Hide & Seek - Alyssa Brugman [54]
'. . . finds out,' Erin finished.
34 Science
The four girls took their horses through the gate and made their way up to the top of the hill where Lindsey and her mother were waiting. Beneath them the herd was still moving, although the broodmares and older horses had dropped back, their sides heaving, foaming with sweat. The girls' horses skipped and carried on, but they were able to contain them.
When they reached the crest Mrs Edel's face was so pinched and weary that Shelby felt ashamed. Lindsey glared at Shelby, and then at Erin, sitting astride Blue. Shelby had forgotten that Lindsey was still mad.
'We made up,' Erin told her. 'Shel explained every-thing. Don't worry, it all makes sense now. Oh, and that Chad guy – he's hot when he's not yelling. You didn't tell me he was hot. And he loves Shelby. You should have –'
'Shut up, Erin!' Shelby said.
Lindsey didn't reply; instead she watched the herd with a grim expression.
'I don't understand how this keeps happening!' Mrs Edel sighed. 'He's never got out before. Does he need a companion? I don't know what to do!'
Erin and Shelby looked at each other.
'We know . . .' Erin began.
'The important thing at the moment is to catch him,' Shelby interrupted.
'Before one of those old horses has a heart attack,' Lindsey added.
Down on the flat the horses had slowed down. Many of them were grazing. Diablo and the colt still pranced, trying to stir the others up, but the unfit horses had had enough.
'I think we can rule out those Middle Eastern people this time,' Mrs Edel said.
Shelby thought to mention that Zeb and his family weren't 'Middle Eastern', they were Ukrainian. Actually, they were Australian citizens, but she decided that now wasn't the time. There would be a time, though.
Lindsey's mum reached out to Monica's horse, stroking his face. The horse rubbed his mouth on Mrs Edel's shoulder, leaving a long smear of green froth. She didn't seem to notice. She spoke in a monotone, as if she was thinking aloud. 'The vet said I could geld him, after all these years! Then, of course, I couldn't breed any more. But would he be happier out here? I suppose I could look into getting a new colt, maybe even two, and ramping up the whole breeding side of the business, but I'd have to start competing again. Anita might campaign a young horse for me. But what if the fences are no good? It could be a disaster!'
Erin frowned at Shelby and mouthed, 'You tell her!'
'Actually, Mrs E, we know what happened. Diablo didn't get out by himself. We've got it on video,' Shelby said.
Mrs Edel stared at her. Her face was white, and Shelby couldn't tell if she was angry.
'There were three variables,' Erin put in.
'Yes, Mrs Crook turned off the electric fence when she was clipping Ditto,' explained Shelby. 'Then you opened the gate when you were on the quad bike. Diablo went straight through.'
'And then Kim put him in the mares' paddock thinking that he was that horse that can escape,' Erin added.
Kim's mouth dropped open. 'I did not! I've been with Monica all morning. Tell them, Mon.'
'No,' Shelby exhaled, 'I'm talking about Good Friday.'
Kim's eyebrows knitted for a moment, and then she reddened. 'Oh, I remember now. But I didn't know it was him, Mrs E, truly.'
Mrs Edel shook her head. 'That was a week ago. I wasn't on the quad bike this morning. I cleaned his paddock yesterday.'
'No, this morning it was us,' Erin confessed.
'You let him out?' Mrs Edel asked.
'It was an experiment,' Erin said, quickly. 'We were re-creating the variables for our science assign-ment, proving how it happened. Diablo jumped the back gate. We didn't know he was going to do that! Man, can he jump! I had no idea.'
Shelby said, 'I've had some time to think about it, and you could put a sign up over the power point that says, "Do not turn off", or get someone to build a little box around it that you could lock. You might even be able to hardwire the