For Sale or Swap - Alyssa Brugman [36]
17 Hatching a Plot
Shelby stood examining the clothes in her wardrobe. It was just a movie, but what was she supposed to wear? She sifted through the clean clothes in her drawers and decided on a pair of jeans and a plain purple tee-shirt – the same outfit she had worn to the Pony Club Christmas Party slash Awards night.
She noticed a small orange stain where she had rubbed the tomato sauce in. It'll be dark anyway, she thought.
Out in the lounge room her father was reading the paper. Her mother was going through the Mulligans' hamper. There was a selection of homemade jams and jellies with frilly gingham tops, and two tins of chocolate-covered nuts. She pulled out a bottle of champagne and gasped.
'It's Moët!' she said.
'What?' asked Shelby.
'This is very expensive,' said her mother.
'Isn't that nice of them?' commented Shelby's father. He turned the page and then flicked the paper to make it stand upright.
Her mother reached into the basket again and drew out a muslin bag. 'A pudding, and there are some dried figs,' she said, reaching in again. 'Camembert – how lovely. And Turkish delight.'
Shelby sat down on the lounge and huffed. 'Is it all just food?'
'What do you mean just food? This is wonderful. We would never have bought these things for ourselves.'
Shelby's father put the paper aside and stood up, pulling his car keys out of his pocket. 'Are you ready then, Miss Muffet?'
She nodded and they headed out the door.
'I hope you have a great time, Shel,' her mother called after her.
In the car, her father said, 'I'm so glad that you're making friends.'
Shelby didn't reply. It had been hard to make friends ever since she'd started high school. Most of her primary school friends had gone to another school, and the ones that didn't were in different classes. She'd started hanging around with Erin because she was in a similar situation, having recently moved back to the Gully after a long time away. Shelby hadn't really cared about being a loner. She spent most of her time dreaming about ponies anyway. Now that she didn't have a horse to think about, things might be different.
The Crooks lived in an enormous brick house with a wide clipped lawn and a driveway that looped around in a circle at the front. As they pulled up, she and her father craned through the window, taking it all in. 'Jeepers, Mr Crook must earn a pretty penny,' observed her father.
When I grow up I'm going to work in an office like Mr Crook's, not like Dad's. I'm going to live in a house just like this one, Shelby thought to herself.
The front door was ajar and Shelby called into the foyer area. 'Hello?' Her voice echoed back to her in the open space. She heard a door open inside the house and skipping footsteps.
'Is that you, Shel?' came Hayley's voice. 'Come on in.'
She called me Shel.
At the end of the foyer was a door that opened out into a large rumpus room. There were wide windows down the side of the room, offering a view of the back yard, which was paved around a big swimming pool. The room was light and airy, with soft cream-coloured carpet. In the back corner was a bar and a pool table. There were lots of framed pictures on the walls of Hayley and her family. Shelby's eyes drank it all in.
A gaggle of girls draped themselves over the lounge, on the floor and over a few beanbags scattered around. There was Erin, Hayley and Lindsey, and sitting together on the lounge were another two girls from the stables who didn't go to Pony Club.
Erin thumped the floor next to her. Shelby walked over and sat beside her cross-legged.
'This is Kim and Monica,' said Hayley. 'They have the stables opposite me.'
Shelby smiled at them shyly.
'I know you,' said Kim. 'You have the little paint horse.'
Shelby blushed. 'Had,' she said.
'Did you sell him?'
'No, she swapped him for the most gorgeous show pony,' said Erin.
'Who turned out to be stolen,' added Shelby, looking down into her lap.
'No! Really?' said Erin. She slapped Shelby on the arm. 'You didn't tell me. What happened?'
'Yeah. Tell, tell,' encouraged