• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

'She's trying to say you have a massively swollen head,' Lindsey told her.

'And your eye has gone all squinty, and red, and a bit purple,' Erin added.

'Oh great!' Shelby groaned. 'So did you fall off?'

Erin shook her head. 'I pulled my foot out of the stirrup and slid off while she was smashing your face in. I told you she hates you.'

'She doesn't hate me! She hates the saddle. Where is my saddle?' Shelby propped herself up on her elbows. 'Did it survive?'

Lindsey and Erin looked over Shelby's shoulder. Shelby turned to where they were looking. Her saddle lay upside down, splayed and oddly dislocated.

'Broken?'

Lindsey nodded. 'Looks like it.'

'Did she roll again?'

'As soon as I was off, she dropped and rolled. It's like she was trying to beat a personal best time or something.'

Lindsey sniffed. 'Anyway, it's clear that the first time was no accident. This must be her little trick. It's probably why she was dogged.'

'But she's fine bareback. It doesn't make her completely useless,' Shelby argued.

'You can't seriously still be defending her!' said Erin. 'She tried to kill you!'

'It was an accident. She might need another massage.'

'A heavy massage with a blunt object!' said Lindsey.

'You're all talk, Lindsey. I've never even heard you raise your voice. Anyway, we'd better get moving. We've got to do the dinners, and we didn't muck out the stables this morning,' Shelby said.

'I don't think you will be mucking out today, Shel,' said Erin. 'Honestly, you have a head like a melon – a deformed melon. You'll give the horses bad dreams. They'll run screaming and crash through a fence or something.'

'I'll be fine.' Shelby tried to stand up and immediately rocked back again as her head whirled. She reached out to grab something for balance, and found Lindsey's hand. When she blinked she saw blotches of coloured light in front of her eyes.

'OK, maybe not.'

22 Cheek

Lindsey took Hotty back to the paddock while Erin staggered back to the stables with Shelby leaning on one arm and the broken saddle over the other.

Mrs Edel had finished with Diablo and was heading back from his yard when she saw the two girls in the laneway. Shelby was resting against a post, because her head had started to swim again.

Lindsey's mum rushed towards them. She put one hand on either side of Shelby's face, examining the swelling on her cheek.

'Who kicked you?'

'Kicked? Nobody kicked . . .' Erin began, but Mrs Edel cut her off.

'This is no time for mucking about, Erin. I can see the hoof print. Who was it?'

'It was Bandit,' Erin blurted. 'I asked Shelby to pick out his hooves for me. Then I was talking about this show I watched on telly, and I forgot where I was, and started waving my arms and whooping. Shelby was really engrossed because she was leaning over, like this, watching me through her legs, holding his hoof.' Erin demonstrated. 'Then Bandit got spooked by the waving and the whooping and kicked out. It was my fault.'

'Does your neck hurt?' Mrs Edel asked.

'A little bit,' Shelby admitted. Her whole face was throbbing, and her skin felt tight over her cheek. She could feel it bulging.

'Stay right there. I'm calling an ambulance.' Lindsey's mum turned on her heel and jogged towards the office. 'Try not to move at all. You can have damage to your spine without feeling pain.'

'No, I'm fine really!' Shelby protested. 'I just need a breather.'

'This is not open for discussion,' Mrs Edel called over her shoulder.

'I don't want all this fuss!' Shelby told Erin.

Erin patted her shoulder. 'You did bang your head pretty hard. It's probably best to go along with it – just in case.'

'It's nothing, just a bump,' Shelby grumbled, but she was worried that something might be wrong. She could feel it. She was more than worried, because if it was as bad as she suspected, she might not be able to ride for weeks.

Shortly afterwards Lindsey's mum came out of the office. Erin offered to help Lindsey make up the feeds. 'Where is Lin, anyway?' Mrs Edel asked.

'She's in the feed shed. She's already started work,' Erin lied, and then