Greener Pastures - Alyssa Brugman [6]
The teacher headed back down the aisle again. 'Once our eggs are whisked we put them with our bananas, and into our flour bowls!' she called out. She dropped the whisk and picked up her wooden spoon. 'Folding, folding, folding!'
'Isn't there supposed to be sugar in banana bread?' one of the boys asked, licking batter from his finger.
'Cinnamon is our friend, Ethan,' she replied.
'Not my friend,' Ethan griped.
Erin stared at Ethan for a second, and then she poured the egg into the flour bowl. Shelby added her mashed bananas.
Lydia put her bowl down again. 'The thing is, he's become really stubborn. I can't get him to go like he used to. I have to really kick him and hit him with the crop. Dad said he is going to buy me some spurs.'
'How long have you had this horse in your back yard?' Shelby asked.
Lydia shrugged. 'Two months, maybe? He's so lazy. He just lies around all the time.'
'Lies around? Is he old?' Shelby had a vision of Lydia whipping a little old pony with no teeth and a sway back. 'Did you ask how old he was when they gave him to you?'
'I dunno.' Lydia shook her head. 'He's kind of middle-aged, I guess.'
'What are you feeding him?' Erin asked.
Lydia flushed again. 'Just the usual – grass, and bread . . . and stuff.'
Shelby wondered what 'and stuff' might encompass, and from the look on Erin's face she was wondering too.
'Now, into our loaf pans, people!' the teacher called out. 'Pouring, pouring, pouring!'
'We'd love to come and see him,' Erin said.
'Yeah, maybe we could go for a ride together?' Shelby suggested. 'I could try to get him going if you like. You can ride Blue.'
Lydia looked concerned.
'Don't worry, anyone can ride Blue,' Erin assured her. 'He's the safest pony in the whole universe. Blue's a legend.'
'OK,' their new friend grinned. 'That would be great.'
'What do you mean a legend?' Shelby asked.
'You know,' Erin said. 'At Pony Club, or at the stables, whenever anyone talks about a horse and how quiet it is – especially about kids' ponies – they always say, "almost as quiet as Blue".'
'Really?' Shelby asked. 'Who says that?'
'Everyone,' Erin replied. 'Everyone on the planet says that. He's the world champion of quietness.'
'Cool,' said Shelby. She had no idea that he'd attracted so much attention.
3 Castles
Shelby threw her backpack in a heap by the front door. Her mother was standing at the kitchen bench peeling potatoes into the compost bucket. She paused, staring at the backpack. Shelby picked it up again with a sigh, and trudged down the hallway. There she threw the bag in a heap by her bedroom door.
Connor was sitting at the breakfast bar swinging his legs and eating a sandwich. Shelby noticed that his legs had grown really long recently, as though someone had taken her little brother and stretched him on a rack. There was Nutella smeared on his cheek.
He observed Shelby for a moment. 'So how was your day?' he asked his mum.
'I didn't have a bad day,' Shelby snapped at him.
'Whatever,' he said. He'd grown more annoying lately too.
'Please!' Mum begged. 'Can we have ten minutes of civility before we descend into brawling? Connor, you have chocolate on your face.'
Shelby bristled. 'What did I do?'
Connor rubbed his face with the back of his hand and then wiped his hand on the leg of his shorts. His mother tutted.
Blake, her youngest brother, grinned through a milk moustache. 'I know something you don't know,' he sang.
'I seriously doubt it,' Shelby replied. Then she saw her mother shoot Blake a warning glance. 'What?' she demanded.
'We'll talk about it when your father gets home,' her mother answered.
'How come they're allowed to know?' she asked, pointing at her brothers.
Her mother rinsed the potatoes under the tap and then wiped her hands with a tea towel. 'Shelby, you are obviously in a mood.