Foxy: Rivalry at Summer Camp (11 page)

“Melissa’s just rounding everyone up for bed,” she told them. “Are you coming?”

“In a bit,” Mia replied, guiltily wondering how much she’d overheard.

“Okay, well, I’ll see you back there,” Holly said. She lingered, looking between the Pony
Detectives and Amber. She gave Skylark one last kiss, then left the stables.

“What will you do about it?” Amber asked.

The Pony Detectives looked at each other.

“Did you say it was hand delivered on Sunday?” Rosie asked. Amber nodded. “That was the day Holly disappeared for ages. And came back with chestnut hairs all over her.”

“I reckon we should tail her,” Charlie suggested. “That way, if she does disappear from camp again, we’ll find out exactly where she sneaks off to.”

“And that might lead us straight to Foxy,” Mia said, pocketing the letter.

They said goodnight to the ponies, then crept back into the tent, grabbed their wash bags and headed to the bathrooms. On the way back, Amber realised that she’d left her toothpaste behind, and said she’d catch the others up.

When the Pony Detectives ducked back into their tent, Holly was lying in her sleeping
bag, her face to the canvas. Holly didn’t move once, but Alice had a feeling that she wasn’t asleep.

“I can’t believe it’s got even hotter,” Charlie said, sweltering in the heat as she finished mucking out the next morning. She put the wheelbarrow away and began to head for the Hall to get breakfast.

Mia, Rosie and Alice walked with her, already feeling sticky after morning stables.

“We’re
definitely
going to melt in our body protectors,” Rosie grumbled.

They walked into the dining room. Holly had been up and out of the tent before the Pony Detectives had woken, and she was already sitting with Destiny. She looked up when the girls walked in, and gave them a small, uncertain smile. Watty was in her usual position
by the score sheet, shouting out the marks.

“Holly’s even further ahead, by sixteen points now!” she announced. “Unless something disastrous happens, I don’t think anyone can catch her!”

“Unless everyone gets inspired by Lily Simpson starting Burghley today,” Emily added, winking at Amber. “Then there might be a gazillion points being scored!”

Amber studied the score sheet, then went to sit with Watty and her gang. They got into a conspiratorial huddle.

Mia looked back at the scores. Watty was right – there was nothing Amber could do now to claw back the lead from Holly. It looked like her ambition of winning first prize for the week was officially squashed.

Alice sat down with her cereal, and noticed that the murmuring in the hall was suddenly getting louder.

Destiny looked round. “Sounds like Watty’s
getting a bit wound up at that end of the table, just for a change!”

Alice followed Destiny’s gaze to see that the huddle had broken up.

“There’s no way we’d do that,” Watty said in a loud whisper, looking shocked. She got up. “Not even to meet your sister. Come on, blues, let’s go.”

The team marched out, leaving Amber sitting alone at her end of the table. A few seconds later, she got up too, and walked quickly out of the dining hall with her head down.

Alice gave a nervous shiver as she scratched Scout’s warm, damp, dappled neck. The purple team were out on the cross-country course. They’d walked, trotted and cantered their ponies, then Freddie had walked with them over to fence sixteen – the telegraph poles and hill. The riders
had to jump one telegraph pole at the base of a small hill, canter or trot up the hill and through some flags at the top, then back down the hill and over another telegraph pole at the bottom. They’d warmed their ponies up by flowing over the bottom fence one after the other, and then the next – the shark’s teeth – followed by the pheasant feeder. Now they were standing in line, facing a broad-topped jump with rolled edges.

“At fence twenty you’ve got two options,” Freddie explained, slapping his hand on the flat top of the solid jump. “When you get to this point in the course you can either jump the smaller option just over there, called the hog’s back, or you can take on this fence, the Joker. Anyone who decides to jump the Joker and clears it will get an extra twenty points.”

Amber looked up sharply.

“But let’s start with the hog’s back,” Freddie said, as Alice, Mia and Rosie let out a collective sigh of relief.

Alice gathered her reins and popped Scout into canter, following on behind Phantom, Copper and Skylark. Scout cantered confidently into the round-topped fence, adjusted his stride slightly, and flew over. Alice balanced on top, starting to feel less nervous. She turned after she’d slowed Scout to a trot to watch Wish jump elegantly, tucking her oiled hooves up neatly and looking picture perfect, if slightly slow. Rosie had got Dancer really fired up and she stormed up to the fence, and had a little look before ballooning over in a flurry of hooves.

“Okay, so who fancies tackling the Joker?” Freddie asked.

“Me and Phantom are up for a challenge,” Charlie said, putting up her hand at once.

“I could probably go under it with Dancer,” Rosie suggested.

Freddie grinned at Rosie, shaking his head. “Anyone else want to have a go?”

“Can I try with Skylark?” Holly asked Freddie.

He smiled, then nodded. “He can do it,” Freddie said confidently.

Amber glanced over, then raised her own hand uncertainly.

“Are you sure?” Freddie asked.

Amber gulped, and nodded.

“Okay, well, let’s see how we go,” Freddie suggested. “Right, let’s start with Phantom.”

Freddie talked the riders through their approach. “This fence is much scarier for the riders to canter up to than it is for the horses,” he explained. “You need to make sure you’ve got an energetic canter. Don’t chase your pony into it, but don’t let the canter get too slow either. And let him stretch over it, because of the width. Charlie, off you go.”

Charlie took a deep breath and set Phantom going. He bounded into a forward canter, his slick ears flickering back uncertainly as he sensed Charlie’s tingle of nerves.

“We can do this, Phantom,” she whispered,
as much to herself as to him, and she turned and approached the table. It loomed up, broad and vast, and she held her breath. It didn’t seem possible that they could reach the other side. But she kept her legs on Phantom’s sides as he took his last stride and together they flew up and over the wide jump. It felt like they were suspended in the air for ages before Phantom stretched out his fine front legs and landed, to cheers from the watching riders.

Charlie cantered him back, catching her breath. “That was
huge
!”

Holly went next on Skylark. His big hooves marked a rhythmical beat on the grass. Holly’s expression was one of pure focus. She set him up perfectly, so that he didn’t get too deep or stand off too far. He sprung up boldly with a grunt, trying his hardest to reach for the far side. His hooves touched down again and the group gave another cheer, while Holly grinned from ear to ear, leaning down to hug Skylark.
Amber sat in the saddle looking pale.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Freddie asked her gently.

“Course I am,” Amber scoffed dismissively, but Mia noticed her hands shaking on the reins.

Amber pushed Copper into a fast canter. She circled wide, then turned towards the table. Copper began to take charge, his speed increasing towards the broad fence.

“Not too fast, Amber!” Freddie called out. “Turn Copper away if you’re not in control!”

Amber was standing in her stirrups. She hauled on the right rein, and at the last moment steered Copper past the fence. The gelding’s hooves skidded and he almost slipped over, but he just managed to right himself. When Amber finally managed to pull him up, she looked slightly sick. Copper jig-jogged back, anxiously fretting at his bit.

“If you’re not one hundred per cent confident with a fence like this,” Freddie said, walking
over to reassure Copper with a pat, “it’s best not to tackle it. It’s a biggie to get wrong.”

Amber bit her lip. “It’s not that I wasn’t confident,” she explained quickly, “but Copper got his striding wrong and I didn’t want to frighten him ahead of tomorrow. And, well, I think I’m just a bit nervous because Lily’s about to start her dressage test at Burghley really soon! I can’t concentrate.”

Freddie looked unconvinced. “Well, okay, but I think you should still stick to the hog’s back in the competition tomorrow.”

Amber didn’t reply, and as Holly glanced over at her she just looked the other way.

Freddie checked his watch then clapped his hands, suddenly snapping back into briskness. “Okay, that’s it for today’s lesson. The last fence – the tree trunk – is really straightforward, so you don’t need to practise that one. Let’s get the ponies back and turned out.”

Everyone began to take their ponies back
on a long rein and Freddie quickly walked on ahead. He quickly disappeared into the Hall as the purple team gathered by the hoses near the carriage arch. They sloshed over with water buckets to give to their sweating ponies, who drank deeply. Charlie and Rosie hosed Phantom and Dancer, then ducked their own heads under the water themselves to cool down.

Once the ponies were hosed off , fly-sprayed and turned out in their paddocks, the girls rushed inside to grab a drink. They ran through the back door and heard the sound of the television drifting down the hallway. Grabbing a juice, they held the ice-cold glasses against their faces as they popped their heads into the lounge. The instructors were perched on the arm of a chair Freddie had moved up close to the television. They watched as Lily Simpson rode into the huge arena, elegant in top hat and tails, riding her awesomely big chestnut, Firestorm. More campers began to appear
behind the Pony Detectives and they all edged into the room, standing silently by the sofas to watch the dressage test with their instructors. Amber hovered by Alice, her face a picture of anxious concentration and her eyes fixed on her sister. Lily finished with an immaculate halt and she saluted, then burst into a huge smile, leaning down to hug Firestorm.

Amber grinned back at the television, looking flooded with relief. The blue team congratulated Amber and patted her on the back as the next rider entered the arena. Freddie leaned closer to the screen. It was Georgie Belle’s round.

He sat tensely, biting his nails, while Georgie performed her test. When she finished with a flourishing salute, he let out a whoop.

“Well ridden, Georgie!” he cheered. Over by the sofa, Watty giggled with Emily. Freddie cleared his throat, suddenly calming back down.

The girls watched a few more dressage tests, then grabbed their lunches and headed
outside. They clambered over the post-and-rail fencing and plumped down under the shade of a chestnut tree with their ponies, watching as Watty and Emily dragged a couple of hay bales nearer the stables to have their lunch on. Alice shared her roll with Scout. A mixture of nerves about the competition and worries about finding Foxy swirled through her.

But she forgot her nerves completely when she glanced across and saw Holly. Alice had assumed that Holly was in the stables with Destiny, keeping Skylark and Topaz company on their no-grass diet. But instead, she was creeping round the edge of the cross-country course. To Alice, it looked like she was trying hard to not be seen.

“Quick!” Alice whispered urgently. “Holly’s on the move!”

As the Pony Detectives got up and sneaked after her, Holly disappeared between the trees near the brook.

“Which way did she go?” Charlie asked as they sprinted onto the course as fast as they could.

Alice pointed, saving her breath.

They reached the lightly wooded area by the brook, and peered into the shady area. There was no sign of Holly.

“Well, let’s just keep following the brook round,” Mia suggested.

They kept jogging along, until they were totally puffed.

“At what point do we admit defeat?” Rosie gasped, as quietly as she could. At the same moment, Charlie saw a flash of purple T-shirt ahead in the woods, and warned Rosie to be quiet.

They kept low to the ground as they watched Holly jump down into the brook, splash across, and disappear on the other side. The girls waited for as long as they dared, then followed her.

“This is exactly where we rode through to
get to the lane on the treasure hunt!” Rosie whispered.

“If Holly knows this route, she must have taken it before!” Mia said as they splashed through the shallow brook. “And the furthest corner of Chestnut Grove’s land is just the other side…”

They stayed under the cover of the trees as they saw Holly duck down through the hedge opposite and disappear. The Pony Detectives held their breath.

“That paddock belongs to Chestnut Grove!” Charlie gasped.

They tiptoed across the lane and stopped by the hedge. Alice pointed out the small gap near the bottom that Holly had gone through. They knelt down and peered through it. There, on the other side of the hedge, stood a chestnut pony under the shade of a large tree, near where the brook cut through the paddock.

“Hang on,” Mia said with a frown. “That’s
the paddock the old lady said wasn’t used much.”

“Well, it’s being used now,” Rosie said grimly.

Holly gave the pony a hug, then scrabbled through another hedge, leaving the boundary of Chestnut Grove’s land.