For Sale or Swap - Alyssa Brugman [52]
'It's not fair.' Shelby shook her head. 'This is a stupid system.'
Sergeant Everard stood up and opened the door. 'We consider this matter closed. Fortunately for you, we will not be laying any charges against you, nor attempting to recoup any financial losses we have suffered. I hope we don't have to see each other again.'
'So what am I supposed to do now?' Shelby said. 'What's the right thing to do?'
Sergeant Everard looked at her with cool eyes. 'The right thing is not to gamble with your horse in the first place, unless you're willing to lose him.'
26 A Long Tail
When the alarm first started beeping, rousing Shelby from a deep sleep, she didn't know where she was. She sat up, feeling a little bit panicked, but then she saw two sleeping forms stirring nearby and she remembered. She was in the Crooks' rumpus room and this was the day of the show.
The air in the room smelled strongly of freshly oiled leather. The three girls had sat up late the night before pulling all of Hayley's equipment – tan for Ditto and black for Echo – into pieces, carefully washing and oiling each part until it was soft and supple. Hayley apologised to Shelby about having to do it, but Shelby had never minded cleaning tack.
The previous week Shelby had cleared out the shed at Blue's paddock, crying the whole time. She left the feed there because her parents said that it would just attract rats if she put it in the garage, but she couldn't bear to throw it all away. She brought her tack home and cleaned it with her Christmas polish. She wondered if she should try to sell her saddle, and that made her cry some more.
'Just ten more minutes,' Hayley grumbled sleepily.
Shelby was wide awake. A little buzz ran through her stomach, but it was different from the feeling she had when she took Blue to a show. The pressure of riding was not there for starters but, better than that, this time she would be with horses that actually had a chance of winning something.
As soon as she had the thought, Shelby felt guilty.
Hayley and Erin dressed in their best jodhpurs, pulling a pair of light tracksuit pants over the top to stop them from getting dirty. Shelby had her Christmas jodhpurs on – not because she was really going to ride but because, secretly, she wanted the other competitors to think she was. She hated the idea of all the riders looking at her as though she was just some curious onlooker.
Mrs Crook made a thermos of coffee and filled an esky for lunch. Shelby watched her reaching into the cupboards for packets of chips, biscuits and chocolate bars. The pantry cupboard was full of them. Shelby looked inside it with wonder. Shelby's mum's idea of a sweet snack was jam on toast.
Outside, Mr Crook was in his gown and slippers hitching the float to the back of the Crooks' four-wheel drive. His hair was scruffy and a thick salt and pepper stubble ranged over his face. Shelby had never seen him looking so rumpled. He always looked smart, with crisp creases down the front of his pants and shiny shoes. When he gave her a warm smile with his eyes still puffy from sleep, Shelby felt special, as though he was sharing a secret with her – as though she were one of the family.
The girls piled into the back of the car and they drove to the stables. The morning sun spilled over the horizon, but Mrs Crook drove with her lights on for safety. Hayley was quiet in the front seat, rubbing her eyes and yawning, but in the back Erin and Shelby grinned at each other with excitement.
Once they arrived at the stables Erin left to give Bandit his breakfast and get him ready. Shelby and Hayley peeled back Echo and Ditto's rugs and brushed them down while Mrs Crook dumped their breakfast into the black rubber bins.
Shelby started on Echo's mane, carefully dividing it up into equal parts and tying them off with small rubber bands. Then she started plaiting. It didn't take long for her hands to become stiff and sore.
Mrs Crook came out of the equipment room brandishing a pair of clippers and