SANDY LANE STABLES, BOOK 5 - DREAM PONY

CHAPTER 6 DREAM PONY

Jess could hardly believe it - her pony was being delivered today! "The Daily Advertiser will be sending a photographer along to take a picture of you and the pony for the newspaper," the lady from Browne's Department Store had said on the phone. "You need to be at Rychester for eleven." And now it was 10 o'clock, and Jess hopped impatiently from one foot to the other as she waited for her mum to finsih the ironing. "Come on Mum!" she cried. "Calm down, Jess," her mother laughed. "There's a whole hour to go yet." "But by the time you've started the car and we've driven there and parked and... and... oh hurry up Mum, we can't be late!" "All right, I'm coming," he mother said at last, 

hanging up the last shirt. Jess told herself not to get her hopes up about her pony on the car journey to Rychester Stables. "It'll probably be an old nag," she said to herself. "It won't be beautiful. Don't dare to dream it will be beautiful - not now, when it's so close." As the car pulled into the driveway of Rychester stables, Jess's stomach lurched with nervous anticipation and her heartbeat thudded loudly in her chest. "I'll go and see if I can find someone," her mother said as they got out of the car. "Coming, Jess?" "No, I think I'll just stay here," Jess squeaked as she looked anxiously back down the drive. "I don't want to miss the horse box." "All right," her mother smiled. "Now, it's Jasper Carlisle I'm looking for, isn't it?" "Yes, or Amy Watkins," Jess said. Her mother walked towards the office. Jess stood in the stable yard, wishing she'd asked Rosie to come with her. But Rosie was riding at Sandy Lane this afternoon. They all would be. Alex, Kate, Charlie, Tom and Izzy would all be going out on the 11 o'clock hack. Nick would probably be taking it. On any normal Saturday Jess would have been there too. But, then this wasn't any normal Saturday. "Hi, I'm Camilla. Do you need any help?" a strident voice rang in Jess's ears. Jess looked up and found herself face to face with the blonde-haired girl she'd seen on the palomino pony that day on the cliff tops. She looked as self assured as she had then, but she didn't give any sign of having recognized Jess. She was closely followed by a gaggle

of three girls. "I'm waiting for my pony, actually," Jess replied quickly. "I'm going to stable it here." "Oh another pony. Brilliant. What's it like?" Camilla asked quickly. "Is it fast? How long have you had it?" "Um..." Jess paused. She looked hopelessly at Camilla's beautiful polished riding kit, her perfect hair, her prettily arrogant face and took a deep breath. "I don't know yet. You see I won it in a competition." "Oh, so you're the competition winner," Camilla said, laughing. "Is it your first pony?" "Well yes," Jess admitted. "Really?" Camilla crowed and turned to her friends. "Did you hear that everyone? This girl's won our competition pony." Jess squirmed in her shoes and reddened. "Well, if you need any advice on riding, you're more than welcome to come to me," Camilla offered now. "I've had my own pony for ages. He's called Apollo." "Um, well..." Jess didn't quite know what to say. The last person in the world she felt like going to for any advice was this girl. Still, if she was going to be spending a lot of time here, she ought to try and make friends. Jess gritted her teeth and swallowed hard. "Thanks," she said as graciously as she could bear. But, before Jess could say any more, her mother hurried across the yard and was talking to her. "I've had a chat to Amy," she said. "And I met a few other girls. They all seem very nice. Oh-" She caught sight of Camilla. "Have you made a new friend already, Jess? Hello, I'm Jess's mum." Camilla smiled sweetly. "Pleased to meet you," she

said rather grandly. "Well, if there's anything Jess needs to know about Rychester, she can always ask me. I can't wait to see her pony." "Well that's very kind of you," Jess's mum said. "OK Jess? Feeling excited?" Amy called as she joined Jess and her mother in the stable yard. "Hello Amy," Jess smiled. "I'm kind of nervous I suppose-" She stopped abruptly as the roar of a motor cut through the cold morning air and a horse box pulled into Rychester's drive. At last! The driver jumped down from the cab. "One pony care of Browne's?" he said. But Jess didn't say anything, for already the box driver was sliding back the bolts and lowering the ramp. Jess walked around to the back of the box, hardly daring to breathe. Everyone clamoured forward to get a glimpse of the pony. What would it be like? Before Jess even had a chance to look into the box, a red car had crunched into the yard. 'Which one's Jess then?" a woman asked, jumping out. "I am," Jess said, suddenly shy. "Jess, I'm Penny Webster from the Daily Advertiser and this is out photographer, Bob," she said, indicating a man by her side. "Is this your mother? Hello Mrs. Adams... nice to meet you." But now everyone had turned back to the box. Before she could say any more, Amy's voice interrupted her. "Stand back you lot," she said. "The pony's coming down the ramp." For a moment, Jess didn't know what to do. She  losed her eyes tightly and wished and wished. "Please let it be all right," she said to herself.

She heard the driver talking. "Whoa there little pony," he said, and then she opened her eyes and saw him grab a lead rein. Walking out of the box he pulled gently. "Come on, easy does it," he muttered and Jess gave a gasp. There at last was her pony, stepping lightly from the box. She was small, about 13 hands. A beautiful grey mare. Her eyes were large and dark and her step was light and dainty. She sniffed the air with quivering nostrils and looked around the yard inquisitively. She seemed to take everything in. Then she stood stock still at the bottom of the ramp and gave a gentle whinny. Immediately, Jess approached her. She held out her hand and placed it firmly on the pony's velvety nose. "Hello," she said. "Hello there, pony." The pony sniffed cautiously at Jess and nuzzled into her, pushing softly into her shoulder and nibbling gently at her jacket. "Like her?" Penny Webster smiled across at at Jess. "Yes, oh yes," Jess breathed. "Hmm, not bad." Camilla's voice rang loud and clear. "Not a bad little pony at all. I bet she's an excellent jumper too. I'll have a closer look at her later. I'm off for a hack now. I presume our ponies are tacked up, Amy?" And then she left, followed closely by her gaggle of friends. "She's a brilliant pony, Jess," Amy said brightly, as if to make up for the other girls' abrupt departure. "We'll get her settled down in her new home in no time." "She does look lovely," Jess's mother agreed,

smiling at the pony. "And what are you going to call her, Jess?" "I expect she's already got a name," Amy said, leading through the pony's documents that the driver had handed to her. "I'm sure you could change it if you wanted to though. Ah, here we go, it's Skylark." "Skylark," Jess said softly and the pony tossed her head. "It's perfect." "Well here's to Skylark and Jess," Penny cried, breaking the spell. "Now, we need to get some photos. Jasper Carlisle really ought to be here - after all, it is his stables and his cosmetics company is the competition sponsor." Jasper Carlisle owned Vrai Vert Cometics as well as Rychester? It was the first Jess had heard of it. Suddenly everything made sense - why she couldn't keep the pony at Sandy Lane, why the competition organizers had been so adamant she had to keep the pony at Rychester. But now Amy was talking again. "I really don't know where Jasper's got to." She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, we'll take a couple of photos of Jess and the pony first anyway," Penny decided. Jess nestled in close to her new pony and beamed as Bob began to snap away. "That's great," he said. "I am happy," Jess replied.  Happier than I've ever been before." "How about a shot with Mum too?" Penny suggested. Jess's mother came to stand next to Jess and the new pony. She lifted a tentative hand to Skylark's neck and smiled at her daughter. Bob raised his camera for

the picture. At that moment, a smart green Range Rover came roaring up the drive. Skylark started, but Jess kept a steadying hand on the lead rein. Everyone turned to stare as the car door swung open and a man in a suit climbed out. He was tall and his blond hair was slicked neatly back. Stretching out his hand, he strode towards them. "Hi there everyone," he cried. "Apologizes for being late. My meeting over-ran. No rest for the wicked, eh? Even on a Sunday. I hope I haven't missed all the excitement. Now, where's our lucky winner?" Amy beckoned Jess towards her and put her hand on her shoulder. "Jess," she said, "I'd like you to meet Jasper Carlisle, owner of Rychester Stables and boss of Vrai Vert Cosmetics, sponsors of the competition. Jasper, this is Jess Adams, lucky owner of the new pony." Jasper turned to Jess and beamed. "Excellent," he said. "I hope the pony is to your liking." And then, before Jess had time to reply, Jasper had turned to Penny again. "Are we going to get some photos here? Excellent. If you turn this way, you'll get the Rychester sign in the background you know." He turned to smile at Jess again. "She's a real dream, your pony. Welcome to Rychester Jess. The finest stables in the country!"