SANDY LANE STABLES, BOOK 5 - DREAM PONY

CHAPTER 16 SHOWDOWN

At a quarter to six that evening, Jess stood in the yard at Sandy Lane, impatiently waiting for everyone to get back from the show. She had been home for a quick supper, but hadn't told her parents about the events of the day. At six on the dot, the horse box rolled up the drive and the yard was immediately a flurry of activity. "Jess... Jess," Rosie cried. "I won... Pepper and I won the Open Jumping." "The Open Jumping? That's brilliant." Jess was delighted for her friend. "And there was Rychester?" "Nowhere," Rosie grinned. "Not a rosette in sight... they fell to pieces. The team event was won by a stables on the other side of Brookwood. You should have seen Jasper Carlisle's face... he was red with surprise. She couldn't quite believe what Rosie had told her. Surely at least

Camilla would have won something. But there wasn't time to ask questions now as Nick was running back out of the cottage. "Sorry Jess, I had to make a phone call. All part of the plan." He smiled at hr mysteriously as he opened the door of the Land Rover. "Right, are you ready to go?" Jess could only nod. What had Nick got in store? What was he planning to say to Jasper? As if sensing her unease, Nick kept up a steady stream of chatter on the way to Rychester. Jess listened silently, grateful that he didn't seem to need any response from her. "Rosie and Pepper jumped tremendously, Jess," Nick said. "You would have been proud of her. The competition from Rychester wasn't very fierce after all. Who was the rather sour-faced girl riding Skylark? It was so funny - she pounded your poor pony into the ring and launched her at the first jump on far too tight a rein-" Jess winced at this, but Nick hadn't finished the story. "Skylark wasn't having any of it and screeched to a halt in front of the fence. The girl went soaring over the top and landed very unceremoniously on her bottom. Skylark was completely unfazed and just stood there shaking her head and neighing loudly. They retired of course." Nick shook his head and smiled. Jess couldn't stop herself from laughing out loud. They were still laughing as the Land Rover turned into the drive at Rychester. The place looked deserted and suddenly Jess felt herself tense up. What if Jasper wasn't here? What if he'd already taken Skylark away

somewhere else? She jumped down from the cab and ran over to her pony's loose box. Her heart leapt with joy as she saw Skylark poking her head curiously over the stable door. The grey pony gave a loud whinny as Jess reached up and hugged her neck. She breathed a sigh of relief. So far, so good. Jess turned around and Nick striding over to the office. Quickly she ran over as he was knocking on the door. "Come in." Jasper's voice came loud and clear. Jess followed Nick into the office. Jasper sat at the desk, rifling through some papers on the table in front of him. He was alone. When he saw Nick walking towards him, he jumped up. "Hello, can I help?" he asked. Nick put out his hand and smiled politely. "I don't think we've met," he said evenly. "I'm Nick Brooks. I own Sandy Lane Stables over at Colcott." "Sandy Lane. Where have I heard that name recently?" Jasper said. And then he caught sight of Jess, standing nervously behind Nick, and his friendly voice didn't sound quite so friendly any more. "You've got a nerve showing your face around here, haven't you?" he said. "Er, it's actually Skylark we've come about, Mr. Carlisle," Nick said, interrupting Jasper mid-flow before the conversation could get heated. Quickly he went on before Jasper had a chance to say anything. "I understand Jess isn't able to keep Skylark here any more, so I've offered to keep the pony at Sandy Lane. We've come to collect her and settle any outstanding bills." Jess gave a gasp and her stomach churned excitedly.

Keep Skylark at Sandy Lane? It was an excellent plan, but would Jasper allow it? As she looked at Jasper and saw the malicious grin spread across his face, she realized Nick was clearly mistaken if he thought it was going to be that simple. Jasper let out a low, disbelieving laugh. "Very good of you Mr. Brooks," he started, his silvery voice still sounding pleasant. "Who wouldn't want a pony as valuable as Skylark? But I'm afraid it's not quite as easy as that." Jasper put his hand into the top drawer of his desk and drew out some official looking papers. "You see Skylark legally belongs to Rychester." And as he handed the papers to Nick to look at, he spoke again. "If any of you had bothered to read the rules you would have seen that," he said, flashing the briefest of smiles. "And by entering the competition, Jess, you gave your agreement to abide by those rules," he explained rather smugly. Jess felt suddenly faint and the room began to spin. She took a deep breath and looked around her. The tables and chairs, the filing cabinets, Nick and Jasper, they seemed to disappear somewhere far away and all she was aware of was the pounding of her heart and the sound of her breathing. Everything else had gone very quiet. So this was it. Her dream really was over. Skylark wasn't hers. "Is this some kind of threat?" Jasper's angry voice cut through her thoughts and she looked up to see him looking angrily at Nick. What was going on? What had Nick said? Jasper looked furious, but Nick was calm. He shook his head slowly and when he spoke again his voice was reasonable. "Not at all, Mr. Carlisle," Nivk said. "It's just an

observation. I would have thought that with all the trouble your cosmetics company is in at the moment, the last thing you need is bad publicity about your riding stables." What was Nick talking about? Jess listened hard. "I shouldn't think taking away a child's pony will add anything to your already damaged reputation," Nick said seriously. "But that pony's mine," Jasper spat. "Carlisle the Pony Snatcher," a familiar voice rang out from the office door and everyone turned around to see Penny Webster from the Daily Advertiser standing on the doorstep. "What...?" Jasper began. "Hello everybody," Penny smiled as she walked coolly into the room. "Thanks for the phone call, Mr. Brooks. You're right - the Daily Advertiser would be very interested in the story. Now let me see if I've got the facts straight," Penny paused dramatically and flicked through her notebook. "Jasper Carlisle, owner of the disgraced cosmetics company, Vrai Vert, gives a pony away in a competition," she continued. "But when the lucky winner decides, understandably, after all that has happened, that she doesn't want to keep her pony on at Rychester, Mr. Carlisle surprises her with the announcement that the pony isn't really hers at all. Some mean trick to play on a child, don't you think? I can see the story on the front page of tomorrow's Daily Advertiser accompanied by a picture of the tearful child." Penny glanced sympathetically at Jess. "All right, all right." Jasper held up his hand. "I can see you've got this all worked out." His voice became

quieter. "Have the pony. It disgraced me at Ash Hill today anyway. It's more trouble than it's worth. Just take it away from here and-" "We'll say no more about it?" Nick said enquiringly. "Yes, all right," Jasper spluttered. He sank down into his chair, and Jess noticed the lines on his face. He suddenly looked very old. He clearly wasn't used to not getting his own way. "Now get out of here, the lot of you." Jasper pointed wearily at the door. "If you could just sign here." Nick pointed to a space on the documents, then there's no problem, we'll be quite happy to take the pony off your hands." With a grimace, Jasper signed away, and Jess, Nick and Penny needed no second bidding. As the office door shut behind them and they emerged into he stable yard, Nick turned to Penny. "Thanks for turning up here," he smiled. "I don't think Mr. Carlisle would have givin in without you." "That's OK," Penny said. "I'm glad things have turned out the way they have." Penny flashed Jess a smile. "Now how are we going to get you and Skylark back to Sandy Lane then?" Nick turned to Jess with a sparkle in his eye. "You won't both fit in the Land Rover." Jess grinned back. She wanted to thank Nick, but she was speechless with happiness. "Well, her tack's still here, I presume," Nick continued as Jess nodded silently. "In that case," Nick said. "There's only one thing to do." "I'll have to ride her back to Sandy Lane," Jess finished, finding her voice at last.

"What a good idea," Nick said. "I'll head off now and get her stable ready." "Thanks Nick... thanks for everything," Jess managed, before she raced off to get Skylark.