SANDY LANE STABLES, BOOK 5 - DREAM PONY

CHAPTER 13 REVELATIONS

"Is this that horse show you've entered for on Saturday?" Jess's brother, Jack, rustled the pages of the Daily Advertiser and laughed heartily. "Ooh, listen to this," he read aloud. "The Ash Hill Show will be officially opened at 11 o'clock by Prunella Goldes, lovely star of the hit television series Horses For Courses. I quite fancy her actually. Think I might come and have a look at this pony show of yours after all." "You're revolting, Jack," Jess snorted in disgust. "Here, give me that paper. I want to have a look." She grabbed the Daily Advertiser from her brother, who stayed slouched in his armchair. "Hey give that back!" Jack called feebly, but Jess wouldn't listen to him and soon he left the room. Transfixed, Jess stared at the front page of the paper. For a horrible moment the Ash Hill Show faded into 

insignificance as her eyes followed the lead story. 'Proof of Animal Testing at Lab of Shame' the headline screamed, and then in smaller letters, 'by Penny Webster'. As Jess read on with mounting horror, familiar names leapt out and grabbed her by the throat. 'Vrai Vert Cosmetics has long prided itself on its cruelty-free beauty products," the column read. "Brands such as Mango Miracle Shampoo and Essence of Peach Perfume are household names. Part of their popularity derives from the company claiming that none of their products is tested on animals. Now an unnamed source has revealed that animals were routinely used for testing during the redevelopment of the company's bestselling Mango Miracle Shampoo, recently re-launched as New Improved Mango Miracle Shampoo. Vrai Vert Cosmetics' Managing Director, Jasper Carlisle, a local man and owner of the country's renowned Rychester Riding Stables, was unavailable for comment yesterday.' The piece continued for a few more paragraphs but Jess couldn't read any more. Her head ached and she felt a stab of pain as she remembered Camilla's words - 'Daddy set up Rychester with the profits from his cosmetics company'. Amy and Jasper's cross words in the tack room swam about Jess's head: 'What have you told the press about me?' 'Why? Have you got something to hide?' Did Amy know about all this? Was she Penny Webster's 'unnamed source?' There were so many things that Jess didn't understand. The one thing she was sure of was that animal testing was horribly cruel 

and unnecessary. Jess put her head in her hands. "I don't understand any of this," she wailed aloud. "What is there to understand, Jess?" Her mother's voice was concerned but distracted as she walked into the room, automatically picking up discarded clothes as she went. "Honestly, I wish you kids would clean up after yourselves. How many times do I have to tell you to hang your coats up when you come in?" Jess folded the newspaper quickly and tried to slide it under the table. Her parents had seemed happy about her having a pony - the last thing she wanted was for her mother to start asking questions about Rychester, what would happen about the free stabling for Skylark? She couldn't bear to contemplate that now. But her mother had seen her hide the paper. She shook her head. "I've seen that article on Jasper's company." "It's not going to mean anything bad for Rychester, is it Mum?" Jess asked earnestly. "I don't know what it will mean for the stables" her mother replied slowly. "But if the story's true, then I think Jasper's probably broken some kind of advertising law. Take that shampoo for instance. I know the label clearly says it hasn't been tested on animals. It could be quite serious for Jasper if that's found out to be untrue." Jess looked horrified. When the phone rang a few moments later, she was in too much of a daze to realize at first that her mother was beckoning to her. "It's Rosie for you, Jess," he mother said, holding the outstretched receiver. Still deep in thought, Jess took the phone and heard her friend's excited voice 

on the other end of the line. "Jess, have you seen the paper? The piece about Jasper Carlisle? What a horrible man he must be to let animals be used for cruel experiments!" "Yes," Jess said slowly. "I've just read it." She thought of the times she had raved about Rychester to Rosie and bit her tongue with embarrassment. But she couldn't admit that she had been wrong. "Look, we don't even know if the paper's story is true yet, Rosie," Jess said quickly now. "Let's not be quick to judge." At the other end of the phone, Rosie remained silent for a moment and then, with her voice carefully controlled, spoke again. "You're right, Jess. It might all be some awful mistake. So anyway, have you done that English homework yet? I thought the comprehension was really hard..."