SANDY LANE STABLES, BOOK 5 - DREAM PONY

CHAPTER 10 OLD FRIENDS NEW FRIENDS

It was a Saturday afternoon. Jess adjusted Skylark's saddle and did up the girth. "Are you ready for a hack, Skylark?" she whispered into the pony's ear. "Because I am." The last two weeks had been busy. There was school and homework and after school jobs around the house to fit in as well. Every evening, as soon as she was able, Jess would cycle the twenty minutes to Rychester to spend time with Skylark. At the end of the first week, she had ridden her pony at last. "You've been wise to wait," Amy told her encouragingly as she had watched Jess ride in the warmth of the indoor school. Skylark had been perfectly sound and to Jess's delight, there seemed to be no lasting damage to the pony's knees. One evening there was another publicity photo session with the Daily Advertiser, the Rychester Stables sign

prominently displayed in the background. "Let's show them a fit eager pony, and a healthy and happy rider," Jasper had urged Jess, shoving a bottle of New Improved Mango Miracle Shampoo into her hand as she smiled broadly for the camera. Camilla was often at the stables in the evening too. She would ride Apollo in the indoor school, training him for the Ash Hill show, and Jess watched them jump with admiration. Apollo cleared the jumps effortlessly, with a proud flick of his tail. Jess noticed the Camilla kept him on a very tight rein which caused the palomino pony to skip and toss his head. But the more Apollo pirouetted, the tighter Camilla sat to the saddle. She didn't flinch or move a muscle. After all the lessons in the indoor school during the week, Jess was looking forward to a relaxing hack in the open air. She swung herself up into Skylark's saddle and gathered up the reins. Just as she was preparing to walk on, a voice at her shoulder stopped her. "Give Skylark a good run now." Jasper's voice was brisk and efficient. "She needs the exercise." "Yes," Jess replied eagerly, "But I'm not going to take any risks." "Absolutely," Jasper said. "You need to save yourself and that pony for Ash Hill Show. After all it's not only Rychester you'll be jumping for. The Daily Advertiser will be following your progress with interest too. So you'd better come back with a rosette. Now go on, enjoy your hack." He gave Skylark a smart slap on the rump and the little pony lurched forward. Jess, temporarily unseated, put a steadying hand on the front of the saddle and

thought about what Jasper had said... 'you'd better come back with a rosette'. Jess felt vaguely uneasy, bullied almost. But Jasper was relying on her and that made her feel important. "We'll have to train hard Skylark," she whispered to her pony. "But we can do it." "We can do it," she repeated silently to herself and her heart began to beat faster as she thought about the competition. She was a part of this place now, and she would do well for Rychester. She couldn't wait to talk more about Ash Hill with Camilla, and as she walked on towards where Camilla and Apollo were waiting, a thought occurred to her. "Camilla, do you want to do some training for Rychester tonight?" she asked her new friends as she drew nearer. "Apollo's quite fearless around the ring, it might be good for Skylark to follow him and see what kind of a team we'd really make." Camilla glanced at her impatiently. "Tonight? Sorry, Jess I'm busy. Lucy and Samantha are coming round for supper. Now come on, slow coach, we've been waiting ages for you. Let's get going!" Jess felt strangely deflated that she hadn't been included in Camilla's plans as she followed on out of the stables and down the lane. Still, she couldn't think about that now. The ride was winding its way out of the yard. Samantha rode her brown pony, Amber, Lucy was on Dido, and Allison was riding Rychester's Jackdaw. These were the same girls who had ridden with Camilla that day on the cliff tops. But like Camilla, they had shown no sign of having recognized Jess. Well, why should they? Jess thought. I look

completely different. Now I'm riding a beautifully turned-out pony and wearing Camilla's smart jods and I've even brushed my hair. Jess had taken to washing her hair with Camilla's shampoo which really did make it smell nice. I look completely different from when I was riding shaggy little Minstrel in my scruffy old anorak, Jess thought to herself. "So you're jumping Skylark at Ash Hill?" Samantha interrupted her thoughts as the ride clattered down the lane. "Yes." Jess threw her reply back over her shoulder. "If we're ready." "You'll be ready," Camilla joined in. "Anyway, Apollo's bound to win tons of stuff. You can watch me and she how it's done, Jess." "Honestly, Camilla," Allison retorted. "You're such a show-off. All five of us are entered for Ash Hill. And there's a good chance we might win the team medal if our scores are any good." Camilla smiled gleefully. "That's true, Allison, so of course you might win something," she conceded. "But it'll be me and Apollo galloping away with the Open Jumping trophy." "Show us how you're going to do it then, Cam." Allison's voice was excited as they turned the ponies off the lane and into a stubble field. "See those logs over there?" She pointed to the edge of the field where a pile of timber was stacked toweringly high. Sharp twigs and coarse brush stuck out from the log pile, and the whole construction looked very precarious. "Bet you can't jump that."