Greener Pastures - Alyssa Brugman [16]
'What happened?' Shelby asked. This was the worst part of the job. Of course, she was concerned about the little girl, but she also worried that they would sue. All the riders signed waivers, but every time she saw tears Shelby wondered if this would be the fall that would shut down the business.
'It's all right,' said Lindsey. 'We've just had a bit of a spill.' Lindsey gave her a tense smile and Shelby could tell that her friend had been thinking the same thing.
The birthday girl wiped her face and soon Lindsey and the dad were helping her to her feet. To Shelby's relief, she walked over to Cracker and climbed straight back on again. She seemed more embarrassed than afraid, or hurt.
Shelby glanced over at the scared girl's face. She was still gripping on to Blue's saddle tightly, and her face was solemn.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. Back in the yard all the girls slipped off their horses, complaining about their sore legs, but still smiling.
'This is the best birthday ever!' the birthday girl said. She grabbed Cracker's head and planted a kiss in the middle of his face.
The scared girl followed suit, and soon all the girls were kissing their horses.
Blue gave Shelby a look, as if he was saying, Kids! What can you do?
Erin came over to collect the girls. They had reserved the barbecue area for lunch, and Erin had offered to help the dad set up the food he had brought.
'Are you coming?' she asked Shelby.
'I'm going with Hayley to visit Smarty.'
'Oh.' Erin looked disappointed. Shelby wasn't sure if it was because Erin had hoped Shelby would stay to help, or because Hayley hadn't invited her too.
'It wasn't planned or anything,' Shelby told her. 'I kind of gatecrashed it.'
'No biggie. I'm going to be busy anyway,' Erin said. 'C'mon, everyone, there's a cake up here with somebody's name on it.' She grinned. 'I know that's an expression, but there really is!'
8 A Serious Horse Person
As the four-wheel drive headed west Hayley slipped the new Delta Goodrem CD into the player, and the three of them sang along together. One of Shelby's favourite things about Mrs Crook was that she knew all the latest songs. Shelby could never imagine singing in the car with her mum. She always listened to Radio National. Sometimes it was interesting, but most of the time they were talking about something really random like classifying galaxies, or coups in South Pacific nations. Snore!
After a few minutes Mrs Crook turned down the volume. 'What shall we call this foal?'
'Don't you want to see what he looks like first?' Shelby asked.
'I think Quicksilver, if he's a grey,' Hayley said.
'What about Hooroo?' Mrs Crook suggested.
'As in, goodbye?' Hayley asked. 'Isn't that, like, a death wish?'
'Wish is nice,' Shelby said.
'It has to be something strong.'
They all lapsed into silence while they thought. Mrs Crook slowed the car as they passed through a tollbooth. The e-tag on the windscreen beeped.
'What about Bravo? If it's a colt,' Shelby offered.
'Yeah! It matches Echo and Ditto,' Hayley said, referring to two other horses she had owned back when Shelby first met her.
'Bravo it is,' Mrs Crook said.
'Shouldn't you wait to see if it looks like a Bravo?' Shelby asked again.
Hayley explained. 'It's just for the registration papers. It will be Wanada Park Bravo. If the foal doesn't suit Bravo we will give it a nickname. We might not keep it for long anyway. Cheryl will probably sell it for us as a yearling.'
Mrs Crook shook her head. 'She's mad, that woman. You know she has seventy ponies? Seventy!'
Hayley peeked over her shoulder at Shelby. 'Next she's going to say, "She literally has more ponies than you can poke a stick at."' Hayley did an excellent impersonation of her mother's voice.
Mrs Crook pointed an imaginary stick. 'Thiry-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven . . . damn, I lost count! One, two three. . .'
Shelby started to giggle. 'Don't you think it's funny, Hayley?'
'Yeah, the first time,' her friend replied. 'She says that every single time we come up here.'
Shelby gazed out the car window. More ponies