For Sale or Swap - Alyssa Brugman [67]
'Really, truly!'
Shelby turned to her mother. 'Is this a joke?'
Her mother shook her head. 'No joke, Shel, he arrived about an hour ago.' She smiled. It was such a lovely, sunny smile.
Shelby jumped up and hugged her dad, and then she jumped up and down on the spot. 'Oh my God! You're the best!' Then she turned on her heel and ran back down the hallway and out the door.
'Me?' he called after her. 'I had nothing to do with it!'
She heard the screen slam as it hit the wall at the front of the house, but she was already halfway down the driveway and onto the road.
She sprinted faster than she could have imagined, taking the corner, and then heading down the home straight. Looking ahead she could see the sliprail across the front of the paddock, just the way it should be, and behind it she could see a shaggy, blunt face attached to a long thin ewe-neck.
'Blue!' she called out.
He stepped forward and leaned over the rail waiting for her, just like he always had. Shelby threw her arms around him. 'It really is you!' she said, rubbing her hands along his neck, as though she couldn't believe he was real.
Blue pushed his nose towards her pockets looking for something sweet to eat.
'Oh, Blue. I don't have anything for you.'
Blue nudged at her again and when she looked down she saw in her jacket pocket three small carrots. Her dad must have slipped them into her pocket when she hugged him.
'I will never, ever let you out of my sight again!' she said, squeezing Blue. 'Hayley's not the luckiest girl in the world – I am.'
About the author
Alyssa Brugman's first novel, Finding Grace, was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's and Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year (Older Readers). It was a Commended Book in the 2002 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and has been translated into Dutch (for which it was short-listed for the 'Gouden Zoen' Award), Danish and German.
Walking Naked, Alyssa's second novel, was short-listed for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award and awarded Honour Book in the 2003 CBCA Book of the Year (Older Readers). Alyssa's third novel for young adults, Being Bindy, was a Notable Book in the CBCA Book of the Year Awards, and short-listed for the Children's Peace Literature Award.
Alyssa lives in the Hunter Valley, where she writes full-time and keeps four horses. Shadow, her first pony, is a bay mare in her early thirties. Istana Kazrah is a chestnut Arab mare. Greenwood Elizabeth is a six-year-old grey Riding Pony mare. Reddy is a bay thoroughbred gelding who belongs to Alyssa's sister.
Alyssa had great fun writing For Sale or Swap. To make it more real, she went for lots of rides in the bush around Sydney, and tried to incorporate what she saw, smelt, heard and experienced while she was out there. She also competed in a few local shows to see what had changed since she was last in the show ring.