Dream Pony Page 7

  “The only perfect ponies are prize-winning ponies,” Camilla said airily. “That’s what Daddy always says.”

  Jess heard that message again the same afternoon when Jasper met her as she walked Skylark across the stable yard.

  “Off for a spot of jumping?” he demanded, stopping Jess in her tracks.

  “No, I think we’ve jumped enough times this week.” Jess climbed into the saddle. “I was going to take Skylark out for a hack.” Jess was nervous, but determined. She wouldn’t let Jasper bully her.

  “I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Jasper said sternly. “You should be cramming in the jumping practice, you know. I hope you realize, Jess, that all the horses at Rychester have won plenty of competitions before. Skylark’s the only one without a rosette for us yet. And remember Jess, a perfect pony is a prize-winning one. There’s only room for winners in my stables.”

  Jess waited for him to smile in jest – he couldn’t be serious could he? But with that, Jasper was gone.

  Jess looked after him in stunned silence. What was he saying? That Skylark wasn’t any good because she hadn’t won anything yet? Jess was amazed that anyone could be so heartless. She shivered. Sometimes Jasper’s words frightened her.

  “Oh Jess, she’s fantastic. A real dream to ride.” Rosie grinned broadly at Jess as she drew Skylark to a halt at the edge of the field.

  Jess leaned forward in Minstrel’s saddle and smiled back at Rosie. “She’s lovely, isn’t she?” And then as Minstrel snorted loudly, Jess laughed and patted the piebald’s shaggy neck. “You’re lovely too, Minstrel – in a riding school type of way!”

  “Speaking of which,” Rosie said reluctantly. “We ought to head back to Sandy Lane. It’s getting late.”

  As the two girls rode the ponies across the fields towards Sandy Lane, Jess felt happy – really happy – for the first time in ages. The Wednesday evening light was fading and soon she would have to head back to Rychester to stable Skylark. In the meantime, it had been excellent to share her new pony with Rosie at last. And it had been comforting to ride Minstrel again, whose familiar gait and steady ways inspired a nostalgic feeling for her old stables.

  As they clattered into Sandy Lane, they saw Tom leading Chancey into his stable. He gave Jess and Rosie a friendly wave as he went. Alex and Kate, who were arguing over who’s turn it was to sweep the yard, looked up and greeted Jess.

  “Skylark’s lovely, Jess, you lucky thing,” Charlie called as he unchained his bike.

  Jess tethered Skylark to the yard rail and followed Rosie into Minstrel’s stable to untack the pony.

  “We’ve been really busy training for the Ash Hill show,” Rosie said conversationally as they worked. “How are Rychester doing?”

  “Oh, they’re all pretty determined,” Jess said quickly. She didn’t feel much like talking about Rychester at the moment. She was more interested in Sandy Lane. “What’s the news here then?” she asked her friend.

  “Oh, the usual, I suppose,” Rosie paused.

  “Tell me the usual,” Jess urged.

  “OK, well, Storm Cloud’s still lame, but the vet’s coming to check her in the next few days,” Rosie began. “And Izzy and I have been practising for Ash Hill together. Pepper and Midnight get on well, so we always try to ride together after school…mind you, we’re not very disciplined about it. Izzy’s so funny, we always end up having a laugh. Nick gets cross with us. He says Ash Hill’s going to be a challenging show and it’s the focused and determined riders who’ll do best, but we’re just having fun really. Um, what else?” Rosie slipped off Minstrel’s bridle. “Oh yes, there’s a little girl just started lessons. Her name’s Hannah. Anyway, she adores Minstrel and has been spoiling him rotten – loading him up with sugar lumps. Minstrel thinks it’s brilliant. He’s devoted to her.”

  Rosie chattered away excitedly, and Jess felt a pang of envy. They didn’t need her here at all. Well, it didn’t matter. She had Skylark and that was all that counted, wasn’t it?

  “Oh and listen to this, Jess,” Rosie continued. “Nick’s having all his Ash Hill riders round for supper on Friday after school. It’s sort of to say thanks to all the regulars really. There’s been loads of extra work to do here – tons of horribly muddy ponies to groom and leaky stables to clear out and Nick says we’ve all really pulled our weight and he’s proud of us and, oh…” Rosie stopped short as she caught sight of Jess’s mournful expression.

  “It’s all right, Rosie.” Jess gave a little shrug. “I know I’m not a Sandy Lane regular anymore. It sounds as if you’re all having a lot of fun.”

  “Well…” Rosie sounded apologetic. “It’s been all right. Probably nowhere near as exciting as the things you’ve been doing. We’ve all missed you Jess, but you’re the lucky one, having Skylark and being able to keep her at Rychester. I mean, it’s top of the range!”

  “Nothing but the best for Jasper Carlisle,” Jess muttered under her breath.

  But Rosie, turning to adjust Minstrel’s haynet, appeared not to have heard her.

  13

  REVELATIONS

  “Is this that horse show you’re entered for on Saturday?” Jess’s brother, Jack, rustled the pages of the Daily Advertiser and laughed heartily. “Ooh, listen to this,” he read aloud.

  “The Ash Hill Show will be officially opened at 11 o’clock by Prunella Goldes, lovely star of the hit television series Horses For Courses. I quite fancy her actually. Think I might come and have a look at this pony show of yours after all.”

  “You’re revolting, Jack,” Jess snorted in disgust. “Here, give me that paper. I want to have a look.” She grabbed the Daily Advertiser from her brother, who stayed slouched in his armchair.

  “Hey give that back!” Jack called feebly, but Jess wouldn’t listen to him and soon he left the room.

  Transfixed, Jess stared at the front page of the paper. For a horrible moment the Ash Hill Show faded into insignificance as her eyes followed the lead story. ‘Proof of Animal Testing at Lab of Shame’ the headline screamed, and then in smaller letters, ‘by Penny Webster’.

  As Jess read on with mounting horror, familiar names leapt out and grabbed her by the throat.

  Vrai Vert Cosmetics has long prided itself on its cruelty-free beauty products, the column read. Brands such as Mango Miracle Shampoo and Essence of Peach Perfume are household names. Part of their popularity derives from the company claiming that none of their products is tested on animals. Now an unnamed source has revealed that animals were routinely used for testing during the redevelopment of the company’s bestselling Mango Miracle Shampoo, recently re-launched as New Improved Mango Miracle Shampoo. Vrai Vert Cosmetics Managing Director, Jasper Carlisle, a local man and owner of the county’s renowned Rychester Riding Stables, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

  The piece continued for a few more paragraphs but Jess couldn’t read any more. Her head ached and she felt a stab of pain as she remembered Camilla’s words – “Daddy set up Rychester with the profits from his cosmetics company”.

  Amy and Jasper’s cross words in the tack room swam about Jess’s head:

  “What have you told the press about me?”

  “Why? Have you got something to hide?”

  Did Amy know about all this? Was she Penny Webster’s ‘unnamed source?’ There were so many things that Jess didn’t understand. The one thing she was sure of was that animal testing was horribly cruel and unnecessary. Jess put her head in her hands.

  “I don’t understand any of this,” she wailed aloud.

  “What is there to understand, Jess?” Her mother’s voice was concerned but distracted as she walked into the room, automatically picking up discarded clothes as she went. “Honestly, I wish you kids would clean up after yourselves. How many times do I have to tell you to hang your coats up when you come in?”

  Jess folded the newspaper quickly and tried to slide it under the table. Her parents had seemed happy about her having a pony – the last thi
ng she wanted was for her mother to start asking questions about Rychester. If anything went wrong with Rychester, what would happen about the free stabling for Skylark? She couldn’t bear to contemplate that now. But her mother had seen her hide the paper.

  She shook her head. “I’ve seen that article on Jasper’s company.”

  “It’s not going to mean anything bad for Rychester, is it Mum?” Jess asked earnestly.

  “I don’t know what it will mean for the stables,” her mother replied slowly. “But if the story’s true, then I think Jasper’s probably broken some kind of advertising law. Take that shampoo for instance. I know the label clearly says it hasn’t been tested on animals. It could be quite serious for Jasper if that’s found out to be untrue.”

  Jess looked horrified. When the phone rang a few moments later, she was in too much of a daze to realize at first that her mother was beckoning to her.

  “It’s Rosie for you, Jess,” her mother said, holding the outstretched receiver. Still deep in thought, Jess took the phone and heard her friend’s excited voice on the other end of the line.

  “Jess, have you seen the paper? That piece about Jasper Carlisle? What a horrible man he must be to let animals be used for cruel experiments!”

  “Yes,” Jess said slowly. “I’ve just read it.” She thought of the times she had raved about Rychester to Rosie and bit her tongue with embarrassment. But she couldn’t admit that she had been wrong.

  “Look, we don’t even know if the paper’s story is true yet, Rosie,” Jess said quickly now. “Let’s not be quick to judge.”

  At the other end of the phone, Rosie remained silent for a moment and then, with her voice carefully controlled, spoke again. “You’re right, Jess. It might all be some awful mistake. So anyway, have you done that English homework yet? I thought the comprehension was really hard…”

  14

  DILEMMA

  Rychester Stables was buzzing with the story in the Daily Advertiser as Jess arrived there the next morning.

  “Don’t mention that article around Daddy,” Camilla hissed at Jess when she walked across the yard. “He’s absolutely furious. He says he’s going to sue that Penny Webster for all the things she said.”

  “It isn’t true then?” Jess asked, hopefully. She desperately wanted it to be some kind of terrible mistake.

  Camilla laughed sneeringly. “Honestly Jess,” she scoffed. “Do you believe everything you read in the papers? Anyway, it’s clear who it was who concocted the fairy story. Daddy’s convinced it was Amy. She’s obviously just trying to get back at him because he sacked her. Well it’s about time you knew, Jess, Amy was lazy and her work was shoddy. Daddy had no choice but to let her go. Anyway, I’m not going to talk about this any more.”

  And with that, Camilla was gone. Jess’s mind was in a whirl. Camilla was so sure of herself, so certain she – or rather, her father Jasper – was in the right. But Jess wasn’t satisfied. She knew Amy wasn’t lazy. It was Camilla who could never be bothered to untack or groom Apollo after a lesson. Amy always did that for her. And Jess had never seen any evidence of shoddy work. Camilla was lying. Jasper couldn’t have sacked Amy for bad work. Why then had he sacked her? And why would Amy make up a story for the papers? It didn’t make sense.

  Jess took a deep breath. She walked slowly across the yard towards Skylark’s box.

  “Yes Mrs. Jones.” She heard Jasper saying on the telephone as she passed the office. “I’m so sorry Julia feels she no longer wishes to ride here. The piece in the paper was most unfortunate and, I’m afraid, completely mistaken, but I’m sure we could work this out over a drink at my house…all right. I’ll speak to you soon. Tell Gerald we must get together for that game of golf sometime…”

  Jess hurried on. She slid into Skylark’s loose box.

  “We’ll just get today’s jumping lesson over with, Skylark,” she whispered. “Nothing’s going to spoil Ash Hill for us, but things just don’t feel right around here anymore.”

  Skylark gave a little snort. Jess smiled weakly. “What’s that Skylark? Are you saying you didn’t think they ever did?”

  “I want you all to concentrate at Ash Hill tomorrow. We’ve got some serious jumping to do and a trophy to win,” Jasper laughed as the lesson came to an end.

  Jess stroked Skylark’s nose gently and felt uncomfortable. She still hadn’t decided whether she believed the story in the papers or not, and thinking about Ash Hill wasn’t exciting for Jess any more. She felt empty…hollow.

  Jess looked at her other team-mates. None of them had ridden well, and Samantha’s face was pale and drawn. She seemed nervous and tense, as if she was already thinking about what would happen if she failed to win anything tomorrow. Allison was looking sullen and even the normally lively Lucy was kicking the ground miserably with her heels. Only Camilla appeared unconcerned, and Jess wasn’t surprised. Camilla was an excellent rider, she was bound to do well for Rychester. But then again, Jess wasn’t sure what emotions her imperious face was masking.

  “OK, we’ll call it a day for now,” Jasper said. “We’ll meet here tomorrow morning at 7 o’clock sharp please. No dawdlers.” And with that he turned smartly on his heels and was gone.

  The others set about searching for Mel to untack their ponies. Jess hung back a little and watched them go. She felt detached from them. Rychester wasn’t a team at all. There was no warmth or comradeship there. They were all just determined to win. Jess sighed. What was she doing here with them? Anyway, in all likelihood, Rychester was a stables that was set up with the profits from animal experiments, wasn’t it? Jess felt sick. She didn’t feel like taking Skylark back to her stable, not now. Jess decided she would have a quiet hack along the country lanes that led away from Rychester.

  “We can clear our heads, Skylark,” she said. “Think things through a bit.”

  She trotted Skylark out of the stable yard and down the winding lane. As she turned the bend she almost bumped into a girl walking quickly along the grass verge before she recognized her. At the last moment, Jess drew Skylark up and gave a cry of surprise.

  “Amy!” What are you doing around here?”

  “Hello Jess.” Amy smiled up at her, startled but friendly. “I’m working over at Southdown Stables now. I just came back to pick up some things I’d left in the tack room at Rychester.” She held up a bag.

  “But Jasper,” Jess began slowly. “Did he see you? He’s really cross with you, you know.”

  “Frightened more like,” Amy replied grimly. “No, I took a chance while you were having a lesson. I crept in and out quickly. Did you see the article in the paper then?”

  “Yes, we all did,” Jess said. She slipped down from the saddle and slipped the reins over Skylark’s neck as the pony bent down to graze at the verge. “What’s going on Amy? Is it true what Penny Webster wrote? And why did Jasper sack you? It’s not because your work was bad, is it?”

  Amy laughed. “That’s a lot of questions, Jess. OK, first of all, whatever you might have heard, Jasper didn’t sack me. I resigned. Jasper’s way of doing things just made me uncomfortable. He was pushing everyone too hard. He didn’t really care about the horses at all. I think that was obvious to everyone. He’s just in it for the glory they can bring to him. I couldn’t handle his obsession with success, with winning.”

  Amy paused and Jess was silent. She knew in her heart that what Amy was saying was true. Jess had to admit that Rychester wasn’t the kind of stables she had hoped it would be. And that had everything to do with Jasper. He had charmed and flattered her at first, told her she was a plucky rider and Skylark was a spirited pony. But he had also been bullying and sometimes threatening.

  “I overheard part of an argument between you and Jasper one day in the tack room,” Jess confessed now. “Something about the press.”

  “Ah yes, the final straw.” Amy smiled. “That was all a bit of a coincidence really. My cousin Barry was working as a technician at the Vrai Vert Cosmetics Laboratory.
The company were re-launching their Mango Miracle Shampoo and he told me that quite a lot of animal testing had taken place during the new product trials. It’s all a bit complicated, but basically it means that Jasper’s advertising slogan was a lie – you know the ‘Caring Cosmetics Company’.” Amy stopped to draw breath, and Jess waited anxiously for her to start again.

  “Anyway, I was so fed up at Rychester that I ended up mentioning it to Penny Webster. Oh, that’s right–” Amy paused as she remembered. “I think you interrupted our conversation one time, Jess. Anyway, Penny’s never one to turn down a good story and was very interested. Surprisingly enough, what Jasper’s done isn’t actually illegal, but it’s the kind of thing that people aren’t very sympathetic to. A big public outcry could do his company’s reputation a lot of damage. So now you know, Jess. It’s all true.”

  “Oh Amy, this is awful,” Jess wailed. “I’ve been looking forward to being at Ash Hill so much. But now it just feels all wrong – riding for Rychester I mean. What should I do?”

  Amy smiled at her sympathetically and shook her head. “I think you’re the only one who knows the answer to that, Jess,” she said softly.

  15

  NIGHTMARE!

  The day of the Ash Hill Show dawned bright and clear. The sunshine should have brought with it a sense of optimism, but Jess felt tired and gloomy as she cycled towards Rychester shortly after 7 o’clock. She had lain awake all night, churning things over in her mind – the things she had read in the paper, her conversation with Amy, Jasper’s insistence on winning, the miserable faces of her team-mates…

  Jess’s legs felt like jelly as she cycled the final yards towards the stable. She knew what she had to do. As she turned into the stables, she slowed down to take in the scene. The ponies were already gathered, ready for loading into the horse boxes, and the riders all looked smart and poised. Someone had already groomed Skylark, and she stood among them, calm and serene. And then there was Jasper, standing in the middle of it all, glancing anxiously around, as though looking for someone. Jess paused and at that moment he caught sight of her.