Hot Potato (Shelby and Blue) - Alyssa Brugman [0]
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1 A Bargain
Chapter 2 Back to the Stables
Chapter 3 A Distraction
Chapter 4 Arabetha Bella or Bess
Chapter 5 Experts
Chapter 6 Bareback
Chapter 7 A Levy
Chapter 8 Sensible
Chapter 9 Gwen's Pony
Chapter 10 Talking Too Much
Chapter 11 Broken Tree
Chapter 12 Saddle Sores
Chapter 13 The Worst Part
Chapter 14 Candour
Chapter 15 Investing
Chapter 16 Erin's Longest Friend
Chapter 17 Bad Accent
Chapter 18 Saved and Indebted
Chapter 19 The Chiropractor
Chapter 20 Another Try
Chapter 21 Hotty's Personal Best
Chapter 22 Cheek
Chapter 23 Self-pity
Chapter 24 Night Ride
Chapter 25 Cornered
Chapter 26 Busted like Custard
Chapter 27 Annual Barbecue
Chapter 28 Hanging Out with Hayley
Chapter 29 A Confession
Chapter 30 A Perfect Match
About the Author
Hot
Potato
ALYSSA
BRUGMAN
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Hot Potato
ePub ISBN 9781864715545
Kindle ISBN 9781864717198
Random House Australia Pty Ltd
20 Alfred Street, Milsons Point NSW 2061
http://www.randomhouse.com.au
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First published by Random House Australia 2006
Copyright © Alyssa Brugman 2006
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry
Brugman, Alyssa, 1974–.
Hot Potato.
For children aged 8–12 years.
ISBN 1 74166 035 1.
1. Horses – Juvenile fiction. I. Title.
A823.4
Cover photograph copyright © Trudy Nicholson Equine Photography, www.nicholsonphotography.co.nz
Cover and internal design by Sandra Nobes
Typeset in Sabon 11/15.5 pt by Midland Typesetters, Australia
Printed and bound by Griffin Press, Netley, South Australia
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
I saw a horse for sale in a magazine once. I liked the look of her, so I sent a cheque and told the seller to put her on a truck. When she turned up she had a 'big personality'. She's too small and she needs constant work, or she bucks like a bronco. Nobody likes her except me, and I love her to pieces. Her name is Greenbrook Elizabeth. I call her ILU (Independent Little Unit). This book is for her.
Many thanks to a real 'Miss Anita', Nicole Chipperfield, who rides her horses like she stole them.
1 A Bargain
'Do I hear two three?' asked the auctioneer from his perch high on the metal bridge spanning the horse yards.
'There's Clint,' whispered Lindsey, standing very still with her hands in her pockets. 'Down the front, near the fence.'
Shelby leaned forward scanning the crowd. There were so many leather-skinned men in jeans, boots and Akubras that she found it hard to pick out Clint amongst them.
They were even sucking their teeth and chewing paspalum. Shelby hadn't believed anyone really did that outside of ads for Woolworths fresh produce or Holden utes.
Clint was standing with his arms crossed at the yard of the horse being sold. It wasn't until he turned his face towards the girls that she recognised him. He's checking up on us, she thought.
The farrier had been at the stables every day the previous week to trim the riding school ponies. Shelby and Erin had their horses' hooves done too. Clint told them that he was going to the horse auctions and the girls had begged