Hide & Seek - Alyssa Brugman [30]
Shelby had swapped one of her chocolate bars for a lollipop and wandered away, leaving Hayley and the other girls chatting before they led the trail ride.
Shelby had always found mucking stables good daydreaming time. The Edels used rice hulls for stable bedding. There was something meditative in the motion of lifting and shaking all the clean rice hulls through the rake's tines, like a big sifter.
Shelby hummed to herself as she worked. Surrounded by the sounds and smells of horses, she could escape into a fantasy world where she had the perfect horse, all the gear she needed, and no catastrophes.
On this day she dreamed of different floats – straight-load with an extended front in dark blue and her sponsor's logo sign-written on it, or a three-horse angle-load in hot pink with silver stars down the side and a built-in saddle-rack. Better still, a sparkly lilac gooseneck with 'Shaw Show Ponies' written on the back, and '5H31BY' number plates.
Soon she had made her way down one whole row of stables. She left her barrow at the end of the laneway and rushed into the feed shed to make up the dinners. She was keen to get out into the Gully, but the Edels let her keep Blue at the stables for free in exchange for her helping out. She didn't want to dodge her responsibilities to them, just because she had a mystery to solve.
Soon she had the trolley full of dinner buckets. She propped a bale of hay on the end, so the evening meals were ready to go. Then she brushed the dust from her hands and ran over to the paddock where Blue was waiting.
Her favourite western saddle was being used for the trail rides, so she slipped on Blue's bridle and then jumped on him bareback.
As she reached the back gate she saw the other girls leading the trail riders across the top of the ridge on their way home. She waved to her friends and they waved back – so did some of the trail riders.
Halfway along the trail she saw that the tree that had obstructed the way, the one she had had to slip under, had been cut down. There was fresh sawdust on the trail and the limb was now in hefty chunks out of harm's way to the side of the trail.
Down at the bottom of the Gully it was shady and the cool air carried hints of winter. Shelby was only wearing a tee-shirt. She dropped the reins and rubbed her arms. Then across the other side she was riding in the sunshine again and her skin tingled, the way it does after a swim in cold water.
Now that the days were getting shorter she wondered if she would still have lessons with Miss Anita. Winter was a pain. There was not as much sunlight, so less time for riding. She would still have to attend to the horses before school. She wasn't looking forward to getting up in the dark and cold.
In the bushes to the side of the track Shelby saw a small grey joey. She pulled up Blue so she could get a better look. Now that it was getting cooler she was seeing far fewer reptiles on the trails, but because she was riding closer to sunrise and sunset she should start to see more marsupials. Winter did have some benefits.
The joey scratched its belly. Shelby thought it looked too young to be out on its own, but then a movement caught her eye and she could see the mother as well. One second they were relaxed, and the next they both stood upright, ears twitching, and then they bounded away.
A few seconds later Shelby heard the hoof beats of a horse cantering. She moved Blue over to the side of the trail.
When the rider saw Shelby she slowed to a trot and then a walk. It was the circus girl – the very person Shelby had hoped to meet. She was riding one of the beautiful white Lipizzans that Shelby had seen in the stables next to Diablo.
The horse was striking. It was pure white with a long