Hide & Seek - Alyssa Brugman [43]
'Honey, this is well beyond the bounds of Operation Beelzebub!' her mother said.
'Operation what?' asked Connor.
His father shrugged. 'I got lost way back at the part where Shelby's going to attempt to kill herself for a grand finale in Broken Hill. Are you sure our health insurance covers that, Marie? I thought they were pretty shaky back when Shelby was attempting to stay on the horse.'
'Are you saying I can't go?' Shelby asked, dropping her spoon on her plate.
'We haven't even met these people, honey,' her mother protested.
'But what if this is my destiny?'
'Yes, let's talk about your destiny. Are you serious, Shelby?' asked Mum. 'Really serious? Or is this fun dinner banter designed to give your father a seizure?'
Shelby didn't answer. She took another mouthful of the pasta. It tasted good, and she was hungry, but her stomach was churned up.
'If you decide you want to be a trick rider and you take yourself out of school, or at least limit your edu-cation to the bare essentials, then you're closing off a whole series of choices that you might regret later. I know you can't see a future without horses, and your father and I respect that, but you're young, Shelby. A few years from now you might want to travel the world, or be an engineer, or a lawyer, or a bank teller, and all you'll know is how to hang off a horse.'
'And if you take a fall,' her father added, 'a big fall, which is likely, you might not even be able to do that any more. And I guarantee you would regret that for the rest of your life.'
Shelby stirred the pasta in the bowl. Her tummy had that heavy feeling, like she always got right before she went into the ring at a show.
'If you are serious,' her mother continued, 'and you want to go, then your father and I will look into it.'
'We will?' her father interrupted.
His wife stared at him blankly. 'For most people the prospect of their child running away to the circus is a joke.' She turned her attention back to Shelby. 'I want you to go into your room right now and make a list of what's good about it, and what's bad. I want you to nut out all the alternatives, and when you've done that we'll talk.'
Shelby screwed up her nose. 'You're giving me homework?'
'I am! Now skedaddle!'
Shelby skedaddled.
27 The List
Shelby sat at her desk with her pen hovering over the notepaper with a horse head in the corner that Erin had given her for her birthday. She reviewed what she had written.
Join trick riding troupe
Good things
Get to travel around.
Ride horses all day long.
Learn heaps about horses, even though some of it might be bad (like tie-downs).
Mum and Dad will probably get me a mobile phone.
Miss school – end up being world famous trick rider.
Won't see E, L & H ever again.
Bad things
Won't be able to see my mum and dad, even if I really, really want to.
Blue has to live in a stable, be in a truck for ages, and wear a tie-down.Miss school – end up getting a job cleaning toilets.Won't see Chad.Won't see E, L & H ever again.
Move to Aunty Jenny's
Good things
Go to London.
Go on a plane.
See snow.
Mum and Dad won't worry about money so much.
Dad can see that Aunty Jenny is OK.
Go to new school and everyone loves me.
Maybe see Chad when he visits his brother.
Everyone in family happy and have opportunity to go overseas that won't come again.
Won't see E, L & H ever again.
Bad things
Move Blue when he is happy and in a safe place with good trails that I know.
No more lessons with Miss Anita.
Have to join stupid camel club.
Go to new school and everyone hates me.
Won't see Chad in Gully.
Won't see E, L & H ever again.
Stay at home
Good things
Stay at a school that I know.
Good agistment for Blue.
Bad things
Never get to see London, or snow, or check that Aunty Jenny is OK.
Have to stay at school where girls hate me.
Edels might kick me and Blue out anyway.
It seemed to her that joining the troupe had the biggest rewards, but it also