spoke in an almost inaudible whisper. “What have I done?”

Charlie’s anger drained away at once as she saw the guilt and fear on Amber’s pale face. She leaned against Phantom, who for once stood stock still.

Melissa looked between the four friends and Amber. “Would someone mind telling me what on earth is going on?” she demanded. “What do
you mean by the leg Copper damaged before? There wasn’t anything on his form to say he had an injury.”

“This isn’t Copper,” Mia said.

Amber stayed silent for a second, then looked up at the pony in front of her. “No, this… this is Foxy.”

“What, Foxy as in your sister’s retired eventer, Foxy?” Melissa asked, confused. Then it sunk in. “You mean you had him at camp all this time?”

Amber nodded, her eyes fixed on the ground. Melissa looked stunned. As they waited for Freddie to arrive with the trailer and the vet, Amber stood, pale-faced and with tears streaming silently down her cheeks. She moved over to Foxy and rubbed under his chin, but the gelding didn’t respond. His eyes were wide and staring as Amber whispered to him, stroking his ear over and over.

Suddenly a car appeared, slowed to a stop,
and a tall, broad woman in overalls jumped out. Alice felt a flood of relief wash over her – it was the vet.

The vet examined Foxy, checking his eyes and heart rate as Melissa explained what had happened as best she could.

“He’s in shock on top of everything else,” the vet said, giving him an antibiotic injection into his jugular vein, and another into his hind quarters. Foxy staggered slightly, looking confused all of a sudden. “He needs fluids, fast. We’ll have to take him back to the surgery for that. Trailer’s on its way, I take it?”

At that moment, Freddie appeared, roaring round the corner. Within minutes they’d lowered the ramp right in front of Foxy, and helped him to move stiffly into the trailer.

“Okay,” the vet said, checking her paperwork, “just to confirm, this is Copper, right?”

“No, it’s Foxy,” Melissa said.

The vet crossed something out on her sheet
and scribbled the new name. Freddie, standing with them, gave a start.

“Sorry, did I hear that right?” He looked from Melissa to Amber, who nodded miserably.

“Yes,” Amber whispered.

Freddie stared at her, taking it in for a second. “But Lily’s been going crazy about Foxy all week! She’s hardly been able to concentrate at all!” he said, getting cross. “How could you be so thoughtless, Amber?”

Amber hung her head for a second, then she looked up with a puzzled expression. “How come you know so much about it?”

“Georgie may be Lily’s biggest rival,” Freddie said, “but despite all that the media say, they’re also close friends. Both of them nearly withdrew from Burghley so they could come back to search for Foxy. I’ve helped Georgie train so hard… Getting her to Burghley has been our plan for ages and she nearly threw it all away to help her friend out. I had to promise that
I’d keep a lookout from here, just to persuade her to stay. Didn’t you stop to think what taking Foxy might do to Lily and everyone around her?”

Amber stood miserably, looking down at the ground once more.

Freddie reached for his phone. “I’ve got to let Georgie know. She can tell Lily that Foxy’s been found.”

“No!” Amber pleaded, desperately. “Please don’t tell Lily! At least, not yet!”

Freddie frowned. “She has to be told what’s happened, Amber.”

“But she’ll rush home as soon as you call her!” Amber cried, glancing at Foxy. “And I… I’ve ruined enough for her already without completely wrecking her chances at Burghley, too.”

He put his phone away. “All right. But I’m going to ring Georgie as soon as I know more about what’s happening.” With that he jumped
into the Land Rover and drove away steadily, following the vet.

As the trailer disappeared, Rosie noticed the old chestnut pony they’d spotted during the treasure hunt. He was poking his face through the hedge, trying to see what was going on. Amber saw him, too. Her eyes filled up again as Melissa came over.

“Can you four take Amber back to camp while I make sure the driver’s okay?” Melissa asked.

They nodded, then silently splashed their way in single file through the brook. Amber trailed behind them, her eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

T
HE
Pony Detectives led their ponies back, the water soaking into their jodhpur boots. Amber stayed silent. After they were back amongst the cross-country fences on the estate land, she glanced up at the girls, then looked back at the ground.

“I… I didn’t mean to hurt Foxy, you know,” she said quietly.

“Funny way of going about it,” Rosie sniffed, not feeling much in the mood for forgiveness after seeing the terrible state Foxy had been in.

“Forget it, then,” Amber said, tears of frustration welling up. “I knew you wouldn’t get it. No one ever does.”

“Get what?” Alice asked, shooting Rosie
a look. Rosie rolled her eyes, but kept quiet.

Amber sighed heavily. “How difficult it is being Lily Simpson’s sister, that’s what.”

Charlie frowned. “What’s so difficult about that? Most people would think you’re the luckiest person in the world!”

“What’s lucky about having your whole life turned upside down because your mum thinks your sister’s ambitions should come above everything else?” Amber asked, her
pent-up
desperation suddenly spilling out. “I’ve left everything behind – friends, school, my home – all for Lily’s dream. Everyone I meet over here is only interested in me because I’m Lily Simpson’s sister. And she’s amazing at everything she touches. I’ve lived my whole life in her shadow, second best in everything. And here, at camp, for just one week I wanted to be the best.

“I wanted to go with them to Burghley, but Mum thought I’d get in the way, so she booked
me in at camp. I was meant to be bringing my reliable old pony Copper. Mum and Lily left on the Friday and I… I just had a mad five seconds on Saturday morning and decided to swap Copper for Foxy. Lily had pulled his mane and trimmed his tail when she brought him back into work, so he was good to go.”

“But you said he was roughed off!” Charlie gasped.

Amber looked embarrassed. “That was just to put you off the trail, that’s all. He had been roughed off , up until a few months ago. Anyway, I left Copper turned out in the corner paddock. He had plenty of fresh water from the brook, and there’s lots of grass for him in that field.”

“Was that him,” Alice asked, “in that field back there?”

Amber nodded miserably. “I thought I could borrow Foxy for the week, win the competition and return him before Lily got back. I thought she’d never have to know. I even rode Foxy here
the back way, taking him through the brook and round the edge of the estate. I led him through a paddock by some barns, which brought us out on to the track next to the hall. That way we kept off the lanes and out of the way of Aunt Becca, who drove to Dovecote Hall to drop my stuff off.”

“So that explains the chestnut hairs on the gatepost by the barns…” Charlie said, glancing at the others.

“I thought I’d got away with it,” Amber continued with a sniff, “but then Lily called home. She’d forgotten to tell Aunt Becca about feeding Foxy his supplement.”

“The devil’s claw?” Rosie asked.

Amber nodded. “Aunt Becca asked Lily how she could identify Foxy amongst all the ponies. Lily said it was easy – he’s the only pony with a freeze mark. None of the ponies had rugs on, so it didn’t take long for Aunt Becca to check them all. When she did, there wasn’t a freeze
mark in sight. Lily wanted to come back at once – but if she had, my plan would have been ruined. So when she decided to stay, I thought I was home and dry. Only, then I discovered that Foxy wasn’t easy to ride at all. I thought he’d be a cinch, because Lily had won so much with him. But with me in the saddle he just got stronger and stronger. By then I was trapped – I couldn’t tell anyone that he was too much for me without confessing to what I’d done.”

“And to top it all, you came up against Holly,” Mia sighed, starting to understand that being a famous rider’s sister might not be as great as it sounded.

Amber nodded. “Holly’s such a naturally gifted rider, and everyone was heaping praise on her,” she said. “I was second best again. It was like having Lily here at camp with me. I couldn’t help it, but I began to hate Holly.”

Amber was silent for a moment, wiping her nose. The she looked up earnestly at the four
girls beside her. “I know I’ve been an idiot, but I never set out to hurt Foxy and I honestly didn’t start that fire,” she said. “I’d never do that.”

“No, we didn’t think anyone would do that on purpose,” Charlie said.

Amber looked relieved. “I couldn’t believe it when you said that you had a copy of
Pony Mad
. I had to hide it – I knew that once you’d seen the photo of Foxy you’d figure out what I’d done straight away. I took it out of the tent when I had the phone call from Lily – it was the perfect opportunity to get rid of it while everyone was in the dining room. I thought you’d given up on your search, but you hadn’t. I overheard you talking about it again, during the week. You had a couple of clues that could put Holly in the frame, so I went home and dug out the letter she’d sent. I wanted to put you off my trail. But last night I realised I’d got a text while I was out pretending to look for my phone. I figured that you’d probably seen
the devil’s claw sachets, too. You were getting closer to rumbling me. But I’d dug myself in so deep by that point that I just had to keep going. I tried to get Watty to help me. I thought she’d do anything to meet Lily. But it turned out that even she’s got some principles, so she said no. Then I had to win the stupid competition, just to make it all worthwhile.”

Amber hung her head. The tears started to flow again. “I’ve messed up so badly, and I’ve been so mean to Foxy, and Copper, as well as Lily and Holly. I don’t know what to do, or how to say sorry to everyone.”

The girls were silent for a second. “Well, you’ll just have to hope that the vets can help Foxy,” Alice suggested. “But there is
one
thing that might make it up to Holly.” As they walked back together, Alice told Amber her idea.

As they reached camp, they were suddenly surrounded as everyone swarmed forward, wanting to know what was happening. Amber stayed quiet while Mia gave a shortened version of what happened, without spilling the beans about Amber’s lies. Amber looked over and gave her a small, grateful smile.

Once the Pony Detectives had convinced Beth that they were fine to ride around the course, the instructor clapped her hands, getting everyone’s attention.

“Well, if everyone’s okay, it looks like we can carry on with the cross-country competition,” Beth announced. As the other campers cheered, the Pony Detectives smiled. They had to put Amber’s revelations and their worry for Foxy behind them for a moment, in order to focus on the course ahead.

Beth carried on. “I’ve drafted in some extra jump judges from Hilltop, so we won’t be short. Right, let’s get going!”

There was a flurry of activity, and suddenly Charlie was out on the course. She warmed Phantom up, then headed out over the log pile. Phantom was keen beneath her, pulling slightly at the reins as he floated over fence after fence, making nothing of them. Her horse was fast, sleek and put daylight between his hooves and each solid fence, even the Joker. For the time that she was on the course, Phantom and jumping were all Charlie thought about.

Alice set out behind her, with Rosie and Mia by her side. They’d asked if they could ride together, and share any points. Melissa had agreed and suddenly the remaining riders had asked the same.

Mia finally let Wish stride on and the little mare flew. And, after all the training during the week and with Scout’s tail to follow, Dancer finally excelled. She charged round, head down, like a tank. Rosie whooped, managing to clear everything first time from canter, apart from the
steps, which Dancer goggled at like she’d never seen them before. But Rosie was determined and got her up them second time, earning a cheer from Beth, who was jump-judging there. They cantered on over the pheasant feeder, and opted for the hog’s back rather than the Joker, then finished off over the tree trunk in fine style.

Rosie and Dancer both puffed through the finish flags, but Rosie had never felt more elated.

Holly helped them all untack and hose down their steaming ponies, fetching buckets of water which they drank gratefully.

Amber stayed slightly apart, still subdued, as everyone else stood and cheered the final riders back, one by one or in pairs. Watty shrieked through the finishing flags, having missed half the fences on the ill-tempered Ace.

When everyone had completed the course, the Land Rover and trailer rattled back up the tree-lined avenue and into the lorry park.
A few moments later, Freddie walked over to the paddocks.

“Amber,” he said quietly, “could I have a word?”

As the last ponies were settled back in their paddocks, Amber and Freddie emerged from the Hall. Amber smiled up at him. She still looked pale, but it was like a weight had been lifted from her.

Freddie joined the instructors, and they decided to have the prizegiving under the shady tree in Foxy’s empty paddock. As the riders gathered there, excitedly chattering about the cross-country course, the Pony Detectives fell into step with Amber.

“Any news on the patient?” Mia asked.

Amber nodded. “There was a stone wedged in his hoof – that’s what was making him go
lame in front – and the grazes are deep but not life-threatening. He’s recovering from the shock, too,” Amber explained in a shaky voice. “The vet thinks he’s going to be okay. Freddie called Georgie, and told her what had happened. She broke the news to Lily for me, then Freddie put me on the phone and helped me explain everything.”

Tears welled up in her eyes again, but she hastily wiped them away.

Everyone fell silent as Melissa cleared her throat and addressed them all.

“I want to congratulate everyone who has contributed to Pony Camp. This year has been one of the most dramatic in the camp’s history, but hopefully you’ve all had fun and learned lots too. And the first thing I want to let you all know is that the firemen have been in touch this morning. They found that there was nothing suspicious about the fire starting. Lots of campers ate lunch outside the stables,
sitting on the hay bales. Someone must have rushed off for the course walk and left a glass on one of the bales by mistake. The sun was really intense, and the glass concentrated the sun’s rays into one hot spot on the canvas. The firemen think that’s what started the fire. No one is to blame, it was just a terrible accident.”

Alice noticed Watty and her gang were squirming at having wrongly accused Amber.

“Now, to the prizes!”

Melissa began to hand out the prizes for individuals and the teams. Charlie won the red rosette and the trophy in the individuals, but she chose not to accept it.

“If Holly had competed today,” she said, “she’d have won it, so it’s only fair that it still goes to her.”

Holly flushed pink as Mia, Rosie and Alice whooped and encouraged her up. Holly tried to protest, but Destiny persuaded her to go, and she collected the trophy and rosette.

“This is the first rosette I’ve ever won!” she said shyly, admiring it.

Charlie graciously accepted a blue
second-place
rosette, to a huge cheer from everyone. Alice was delighted with her fifth place and Mia with her sixth, which put the purple team in first place. The red team came second, helped by Destiny, who came third individually.