For Sale or Swap - Alyssa Brugman [62]
'But he's getting away with it. We can't let him!'
'Yeah, I know, but this isn't the right way to do it. You're making Blue upset. Mrs Crook will be here soon. We can always take his number plate and call the police when we get home.'
'You do that,' said the man. He led Blue on board the float, and closed the tailgate behind him.
Shelby saw those frightened, trusting eyes again, and it made her wince.
She looked around and saw Mrs Crook running her roly-poly run up the road behind them.
'Oy!' Mrs Crook shouted. 'Stop!'
The man shook his head and walked around to the front of his car. Shelby looked at the number plate, memorising it. 'Kim, try to remember the letters,' she said. 'Erin, you remember the numbers, OK?' The two girls nodded.
The station wagon rumbled into life. The float creaked as it began to back out into the road.
'Oy!' shouted Mrs Crook, her face starting to go red. She ran around to the driver's side door and hammered on the window. 'OY! I want to talk to you!'
The man ignored her, looking over his shoulder to reverse the float onto the gravel driveway. Shelby could see the little girl sitting in the passenger seat. She looked frightened and Shelby felt sorry for her. It wasn't her fault that all this was happening.
'Stop this car at once!' shouted Mrs Crook, throwing herself onto the bonnet. 'Erin, get around the back of the float! You too, Shelby. He'll have to run us over if he wants to leave.'
She looked around and saw a crowd of spectators gathering around them. Erin ran around to the back of the float and jumped up onto the tailgate. Shelby could hear the rumble of Blue's hooves on the metal floor. He was frightened.
This is not the way to do it. This is not good for anybody.
Shelby could see a Steward riding up on his tall lanky grey horse. 'What's going on here?'
'This man is trying to get away with a stolen horse!' shrieked Erin.
The man shunted the float back another few metres and Erin screamed. Again, Shelby heard the drumming of Blue's hooves. She saw his nose pressed against the window of the black hole she knew he hated so much. His nostrils flared, taking air in. He was distressed.
'Get down, Erin,' she said. 'Please, Mrs Crook. We have his number plate. We can find him again. Please just let him go.'
'Get off the car, madam,' the Steward said.
Mrs Crook slid off the bonnet. 'That man's bought a stolen horse. He belongs to this girl. She's been searching for weeks now. You can't let him get away.'
Erin stepped off the back of the float. Shelby watched as the man spun the steering wheel around and stepped on the accelerator. The float rumbled off down the road.
'You've got to stop him!' Erin implored the Steward.
He shook his head. 'That's a matter for the police,' he said.
31 Fair and Square
Shelby sat on the lounge between her mother and Erin. Mrs Crook was in the chair and Hayley propped herself on its arm, with one leg crossed over the other. Shelby's father stood at the window, holding the drapes back so that he could see when the police arrived.
'I couldn't believe he just drove off with Blue in the back – just like that. He wouldn't even talk about it, or anything,' Mrs Crook finished. She had been giving her opinion of the matter. 'And of course the Steward did nothing. Next to useless, he was, but you step one foot out of line in the ring and he's bellowing like a branded steer. That's the last time I listen to one of them. I remember one time at the Royal the Steward kept Hayley and few of the other girls back after the Grand Parade and gave them a dressing down, just because they were talking!'
'It was because I threw some chewing gum over to Kimmy, who was in the next circle, and she broke out of formation to catch it,' corrected Hayley.
'Yes, well, it's hardly a capital offence, is it?' Mrs Crook added.
There was a moment of awkward silence.
Mrs Crook had driven the girls back to the stables, settled the horses, and then brought Shelby home. Shelby's parents had called the police to report the man, and the police had promised to drive