The Palomino Pony Comes Home (7 page)

C
HAPTER
F
OURTEEN

T
he days of summer passed easily. Slowly, Lily started to get better and settle into life at Redgrove, and Georgia started to worry about her less and less. She was managing to catch her quite easily too now – even if it was with the help of a big bucket of feed. Georgia loved bringing Lily in for a groom, stroking her champagne-coloured coat and talking to her softly.

One Saturday morning, as she combed out the little mare’s cream mane and tail, Georgia looked thoughtful. “I wonder when someone might try you out, Lily,” she breathed. “I wonder who it will be. I’d love it if it was me, but perhaps Sophie would be better. She’s much more experienced than I am, you see.”

Lily snorted in response and swished her tail. Georgia laughed.

“You’d rather it was me, would you?” she smiled before heading off. “Well, I’ve got to go and get Wilson ready now but I’ll be back. Promise.”

Georgia looked back over her shoulder at the palomino, watching her lazily resting one hind leg. She smiled. She was riding Wilson nearly every day now as Sophie seemed to spend most of her time out with her friends, either shopping or sunbathing, but Georgia wasn’t complaining.

Still, that day she had a lot to do. Wilson had
a big show tomorrow and needed a bath. Then, after she had groomed him, Georgia would need to clean his tack and help Melanie load the lorry ready for their early start. The show was one of the biggest in the calendar and Georgia knew that Wilson had lots of competition from all over the country in his classes.

“Easy, boy, easy does it,” Georgia crooned as she lathered up the soap on the bay gelding. Wilson loved his baths and stood quietly under the hose, revelling in the feel of the cool water as Georgia washed his ebony mane with shampoo. He dried in the hot sun in no time and Georgia sprayed conditioner into his tail before combing it out. Finally she ran some special coat shine over him with a soft cloth.

 “You look like a star!” she said, giving Wilson a kiss on the nose.

After that was done Georgia polished
Wilson’s show tack and prepared all his kit, his grooming brushes, water containers and bandages, remembering to pack some treats as well.

Lily hung her head over her stable door and watched all of the show preparation with interest. “Don’t worry, girl,” Georgia called as she ran past, her arms full of travelling boots. “It’ll be you in the ring one day!”

The next morning was the usual frantic rush to get ready in time, but thanks to all of Georgia’s preparations the day before they were soon pulling out of the yard and heading off to the show.

Sophie was asleep in the passenger seat. Georgia sat beside her, eating one of the sandwiches her mum had prepared the night before.

“Oh, before I forget, I’ve got something for you, Georgia.” Melanie leaned across and pulled out a little badge from the glove compartment.

“Groom!” Georgia read the word aloud and pinned the badge proudly to her chest. “Thanks, Melanie!”

“You deserve it,” said Melanie.

It seemed like no distance at all to the show, and soon the green horse lorry was pulling into the grounds.

Georgia took a deep breath as she looked around her. She loved everything about a show – from the rows of trailers parked up under the trees, to the gleaming horses getting ready for their big moment. She especially loved the hamburgers and ice creams that made up a show-day diet!

She’d been sad to leave Lily that morning, but Simon had promised to check on her at least six times that day, so Georgia knew she would be all right.

Melanie drove the horse lorry into their allotted space and Georgia jumped down …
straight into a dark-haired girl who was sitting by the adjacent horsebox. Tory! OK, so there had to be one downside to the day. Georgia hadn’t seen Tory since the training day at Janey Meadon’s, and couldn’t say that she was sad about it.

“Hello there.” Georgia swallowed hard and tried to be friendly as Tory flicked through a fashion magazine without looking up. “Hello, Georgia.” Tory finally acknowledged her with a dismissive flick of her wrist.

 “Oh, hi, Tory,” Sophie called out, jumping down behind Georgia.

Tory got up and the two older girls disappeared off together to register for their classes and collect their numbers.
Thank goodness for that
, Georgia thought to herself.
Peace and quiet
.

Sophie was riding in the show hunter pony class. It was one of the later, mid-morning
events, so at least it would allow Georgia time to give Wilson another good groom.

Georgia tied him up to the side of the lorry in the shade with his hay net. The sun was already beating down on to the showground and she didn’t want him to overheat.

Once Georgia had brushed the bay over, Melanie fussed around Wilson’s tail, spraying in some more silky shine and combing it out again. “Can you double-check the ring we’re in?” she called to Georgia, who was giving the tack a final polish.

“Sure,” Georgia replied, grabbing a carton of juice. She was glad she had dressed for the weather, wearing a pair of pale-pink bermuda shorts with a vest top and her old trainers.

She set off to find a steward. Glancing with pleasure at the beautiful show horses being slowly cantered in the warm-up ring, Georgia made her way over to a bowler-hatted man. But then her
blood froze at the sound of a familiar, unwelcome voice. She followed the source of the voice and to her horror saw Jemma sitting astride a chestnut Welsh stallion.

The girl was yelling at a younger rider with red hair and freckles who was nervously arranging a jump in the warm-up ring.

“You stupid idiot,” Jemma screeched, her cruel, mocking voice carrying loud and clear across the ring. “I told you to bring his other girth!” She dug her heels hard in the chestnut’s sides. He gave a snort of displeasure and broke into a canter.

Jemma was sitting upright in the saddle, her hands tightly clenched on the double reins. Georgia noticed at once how Jemma’s riding style differed from Sophie’s. Her whole body language was hard and unsympathetic, and the horse she was mounted on looked desperately unhappy, his ears tightly pinned back against his head. White
foam splattered against his chest, and his eyes were bulging with effort.

Georgia watched Jemma cantering around the arena until she suddenly realised that pretty soon the chestnut was going to come past where she was standing. She tried to turn away but it was too late. As she was about to pass by, Jemma did a double-take.

“I know you, don’t I?” she hissed, pulling the chestnut hard in his mouth and bringing him to a standstill. “Where from?”

“I … I…” Georgia stuttered.

And then, clearly, it dawned on Jemma. “It’s you! You’re the girl who took Lily! You TOOK my pony!”

C
HAPTER
F
IFTEEN

G
eorgia didn’t know what to say. She stared at Jemma for a very long time before finally she managed to stammer, “Lily was injured – she nearly died. We had to get a vet to look at her, but we saved her and we’ve bought her now.”

“Bought her?” Jemma laughed, and the sound was cruel and mocking. “Oh, please,” she taunted. “You mean the paltry amount you gave my
grandfather? That wasn’t payment – that was practically a gift. As far as I’m concerned, she’s still mine and I want her back. And what I want I usually get…”

“You can’t take Lily from me. Not ever,” Georgia said firmly.

But Jemma seemed not to hear her. She pointed at the badge on Georgia’s chest, looking her up and down. “What’s this then?” she sneered.
“Groom?”

Georgia opened her mouth to speak, but just then a steward called for the competitors for the Welsh pony class.

Wheeling the chestnut around and digging her heels harshly into his ribs, Jemma cantered away in a cloud of dust, but not before she delivered her parting shot. “I’ll get that pony back, just you wait and see!”

Georgia’s heart felt like it was drumming in her
ears. She raced back along the dry ground to the lorry where she ran head first into Melanie, who was rolling up Wilson’s travelling bandages.

“What is it? Whatever’s the matter, Georgia?” Melanie asked, sounding worried. “Have we missed the class?”

“No, no it’s not that.” Georgia shook her head.

Pale and shaking, Georgia told her everything that had just happened. When she’d finished, Melanie’s mouth was set in a thin line. “Well, take no notice. There’s nothing that girl can do,” she said firmly. “Lily belongs to me now; she hasn’t got a leg to stand on. Honestly, Georgia, I’ve had her papers from the Welsh Pony Society and everything. Lily is ours. Try and forget about her. She can’t take Lily back, she just can’t.”

Sophie emerged from the horse lorry at that moment, looking beautiful in her canary-yellow
breeches and tailored jacket, with her long hair tucked into a hair net.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“It’s nothing.” Georgia turned away, hiding her tears. She busied herself with Wilson, tacking him up and giving his coat a final polish. Regardless of Melanie’s reassuring words, she couldn’t forget the threat in Jemma’s voice.

Despite her worries, out of the corner of her eye Georgia noticed Tory slipping out of her horsebox and crossing the lorry park where she started talking to an older-looking boy. Georgia frowned. He seemed vaguely familiar. Curious, she turned to Sophie, who was arranging her tie in the lorry mirror.

“Who’s that boy?” she asked.

Sophie followed her gaze and shrugged, her eyes slightly downcast as she swung up on to Wilson. “Don’t ask me. Tory knows everyone at these
shows. She’s always going off to see someone or other.”

Georgia couldn’t help but notice the way Tory threw a filthy look in their direction even though she was still deep in conversation. Was she talking about Georgia? Or perhaps she and Sophie had had a falling-out?

 Still, there wasn’t time to think about that now. Sophie had started to warm Wilson up under Melanie’s meticulous eye and Georgia wanted to watch. Shortly afterwards, the show hunter pony class was called and Sophie headed off on Wilson. Georgia made her way to the ringside with Melanie to watch.

To Georgia’s horror, as she took her seat she realised that Jemma was in the class as well, this time mounted on a beautiful dark-grey gelding.

Georgia tried not to look at her, choosing to focus on the other horses instead. Wilson was behaving
beautifully, his trot fluid, his tightly plaited mane showing off the perfect curve of his neck and gleaming conker coat.

But as he trotted round, Jemma kept trying to overtake him. It looked as though she was determined to ruin his show as she brushed past him with just millimetres to spare.

Wilson spooked sideways, his ears back, his tail swishing.

Georgia felt uneasy. Jemma was clever, covering her actions with a big smile whenever the judge was looking her way, so he didn’t see what was going on. Eventually Jemma was pulled in first and Sophie second.

“I’m going to make an official complaint,” Melanie fumed as Sophie and Wilson came out of the ring.

“What’s going on? Who was that girl?” Sophie cried, clearly shaken.

Georgia felt terrible. It was all her fault. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again, lost for words.

For the rest of the day, Georgia tried to forget about Jemma and her threats to take Lily back. After all, Melanie had made it clear that she was the rightful owner now. Even so, Georgia felt a shiver run down her spine whenever she thought about it. She washed Wilson down and tied him up with a hay net before going off to have a quick wander around the showground, leaving Melanie with the horses. Melanie had met a friend and the two of them were chatting in picnic chairs outside the horse lorry.

She would have to keep her eyes peeled for Jemma. She didn’t want to run into her again.

“We’ll leave in about half an hour, Georgia,” Melanie called after her. “Go and enjoy yourself.”

Georgia loved having the chance to look around. Every show was different, and today’s show was no exception. She admired the sheep with their impressive horns and the Dexter cows in the livestock pens, before gazing wistfully at the long-haired rabbits in the pet tent. Georgia would have liked to have had a rabbit of her own but her mum always said it was too risky with a dog around. She bought an ice cream and a can of cola from a stall and was just wandering back through the line of horseboxes when a voice from the other side of a dark-maroon lorry made her stop in her tracks.

“I’d know that girl anywhere…”

It was Jemma.

Quickly tucking herself into the shadows of the horsebox, Georgia held her breath. Jemma was sitting in the doorway to the livestock entrance, flanked by two older boys. She couldn’t see their faces, but she was sure they were the boys
Georgia had seen her with on the field trip. Her blood ran cold at the sound of their voices and she shuddered at the thought of the three of them closing in on Lily on the mountainside, ready to beat her if she disobeyed.

“Nobody makes me look a fool. I want that pony back.” Jemma’s voice was snarling and menacing.

Georgia shrank further into the shadows of the horsebox, straining to hear the rest of the conversation.

“That little upstart thinks she can get one over on me,” Jemma continued, her voice growing angrier. “But I’m not going to let her get away with it! That stupid pony was given to me, and I’ll do what I like with her!”

“But your granddad sold her, didn’t he?” said one of the boys.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake!” Jemma snapped, sounding as if she was going to explode.
“Granddad’s done with the ponies! He’s totally lost the plot! Mum and I are taking over the business now!”

One of the boys spoke again, sounding worried. “But they’ll be able to find out if you’ve taken the pony. You’ll get done for stealing.”

Jemma’s voice was quieter now, like a white rage. “Then I’ll just say Granddad’s soft in the head so it doesn’t count … that he didn’t sell the pony at all. I’m sure there’s no contract or anything. Now, are you with me or not? Because you’re both sounding as pathetic as anything right now!”

The boys mumbled a reply that Georgia could just about make out as a yes before she sprinted back across to the Haydens’ horsebox, her heart pounding and her mouth dry with fear.

When Georgia told Melanie all about the conversation she had just overheard, Melanie looked a bit exasperated. “Look, Georgia, she’s
definitely a nasty piece of work,” she said, “but she won’t come to the stables to steal Lily. She’ll have more sense than that.”

Georgia hung her head. She knew Melanie thought she was silly to worry but she hadn’t heard the steely determination in the girl’s voice.

Melanie softened. “Listen, don’t worry. We’ll watch out for her at shows from now on, just in case she tries to make trouble. OK?”

Georgia nodded.

“I can’t have her upsetting my number-one groom now, can I?” Melanie ruffled Georgia’s hair. “Now, come on. Let’s get this horse lorry on the road.”

Georgia gave Melanie a small smile, but she couldn’t ignore the knot of anxiety still twisting in her stomach. What if Jemma really did carry out her threat? What if she came and tried to take Lily away? Georgia knew she couldn’t bear that.

Suddenly Georgia’s head went up. She just wasn’t going to ignore what she’d heard. If Melanie didn’t believe her, then it was up to Georgia to keep Lily safe. She’d made a promise to the little palomino and she was going to keep it, whatever happened.