Hide & Seek - Alyssa Brugman [19]
Three white faces poked out of the stable doors. Shelby wondered if they were Lipizzans – the original Spanish dancing horses. She'd only ever seen them on television and in pictures, but she knew they were elegant, athletic and took years to train.
While she watched, absorbed in her thoughts, a fourth horse head emerged from within the stable to watch what was happening outside. This one was a dark face. Shelby recognised it immediately.
It was Diablo.
12 Karma
Shelby backed out of the shrubbery and scrambled into the saddle. She gathered up the reins. Obviously she had to tell Mrs Edel straightaway. But what would happen if Chad was still there when the police came? Would they assume he had something to do with it? She was cross with him, but she didn't want him to get into trouble. What if he had only met the circus people today? Would the police accuse him falsely? She really should warn him – or at least see what she could find out first. She should go back and ask questions, find out all she could.
Shelby slipped out of the saddle and slid the reins over Blue's ears. She would ask them about the stallion.
But what if it was a conspiracy and Chad was involved? Shelby had got the impression that Lindsey and Hayley already seemed to think he was a bit shady. Shelby hadn't known him for as long as Lindsey. She could be putting herself in danger going in there.
What if all of those horses were stolen? Surely they wouldn't go around the countryside performing on stolen horses. Maybe the total audacity was what made the scheme work? Or it could be an elaborate front. Perhaps there was no circus at all – in which case, she should inform the police straightaway.
She hadn't had much luck with the police before. It seemed to Shelby that they were either on the wrong person's side, or their procedures prevented them from doing anything useful.
Shelby rubbed her sweaty hands on the thighs of her joddies. Every other time she'd found herself in a situation like this she'd done the wrong thing and got herself in more trouble. This time she wanted to get it right.
'What is the opposite of what I would normally do?' she asked Blue.
He chewed on his bit as though he was thinking about it.
'Yes, that's what I thought.' Shelby stepped into the stirrup and threw her leg over him again and they set off down the trail. She leaned over Blue's neck, feeling the wind in her face and the whistle in her ears. At the next intersection she turned left, spraying stones as they took the corner and galloped up the hill
– straight home to her parents. In the back yard she slipped off the bridle and loosened the girth. Blue settled in to munching the lawn. Shelby's dad didn't like having Blue in the garden because he chewed the plants and trampled the vegies, but this was an emergency.
She heard the back door slide open.
'Shel!' her mother said, surprised. 'What are you doing here?'
'Mum, I need your advice.'
Inside, Shelby pulled out one of the dining chairs. She explained about Diablo, the circus and about Chad being her um friend.
'So do you think I should find out what happened first? Do you think I should ask them to give Diablo back? Then I could take him straight to the stables, and everything will be solved! But where am I going to say I found him? I don't want to have to lie. I suck at lying, anyway.'
'I'm pleased to hear it,' her mother remarked.
'I could tell those circus people to put Diablo in Mrs Edel's back paddock at night, and then maybe Mrs Edel might think that we just didn't see him before. She's not going to believe that, is she? But she might not care once he's back. What should I do?'
Shelby's mum patted her arm. 'You need to tell Brenda Edel straightaway.'
'What if I dob on those circus people and Mrs Edel goes nuts? There will be a big fight and it will be my fault.'
'Honey, Mrs Edel is a grown-up. She's not going to do anything like that. And besides, it's not our business what happens afterwards. If your circus people