Greener Pastures - Alyssa Brugman [36]
'Really?' he asked.
She nodded. 'It's for the fire brigade. So they can find places easily when there's an emergency.'
'What a great idea!' he said. 'Let's see if you're right.' He pressed the knob to wind the odometer back to zero and they drove on.
At the side of a house Shelby saw some jump wings and a lady lunging a big chestnut horse. In the paddocks opposite there were some ponies in white cotton rugs. Lots of other horsy people around here then, she thought to herself.
'That's one and a half,' her dad said.
There was a wide grassy verge on either side of the road. In the distance there were sand dunes rising up out of the bush. Will I ride along there one day? she wondered. One day wasn't even that far away. It could be as close as a few weeks. She had a churning feeling in her stomach at the thought.
'Two and a half,' he said.
'There.' She pointed ahead. It was hard to miss. At the front of the property, on either side of the driveway were paddocks surrounded by fences with flaky white paint. They were unremarkable, but behind them, next to the buildings, there was a paddock with high, wire fences, and standing inside were about eight camels.
As they got closer Shelby could see some of the wire sagged and part of it seemed to be barbed wire. She curled her lip.
There was a wagon wheel hung on the front gate and a rusty sign hanging above it.
'"Dandelion Flat",' her father read. '"Camel and pony rides, holiday camps, lessons and agistment. Strictly no dogs."'
20 The Stupid Camel Club
Shelby's dad pulled into the car parking space next to the house. Nearby was a round yard. It was lined with rubber and she peeked over the fence at the sand.
'Hmm.'
'What?' her father asked.
'Bit small,' she said, folding her arms.
'You will keep an open mind about this place, won't you, Shelby?' he asked.
'My mind is so open that flies are getting in,' she retorted.
On the other side of the car park there was a door with a wooden sign that said 'Office'. It was obviously the back room of the house. They knocked and peered in the door, but nobody was there.
Next to the round yard was a tack shed. Shelby wandered inside. There were maybe twenty or so saddles on pegs on the wall, and a mess of halters and bridles stuck on nails. It wasn't nearly as well organised as the Edels' tack room.
At the other side there were metal and leather contraptions that she had never seen before. She decided they must be the camel saddles.
On the opposite side of the tack shed to the round yard there was a slab of concrete and a hose reel that she supposed was their wash-bay, and next to that a dressage-sized arena. No sand, though – just dirt. And they didn't even have the letters marked out. The only way she could tell it was an arena was because there were ruts in the ground in circles.
On the far side of the arena was a series of wooden yards maybe three or four metres square, similar to the ones they had at the Gully Pony Club.
'Yards. See?' her dad said.
'No shade,' she grumbled.
She heard a muffled thump that she recognised. It sounded like a bale of hay rolling off a stack and landing on the feed shed floor. They walked towards the sound, which was coming from another shed at the back of the house. There were roller doors on either side, and she could see through to a block of stables. Shelby had to admit that it was a good set-up. The feed truck could back straight into the shed and then you could carry the feeds under a breezeway directly to the stables without getting wet. She would have something like that at her place, she decided.
'Hello?' her dad called out.
'Hi!' a voice answered.
A young woman bounced out of the door. Her face was flushed and wisps of hair had escaped from her red plaits.
'Blythe,' she said, thrusting out her hand. 'Nice to meet you.'
'This is my daughter, Shelby,' her dad said. 'My aunt, Jen, came to see you a while back.'
'Oh yes! I remember. The famous Blue.'
Shelby narrowed her eyes. 'You remembered that?' They mustn't have too many new clients coming through for her