SANDY LANE STABLES, BOOK 5 - DREAM PONY

CHAPTER 14 DILEMMA

Rychester Stables was buzzing with the story in the Daily Advertiser as Jess arrived there that morning. "Don't mention that article around Daddy," Camilla hissed at Jess when she walked across the yard. "He's absolutely furious. He says he's going to sue that Penny Webster for all the things she said." "It isn't true then?" Jess asked, hopefully. She desperately wanted it to be some kind of terrible mistake. Camilla laughed sneeringly. "Honestly Jess," she scoffed. "Do you believe everything you read in the papers? Anyway, it's clear who it was who concocted the fairy story. Daddy's convinced it was Amy. She's obviously just trying to get back at him because he sacked her. Well it's about time you knew, Jess, Amy was lazy and her work was shoddy. Daddy had no choice but to let her go. Anyway, I'm not going to talk about this any 

more." And with that Camilla was gone. Jess's mind was in a whirl. Camilla was so sure of herself, so certain she - or rather, her father Jasper - was in the right. But Jess wasn't satisfied. She knew Amy wasn't lazy. It was Camilla who could never be bothered to untack or groom Apollo after a lesson. Amy always did that for her. And Jess had never seen any evidence of shoddy work. Camilla was lying. Jasper couldn't have sacked Amy for bad work. Why then had he sacked her? And why would Amy make up a story for the papers? It didn't make sense. Jess took a deep breath. She walked slowly across the yard towards Skylark's box. "Yes Mrs. Jones." She heard Jasper saying on the telephone as she passed the office. "I'm so sorry Julia feels no longer wishes to ride here. The piece in the paper was most unfortunate and, I'm afraid, completely mistaken, but I'm sure we could work this over a drink at my house... all right. I'll speak to you soon. Tell Gerald we must get together for that game of golf sometimes..." Jess hurried on. She slid into Skylark's loose box. "We'll just get today's jumping lesson over with, Skylark," she whispered. "Nothing's going to spoil Ash Hill for us, but things just don't feel right around here anymore." Skylark gave a little snort. Jess smiled weakly. "What's that Skylark? Are you saying you didn't think they ever did?" 

"I want you all to concentrate at Ash Hill tomorrow. We've got some serious jumping to do and a trophy to win," Jasper laughed as the lesson came to an end. Jess stroked Skylark's nose gently whether she uncomfortable. She still hadn't decided whether she believed the story in the pages or not, and thinking about Ash Hill wasn't exciting for Jess any more. She felt empty... hollow. Jess looked at her other team-mates. None of them had ridden well, and Samantha's face was pale and drawn. She seemed nervous and tense, as if she was already thinking about what would happen if she failed to win anything tomorrow. Allison was looking sullen and even the normally lively Lucy wasn't surprised. Camilla was an excellent rider, she was bound to do well for Rychester. But then again, Jess wasn't sure what emotions her imperious face was masking. "OK, we'll call it a day for now," Jasper said. "We'll meet here tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock sharp please. No dawdlers." And with that he turned smartly on his heels and was gone. The others set about searching for Mel to untack their ponies. Jess hung back a little and watched them go. She felt detached from them. Rychester wasn't a team at all. There was no warmth or comradeship there. They were all just determined to win. Jess sighed. What was she doing here with them? Anyway, in all likelihood, Rychester was a stables that was set up with the profits from animal experiments, wasn't it? Jess felt sick. She didn't feel like taking Skylark back to her stable, not now. Jess decided she would have a 

quite hack along the country lanes that led away from Rychester. "We can clear our heads, Skylark," she said. "Think things through a bit." She trotted Skylark out of the stable yard and down the winding lane. As she turned the bend she almost bumped into a girl walking quickly along the grass verge before she recognized her. At the last moment, Jess drew Skylark up and gave a cry of surprise. "Amy!" What are you doing around here?" "Hello Jess." Amy smiled up at her, startled but friendly. "I'm working over at Southdown Stables now. I just came back to pick up some things I'd left I the tack room at Rychester." She held up a bag. "But Jasper," Jess began slowly. "Did he see you? He's really cross with you, you know." "Frightened more like," Amy replied grimly. "No, I took a chance while you were having a lesson. I crept in and out quickly. Did you see the article in the paper then?" "Yes, we all did, "Jess said. She slipped down from the saddle and slipped the reins over Skylark's neck as the pony bent down to graze at the verge. "What's going on Amy? Is it true what Penny Webster wrote? And why did Jasper sack you? It's not because your work was bad, is it?" Amy laughed. "That's a lot of questions, Jess. OK, first of all, whatever you might have heard, Jasper didn't sack me. I resigned. Jasper's way of doing things just made me uncomfortable. He was pushing everyone too hard. He didn't really care about the horses at all. I think that was obvious to everyone. He's just in it for the glory they can bring to him. I couldn't 

handle his obsession with success, with winning." Amy paused and Jess was silent. She knew in her heart that what Amy was saying was true. Jess had to admit that Rychester wasn't the kind of stables she had hoped it would be. And that had everything to do with Jasper. He had charmed and flattered her at first, told her she was a plucky rider and Skylark was a spirited pony. But he had also been bullying and sometimes threatening. "I overheard part of an argument between you and Jasper one day in the tack room," Jess confessed now. "Something about the press." "Ah yes, the final straw." Amy smiled. "That was all a bit of a coincidence really. My cousin Barry was working as a technician at the Vrai Vert Cosmetics Laboratory. The company were re-launching their Mango Miracle Shampoo and he told me that quite a lot of animal testing had taken place during the new product trails. It's all a bit complicated, but basically it means that Jasper's advertising slogan was a lie - you know the 'Caring Cosmetics Company'." Amy stopped to draw breath, and Jess waited anxiously for her to start again. "Anyway, I was so fed up at Rychester that I ended up mentioning it to Penny Webster. Oh, that's right-" Amy paused as she remembered. "I think you interrupted our conversation one time, Jess. Anyway, Penny's never one to turn down a good story and was very interested. Surprising enough, what Jasper's done isn't actually illegal, but it's the kind of thing that people aren't very sympathetic to. A big public outcry could do this company's reputation a lot of damage. So now you know, Jess. It's all true." 

"Oh Amy, this is awful," Jess wailed. "I've been looking forward to being at Ash Hill so much. But now it just feels all wrong - riding for Rychester I mean. What should I do?" Amy smiled at her sympathetically and shook her head. "I think you're the only one who knows the answer to that, Jess," she said softly.