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Hide & Seek – Read Now and Download Mobi

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Brenda Edel’s champion stallion has disappeared. Was he stolen, or is it all an accident? Shelby resolves to find out. Meanwhile, a touring trick riding troupe have set up on the other side of the Gully. Shelby’s trusty pony, Blue, with his festive coloring and solid laid-back style, makes a perfect trick riding mount, and Shelby improves quickly. Should she join the troupe and leave her old friends from the stables and Pony Club behind?

Author
Alyssa Brugman

Rights
This electronic book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

Language
en

Published
2007-03-01

ISBN
9781741662207

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Other books by Alyssa Brugman in this series

For Sale or Swap
Beginner's Luck
Hot Potato

Hide &
Seek

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.


Hide & Seek

ePub ISBN 9781864714623
Kindle ISBN 9781864717174

Original Print Edition

Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.randomhouse.com.au

Sydney New York Toronto
London Auckland Johannesburg

First published by Random House Australia in 2007

Copyright © Alyssa Brugman 2007

This electronic book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry

Brugman, Alyssa, 1974–.
Hide and seek.

For primary school children.

ISBN: 9781741662207

1. Horses – Juvenile fiction. I. Title.

A823.4

Cover photographs courtesy Getty Images
Cover and internal design by Sandra Nobes
Typeset in Sabon 11/15.5pt by Midland Typesetters, Australia
Printed and bound by Griffin Press, South Australia

Author's note

In this book Shelby learns how to trick ride. To research this book, I attended the Harris Entertain-ment Trick Riding School on the Central Coast of New South Wales. The technicalities of trick riding are based on what I observed there, but the characters in this book are fictional.

Like any horse riding discipline, trick riding is dangerous. The tricks in this book are technically accurate, but please don't try them unless a professional supervises you. Never, ever try any trick riding by yourself.

My special thanks to Heath and Krissy Harris, to Bridie Sparkes who explained everything patiently, and also to the trick riding students – Kali Siecker, Seann Pitman and Teleah Jensen, who made it look easy.

This book is for beautiful Kaz, who would not make a very good trick riding horse.

Thanks also to Christopher, who identified (and continues to indulge) Brugman's Theorem of Circum-equinus – everything in the universe relates back to ponies if you think about it for long enough.

Table of Contents

 

1 No Diablo

'Weird,' Shelby mumbled, stepping outside the stable and turning on the spot in the yard.

It was difficult to see because her rain-hood hugged close around her face, as if she was wearing blinkers. The rain came down on an angle – so hard that it bounced off the ground and splattered her boots with mud. Drops caught in her eyelashes, making her frown. She could feel the water running over her chin and soaking into the shirt she wore under her raincoat.

'Diablo?'

Shelby stepped back into the stable and rubbed the water from her eyes. Even in this stable, three times the size of any other in the whole place, Diablo was seventeen hands and solid. The stallion should have been hard to miss.

She felt foolish, but she opened the wide cupboard at the end of the stable that held all Diablo's rugs. It was about the size of the wardrobe in her parents' room. There was no way a massive animal like Diablo could fit in there, but Shelby checked anyway. She closed the doors, put her hands on her hips and shook her head.

On rainy days the whole routine changed. Most horses had extra hay and stayed in their stables and yards, instead of being taken out to the day paddocks. Some horses from the paddocks were brought in to spare stables, and others that were normally kept in paddocks without wooden shelters were moved into the sandy jumping arena, so they wouldn't churn up the soggy pasture.

Shelby walked outside to see her friend trudging between the stable blocks leaning over a trolley full of empty buckets, having distributed all the breakfasts and extra hay.

'What's taking you so long?' called Lindsey's voice.

'Diablo isn't here,' Shelby shouted back, cupping her hands around her mouth. Her voice was swal-lowed up by the sound of the drops pummelling the plastic over her head, the hammering on the corru-gated iron roof, and the cascade over the gutter onto the ground below. It was so noisy that it was hard to concentrate.

'What do you mean?' Lindsey shouted.

It was inconceivable. Even the changed schedule shouldn't have affected Diablo. He had his own stable, his own yard and his own paddock. The stallion enclosure was bordered by strong, six-foot, post and rail fencing, with electric tape running along the inside of that, and then an alley wide enough for a vehicle to drive between his fence and the next paddock. Diablo's enclosure was in the middle of the property, surrounded by other paddocks, and within earshot of the house. He couldn't just disappear.

Lindsey dumped the trolley and jogged over to the gate. 'He has to be here. You're just not looking properly.' She shook the rain out of her hair and inspected the laneways between the stallion enclosure and the other paddocks, shielding her eyes with her hand.

Shelby shrugged. 'I can't see him, Lin.'

The two girls jogged along the paddock fence line. Their gumboots squished in the sodden grass. They turned at the bottom corner, past the dam. Shelby scanned it surreptitiously. She didn't want her friend to know that she was contemplating that Diablo might have drowned.

Back in the yard the two girls stared at each other.

'He's not here,' Lindsey said.

'I know! That's what I've been telling you. We should tell your mum.'

Mrs Edel had imported Diablo from Germany many years before. She had competed with him all around the country and used his stud fees to set up the stables in the first place. He was very valuable to her, and not only financially.

Lindsey squeezed the water out of her hair. 'Let's look a bit more.'

Shelby suspected that Lindsey might be afraid of what her mother might do when she found out he was gone. 'Look where exactly? All the gates were closed. There are no holes in the fences. There's not even any messed-up dirt, like there's been a fight, or an accident.'

'Maybe somebody let him out?' Lindsey shrugged.

'Nobody is allowed in here except you, your mum and me. Unless . . .' Shelby had some experience with horses being stolen before. 'We should tell your mum right now, Lin.'

Lindsey shook her head. 'No one would be dumb enough to steal him, Shel. Anyone in the market for a Hanoverian stallion would already know who he is. Diablo's been in every breed magazine and studbook for about twenty years. And when? Someone would have noticed if it happened during the day and Mum padlocks the front gate at night now.'

'Then where is he?' Shelby asked.

Lindsey turned in a circle once again. 'I don't know.'

2 Search

'What do you mean gone?' Mrs Edel asked. She didn't look angry – yet.

Lindsey's mother leaned her rake against the fence. Her cheeks were rosy and wet from the rain. She stomped through the mud to Diablo's yard. Like the girls, she examined the enclosure thoroughly. The two girls waited in the stable, stamping the mud off their boots. The rain roared on the tin roof overhead.

Mrs Edel returned. She stood in the doorway – white-faced. 'He's gone!'

'That's what we said,' Lindsey murmured.

'I'm going inside to ring the police. You girls check in those paddocks.' She waved her hand towards the paddocks behind Diablo's enclosure and then ran towards the house.

Shelby and Lindsey jogged down the laneway between the paddocks, scanning as best as they could through the rain. Shelby's wet hair whipped against her throat in the wind.

They slid through the gate to the mares' paddock, which usually contained the visiting broodmares who were about to be, or had recently been served by Diablo. Usually, once the vet confirmed that they were in foal, the mares went back to their owners, or out to the back paddock. This meant that different horses were kept in the mares' paddock all the time. Since Lindsey's mother managed the breeding side of the business, while Lindsey and Shelby looked after the horses on agistment and ran the trail rides on weekends, Shelby never had time to get to know the visiting mares before they were moved.

Some of the mares huddled together under the long three-sided shelter, but others continued to graze in the heavy rain. Being late in the breeding season there were only a handful of mares in the paddock waiting to go home.

As the two girls approached, the closest mare spooked. She skipped a few steps and then cantered away. Other mares nearby were startled too, trotting and snorting with suspicion. Soon all the mares were circling nervously. Their hooves made a squelching noise in the mud and Shelby could hear the jingling sound from the rings of their rugs as they jig-jogged around the soggy paddock.

'Can you remember which rugs he was wearing?' Shelby asked. Even if they knew, all of the rugs were dark with rain and splattered with mud.

Lindsey shrugged. 'No idea. He has two socks at the back. That narrows it down.'

The girls looked for socks. It was hard to tell because the horses' legs were so dirty.

The mares had wide, strong faces peeping through hoods, and dark, solid legs poking out from under layers of rugs. With all their rugs on, the mares didn't look so different from Diablo himself.

'There he is!' Lindsey moved forward slowly and grabbed hold of the horse's hood.

'Are you sure?' Shelby approached from the near side and had a peek under the rugs.

'That's a girl horse. He's not here, Lindsey,' she called out to her friend.

'Let's try the back paddock,' Lindsey suggested.

Shelby followed her friend to the end of the mares' paddock. On the way she scanned the day paddocks on the other side of the laneway, but she knew if Diablo had been there Lindsey would have noticed when she'd moved the horses around earlier.

Just when she thought the rain was starting to ease, a fresh torrent beat against her. Her raincoat covered her legs to mid-thigh, but below that her track pants were soaked and heavy with water.

Shelby wiped her eyes with hands that were red and cold at the tips of her fingers, and frowned into the downpour. She looked down at her gumboots, glad at least that her toes were dry, even if the boots made it difficult to run.

The gate between the broodmares' paddock and the back paddock had a self-closing latch like a pool fence. Shelby thought that was odd, as none of the other gates on the property had latches like that. She didn't spend much time over this side of the agistment centre, so she hadn't noticed it before.

Once inside the back paddock the two girls raced up to the ridge, where they would get the best view. They stopped underneath a grove of tall gum trees. In the heavy rain it was hard to see more than one hundred metres ahead. The herd grazed in a hollow below them, with their tails tucked up and their backs hunched against the weather.

At present there were ten spelled horses in the back paddock, and none of them was rugged. Shelby always made a point of counting them when she came through this paddock with the trail rides.

'You get ten?' Shelby asked.

Her friend nodded.

'He's not here.'

Lindsey shook her head and took a deep breath. 'I feel sorry for whoever's taken him. Mum's going to go postal.'

3 The Suspicious Sergeant

When Constable Bidgood and Sergeant Everard arrived at the Edels' house, Shelby skulked out of sight in the dining room where she could overhear what they were saying. Shelby had met them before and the constable had always been friendly and kind, but the sergeant was bossy and uncompromising. It was true that Shelby had broken the law (well, several laws), but Sergeant Everard didn't have to be so mean about it.

There was a picture on the wall, and Shelby could see the police officers reflected in the glass. Constable Bidgood took off his hat. 'Typical Easter weather.' He smiled.

'Where's Shelby Shaw?' Sergeant Everard asked with her hands on her hips.

Shelby lurked in the doorway, looking guilty.

'Stay where I can see you,' the sergeant said.

'I didn't even do anything!' Shelby protested.

The sergeant frowned at her and then turned her attention to Lindsey's mum.

Mrs Edel explained what had happened. She had already picked out several photos of Diablo, which she pushed across the coffee table to where Constable Bidgood was sitting.

'And you're certain he's not here?' asked the constable, flicking through the photos.

Lindsey's mother glanced at the two girls. 'Pretty sure. We've looked in all the paddocks. We'll look again, but you need to understand, Diablo's enclosure is very secure – double fenced the whole way around. Even if he could get out he could only get into a laneway. I've owned this animal for eighteen years and this has never happened before.'

'Was Diablo insured, Mrs Edel?' asked Sergeant Everard.

'Yes, he always has been. I can show . . .' Lindsey's mother frowned. 'What are you saying? You think this is an insurance job?'

The sergeant folded her arms. 'He is getting on. Maybe he's past his usefulness?'

Mrs Edel's mouth dropped open. 'Usefulness? I've owned Diablo since he was three years old. You've no idea what we've seen together.'

Sergeant Everard narrowed her eyes.

Mrs Edel's cheeks turned a deep red. 'Diablo means more to me than any money.'

The sergeant shrugged. 'You raised it.'

'We have to ask,' Constable Bidgood explained. He put the photos back down on the coffee table. 'He looks like a fine animal.' The constable stood and moved towards the door. 'Perhaps you'd like to come down during the week and lodge a written report. I'm pretty sure there's a Rural Watch group in this area – it's like Neighbourhood Watch for farms. We can give you some phone numbers if you like.'

Mrs Edel remained seated. 'It's a bit late for that now, isn't it? Aren't you going to get the forensic people out here? There might be fingerprints, or tyre tracks.'

'This is not a murder investigation, Mrs Edel,' the sergeant said, standing in the doorway so that cold air rushed into the room. 'So far it's an unconfirmed mis-placement of livestock. It happens a lot when the missing property has legs, and so we must allocate resources accordingly. We've logged your call. Please let us know as soon as possible if you find your horse somewhere on your property.'

Shelby guessed what the sergeant meant was 'when' they found Diablo.

'That woman has been rude at every encounter,' Mrs Edel commented as she stood at the window watching the police drive away.

Shelby was glad somebody else thought so too.

4 Acrobatics

'Hey, I just remembered – my mum's training to be a private eye,' Shelby said. 'Maybe she could take it on, like a missing person case.'

Mrs Edel sighed, ignoring Shelby's comment. 'Well, I suppose the first thing is to search the place again. I'm going to feel like a right wally if he does turn up here somewhere. Can you girls check the back again for me? Lindsey, take Scooter. He's always sensible in the rain.'

Scooter was one of the riding school horses – a pretty palomino, slightly bigger than Shelby's paint pony, Blue.

Shelby had to borrow one of the riding school saddles, as her all-purpose saddle was broken. The old saddle was sitting on her bedroom floor and every night when Shelby went to bed she looked at it, hunched and busted in the shadows, like a mascot for all the things she wanted but couldn't have.

Eventually she would need to replace it, but with what? Her job at the stables, other than feeding and mucking out, was to lead the trail rides on the week-ends, so a western or a stock saddle would be the best for that. On the other hand, she went to Pony Club, and most of those girls rode in dressage or all-purpose saddles. Some of them had jumping saddles as well. Shelby wished she had the luxury of owning one of each but that wasn't possible.

When I am a grown up, Shelby thought to herself, I will have ten horses in ten different colours and a saddle for every day of the week, plus one wrapped up for special occasions.

For this ride she chose a western saddle that she had used before. She had always dreamed of owning a fancy dressage saddle, and had been sceptical when Lindsey suggested the western, so she had been sur-prised to find that it fitted Blue's frame well, and was more comfortable for trail riding than the dressage saddles she had tried.

The rain eased to a steady drizzle as the two ponies cantered along the laneway to the back paddock. The girls rode past the herd, grazing not far away from where they had seen them earlier. Now that they could see more clearly through the rain and mist Shelby could tell that something was wrong.

A branch from one of the trees had come down in the heavy weather and settled across the back fence near the gate. The wire sagged under the strain, and the posts on either side tilted over until they were almost horizontal. Any of the horses could easily step over the fence if they wanted to, and get tangled in the wire as well.

The two girls dismounted. Shelby held Blue and Scooter while Lindsey inspected the damage. She tried to push the branch off the wire, but it was too heavy. Mrs Edel would have to use her chainsaw to cut it into smaller pieces, then set the posts and restrain the wire.

'What shall we do?' asked Shelby, blowing on her hands, which were numb with cold.

'First we'll move the horses into the next paddock. Mum would kill me if they all got out. Then we'll come back and check the trails for Diablo.'

'But how would Diablo get in here in the first place?' Shelby asked.

'He probably didn't, but we should check,' her friend replied.

Lindsey cantered Scooter up the hill, towards the next paddock, closer to the house. Her plan was to unlock the gate and then head around to the right to help Shelby push the horses through the opening.

The two girls trotted around the back of the herd and zigzagged towards them. As they moved closer they slowed to a walk. If the herd started to run, they might panic and head in the wrong direction, and the girls would have to start all over again.

A heavy thoroughbred mare with a scarred face glared at Blue and Shelby with her ears back, but she moved away when Shelby maintained eye contact and pushed Blue steadily towards her.

The horses bunched in closer and moved up the hill towards the gate, slowing occasionally to steal a mouthful of grass along the way. Shelby and Lindsey kept up their steady zigzag pattern behind them.

A gangly buckskin colt in the middle of the group shied at a tree stump, and the herd sped up around him, some slipping a little in the churned-up soil. Shelby and Lindsey halted their horses, waiting for the rest to settle down. They were not far from the gate now and the last thing they needed was for the herd to split.

Up ahead a brown standardbred gelding pricked his ears forward and snorted. He could see the open gate and trotted towards it eagerly.

'Horses are just natural busybodies, aren't they?' Lindsey commented.

'Good thing too,' Shelby added.

The other horses picked up the pace behind him, keen not to be left behind, and soon all the horses from the back paddock were safely behind sturdy fencing.

The two girls raced down the hill to the back gate. There were many hoof prints on the trail on the other side of the broken fence, but they were shallow, blurred and washed out by the rain. It was impossible to tell if they were fresh.

'Let's have a quick look along the trail and then head back. I don't think he'll be here,' Shelby called to her friend. 'He wouldn't leave the other horses.'

'Unless there's a mare in season somewhere in the Gully, and that's not likely, is it?' Lindsey replied.

Soon they were past the broken fence and on to the trails. There were three different paths branching away and they decided to head down each for a few hundred metres looking for new hoof prints in the mud, or fresh manure.

First they headed along the path to the left. Both the girls and their horses knew the trails well and set off at a swift pace. Now that the rain had eased, and she was warmed by the exercise, Shelby started to enjoy herself. Blue pricked his ears forward and stretched out. Shelby grinned, knowing that her little pony loved having a job to do.

After a few hundred metres they passed the storm water drain under Gully Way. The water was running quickly through the tunnel and Shelby could hear it cascading over the far edge and into the pool below. It made Shelby shiver, imagining plunging into that cold water.

Next they tried the trail to the right of the gate. A few hundred metres along there was a left turn that looped around and joined the middle trail. The girls hadn't seen any sign of Diablo and so they took the left turn and soon they were headed back towards the stables. The ponies sped up as soon as they realised they were heading for home. On a long sandy straight Shelby rose up out of the saddle and Blue flattened out into a gallop.

The wind whistled in her ears. Shelby looked over her shoulder at Lindsey and Scooter, twenty metres behind. Lindsey was grinning, but there was a gleam of competitiveness in her expression. She crouched over Scooter's shoulder and urged him on.

They came around the corner and Blue's head shot up. He skidded, trying to slow down. A branch from one of the large gum trees that lined the path hung down across the trail. It was at chest height for the girls – too high to jump and too low to go under. Blue was going too fast to avoid it.

Shelby hunched over Blue's neck. She wasn't low enough. The branch was going to wipe her off the seat. There was no time to pull up, and if she turned suddenly, Scooter could crash into the back of them.

Without thinking, Shelby swung her offside leg over the saddle and clung to Blue's side, gripping the saddle's horn with both hands. She ducked her head and closed her eyes. The tree trunk brushed against her shoulder and then she was through to the other side.

Shelby clambered back into the saddle again, and Blue pulled up. She turned around. Lindsey had managed to slow Scooter down before he reached the branch.

'Wow!' shouted Lindsey. 'That was a fancy manoeuvre!'

'Yeah,' Shelby gasped. 'I'm glad this saddle didn't slip. I'm not quite sure how I did it, but it's a good thing I did!'

5 Packing a Bag

By the time the girls arrived back at the stables, Shelby's father was waiting to pick her up. Shelby sighed. She had forgotten that her family was going to visit her Aunty Jenny for the Easter weekend. Shelby was fond of her great-aunt, but she would much rather be staying with her friends, especially now that there was an emergency.

'Can I stay at Lindsey's instead?' she asked.

'Not a chance,' her father replied as he ushered her towards the car under his umbrella.

'You don't understand, Dad. They need me! Diablo is gone. It's the biggest catastrophe ever.'

'Honey, major catastrophes are an alarmingly frequent occurrence with you. I'm sure they'll make do.'

Shelby rolled her eyes and waved to Lindsey with a regretful smile.

'You know, Shelby, I worry about you,' her father said, as they turned out of the driveway. 'This horse thing has been an obsession for so long now. Shouldn't you be boy-crazy by now? Shouldn't I be chasing young men away with garden implements and forbidding you to go on dates with them?'

'I'm going to have horses forever. Even when I'm in my fifties.'

'That old, huh?'

When they reached home Shelby's mother had their bags ready by the door. Her two younger brothers, Connor and Blake, were wrestling on the lounge room floor.

'Oh, Shel, you'll have to jump in the shower,' her mother said. 'Be quick though. With this rain the traffic is going to be murder.'

'What? Why?'

'Because you're covered in mud and you stink like a stable floor,' her father replied. He pinched his nose. 'I didn't want to say anything while I was within striking range.'

Shelby touched her cheek and was surprised to find flecks of mud had dried there. She sniffed her sleeve. It did have a rather horsey aroma. She hadn't noticed.

The hot water beat against her shoulders and she breathed in the steamy air. Shelby squeezed some shampoo into the palm of her hand. Feeling was coming back into her toes now that they were warmer.

Shelby worried about Diablo's disappearance. Her mind kept returning to it, like fingers to an itchy bite.

Diablo was different to the other horses on the property – being the only stallion. Mrs Edel was fanat-ical about safety. His routine was upheld with strict consistency. His diet was monitored. Shelby weighed each scoop. His enclosure was out of bounds for everyone except the Edels and Shelby. It was almost like a church.

She closed her eyes and tried to remember if she had seen anyone suspicious at the stables during the week, but she couldn't remember anyone out of the ordinary.

Mrs Crook had been anxious and snappy. Hayley Crook and her horse Ditto were competing at the Royal Easter Show. The gelding had been staying in a box on site at Homebush, but Mrs Crook brought him back in the float on Good Friday afternoon for some peace and quiet in familiar surroundings.

Shelby had stopped to talk to her in the breezeway behind Diablo's stable, where Mrs Crook was using her electric clippers.

Ditto had nosed at the feed bucket in Shelby's hand, but it was empty.

'Sorry there, fella. That was Diablo's tucker. You missed out.'

'The mud is terrible,' Mrs Crook complained. 'By the time they get in the ring they're soaked and a mess. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it. And people are so rude in the practice arena. Hayley has a sour look on her face half the time. I'm ready to give the whole business away, Shelby.' Mrs Crook frowned with con-centration while she ran the clippers over Ditto's wither. 'You should have seen the led classes. There was a Galloway with its mane hogged. Hogged!' She pursed her lips. 'Pink ribbons, bows and sequins all over the place. It's like a circus! There's no sense of tradition any more. I remember when it was all plain brown leather. That was when it was actually about the quality of the horses. One girl had her hair out! Flapping in the breeze! Standards are slipping.'

Shelby grinned. 'Maybe you should become a judge, Mrs C.'

They both paused as Mrs Edel drove through the breezeway with the poo vac attached to the quad bike, on her way to collect the manure from Diablo's paddock.

Once the bike had passed Mrs Crook crouched down to tidy Ditto's fetlocks. 'Maybe I should! And then I'll know for sure that money is changing hands. I've always thought it. Do you know what irks me the most?' She went on before Shelby could answer. 'You see these fat horses fresh out of the paddock – nothing but a quick shampoo, and head to toe in raven oil, and they're winning classes! I saw a Riding Pony mare

– this is at the Royal, mind you, not some country fair – with cellulite on her quarters like a bowl of porridge. I don't think she'd seen a day of work in her life. Atrocious! And they're winning broad ribbons!'

'Terrible,' Shelby murmured.

'That wouldn't happen if I was judging,' Mrs Crook said. 'You know, I might just look into that, Shelby.' Then she had unplugged her clippers and led Ditto back to his yard.

Shelby was startled out of her recollection by a knock on the bathroom door.

'Hurry up, Shel! It's time to go,' Connor yelled.

'In a minute!' she answered.

Turning her face into the stream of water, Shelby rinsed the last of the shampoo from her hair. She tried to remember who else she had seen around Diablo's yard, but nothing she recalled seemed unusual.

Soon she was dried and dressing. She slipped a hooded jumper over her head and pulled on her joggers without bothering to retie the laces.

Her mother had packed an overnight bag while Shelby was at the stables. She had a quick look through, thinking to herself that she was probably old enough to pack her own bag by now. Her mum had put in a skirt. Even though it was a couple of years old, it looked new because she had never worn it.

Hayley and Erin would never trust their mothers with something as important as their wardrobe. If they were going away they would want to pack make-up too. Shelby still didn't have anything more than lip gloss, and that was more to do with windburn than fashion.

Erin had just got into perfume, which Shelby thought was the most incredible waste of money. Why pay a hundred dollars for a scent, when a four-dollar deodorant would do a better job? Imagine what you could buy with the other ninety-six!

Shelby wondered if there was something wrong with her because she never noticed that she smelt or was dirty and didn't care about clothes.

That term at school, some of the girls in her year had started teasing her. They would whinny when she walked past, make clip-clop noises, or say things about her being immature.

For Shelby school was just a place she went between being at the stables. And besides, Shelby had dreams for the future and goals to achieve, whereas those mean girls at school spent their time reading magazines about celebrities and obsessing about their hair, or their fingernails, so who was the most immature?

Still, there were so many girls who seemed care about all that stuff. Maybe she was missing out on something? Oh well, she thought. Even if she was immature she would grow up eventually, and in between times she had bigger things to worry about.

Shelby grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

6 Aunty Jenny's Trip

It was squashy in the back seat of the Alfa. It also smelt musty in the wet weather, and with the constant threat that the car might break down Shelby was irritable. She had to sit in the middle between her brothers' car seats. Connor was complaining that he was too big for his booster seat, and Blake was restless and whiney just because he was four.

Their mother tried to distract them. 'I spy with my little –'

'Is it a truck?' Shelby interrupted.

'Well, yes. OK, your turn.'

'I spy with my little eye, something . . .' Shelby started.

'Road sign!' Blake yelled.

'. . . starting with D,' finished Dad.

'Dad!' Blake called out.

'Nope!'

'Dashboard,' said Connor with a yawn.

Shelby and her mum groaned.

'How much longer?' Blake asked.

'Not long, sugar.'

'Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall,' Shelby sang.

'No!' the others chorused.

They lapsed into silence again. Shelby wished that she'd borrowed Erin's MP3 player. At least she would have something to do. She leaned forward, elbows on knees, resting her chin on the heels of her hands, keeping an eye out for floats or horse transport trucks.

The car droned low as it headed up the hill from the Brooklyn Bridge through the dramatic rock cuttings. Shelby's mother kept the car in the far left-hand lane behind a semitrailer.

'Come on, baby, you can do it!' Shelby's father stroked the glove box.

Shelby watched the shoulder of the road as they putted along, thinking how boring it would be if the car stopped and wouldn't start again. Worst of all, there was no food in the car and she was hungry.

When the Alfa reached the top of the hill everyone exhaled.

'See? Made it!' Dad crowed.

As they drove across Mount White Shelby saw a convoy of trucks heading the other way. Some were semitrailers, but three were horse trucks. She could see ears through the small windows at the top. Each truck was splashed in bright colours, and sign-written in scrolled font, Equus Caballus. Shelby recognised the name from her numerous horse books as the Latin name for the horse, as canis lupus familiaris is to dog, and felis silvestris catus is to the common house cat.

'A horse circus!' she whispered.

Her eyes followed the trucks until they rounded the bend, then Shelby sat back, linked her fingers behind her head and stared at the roof.

Over the last month or so she had started having lessons with Miss Anita on Friday mornings before school. She'd had the first lesson on Blue, but after that Miss Anita had put her on one of the school ponies, Penelope, who was better educated and more Shelby's size. Miss Anita said it was easier when she wasn't trying to school the horse and the rider at the same time.

For so long she'd perched on the fence watching the other girls have their lessons, and suddenly she was the one in the arena. She'd learnt so much already, and was amazed to find that her arms and legs hurt after her lessons, even though she rode for hours almost every day.

Miss Anita said that she had a naturally strong core balance, but her technique was sloppy. Since she had been having lessons she had started concentrating on keeping her shoulders back and looking where she was going instead of down at the horse's neck – even when she was out on trails.

She also enjoyed quizzing Miss Anita at the end of each lesson. She would ask about different styles of riding, competition, and how to train horses. Miss Anita always gave her long answers and sometimes took the time to show her examples as well. Miss Anita had some pretty strong opinions about things, Shelby was discovering. Sometimes she got an answer, other times a lecture, but it was all good.

Now Shelby wasn't sure what she wanted to do. For years her dream had been hacking. She'd always loved the neat little show ponies in the magazines, and the smart outfits that the girls wore, but from what she was learning from the Crooks she wasn't sure if she wanted to do that any more.

She'd been to a few shows with the Crooks leading up to the Royal. Sometimes in a class it was obvious which horse should win, but other times she had been surprised by the choice the judge made. She didn't know how she could ever succeed in a discipline where the method of judging was so arbitrary and vague, and where there was no opportunity for feedback.

How could you improve when you had no idea what they were looking for? Even the Crooks, with all the money, time and professional help they threw at it, weren't guaranteed success. Besides, it was never a field in which Blue was going to succeed, and since she could only have one horse it seemed a hopeless case.

Now Shelby was at a crossroads. She was going to ask Miss Anita for jumping lessons on Blue. He was good at that, and seemed to enjoy it. Shelby wasn't as brave as he was, especially approaching the bigger jumps. She could also try sporting. Blue was nifty. He'd probably do well at that too. Except then she'd miss out on the dressing-up part. It was hard to know what to do.

'Maybe I should join the circus,' she muttered.

'How much longer now?' Blake asked.

'Nearly there.'

Soon they were turning off the freeway and heading east towards the coast, where Aunty Jenny had a little cottage on the top of a hill.

When they pulled into the drive, even her father sighed with relief that the Alfa had actually made it. The three children tumbled out of the car.

'Aunty Jenny!' the boys called out, running up the steps.

Shelby's great-aunt opened the door and Shelby gasped. 'What have you done with your hair?'

The older lady smiled and flicked at her auburncoloured hair self-consciously.

'Oh, trying to stave off death for another year by thinking young thoughts.'

'Well, it looks fabulous,' said Shelby's father, kissing her on the cheek.

'Maybe we should get ours done while we're here. What do you think, Shel?' her mother said.

'Yes, we can go and see my friend tomorrow,' Aunt Jenny added.

'Yeah, maybe,' Shelby replied. She hugged her aunt warmly. 'It's great to see you, Aunty Jenny. Your hair looks ace.'

Inside the house her aunt made coffee for the grown-ups and served hot cross buns fresh from the oven with melted butter. The two boys tucked into them with gusto and Shelby was embarrassed to see Blake wiping his buttery fingers on the edge of the cushion he was sitting on. She expected Aunty Jenny to rouse on him but she didn't seem to notice.

Shelby stood at the window and looked out into Aunt Jenny's front garden, which was mostly native reeds and grasses. Shelby could see that Aunty Jenny had laid patterns of pebbles in different colours along the paths and the beds were deep with mulch.

Beyond the garden the wide bay stretched out in an arc. A wharf jutted into the water and Shelby could make out fishermen casting lines, with their buckets and eskies behind them. Shelby could imagine the scene being a picture in one of those gardening magazines that her father subscribed to.

'I'm going on a tour,' Aunty Jenny announced, once they were all fed and settled.

'Where are you going?' Dad asked.

'I'm starting in South Africa and then heading up to Kenya, Morocco, then Spain. I have to see Prague, of course, then Paris and London. I'll pop over to New York, San Francisco, down to Mexico City, then . . . Let me see, Rio, I think, then Buenos Aires, across to Auckland and then home.'

'That's all?' Shelby's dad asked. 'No Russia? You do realise you're skipping Asia altogether?'

'Next time,' Aunt Jenny smiled.

'Well, that sounds like quite a trip!' said Shelby's mum, helping herself to another hot cross bun.

'I've put it off for so long.' Aunty Jenny shook her head. 'I don't know what I've been waiting for.' She smiled briefly. 'It seems silly now, so I thought I'd do it all at once. I'll be gone for some time.'

'Sounds like it!' Dad said. He was smiling, but Shelby could tell that underneath it he was worried. When Shelby was younger they had really only seen Aunty Jenny at Christmas time when she came to stay with them, but Shelby had noticed recently that her father was arranging to see her more often, and phoning Aunty Jenny 'just to say hi'. He joked and laughed, but underneath that was the same concerned expression that he was wearing now. Aunty Jenny was the only one left on Shelby's father's side of the family, and she was becoming more frail. Shelby's dad worried about Aunty Jenny living by herself.

'Anyway,' her aunt continued, 'I've been doing some thinking. I'll be in London in December and I was hoping that you could all come and join me there. Just for a few weeks. We could have a white Christmas.'

Shelby's parents exchanged a glance. 'Oh, we'd love to, but –'

'This is where the thinking part comes in,' Aunty Jenny interrupted. 'I'm going to be gone for eighteen months. That's a long time for a house to be empty. At first I thought I could rent my house out, but then I had a better idea. If you moved in here then you could rent your house out, and with the money you could come and visit me – all of you.'

'Move here?' said Dad.

'For eighteen months?' asked Shelby.

Aunty Jenny nodded. 'Yes. This house is certainly big enough and there is plenty of room in the garage to store extra furniture.' She sighed. 'I could just rent out my house and give you the money, but I didn't think you would accept it.'

Shelby's dad shook his head. 'We try to make our own way in the world, Jenny.'

'I have to confess to another more selfish motive. You have such a magnificent green thumb. I've invested so much time in my garden, and it's exactly the way I want it now. I would hate to come back and find it in ruins.' She smiled. 'What do you think?'

7 A Surprise Meeting

Shelby's parents beamed at each other. Shelby watched with growing horror as they talked over the top of each other in excitement.

'The kids have school, but London!' said Dad.

'We've always wanted to travel,' replied Shelby's mother.

'There are good schools up here too, and it's a long block of time. I'm sure they would settle in. It would be different if Shel was in year twelve.'

'Yes, much different. London!'

'I could commute from here. Or I could ask for a transfer. Buckingham Palace! The Tate!'

'Harrods!' laughed her mother. She clapped her hands together and held them up to her chin. Her eyes glistened with tears. She looked younger. Aunty Jenny leaned back in her chair smiling with pleasure. Everyone looked happy – everyone except Shelby.

'Harry Potter lives in London,' Connor told Blake.

'Harry Potter isn't real,' Shelby snapped.

Connor shrugged. 'Winnie the Pooh, then.'

'The Wombles,' added her father.

'The who?' asked Blake.

'And The Who!' her father replied. Shelby's mother and Aunty Jenny laughed.

'There's one member of the family that you all seem to be forgetting about,' Shelby said, folding her arms.

Her parents looked at Blake.

'Blue!' Shelby shouted.

'There are agistment places up here. I checked,' Aunty Jenny assured her. 'The girls ride out over the sand dunes and along the beach. One place had camels too.'

Shelby glared at her aunt for a moment and then turned to her parents. 'You can't be serious!'

Her mother leaned forward. 'Honey, you said the girls at school were teasing you anyway! This could be a fresh start.'

'A fresh start?' Shelby stood up pushing back from the table. 'You expect me to give up all my friends for some stupid camel club?'

She ran down the corridor, feeling her way because tears blurred her eyes.

'Shelby, you come back here and apologise!' her father shouted after her.

'Let her go,' Shelby heard her aunt say. 'You're forgetting how frightening change can be.'

Shelby raced down the steps and along the street. She wasn't sure where she was going – just away from where her parents were deciding her future without even consulting her. The footpath beneath her feet was crooked and she turned her ankle. Shelby hopped for a few steps and kept running past one neat garden after another. Bees hummed over daisy bushes and birds sipped nectar from native flowers. Everything on Aunty Jenny's street on this grey day was calm and organised, like old people, and not horsey in the slightest.

At the bottom of the hill there was a strip of shops. She slowed to a walk, keeping her head down so that strangers wouldn't see her crying. She crossed the road and headed for the beach.

From the scrubby lawn at the edge of the car park a set of wooden stairs led down and disappeared into the sand. Shelby perched on the middle step. She pulled the hood over her head, tucked her hands inside her sleeves and frowned into the salty breeze.

It was cold and spitting rain, so there weren't any swimmers. The only other people on the beach were three boys with a football about fifty metres further along. She watched them punching the ball to each other, or kicking it high into the air, then scrambling and wrestling with each other to catch it.

All her parents worried about was school. They didn't understand that she didn't care about her studies. One school was probably just as good as another. Her life was at the stables and she wasn't likely to find a place like that again.

The truth was that she had never made friends easily. She'd always been a bit weird and shy. At school the gap between her and the other kids seemed to be stretching wider all the time. Not only that, but she wasn't smart – just somewhere in the middle. The only thing she could talk about with confidence was horses, and sometimes when she got started she could tell other people were bored.

Now, for the first time in her life, she was part of a group of friends. She'd finally found people with whom she could talk about horses all day long. She couldn't imagine not seeing Erin and Lindsey every day.

Shelby remembered that it was only a month or so ago that Hayley Crook – the girl with the flashiest horses, the nicest house and the most 'in' mum at Pony Club – had asked if she could hang out with Shelby. She had laughed about it, because it had seemed so bizarre.

If Shelby's family moved, all of that would be ruined. She could go back to the stables in eighteen months, but it wouldn't be the same. Too much day-to-day stuff would have happened. There would be too many in-jokes that she wouldn't understand.

The footy boys ran along the beach towards the steps and Shelby shuffled over so that they could pass. She didn't even look up as their legs scissored by.

'Shelby?'

She slipped the hood from her head and turned around.

The boy with the football was familiar, but she couldn't place him. He had caramel-coloured skin and dark eyes.

'It's me, Chad,' he grinned at her.

'Chad?' Then she remembered she'd run across him on his trail bike a few times in the Gully. 'I didn't recognise you without your helmet.' She smiled back.

'What are you doing here?' he asked.

'My aunty lives up that hill.' She pointed. 'What about you?'

'My brother lives down that way.' He tilted his head and tossed the football from hand to hand. 'I usually come up here and stay for a while during school holidays. I thought I'd seen you before. I mean, before the bike day. Must have been here.'

Shelby had a vivid recollection of riding pillion on Chad's bike all those months ago when she had been lost in the Gully. They stared at each other.

'Are you OK?' he asked, a frown crossing his brow for a second.

She wiped a hand across her eyes, wondering if they were all red and puffy from crying.

'Hurry up, will ya?' said one of the older boys.

'We're going up to the shops for hot chips. Do you want to come?' Chad asked.

Shelby blushed. 'Oh. Um, no, I better be getting back.'

He nodded. 'Maybe tomorrow then? We're going fishing in the morning, but we usually hang out on the beach in the afternoon.'

'Maybe.' She smiled.

'Okies, see you tomorrow then.'

Shelby watched as Chad ran to catch up with the others. All the other times she had seen him he had been wearing protective gear for trail bike riding. She hadn't noticed that he had quite broad shoulders and muscly legs. Perhaps he was a little taller than she remembered as well.

Shelby wondered if she could talk her parents into giving her some money for hot chips tomorrow without it becoming a whole family outing. She would have to be careful what she said. If she told them she was meeting a boy her dad was sure to make a big deal out of it. Maybe if she told them he was a 'friend' without specifying gender she would get away with it?

Shelby hummed as she headed back up the hill towards the house.

8 Shelby's Um Friend

Shelby smoothed down the green skirt at the front and stared at herself in the mirror of Aunty Jenny's spare room. The skirt was a bit short, but she supposed that was because her legs were longer than they had been when her mother bought it. She thought she really should iron it, but then her family would know some-thing was up because she had never ironed anything in her life.

The only shoes her mother had packed were her Pollyanna school shoes. She also had her pair of scuffed old sneakers, so she had opted for the latter. She wore a pink long-sleeved tee-shirt. It had an orange stain on the front so she'd put a singlet over it, like she had seen some other kids do at the shopping centre, except it was an under-singlet – off-white, made of the same stuff they make spencers out of, with acrylic lace around the edge. It was vee-necked and the shirt was not. She hoped that didn't matter.

Shelby had had her hair done in the morning, and now she was worried that Chad would think she'd cut it for him, so she slipped Blake's 'Bob the Builder' beanie over her head. She wasn't sure if she looked really cool, or whether she looked as though she was wearing her undies on the outside, her little brother's beanie, and possibly his skirt also.

She pulled the beanie off and then put it back on again, folding it so that you couldn't see Bob. Did everyone worry about what they looked like as much as she was, or was this just because she was new to caring about it? She hoped it was a one-off, because she could waste a lot of time over the years staring in the mirror.

Shelby didn't know why she was making such a fuss anyway. It was only hot chips, and Chad might not even be there. He did say that he 'usually' hung out at the beach. He might still be fishing, and then she was going to feel like a dill.

She sighed and headed down the hall to the lounge room, where the rest of the family were playing card games or reading. Strips of coloured foil littered the floor. A half-eaten chocolate egg was melting in Blake's fingers.

They all stared.

'What?' Shelby said, feeling her face flushing.

'She's wearing a skirt,' Shelby's father said to her mother.

'Not much of a skirt,' her mother replied.

'I'd say definitely more than one hand-span above the knee,' remarked Aunty Jenny over the brim of her magazine.

'That's my beanie,' Blake remarked.

'I'm borrowing it,' Shelby said. 'Can I have five dollars? I thought I might go down to the beach and maybe get some hot chips or something.'

'You just had lunch,' said her mother.

'Yeah, I know. I might meet some other kids,' Shelby mumbled.

'Are you saying you have met some kids before and this is a prearranged meeting, or are you going to loiter at the fish and chip shop on the off-chance that you might meet some other kids?'

'Both,' Shelby answered.

Her mother laid her playing cards face down on the table and waited. Shelby's face grew redder. She was going to have to come up with an explanation.

'Well, what happened is, yesterday I met a . . . um, friend, and we said we might catch up today, maybe to have chips or something, but it's not confirmed.'

'An um friend?' Her father turned to her mother again. 'Shelby has an um friend!'

'Shut up,' Shelby muttered, her face flushed again.

'Did you hear that? She's telling us to shut up. She's wearing a miniskirt and meeting an um friend, and bam! Just like magic she's a teenager. Where's my camera? I want to record this moment.' He jumped up. 'We can have it blown up for her twenty-first. Our

little girl!' He hugged her on his way past.

'Dad!'

'He's right, Shelby,' her aunt told her, smiling. 'As painful as it is now, you might want to remember this later.' She sighed. 'Oh, first love!'

First love? Shelby thought. This was getting way out of control. 'It's no big deal! Can I have five dollars? Please?' she asked.

Her father came back into the room with his camera trained on her. 'Go on! Throw a tantrum. That will be the full box and dice.' He clicked away – the flash going off at two-second intervals.

Blake and Connor jumped and crowded around Shelby, giggling and using their fingers to pull their faces into grotesque shapes for the camera.

'Mum?' She begged her mother to let her escape.

'So who is this friend?' her mother asked. Her father stopped snapping for a moment, keen to hear Shelby's answer.

'Just someone I met on the beach.' Shelby chose her words carefully. 'I have met this person before, though.'

'This person?' her father repeated, beaming. 'A person, eh? What do you think about that, boys? Is it a he person? Or a she person?'

'He! He! He!' Connor chanted, and soon Blake joined in, punching his fist into the air in time.

Shelby covered her face with her hands.

'Off you go, honey.' Her mother took ten dollars out of her purse and handed it across. 'We're going to the movies this evening, remember. Don't be late.'

'Thanks, Mum.'

'No holding hands, or I'll have to come after your um friend with a pruning saw,' her father said. He tilted his head to the side. 'OK, you can hold hands, but definitely no smooching!'

'Smooching?' Blake giggled. 'Yucko!'

Shelby fled.

9 Hot Chips

At first Shelby waited up near the shops, but the breeze in the shade was cold around her legs, so she sat on the sand in the sun and watched the waves curl over one another.

She had known her dad would make a fuss, and now she was more nervous than ever, which was dumb, because it was just hot chips, and he was just a boy.

Besides, the last two times Chad had seen her she'd been dirty, and rained on, and crying, so obviously he didn't really care what she looked like. Yesterday Chad had said 'that day', so he probably didn't even remember that he had met her twice in the Gully.

Maybe he didn't even like her? Perhaps he'd only made the invitation out of politeness? She ran over the conversation they'd had the day before in her mind, looking for a different meaning that she might have missed.

There was a couple walking along the beach holding hands. Laughing, the girl broke away, running along the waterline. The boy chased after her and grabbed her around the waist. Shelby looked away as they kissed.

Above the beach there was a small grassy park. An older lady sat on a rug and fed a toddler from a baby food jar while another child, about Blake's age, played on the slippery dip.

Where was Chad anyway? It was 'afternoon' and she must have been waiting for half an hour already. Knowing her luck he'd seen her and was hiding around the corner waiting till she was gone.

Shelby stood up and brushed the sand from the back of her legs. She'd brought a book to Aunty Jenny's that Erin had lent her. She hadn't started it yet. Erin wasn't much of a reader, so it must be good if she liked it.

Shelby decided to buy some chips and a drink to take back with her to the house. Aunty Jenny had a hammock hanging from the back veranda. She'd spend the afternoon there with the book, but first she would change into some track pants. Skirts definitely weren't her style.

When she turned Chad was there, right behind her, grinning. He had gummy stuff in his hair to make it stand up, only he had missed a bit, which lay fluffy and flat on the side of his head.

'I thought it was you, but I couldn't tell with the hat. And your hair's a different colour, isn't it? I've been standing up there for ages trying to decide whether to come down and check.' He pointed his thumb over his shoulder.

Shelby put her hand on her beanie. 'Oh.'

'So do you want some chips or something?' He smiled at her again.

'OK.'

They walked up the beach towards the car park. 'Have you been here for a long time?'

'Nope.' Shelby hoped she would be able to start speaking full sentences soon. She was nervous, and it was so dumb because the first time she met Chad she had yelled at him. She took a deep breath. 'I got my hair done. It was Mum's idea. I was going to grow it out, but . . . How was fishing? What do you catch around here at this time of year?'

'A cold,' he answered.

Shelby raised an eyebrow.

'Sorry. Really bad, really old joke. We caught some nice snapper. My bro eats a lot of fish. Good brain food. Do you like fish?'

Shelby shrugged. 'It's OK, I suppose.'

They stopped at the kerb and waited for a few cars to pass before crossing. She could feel Chad standing right next to her even when she wasn't looking at him, as though he was letting off some kind of electronic waves. She couldn't think of anything to say so she watched the traffic intently. She snuck a peek at him. He was looking so seriously at the truck that passed that she wondered if he was doing the same thing.

'What's your favourite food?' Chad asked.

She thought about it for a while – food being a very important business. 'Pasta.'

'Italian heritage?' he asked.

'No,' she frowned. She didn't look Italian. 'My family is Aussie.'

'Yeah, me too,' he said.

Shelby gave him a sideways glance as they passed through the door into the chip shop. With his skin colour and dark eyes she had assumed that his family was from somewhere overseas.

Chad ordered some chips and then they stepped outside to wait. Neither of them said anything for a while. Shelby folded her arms and looked at the signs that were taped to the inside of the window. There was an ad for guitar lessons and a sign for a missing cat.

'If you go to the Catholic College you must know some of my friends. Do you know Hayley Crook or Lindsey Edel?'

'Do you hang out with those girls?' he asked.

'Yeah, they're two of my closest friends. It's weird, isn't it, to think that we both see them every day. I wonder if there are any other coincidences in our lives like that?'

Chad didn't answer. He headed inside to collect the chips. Shelby bought a bottle of soft drink for each of them and they wandered back across the road to sit on a bench in the park.

'I haven't seen you out on the trails lately,' he com-mented, unravelling the white paper packet. The delicious smell of the chips wafted up between them.

Shelby blew on a chip before putting it in her mouth. 'I've got a job at the stables, and I've been getting riding lessons, so I haven't been in the Gully much – only up near the stables.'

Chad dropped a chip. A lone seagull alighted in front of them and gobbled it up. Then three or four who had been stalking a family nearby scurried over on their red legs.

'You probably haven't seen the circus then.'

Shelby shook her head. 'Circus?'

'You know up on the other side of the Gully there's a water tower?' Chad drew a map in the air with his index finger. 'Well, in front of that there was a paddock with some cows in it.'

Shelby nodded. 'There's an old lounge on the bend.' She pointed to the place on his imaginary map where the lounge suite would be.

'That's the one.' He smiled. 'Well, the cows are gone and now there's a circus. They've just put up a new fence.'

'What do you mean a circus?'

Chad flicked a chip with a burnt spot to the birds and they squabbled over it, screeching in their bird voices. Others, attracted by the calls, alighted on the fringes, and soon they had a whole flock staring at them expectantly.

'Circuses aren't on the road all the time, you know. They have to have a base, don't they? Sometimes they have a rest and come up with a new routine.'

'No way! Are there elephants?'

Chad frowned, thinking. 'I haven't seen any elephants. Just horses.'

Shelby took a swig of her drink. 'I saw a heap of trucks on the road on the way here. It had Equus Caballus written on the side. It looked like a horse circus.'

'Yeah, I think that's what it's called.'

'How many horse circuses can there be?' she asked. 'Cool! I'll have to go and have a look.'

'We could go together,' Chad suggested. 'Then I might be brave enough to ask if I can watch them practice instead of hiding in the scrub.'

'Were you on your trail bike when you did this hiding?'

'Yep.'

'And you reckon they didn't know you were there?' Shelby grinned. 'If you're going to make a habit of lurking in the bushes you'll need a quieter form of transport!' She put her index finger on her chin in an exaggerated gesture, as though she was thinking. 'Hmm. Let me see, what's fast and quiet?'

He shook his head and scrunched up the empty paper. 'I've already told you I think you're crazy getting on those things. Bikes don't have their own idea about where they want to go, and they don't get lost all the time!'

Shelby took one last mouthful of her drink and then handed him the empty bottle to put in the bin.

'Good chips, eh?'

'Yeah. Thanks for inviting me.' Shelby stood up.

'Are you going?' he asked. 'We could walk along the beach. There's a rock platform on the headland. We could look for anemones and starfish. I saw an octopus there once. Ever wrestled with an octopus? They're really strong – like one big muscle. Or we could walk out along the jetty. One of my cousins is out there fishing.'

'I can't. We're going to see . . .' Shelby paused, embarrassed. He might think it was babyish to see an animated movie. 'I have a family thing.'

'What about tomorrow?' he asked.

'I'd love to but we're going home tomorrow,' Shelby told him. She looked him in the eye and realised she really would like to explore the rock platform with Chad. It had been hard to think of things to say at first, but now they were talking as though they'd known each other for years. He wasn't at all like the boys at school. They all seemed to be from another species. Chad seemed to be a friend already.

'Well, we should arrange a day to look at the circus. What about next week sometime?' he asked.

'Maybe. I work, remember. It's really busy right now because of the holidays. What about if you ring me?'

Chad patted his pockets. 'I don't have a pen!'

Shelby laughed at the tragic look on his face. 'We're in the phone book. My last name is Shaw. Can you remember that?'

'Sure can!' He winked.

She groaned.

'I guess you've heard that one before.'

'Once or twice,' she admitted as she backed away.

'I'll ring you then, Shelby.'

'Bye!' Shelby waved. Then she felt dumb for waving when he was standing only two metres away, so she turned and jogged up the hill. Then she thought she probably shouldn't actually run away from him. He might think she didn't want him to ring her, when really she did.

10 A Guy

After an uneventful trip home on Easter Monday, Shelby was glad to be back at the stables again on Tuesday morning. She'd rung Erin as soon as she got home, but they hadn't found Diablo yet. Erin said that Mrs Edel was in a bad mood, but other than that it was business as usual.

From first light the agistment centre was busy with trucks and floats trundling up and down the driveway. The loading area was noisy with the clanging sounds of breeching doors and dividers locking into place, the thump of hooves clambering up tailgates and the hum of electric brakes. The owners commanded their animals in single syllables – 'up', 'yar', 'whoa'.

Riders turned up early in the morning to use the arena – from little kids with big helmets that made them look like lollipops, to elegant older ladies on leggy dressage mounts, to blokes in jeans practising spins and pivots on their lean stock horses.

Groups of kids fooled around while their ponies looked on patiently, or slept on their feet. Ladies joked to each other as they passed in the laneway with buckets, hoses or tack.

During school holidays the demand for trail rides always doubled and that meant early starts and busy days for the girls too. Erin had offered to help out. Hayley was helping as well. She had finished feeding her other two horses, a pony called Echo and a lovely bay hack called Scamp. Now she was waiting for her mother to take her over to Homebush – back to the Royal Easter Show.

'At least it's finally stopped raining!' said Hayley, taking the last bite of an apple before offering the core to Hiccup – the pony she was saddling.

There was a long line of trail riders looking eager, and a little anxious. Some girls had brought their own helmets. Shelby handed out waiver forms on clipboards for the parents to sign.

'Why are you humming?' Erin demanded.

Shelby looked up at her friend, surprised. 'I wasn't humming.'

'Yes, you were! You've been doing it all morning. What's happened? Did your mum say you could have another horse?'

'I wish.' Shelby smiled.

'What is it then?'

'Nothing!' It crossed Shelby's mind to tell Erin about Aunty Jenny's trip and what it could mean for her family, but she wanted to wait until her parents had made a firm decision. Nobody had mentioned it on the way home and Shelby knew better than to nag them. She also knew that they were quite proud and might see Aunty Jenny's offer as charity. That gave Shelby cause to hope that they might reject the offer.

Lindsey frowned as she allocated trail riders to horses. Shelby was glad she wasn't the one who had to match size, experience and temperament, and also determine who was lying when they ticked the box marked 'Ridden more than one hundred times' on their waiver forms.

Shelby boosted one of the regular trail riding girls onto Cracker's back and then reached up to tighten her helmet strap.

A tiny girl in baggy jodhpurs tugged at her mother's hand and pointed to Blue. 'I want that one,' she whispered.

Lindsey raised an eyebrow at Shelby.

'I could pony him off Scooter,' she suggested, meaning that she would lead Blue while she rode Scooter. Lindsey nodded.

'You have great taste!' Shelby said as she lifted the girl into the saddle by the underarms.

Erin was adjusting Blockhead's stirrups for a man who had come along with his son. 'Now I know some-thing is up,' she said, narrowing her eyes at Shelby. Shelby didn't usually let beginners ride Blue. She usually rode him herself.

'Not really. Just . . . Well, I did meet this guy on the beach when we were up at Aunty Jenny's place.'

'A guy?' asked Hayley.

'A beach guy!' added Erin.

'What's this about a guy?' asked Lindsey, tucking the last of the money into a bumbag around her waist.

'No, it wasn't like that!' Shelby protested. 'We just had some hot chips.'

'Ooh! Hot chippies!' Erin teased.

'She's gone red!' said Hayley.

'I have not!' Shelby said, blushing even more.

All the trail riders were mounted now. The begin-ners clung to their saddles and lurched awkwardly as the horses milled around in the yard. The four girls moved among the riders adjusting girths or stirrups, checking straps and explaining the squeeze-go and pull-stop concepts.

Hayley opened the gate and the trail riders headed out in single file, led by one of the regular riders.

Shelby strapped a halter over Blue's bridle and knotted his reins. 'Anyway, you two know him. He goes to your school.'

Erin jumped aboard her horse, Bandit, and Lindsey swung onto a beautiful but skittish young Arab mare called Lyrical.

'Who is it?' Hayley grinned.

'His name is Chad.'

'Not Chad Hammond?' Lindsey asked.

'I don't know his last name,' Shelby said, slipping her toe into Scooter's stirrup. 'Like I said, it was just about the chips.'

Lindsey and Hayley exchanged a glance.

'What?' Shelby asked.

'You know he's Aboriginal, don't you?' Lindsey replied.

'Is he Koori?' Shelby said. It made sense, though, she thought as she led Blue through the gate.

'And he rides trail bikes in the Gully,' added Hayley.

'So?' Shelby asked.

Hayley shut the gate behind them. 'I have to go back to the show now.' She rolled her eyes.

'See you later, Hales! Have a snow cone for me,' Lindsey called out over her shoulder as she trotted to the front of the group.

'Good luck!' Erin smiled at her friend.

Erin and Shelby rode side by side, with Blue and his tiny rider a few paces behind.

'So what happened with this guy then?' Erin asked.

'Nothing. Really! I was at the chip shop, and Chad was there too and we talked while we ate hot chips. No biggie.'

Erin grinned, and then they rode for a while in silence. The young girl on Blue stroked his neck care-fully, and Blue gave Shelby an indulgent look that made her smile.

At the end of the laneway Lindsey opened the gate to the back paddock and the trail riders rode through, waiting in a loose group on the other side. Several of the horses reefed the reins from their riders' hands and grazed. Shelby shook her head. Such bad manners!

They set off again, riding along the fence line. Erin looked at Shelby over her shoulder. 'I have been meaning to ask you something, Shelby.'

'What's that, Erin?'

Erin frowned towards the horizon. 'If mouses are called mice, and louses are called lice, how come houses aren't called hice?'

Shelby shook her head. 'I don't know, Erin. It's a mystery.'

Soon they were busy as Lindsey took the more experienced group for a canter and Erin rode at the head of the beginner group. Shelby stayed at the back looking after the stragglers.

Many of the younger girls had questions, which Shelby was happy to answer, but she was a little dis-tracted. She wondered what that traded glance between her two friends was about. Thinking back, Lindsey had said 'You know he's Aboriginal,' more like an accusation than an observation, and then Hayley added trail bike riding as though they were ticking off a list of faults.

11 Equus Caballus

Later in the afternoon while Erin had her lesson with Miss Anita and Lindsey took new clients on a tour around the property, Shelby saddled Blue and took him out into the Gully alone.

They headed down the hill and across the causeway. On the other side they stopped. Shelby had the choice of the left trail that led to the Pony Club, or the right, which brought her up to the streets behind her house, or she could head straight across to the far side of the Gully.

'Which way do you think?' she asked the pony. Blue turned his head around and sniffed at her boot. She reached forward and patted his neck just behind his ears. He was starting to get his fluffy winter coat.

Blue pricked his ears forward and a moment later Shelby thought she heard a buzzing sound. She wondered if it was a trail bike. It might be Chad. Or it could be someone using a chainsaw to cut up all those branches that had come down in the storm.

'Come on, woolly bear,' she said, steering him straight ahead towards the sound.

Shelby pushed him into an easy, ground-covering canter. Blue was much rougher to ride than other horses, but she trusted him, and so she sat back, pushing her weight into her heels, and relaxed into the cadence of his hoof beats.

Every now and then she would hear the blurting, buzzing sound of the engine, but when she reached the steeper, zigzagging trail on the far side of the Gully the sound stopped, and Shelby started to wonder if she had imagined it.

Looming above she could see the grey, cone-shaped water tower. Chad had said the horse circus was near here. According to his description it should be just beyond these bends. She came to the corner with the old lounge suite, faded and disintegrating now, and littered with old beer bottles, but arranged in an L-shape, as it would be if it was in a house.

There was a new fence along the left-hand side of the straight, just the way Chad had described. On the other side of the fence, parked haphazardly in the dirt paddock ribboned with tyre tracks, were six mighty semitrailers, splashed in bright colours, and each sign-written in scrolled font – Equus Caballus.

'The circus!' Shelby whispered. She stopped Blue in the trees and hopped off, peeking through the branches to get a closer look.

Next to the trucks there was a wooden round yard with a sand base. The man standing in the middle wore dirty black jodhpurs, top boots and a blue singlet top. He had long black hair tied in a ponytail and fierce dark eyebrows. He held a bright red lunge whip in one hand.

Inside the round yard, three grey ponies trotted around in a circle in single file, and then, when the man held up his lunge whip, the first horse peeled away across the middle and rejoined the others at the back. Shelby was astounded to see that they were completely without any sort of harness. Nothing. Not even a halter. She had read about liberty work before, but she had never seen it in real life.

One after the other the ponies slipped around, taking it in turns to be at the front. The man stepped forward and raised his whip slightly, and all at once the three ponies turned around and trotted in the opposite direction.

Behind the round yard a temporary paddock had been constructed with an electric fence. About half a dozen horses of different sizes stood in the middle of the yard picking from a round bale of hay. One was a Clydesdale. As she watched, a miniature pony – pied like Blue – wandered, head-down and oblivious, straight under the Clydie's belly on its way to the water trough. Shelby covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.

There was a flat sandy space on which two ladies rode matching black horses, thick-haired and cresty – Shelby guessed they were Friesian. The ladies were riding side by side, going through a routine not dis-similar to the pairs workouts that Shelby had done with Erin at Pony Club. She admired the way the lady on the outside was able to lengthen her horse's stride around the corners, without looking like she was rushing. Then they performed a piaffe in time and Shelby whispered, 'Wow!' She had read in her horse encyclopaedia that the piaffe – jogging on the spot – was originally designed to keep horses warm in battle.

In the middle of it all there was a red-brick house with aluminium windows, a cement veranda at the front and a garage with a roller door. It was the most ordinary-looking house in the whole world and it seemed to Shelby to be the odd one out, like a kazoo in an orchestra. It was mundane and ridiculous, where everything else was mesmerising.

Two women sat on the front steps talking. Shelby could see the steam rising from the mugs they were drinking from.

Beyond the house there was another arena, but this one was fenced, and inside there were six forty-four-gallon drums with a rope between them, creating a narrow track.

A solid, bald-faced quarter horse, wearing what looked to Shelby like a western saddle, cantered around the track. A girl of about Shelby's age squatted over the saddle on her haunches, like a jockey. A slightly built, older man in a waistcoat sat on one of the drums on the opposite side, clapping in time with the horse's stride.

When the quarter horse came around the corner Shelby could see more clearly. The girl's feet were tucked into a strap that was looped over the front of the saddle. The horn was much longer than on an ordinary western saddle, and metal, rather than leather.

The girl rose up so that she was crouched, holding the horn on the front with one hand and the horse's mane in the other. Slowly she stood, letting go. Her arms pin-wheeled and then she squatted again. The horse skidded to a halt in the corner.

The man on the side with the waistcoat stopped clapping.

'Shut up! I can do it!' the girl shouted.

The man tipped back his head and laughed.

'You do it then!' the girl challenged, pulling her feet out of the strap and dropping to the side of the horse.

In a flash the older man was up. He sprinted across the circle and flicked himself up into the saddle. He tucked his feet into the strap and then, carefully, he stood up. He held both arms wide, palms up, grinning at the girl. She folded her arms and scowled back at him.

Shelby leaned forward, straining to hear what the girl would say.

'Der! As if I couldn't do it standing still,' the girl grumbled.

Shelby had never known about trick riding before, but from what she had seen today, she knew that this was what she wanted to do. She would have to train all day long, and then perform, and when she wasn't doing that there would be stables to muck out, and feeds to make up and tails to brush. Then at meal breaks, or relaxing time, they could talk about horses. She'd be busy every minute of the day and fall into bed each night exhausted. It sounded like heaven!

There was so much Shelby could learn from these people. She could study liberty work with ponies and train in classical dressage like those ladies on the black horses. She could do trick riding, just like the girl. They would be great friends, a dynamic duo – friendly rivals, pushing each other to achieve more and more daring tricks.

Shelby remembered how she'd slid out of the saddle a few days before on the trail. She already had a talent for it. And she could bring Blue as well. He was so quiet and easy. He was sure to be calm and reliable in front of a crowd. They might even pay her. It was perfect!

Her eyes drifted past the girl. On the other side of the arena there was a trail bike leaning on its stand and, sitting cross-legged in front of it, in his bike-riding leathers, was Chad. Her heart beat faster for a second and then she frowned.

Chad had asked her to go with him to see the circus. It was almost, but not quite, a date. He was supposed to ring her. She had been dreading that call. All night she'd waited. She'd frozen the few times that the phone rang, but then when it was someone else she was disappointed.

It seems he got over his shyness after all! she thought, and then she felt guilty. After all, she hadn't waited for him to call before coming here either.

When Shelby looked again the girl was back on the quarter horse, crouching like a jockey. She urged the horse into a canter. This time she stood, turning her palms up and smiling just as the older man had.

Chad clapped and put his fingers in his mouth for an ear-piercing whistle. 'You're the best!' he called out.

Shelby reddened, angry at Chad for saying he would ring her when he didn't intend to. She also felt silly for telling everyone about the hot chips. Now if anyone talked about it she would be embarrassed.

She looked away from Chad to a row of four ramshackle stables that faced the house. They were old but sturdy, made of corrugated iron with timber half doors.

Three white faces poked out of the stable doors. Shelby wondered if they were Lipizzans – the original Spanish dancing horses. She'd only ever seen them on television and in pictures, but she knew they were elegant, athletic and took years to train.

While she watched, absorbed in her thoughts, a fourth horse head emerged from within the stable to watch what was happening outside. This one was a dark face. Shelby recognised it immediately.

It was Diablo.

12 Karma

Shelby backed out of the shrubbery and scrambled into the saddle. She gathered up the reins. Obviously she had to tell Mrs Edel straightaway. But what would happen if Chad was still there when the police came? Would they assume he had something to do with it? She was cross with him, but she didn't want him to get into trouble. What if he had only met the circus people today? Would the police accuse him falsely? She really should warn him – or at least see what she could find out first. She should go back and ask questions, find out all she could.

Shelby slipped out of the saddle and slid the reins over Blue's ears. She would ask them about the stallion.

But what if it was a conspiracy and Chad was involved? Shelby had got the impression that Lindsey and Hayley already seemed to think he was a bit shady. Shelby hadn't known him for as long as Lindsey. She could be putting herself in danger going in there.

What if all of those horses were stolen? Surely they wouldn't go around the countryside performing on stolen horses. Maybe the total audacity was what made the scheme work? Or it could be an elaborate front. Perhaps there was no circus at all – in which case, she should inform the police straightaway.

She hadn't had much luck with the police before. It seemed to Shelby that they were either on the wrong person's side, or their procedures prevented them from doing anything useful.

Shelby rubbed her sweaty hands on the thighs of her joddies. Every other time she'd found herself in a situation like this she'd done the wrong thing and got herself in more trouble. This time she wanted to get it right.

'What is the opposite of what I would normally do?' she asked Blue.

He chewed on his bit as though he was thinking about it.

'Yes, that's what I thought.' Shelby stepped into the stirrup and threw her leg over him again and they set off down the trail. She leaned over Blue's neck, feeling the wind in her face and the whistle in her ears. At the next intersection she turned left, spraying stones as they took the corner and galloped up the hill

– straight home to her parents. In the back yard she slipped off the bridle and loosened the girth. Blue settled in to munching the lawn. Shelby's dad didn't like having Blue in the garden because he chewed the plants and trampled the vegies, but this was an emergency.

She heard the back door slide open.

'Shel!' her mother said, surprised. 'What are you doing here?'

'Mum, I need your advice.'

Inside, Shelby pulled out one of the dining chairs. She explained about Diablo, the circus and about Chad being her um friend.

'So do you think I should find out what happened first? Do you think I should ask them to give Diablo back? Then I could take him straight to the stables, and everything will be solved! But where am I going to say I found him? I don't want to have to lie. I suck at lying, anyway.'

'I'm pleased to hear it,' her mother remarked.

'I could tell those circus people to put Diablo in Mrs Edel's back paddock at night, and then maybe Mrs Edel might think that we just didn't see him before. She's not going to believe that, is she? But she might not care once he's back. What should I do?'

Shelby's mum patted her arm. 'You need to tell Brenda Edel straightaway.'

'What if I dob on those circus people and Mrs Edel goes nuts? There will be a big fight and it will be my fault.'

'Honey, Mrs Edel is a grown-up. She's not going to do anything like that. And besides, it's not our business what happens afterwards. If your circus people didn't steal Diablo then I'm sure they will be able to explain what happened, and if they did steal him . . .' She shrugged. 'They will get their just desserts.'

Shelby looked her mother in the eye. 'Do you really think that's how it works though, Mum? Do you think the bad people get in trouble and the good people get rewarded? It's just that I don't think that actually happens in real life. You see all those people on the news who die, or have horrible injuries, and they're not bad. And . . .' She paused. 'Maybe I am simplifying it, but I think we're pretty good in this family, but there are kids at school who are mean and they have things much easier than we do.'

Shelby's mother thought about it for a moment. 'Probably those kids will be slimy slugs in the next life.'

'Do you think that's how it works? Really? Because I'm beginning to wonder.'

Her mother laughed and shook her head. 'I don't know, honey. You really are becoming a teenager, aren't you?'

'What's my age got to do with anything?'

'That's what being a teen is all about – questioning the assumptions and simplicity that governed your youth, discovering complexity and contradictions, and then being depressed by it.'

Shelby curled her lip, wondering if talking to her mother had been the right choice after all. 'I just want to know what's the right thing to do.'

Her mother laughed again. 'Go and ring Brenda Edel and I'll make us a snack. She'll be very pleased to hear from you, no doubt.'

Shelby sighed, remembering when her mother used to know the answers to all her questions. She punched the familiar number into the cordless phone with her thumb and bit her lip while she waited.

'Mrs Edel? It's Shelby. I found Diablo. He's in the Gully on the other side. Do you know where that big water tower is? Just near there.'

Lindsey's mother took so long to say anything that Shelby thought she might have hung up accidentally. 'Hello?'

'Is . . . is he dead?' she whispered.

'No, he's fine!' Shelby assured her. 'At least, I could only see his face. He's upright, though. He's with horse people – in a stable. I don't think they stole him. I'm sure that they were going to ring, but their phone was cut off in the storm. They may not even have the phone connected yet.' Shelby chewed her fingernail. 'Maybe that's what happened, anyway. I left so I could ring you straightaway.'

'Thank you, Shelby.'

Mrs Edel sounded as though she was crying and Shelby was embarrassed so she got off the phone as soon as she could.

Shelby sat down again and her mother placed a plate of crackers with Vegemite on the table for them to share. Shelby squeezed the crackers together to make worms.

'I did the right thing.'

Her mother smiled. 'Yes, you did.'

13 The Barney

After her snack Shelby headed back into the Gully and across the causeway to take Blue home. At the riding school tack shed she stopped to unbuckle Blue's saddle and then she led him around to the wash-bay.

In the distance she could see that the Edels' float was out of the shed with the tailgate down. Several of the agisters were gathered at Diablo's yard. Over their heads Shelby could just make out the tall stallion in his stable. Shelby was keen to find out the latest news, but she had to get Blue settled first.

Erin spotted her and waved. Shelby was pleased to see her jogging towards the wash-bay, obviously bursting with news.

'There was a barney! I can't believe you missed the whole thing!' Erin puffed.

'What happened?' Shelby adjusted the temperature, spraying the water against her palm, and then hosed Blue's muddy legs.

'Well!' Erin's eyes were wide. 'After you rang, we hooked up the float and drove over there. And I was the one who called that police officer on the way – the boy one, not the girl one, because she's mean. I didn't get to ring triple O though. That would have been cool. Instead I rang his private line, which was on his business card. Anyway, we get there and there are all these foreign people.'

'Foreign people?' Shelby repeated, moving the spray to Blue's sweaty neck. She couldn't remember seeing any foreign people.

'You know, like, of Middle Eastern appearance. They stole Diablo! And your boyfriend was there – he's friends with them!'

'He's not my boyfriend.' Shelby concentrated on hosing around Blue's face and ears for a moment, hoping that Erin wouldn't notice her expression. She wished she'd hadn't brought up the whole hot chips business with Erin. She was never going to let it go, and every time she brought it up Shelby would feel like a goose. 'So you know for sure they stole Diablo?'

Erin put her hands on her hips. 'Of course they did! He was there, wasn't he? You saw! They didn't even try to deny it. Anyway, you haven't heard the whole story. We arrive and Mrs Edel is yelling at them and they are yelling back, but we couldn't understand them, because half of it was in, you know, like, Arabic or whatever. Lindsey's mum swore! She goes, "You stole my horse, you bleep"– insert swear word here – and then they yelled back that she couldn't prove it. And then the police arrived with sirens and everything. Then there was kind of a tussle. That little guy says that Lindsey's mum owes him for a new fence or vet bills or something! Can you believe it? I'm sure Mrs Edel would have punched him if the police weren't watching. Meanwhile, Lindsey is practically dragging Diablo out of the stable and this other girl tries to stop her. But we got Diablo on the float and he's fine. I can't believe you missed it! It was très dramatic.'

'Très?' Shelby took the scraper from the fence and began sloughing the water from Blue's back.

'It's French. Here, check out the pics.' Erin pulled her mobile out of her pocket and started pressing buttons.

'You were taking photos?' Shelby asked.

Erin stared at her. 'For evidence, Shel. Jeez!' She handed across the phone.

Shelby squinted at the picture. There was Diablo, head up, eyes wide and nostrils flared. The lead rope was taut. Hanging on to one end was Lindsey, red-faced. The trick-riding girl was holding on to the other end.

'Look at the next one,' Erin said.

Shelby pressed the forward button. There was Mrs Edel, toe-to-toe with the man in the waistcoat. She could just make out Constable Bidgood behind them.

Erin peeked over her shoulder. 'No, look at the next one.'

Shelby switched to the next picture. It was Chad. His eyes were squeezed shut, making his face crease into angles. His hands were bunched into fists at his sides and he was shouting. Chad was one of them. He was part of it all.

'I don't think you should see him any more, Shel. Not after this. I wouldn't have anything to do with him if I were you.'

'I wasn't "seeing him", Erin,' Shelby mumbled.

'Hurry up.' Erin tugged at her shirt. 'I want to hear what's happening now.'

'You go. I have to finish with Blue.' Shelby shrugged away from her friend. She was grouchy. She knew there was going to be a fight. She knew the whole time.

14 A Different Version

Shelby huffed as she climbed into the car. 'That's the last time I come to you for advice! You said that Mrs Edel was a grown-up. Now there's been a barney, and it's my fault!'

They drove for a while in silence. Shelby had her arms folded and glared out the window.

Her mother took a deep breath. 'Your um friend rang. He told me what happened.'

'Great,' Shelby grumbled.

Questions tumbled around in her head. Did Chad ring because he had seen her hiding in the bushes? Had her mother told Chad that Shelby was the one who informed the Edels where Diablo was? Most of all, why was she feeling guilty when the circus people were the ones in the wrong?

'This will blow over, Shelby. I know it seems like a big deal now, but by next week everyone will have calmed down and will be able to see the situation with a different perspective.'

'Yeah, right,' Shelby scoffed.

Her mother went on. 'What you need to under-stand is that when people are emotional – when they are afraid – they will lash out. They're not able to listen to anything else even when it's logical and reasonable. They're so busy being emotional about their own thing that they don't want to hear someone else's point of view.'

It made sense to Shelby. On occasions she had jumped to conclusions herself.

'Brenda has her horse back now,' her mother added. 'I'm sure in a few days' time, when she has calmed down, she will drop the charges against Chad and his friends. She might even be a big enough person to apologise.'

Shelby stared at her mother. 'Chad has been arrested?'

Shelby's mum frowned. 'I assumed you knew. When Chad rang he'd just come home from the police station. Brenda Edel has pressed charges against them all.'

By now the car was in their street. Shelby's mother pulled the car into their driveway and turned off the ignition.

'But Chad only just met those people! He's got nothing to do with them stealing Diablo,' Shelby protested.

Her mother blinked. 'According to Chad, they didn't steal him.'

'But Erin said . . . I don't get it,' Shelby said.

'He left a phone number for you.'

Shelby opened the car door.

Her mother stopped her. 'Shelby, he sounds like a nice boy – very straightforward and sensible. Lots of boys his age don't talk to adults. They just grunt. Chad's parents must have brought him up well. I'm looking forward to meeting him. Perhaps you could invite him around for a barbecue some time?'

Shelby smiled. Her mother approved of sensibleness above all other virtues. It was odd, though. Her mother didn't usually encourage her to bring friends home. Erin had slept over a few times, but mostly Shelby went to other people's houses.

'Now you're jumping to conclusions, Mum. It really was just hot chips.'

Her mother arched an eyebrow at her. 'Hot chips in a skirt.'

Inside the house, Shelby took a deep breath and dialled the number her mother had written down. When he answered she felt a surge of adren-aline in her belly like when she was approaching a big jump.

'Hello, is this Chad? This is Shelby.'

'Hi.' Chad sounded dejected.

'Mum told me what happened.' Shelby waited. In the background she could hear the hum of conversa-tion. When Chad didn't say anything Shelby felt stupid, wishing she hadn't rung after all. 'So what happened at the police station? Who did you have to talk to there?'

'It was a woman. A sergeant,' Chad replied.

'Sergeant Everard? Was she mean to you? She must find her job stressful or something. She's always frowning.'

Chad asked. 'You know her?'

Shelby sighed. 'Yeah. She's yelled at me a few times. Actually, one of the times was the day you gave me a lift home from the Gully. Remember that day? My parents thought I'd been kidnapped, and when Sergeant Everard found out I wasn't, she told me off for wasting police time.'

Chad sighed. 'I've never been in trouble with the police before. I can't really afford to. My whole family has big plans for me. Mum wants me to go into politics. Dad wants me to be a professional footballer. My sister wants me to be a vet.'

'What do you want to do?' Shelby asked.

'I'd like to be a PE teacher,' he answered. 'I don't think you can be a teacher if you have a police record.'

'You're a juvenile. It doesn't count.'

Chad was quiet again for a while and then he spoke. 'Everything was going well for me, you know? I was doing OK at school and in sport. Now this. These things stay with you forever. They always do.'

Shelby remembered how Sergeant Everard behaved when Diablo first went missing – how she spoke to Shelby as though she had done something wrong. Sergeant Everard had formed an opinion about Shelby that would always follow her; no matter what good things Shelby did afterwards.

'My mum says it will all blow over,' Shelby assured him. 'She said Mrs Edel will calm down now she has Diablo back.'

'Man, that lady is a complete fruit loop! She drives in like a mad woman and starts screaming and threat-ening people. I was sure she was going to deck someone. She attacked us! She was trespassing, verbally assaulting, and about half a dozen other illegal things. She should be the one arrested.'

These were the same details but a different emphasis to the version that Erin had given. Shelby wondered who was telling the truth, or whether the real story was somewhere in the middle.

'So I guess you made friends with the circus people without me,' Shelby joked, trying to lighten the mood.

'You should see what they do! They stand up on the horse's back and do spins and hang off the side. It's amazing! I reckon you and Keisha would get on really well. She's about our age,' Chad said. 'Zeb is cool too. He's Keisha's grandfather. Zeb has been training horses since he was about ten years old. All they do is talk about horses all the time. You would fit in perfectly.'

Shelby bit her lip. Her first instinct had been that she would get along well with the circus people too, but now there was 'the barney'. She had been friends with Erin and Lindsey for a long time and she'd only just met Chad. She didn't know whom to believe, and now she felt as though they were both asking her to choose a side.

'They didn't steal the horse, Shelby,' Chad said.

'How did Diablo get there then?' she asked.

'I don't know, but they say they didn't steal him and I believe them. Why would they? They have a trillion other horses that are better looking and can do way more cool stuff than Diablo. He's nice, but he's just a horse.'

Shelby hadn't thought about Diablo that way before. She had always seen Diablo the way that Lindsey and her mum did – as the best and most valuable horse on their property.

She supposed people would look at Blue differently to the way she did as well. People who didn't know Blue would wonder why she kept him when he was kind of ugly and too small for her, and not good at anything except galloping around in the bush. But Shelby loved him. Blue was her best friend.

'You should come and meet them,' Chad told her. 'They are much more interesting than Lindsey Edel and her mum – trust me.'

Shelby flushed. 'Lindsey is my friend, Chad. The Edels have been really good to me. They keep Blue for me, and they arranged for me to have lessons with a proper instructor.'

Chad snorted. 'If they're such good friends then maybe you could make them stop ruining my life.'

15 Operation Beelzebub

Connor was in his pyjamas, sitting on his father's lap, reading from a thick book. Blake was lying on his stomach on the floor, colouring in. His hair was still wet from his bath. Shelby could see the comb marks.

'William the conkwee . . . conkwee-err . . .' Connor read.

'Conqueror,' corrected his father.

'Conqueror arrived in one thousand and . . .'

'Ten sixty-six,' Dad said. 'It's a year.'

Connor rubbed his eyes.

'You're tired. I think that's enough for tonight.' His father smoothed a hand across Connor's forehead.

'One more paragraph!' Connor insisted.

'One more sentence.'

As Shelby approached she could see the title, A Guide to London. She huffed and dropped into the armchair with a thud.

'Why don't you want to go to London, Shel?' asked Blake, leaning on one elbow and chewing the end of his pencil.

'I do want to go to London. I just don't want to live at Aunty Jenny's house for a year and a half beforehand.' She glared at her father. 'So you've decided then. Nice of you to let me know.'

'No, we have not decided and you watch yourself, missy. You might officially be a teenager now, but that's not an excuse to be rude.'

'Fine!' Shelby stood up and stomped into the kitchen.

'What's that face all about?' her mother asked.

'Just my whole life is falling apart and nobody cares!'

'I care. Truly!' Shelby's mum held out a bag of potatoes and a peeler.

'You just want a slave!' Shelby complained.

'How about an exchange? Clearly we need to launch an investigation about this whole Diablo business. I'll help you plan your operation if you help me cook the dinner.'

'Really?' Shelby grinned. 'You would do that?'

Her mother nodded. Shelby's mother was a part-time store detective. She was also doing a course at TAFE in surveillance and investigation, so she pretty much had a degree in solving mysteries.

'I know what we need!' Shelby put down the potato she was peeling and jogged down the hall-way. In a moment she was back with her brothers' blackboard under her arm. She placed it on the kitchen bench, leaning it against the splashback. Then, with the chalk, she drew a horizontal line in the middle like she had seen on Without a Trace.

She drew a short vertical line at the beginning. 'I fed Diablo on Good Friday. He was definitely there then!' Next to her mark she wrote, 'Last seen by SS @ 4.45 pm.'

Her mother scraped some vegetables from the cutting board into a saucepan. 'We know he was gone on Easter Saturday morning when you went in to give him his breakfast. What time was that?'

Shelby drew another mark in the timeline and wrote, '7.30 am – gone!'

'Then I saw him in the stable at the Equus Caballus place today at about three thirty.' She drew a new mark at the end of the timeline and wrote, 'Tuesday 3.30 pm – Found'.

'Now we just need to figure out what happened in between,' her mother said.

Shelby threw the piece of chalk in the air and caught it. 'How do we do that?'

'Interview people. Find out if anyone saw anything suspicious.'

'Marie and Shelby Shaw – Private Investigators on the case!' Shelby grinned.

'Don't tell people that you're investigating a case, Shel,' her mother said as she looked in the fridge for the next ingredient.

'Why not?'

'Because people will either make things up, because they want to be helpful, or they will withhold information because they have a guilty conscience, or because they decide that what they saw is not impor-tant, when in context it's actually significant. Worse still, they will make things up and lie about real things, and then you're worse off for talking to them than if you hadn't.'

Shelby blinked. 'But why would people do that? Why don't they just tell the truth?'

'Very few things people say are about truth, Shelby,' her mother told her.

'You're saying I should lie to people to stop them lying to me.'

'No.' Her mother sighed. 'I don't want you to sneak around, or spy on people – just ask questions. If you can find out what happened – the bare facts of the case – you might be able to help resolve a dispute between your friends, but it's possible that you may not get to the bottom of it, honey.'

Shelby frowned thinking. 'Like hide and seek.'

'What do you mean?' asked her mother.

'When you play hide and seek one person's job is to hide and the other person has to find them. We're playing the same game except with the truth, and they don't know we're playing, so that makes it easier – like how easy it would be to find someone in hide and seek if they weren't actually hiding.'

'Except, of course, if someone really does have something to hide then they would be playing the game,' her mother said, rinsing the chopping board.

'I think I get it now,' Shelby smiled.

Her mother divided the meat into portions. 'An operation like this needs a name. What shall we call it?

'Operation Diablo?' suggested Shelby.

'That might be a bit obvious. How about we look on the internet and see if there is a word that means the same thing as Diablo, but other people wouldn't know what that is?'

'Can we have code names?'

'Code names are essential!' her mother answered. 'But first you have to finish peeling those spuds.'

'I thought you might have forgotten about that.'

'Not much escapes me, Shelby.'

While the meal was cooking they looked on the internet and decided on 'Operation Beelzebub' and their code names were 'Cherub' for Shelby, and 'The Seraph' for her mum.

After dinner Shelby sat at her desk and wrote a list of people she needed to interview. She decided to start with Erin. They had a Science assignment to do over the holidays, so she could use that as her cover story for ringing.

'Have you started your assignment?' Shelby asked when Erin answered the phone.

'Are you kidding?' Erin answered.

'Neither have I,' confessed Shelby. 'So how do you reckon those people stole Diablo?' Shelby held her pen over the notepad, ready to record any information that might be useful.

'I've been thinking about that,' replied Erin. 'During the storm, those circus people ran across the Gully, knocked down the back fence, ran up to Diablo's enclosure, took him, ran back to their place and put him in the stable.'

'That's your theory?'

'Yes. What's wrong with it?'

Shelby snorted and put her pen down. 'If they are going to come in the back way, wouldn't it have been easier to steal one of the horses from the back paddock? There are broodmares in there that are pretty valuable, and that are actually in foal to Diablo, which is like a two-for-one. Why didn't they steal all the horses in the back paddock? Why Diablo? Why would they put a big branch on the fence to cover up the fact that they knocked the fence down when they could have just used the gate? Doesn't that seem like a lot of trouble to go to? You know, Erin, the more I think about it, you couldn't have come up with a dumber theory!'

'OK, Miss Smarty-Know-Everything, how do you think they did it?'

'I don't know. I can't figure out why they would want him.'

Erin scoffed. 'Diablo was a champion dressage horse, Shel. Don't you know anything?'

Shelby swapped the phone to the other ear. 'Yeah, but he's old now, Erin. He's the equivalent of about sixty in human years. What good is he to them? A circus is not going to lug around an animal that doesn't perform. I don't get it.'

'Maybe they didn't know he was old?' Erin sug-gested. 'It was dark and stormy, remember?'

'Maybe,' Shelby mumbled. Even if it was dark and they couldn't tell how old he was, that didn't explain why they went past so many good quality horses to single out the stallion.

If they did steal him, why didn't they try to hide him? They could at the very least have put a hood over his head! They had made no attempt to even disguise him.

One interview down, and Shelby didn't think she was any closer to what really happened – if anything, she had more questions.

16 Capital

Lindsey wasn't much more help than Erin in solving the mystery of Diablo's disappearance, although Shelby did find out some things she didn't know before.

In the morning, before any of the trail riders arrived, Shelby, Lindsey, Erin and Hayley wormed the riding school ponies. All the horses were in the small triangular yard in the far corner of their paddock, which had once been a cattle race. It was a funny shape so they didn't use it very often.

The girls worked in pairs – one holding onto the halter while the other squirted the worming paste into the horse's mouth. Once they were sure the horses had swallowed the paste the girls let them back into the larger paddock.

'Wow, your horses are heaps easier to worm than mine!' Hayley remarked.

'That's because your mum comes at them with the worming plunger as though it's a weapon,' Lindsey answered. 'It's no wonder they freak out. You can tell just by looking at her face that she expects a war.'

Hayley shrugged. 'My mum attacks everything like it's a war.'

'But she gets lots of things done,' Shelby added. She liked Mrs Crook, even though she could be aggressive.

'How much do you think he weighs?' Lindsey asked, tilting her head towards the roan gelding Shelby was holding.

'I'll get the measure.' Shelby fetched the weight/height tape that the girls had brought with them and passed it around the horse's girth. 'Three hundred and seventy-five kilos,' she told her friend.

Lindsey wound the measuring dial on the tube of worming paste to the appropriate mark.

'I heard those people who found Diablo got arrested,' Shelby said, trying to sound casual.

'Where did you hear that?' Lindsey asked.

'Mum told me,' answered Shelby.

'I reckon they're gypsies, like in Famous Five,' said Erin.

'They're not gypsies! Besides, those people call themselves "Romany", you ignoramus!' Shelby told her.

'Nobody says "ignoramus". That is so 1985,' Erin retorted.

'How would you know?' Shelby snapped. 'You weren't even born then!'

'I do have pay television, for your information,' Erin replied, raising her chin.

'Romany,' repeated Hayley. 'Maybe I'll call Smarty's foal Romany?'

Not long ago Hayley had bought a pony from the other three girls. She'd called the pony 'Quicksmart', and now the pony was being agisted at a stud with a view to being put in foal the next spring.

'This one's done.' Lindsey passed Shelby the roan's lead rope so that she could take the newly wormed horse into the paddock. Outside the gate Shelby slipped off the halter and the horse sauntered away to graze. He still had white paste on his lips and poked his tongue out, as if he was thinking, 'Yucko!' Shelby stepped back into the yard to catch another.

'So what do you think, Lin?' Shelby asked, trying again.

'Think about what?'

'About those people who had Diablo.'

Lindsey bit the cap off another worming plunger and spat it into the dirt. 'I think there are good, strug-gling poor people, like your family, and then there are bad, drug-taking, stealing, no-fixed-address poor people,' Lindsey said.

Shelby felt her mouth open with surprise. She had never heard her friend speak like this before. It made her uncomfortable. She had always thought that Lindsey's situation was the closest to her own.

Hayley's parents gave her everything she wanted and Erin was pretty spoiled too. Neither of those girls knew what it was like to have to ask for things when you knew it would be a struggle for your parents.

Lindsey and her mother worked hard every day. They didn't buy new things when a second-hand item would do the job. The Edels' house was small. It had old threadbare furniture in it, and it was untidy a lot of the time, with horse gear draped across the table, or rugs needing repair folded on the floor.

'And what kind of a poor person are you?' Shelby asked.

'Lindsey's not any kind of poor person!' Hayley laughed.

Shelby frowned, confused.

'Don't you know that?' Hayley grinned.

'Shel, you know that property up on the corner that was for sale? It sold for two and a half million dollars a few weeks ago. It's five acres.' Erin smiled knowingly. 'Lindsey's mum has one hundred and seventy-five acres.'

Shelby's eyes widened.

'And that's just the value of the property. Think about how much this place rakes in. A service from Diablo is worth two and a half grand. You've seen how often mares go through here,' Erin said. 'How many trail riders are there every day? Twenty? At forty-five dollars a pop, that's what . . . twelve and a half grand just over this school holidays!'

'And what about agistment?' Hayley added. 'People pay fifty dollars a week each, just to keep a horse in the very back paddock. That's not even counting all the horses in the front paddocks, or in the stables. And what about those ones like Ajax on full board? They pay a hundred and fifty dollars a week each! Lindsey is a multi-squillionaire, Shel!' Hayley laughed again.

Shelby stared at her friend. 'Is this true?'

Lindsey didn't answer. Instead she squeezed another tube of paste into the horse's mouth.

'What do you do with it all?' Shelby whispered.

'It's actually really hard to make money out of a horse business,' Lindsey said. Hayley groaned, but Lindsey ignored her. 'I know you guys think we charge a lot, but we're constantly upgrading the equipment, there are always fences that need doing, or mainten-ance to machinery, and we buy the best quality feed. Then there are clients who don't pay, or who leave us with vet bills. Half the riding school ponies are aban-doned agisters. People run up thousands of dollars in debt – way more then their horse is worth, and then just leave it here. We never hear from them again.'

'Really?' Shelby was shocked.

'We use them for the riding school, or we sell them. It happens all the time. That's why I'm riding Lyrical – the Arab. The guy said he was into endurance riding, but we haven't seen him for six months. If she's any good we'll tell him to post over her papers and we'll be square.'

'Wow,' said Shelby. 'Free horses.'

'No, they're not free,' Lindsey snapped. 'They owe us more than they're worth.'

'Don't change the subject!' Hayley said.

Shelby led the horse out and then caught another horse, Beaumont – affectionately known as Blockhead

– a big, grey Percheron, and one of Shelby's favourites. 'Mum has a fair bit in managed funds,' Lindsey

admitted.

'What's that?' Shelby asked.

'You've heard of shares, haven't you? Basically you pick a company that you think looks good and you buy a little part of it. With the extra money the company tries to make more money, and if it does, then all these other people want to own a little bit of it as well, so that means your share is worth more. Then you can sell your share and start again with a different company.'

'Kind of like buying a horse at the sales and educating it,' Shelby said.

'Or gambling,' Hayley joked.

'Yeah, but Mum has this guy that runs it all.'

'A professional gambler,' Hayley teased.

Lindsey continued, 'Except sometimes just for fun we'll pick something random, like a goldmine or something.'

'Just for fun?' Shelby repeated.

Lindsey nodded.

'You could buy whatever you wanted!' Shelby said. 'Why don't you buy more stuff?'

'Like what?' Lindsey asked. 'What don't I have?'

Shelby led Beaumont out to the yard, frowning while she thought about it. 'Nice new furniture for your house?' she suggested.

'Are you kidding? All that stuff is antique! One-off collector's items. Besides, I only go in there to sleep.'

'More horses then,' Shelby said.

Lindsey looked around. 'How many more horses do you think I need, Shelby?'

17 A Clue

When the trail riders had left for the day and Shelby had finished making up the feeds, she continued with her investigation.

She wandered up the laneway between the stable blocks. There were lots of people around making a day of it as the weather had cleared and the trails were much drier.

Over near the jumping arena one family had set up a barbecue and were selling sausage sandwiches for a dollar a pop. Shelby could smell the frying onion and her mouth watered. She felt in her pockets but she didn't have any change.

She stopped at the stable rented by her friend Monica, who had a fine thoroughbred hack that she showed with some success. Monica was sitting on the step to her tack shed, cleaning her bridle. There was a pile of dirty rugs and saddle blankets near the gate. Shelby assumed that Monica was taking them home to wash.

'Good time for a clean out,' Shelby observed.

'Yep, every school holidays. Mum dreads it. She says I'm wrecking her washing machine.'

'Weird about Diablo going missing, eh? Wonder how he got out?' Shelby stole a glance at Monica.

Monica put down the bridle. 'Actually, I saw some-thing funny around then, but it wasn't to do with Diablo. I was going to tell Mrs E. Come on, I'll show you.'

Monica led Shelby down the laneway and into the broodmares' paddock. 'Now, where is she?' she muttered to herself. Having spotted the horse she was after, Monica led the big mare towards the gate to the back paddock – the one with the latch that Shelby had noticed before. Now it was tied closed with baling twine.

'That's the mare that Lindsey thought was Diablo,' Shelby said.

'You think?' Monica looked the mare up and down. 'Maybe in the dark. Can you untie that baling twine for me?'

Shelby did so and waited on the other side.

The big mare strode purposefully towards the gate. 'Be ready to catch her!' warned Monica.

The mare nosed at the latch, at the same time kicking the bottom of the gate. She flicked the latch with her lips. Soon she had the latch lifted, and simul-taneously her kicking of the gate made it ricochet forwards. She nudged the gate open with her nose and squeezed through.

Shelby caught hold of the mare's hood to prevent her from escaping any further.

'She's clever, isn't she?' said Monica, smiling. 'I've found her in here a few times. That's why I put the baling twine around it. All she does is stand on the other side wanting to be let back in again.'

'Have you seen any of the others come through?' Shelby asked.

'She can't do it from the other side,' Monica explained. 'The gate always swings back and relocks itself. It's weird, though, because I told Kim about it, and she said that she found her in the laneway between this paddock and Diablo's the other day. So she must be able to open that gate as well, but I've only ever seen her open this one.'

'What day was that?' Shelby asked.

'One afternoon last week. I can't remember.' Monica shrugged.

'Was it Good Friday?'

'It could have been. Yes, I think it was. Kim was helping Mrs Edel with the poo vac.'

Shelby remembered seeing Lindsey's mum drive through the breezeway on the quad bike while she had been talking to Mrs Crook.

'I'll tell Mrs Edel,' Shelby said. 'She should probably replace this latch.'

'Good idea. Although the baling twine seems to be working for now. They can only escape into the back paddock, so it's not a huge risk, and besides, none of the other horses seem to have mastered the trick.' Shelby nodded. She wondered if Diablo knew a trick like that – or maybe he had help.

18 Contradictions

That night Shelby updated the timeline on the blackboard.

'Friday 5 pm – Kim finds accomplice equine in alleyway.'

Afterwards, she lay in bed thinking it through. The mare must have opened the gate again later on Good Friday night, and opened both the electric and metal gates to Diablo's paddock, and then the two of them must have gone back into the mare's paddock, and down to the far gate. Then the mare opened the gate to the back paddock – the one with the latch that Shelby had seen that day – and somehow Diablo got through before the mare did. Then he headed over the broken fence and into the Gully, and miraculously, out of all the trails he could have chosen, he took the path to the far side and turned up at the property belonging to the circus people.

Shelby rolled over. That didn't make sense either! Only one of the gates was self-closing. How did they manage to lock the other three gates behind them – one of them electric? There was no churned-up grass in the alley, as you would expect if the two horses were galloping up and down in a storm. Why would the stallion leave all those mares to go into the back paddock? And then leave those horses to go into the Gully? Why didn't the others follow him? If the mare had opened the second gate into the alleyway twice on that night, then why hadn't she done it again since?

Shelby tossed over again. There was no way Diablo escaped on his own. She was equally convinced that the circus people weren't after the stallion specif-ically. Someone set Diablo free.

Who would do that? Why?

Shelby kicked back the covers and lay in the dark, watching the shadows play over the ceiling.

The gate mystery wasn't the only thing troubling her. Shelby had been so wrong about Lindsey not having much money. Now she had time in the quiet to think over the things Lindsey had said that day – her 'poor people' philosophy. It was so different from the beliefs and values that Shelby had grown up with. She had always been taught to respect people for who they were rather than how much they earned. Her parents had always showed compassion for people who were worse off.

Shelby remembered once a woman had approached her mother in the shopping centre. She had wild eyes and smelt of old sweat and cigarettes. She had several facial piercings and Shelby couldn't help staring. The woman said she had lost her wallet and need some change to catch the bus. Shelby's mother gave her five dollars. Shelby waited until the woman walked away and then she said, 'I don't think that lady was telling the truth. She'll spend it on cigarettes or drugs.'

Shelby's mother had sighed. 'You're probably right, honey, but it would be so awful to have to beg from strangers.'

When she said that Shelby had thought about what it would be like to feel so desperate that you would ask a complete stranger for help, and then to have people sneer at you and turn their heads away as though you weren't even worth looking at. Shelby couldn't imagine how bad that would feel from the inside.

She wriggled with discomfort. Was it possible to remain friends with someone whose attitudes to people were so different from your own? Should she tell Lindsey that she thought her way of thinking was wrong?

Shelby linked her fingers behind her head. She had been so shocked to discover that Lindsey was rich – and disappointed too. Were their beliefs so different? Didn't Shelby really, in her heart, think the same sort of thing as Lindsey, but in reverse? Wasn't she prejudiced against rich people?

She hoped she wasn't prejudiced. She wondered if it was just plain old jealousy. That would be better, because she could decide right this minute to be a bigger person. Maybe it was neither.

There in the dark Shelby could see her old broken saddle lying in a heap on the floor. She'd stared at it night after night, having dreams of what she might do in the future – making plans for her own life. She'd always thought it was a symbol of what she didn't have, but now she thought something different. Shelby funded her hobby with her own sweat, and that was something to be proud of.

19 A Delicate Balance

'How goes Operation Beelzebub?' Shelby's mum asked at breakfast the next morning.

Shelby explained all the contradictions to her mother while she cut Blake's toast into soldiers. Blake took the plate from his sister and returned to his cartoon show. Connor lay on his stomach on the floor in the lounge room spooning cereal into his mouth.

'Did you know the Edels were rich?' Shelby asked.

'I would have thought so, yes,' said her mother. 'You're ignoring a whole avenue of investigation, though. Perhaps you should talk to these circus people. Find out what happened from their end.'

'They wouldn't talk to me!'

'Maybe not as Shelby Shaw, private investigator, or even as Shelby-friend-of-the-Edels. There's nothing for it, Cherub,' her mother said, taking a sip of coffee. 'You're going to have to go deep undercover.'

'What would be my disguise?'

Her mother shrugged. 'You could go wild and crazy and pretend you are a girl with an interest in horses.'

'I have just the outfit!' Shelby grinned at her mother and then ran down the hallway to get dressed. She put on her jodhpurs and old joggers, tucking her boots under her arm.

On the way to the stables in the car Shelby asked her mother, 'And so when I go deep undercover, this isn't lying? This is hide and seek too?'

'If they ask, you tell them the truth. You tell them your name is Shelby Shaw. You can even say you keep your horse at the stables.'

'What if they ask if I'm friends with the Edels?'

'Then tell them that you are . . . associates.' Her mother paused. 'You could try not to give them reason to ask that. Maybe you could highlight your friendship with Chad first?'

'Highlight?' Shelby looked out the window. 'Sounds like a fib to me.'

Her mother pulled up at the front of the stables. 'It's a delicate balance.'

Shelby stared at her mother.

'You know when your father puts on those bright orange tracksuit pants with the stripe? I don't mention that he looks as though he's just escaped from a high security facility. Or when Connor makes me a cup of tea with two teaspoons of what he thinks is sugar, but is actually bicarbonate of soda. Or any one of Blake's homemade birthday presents.'

'You don't even have sugar in tea.'

'Nor bicarb, usually.'

Shelby unlocked her seat belt. 'But they are all to do with not hurting people's feelings. This is a bit different.'

'It's a delicate balance,' her mother repeated. 'Part of being a grown-up is finding the line and staying on the right side of it.'

20 Undercover

Shelby helped to saddle up the riding school ponies, but she avoided the trail ride in the morning by offering to get a head start on mucking out the stables. It was not a job any of the girls enjoyed.

The Crooks had arrived back from the Royal Easter Show early that morning, crowing with victory. Hayley and Ditto had won their class, although they missed out on Champion.

'It was a strong field we were up against. All in all it was a good campaign this year,' Mrs Crook told the assembled crowd of well-wishers. 'Next year we'll unleash Scamp. He's our secret weapon. Right, Hales?'

Erin, Lindsey and Shelby had exchanged a knowing smile over Mrs Crook's unconscious military terminology.

Hayley handed out show bags she'd bought for each of her friends.

'Thanks, Hales! You're the best!' said Erin, and then started bartering for all the chocolate in the other girls' bags. 'What have we got here? A plastic whistle! In a fetching yellow! Guaranteed to last a lifetime, while your Chokito will be gone in a moment. How can you lose? I have a medical condition, you know – chronic choc deficiency. I could go into spasm any minute. You'd be saving my life.'

Shelby had swapped one of her chocolate bars for a lollipop and wandered away, leaving Hayley and the other girls chatting before they led the trail ride.

Shelby had always found mucking stables good daydreaming time. The Edels used rice hulls for stable bedding. There was something meditative in the motion of lifting and shaking all the clean rice hulls through the rake's tines, like a big sifter.

Shelby hummed to herself as she worked. Surrounded by the sounds and smells of horses, she could escape into a fantasy world where she had the perfect horse, all the gear she needed, and no catastrophes.

On this day she dreamed of different floats – straight-load with an extended front in dark blue and her sponsor's logo sign-written on it, or a three-horse angle-load in hot pink with silver stars down the side and a built-in saddle-rack. Better still, a sparkly lilac gooseneck with 'Shaw Show Ponies' written on the back, and '5H31BY' number plates.

Soon she had made her way down one whole row of stables. She left her barrow at the end of the laneway and rushed into the feed shed to make up the dinners. She was keen to get out into the Gully, but the Edels let her keep Blue at the stables for free in exchange for her helping out. She didn't want to dodge her responsibilities to them, just because she had a mystery to solve.

Soon she had the trolley full of dinner buckets. She propped a bale of hay on the end, so the evening meals were ready to go. Then she brushed the dust from her hands and ran over to the paddock where Blue was waiting.

Her favourite western saddle was being used for the trail rides, so she slipped on Blue's bridle and then jumped on him bareback.

As she reached the back gate she saw the other girls leading the trail riders across the top of the ridge on their way home. She waved to her friends and they waved back – so did some of the trail riders.

Halfway along the trail she saw that the tree that had obstructed the way, the one she had had to slip under, had been cut down. There was fresh sawdust on the trail and the limb was now in hefty chunks out of harm's way to the side of the trail.

Down at the bottom of the Gully it was shady and the cool air carried hints of winter. Shelby was only wearing a tee-shirt. She dropped the reins and rubbed her arms. Then across the other side she was riding in the sunshine again and her skin tingled, the way it does after a swim in cold water.

Now that the days were getting shorter she wondered if she would still have lessons with Miss Anita. Winter was a pain. There was not as much sunlight, so less time for riding. She would still have to attend to the horses before school. She wasn't looking forward to getting up in the dark and cold.

In the bushes to the side of the track Shelby saw a small grey joey. She pulled up Blue so she could get a better look. Now that it was getting cooler she was seeing far fewer reptiles on the trails, but because she was riding closer to sunrise and sunset she should start to see more marsupials. Winter did have some benefits.

The joey scratched its belly. Shelby thought it looked too young to be out on its own, but then a movement caught her eye and she could see the mother as well. One second they were relaxed, and the next they both stood upright, ears twitching, and then they bounded away.

A few seconds later Shelby heard the hoof beats of a horse cantering. She moved Blue over to the side of the trail.

When the rider saw Shelby she slowed to a trot and then a walk. It was the circus girl – the very person Shelby had hoped to meet. She was riding one of the beautiful white Lipizzans that Shelby had seen in the stables next to Diablo.

The horse was striking. It was pure white with a long mane and full, flowing tail, like a horse from the movies. Its coat was very fine, and clean. She could see the black colour of its skin around its eyes and muzzle where the hair was the finest. It looked pretty fit, as well.

The horse had shoes on. Shelby stared, fascinated, at the nails driven up through the hoof wall – at how small the horse's feet were compared to the barefoot horses at the stables. The bit the girl was using was equally strange to Shelby, with long, curved shanks hanging down from either side of the horse's mouth.

'Great day for it,' said Shelby, dragging her eyes away.

Close up she could see why Erin thought the girl was 'foreign'. She had olive skin, thick black hair and dark shapely eyebrows.

The girl nodded, but kept her horse moving along the trail.

'My name is Shelby.'

'Good for you,' the girl said and rode on.

Shelby watched her retreating back, feeling flustered. Normally she would just ride on, or yell out something rude. More likely she would ride on, and then a few minutes later think of the clever thing she could have yelled out – but she was deep undercover. She had to make friends, otherwise she wouldn't find out what she needed to know.

'Are you new around here? I could show you the best trails. What's your name?'

'Narnia,' the girl called over her shoulder.

'Narnia? I've never heard of anyone called that. Like the movie?' asked Shelby.

'No, like Narnia business.'

'That's a good one,' Shelby said with genuine admiration, pushing Blue into a trot to catch up.

'So where are you from, Narnia?'

'No.'

Shelby paused, 'Oh I get it. You're quick! Why are you working so hard not to be friends with me?'

This time it was the girl's turn to pause. 'Because you're one of those Edel people. You don't want to be friends. You're just snooping.'

Shelby didn't try to deny it. She decided to 'high-light' instead. 'I'm friends with Chad. You're Keisha, right? He told me about you. He said we'd get along.'

They came to an intersection on the trail. Keisha stopped her horse and looked down each path. Even on a loose rein the horse held its head vertical. Shelby admired its muscly crest. Everything about it was majestic and strong. Shelby thought if she had a horse like that she wouldn't even care if she rode it. She could just watch it in the paddock all day long.

Shelby pointed. 'That way leads up to the corner shop. There's a lookout, but you can turn off before that and go to the Pony Club grounds. They have jumps and sporting poles, but they lock it away in a shed so people don't steal them.' Shelby blanched, worried Keisha might think she meant that Keisha would steal the equipment. 'They leave out the cavalletti, though, and there's a dressage arena. If you go straight ahead you'll end up at the causeway over the creek. There's a place we call the dippers, where the trail goes up and down through the water, but it's better in summer.'

Keisha frowned, but she didn't say anything.

'If I were you I would go left. After a little way there's a windy hill and it's pretty. You'll see a rock face with a spring coming out of it. The water drips down and there's moss and ferns growing underneath it. There's also a waterfall a bit further along on the other side. You can gallop up the hill and there are some good turns. Watch out for bushwalkers, though. Or if you walk up you usually see a family of choughs.'

'Of what?'

'They're birds. They look like a crow but they're white under their wings. They travel in a big family. Have you seen The Princess Bride?'

Keisha nodded.

'Remember the "shrieking eels"? The choughs have a call kind of like that.'

'Thanks,' Keisha said, turning her horse to the left.

Shelby watched her ride away, thinking that going undercover was harder than she had imagined. Now the whole afternoon stretched out in front of her, and she hadn't learned anything new.

21 Stand Aside

'What should I do, Blue? Do you want to check it out anyway?'

Shelby expected the little paint pony to head for home but instead he happily jogged up the hill towards the water tower, past the lounges and around the bend. This time Shelby didn't stop in the trees, she walked straight up to the back gate.

The man who had been wearing the waistcoat (Shelby guessed he was the one Chad had called Zeb) was collecting manure with a rake and barrow.

He nodded to her, and then when she didn't move on he walked towards her.

'Can I help you with something?'

He did have an accent, but hardly the incomprehensible 'Arabic or whatever' that Erin had described. Shelby took a deep breath. Boldness wasn't in her nature, but politeness hadn't worked with Keisha.

'I thought you might like to teach me how to do trick riding,' she told him.

'Why would I want to do that?'

'I'm a natural,' she answered. 'I could join your troupe. I have my own horse.'

He looked at Blue. 'Is he a natural too?'

Shelby nodded. She waited for the man to tell her to get lost, but instead he said, 'What can you do?'

Shelby ran her fingers through Blue's mane. 'The other day I was on a trail and I leaned over to the side to avoid a tree.' She saw that Zeb wasn't impressed. 'Nothing much yet,' she confessed.

'Do your parents know you're here?'

'My mother sent me,' Shelby improvised. 'She told me not to come home until I've joined the circus.'

'Well, we'd better get cracking then!' He grinned and opened the gate so that Shelby and Blue could enter. He cupped his hands around his mouth. 'Molly!'

A blonde woman came out of the house and stood on the veranda, frowning, hands on hips.

'This girl . . .' He turned around. 'What's your name?'

'Shelby.'

'Shelby here is going to be our new Keisha.'

Molly shaded her eyes with her hand. 'Have you finished the manures, Zeb?'

'What happened to the old Keisha?' Shelby asked.

'Bad attitude. We had to have her put down,' he joked as he walked towards the fenced arena.

Shelby and Blue followed. In the makeshift paddock the Clydesdale stopped munching on his hay and a sprig dropped from the side of his mouth and onto the head of the miniature pony, like a hat. Those two were clowns without even trying. The miniature trotted up and down the fence line, and gave a shrill whinny. Blue rumbled in reply.

'She's even got her own pony,' Zeb said as Molly approached. 'Look! Festive colouring!'

Molly eyed Blue sceptically. 'Are you sure this isn't just a ploy to get out of poo pickup?'

He shrugged. 'Anyone can pick up manure, but who else has my trick riding skills? It's the burden of my remarkable talent. Go and get a saddle then, girl!' Zeb directed.

Molly disappeared into a shed at the side of the house and Shelby sat astride Blue, silent and awkward, unable to believe that she had bluffed her way in. Up in the stables one of the white horses kicked the door.

Soon Molly reappeared with an enormous saddle. Up close it looked quite like the western saddle that she had been riding in, but flatter across the back, like a roping saddle, and with a large, metal horn on the front.

The saddle was huge on Blue. Shelby helped Molly with the girth, and then Zeb slipped a noseband over the pony's muzzle. It had a leather strap with a clip on the end. He knelt down ready to clip it to the girth.

'What's that?' Shelby asked.

'It's called a tie-down. It stops them from lifting their head up. If you're doing a trick over his neck, and something spooks him, he'll break your nose, or maybe your jaw.'

'I don't believe in tying my horse's head down.' Shelby flicked her hair out of her eyes.

'Do you believe in broken faces?' Zeb asked, holding her gaze.

'How do you know they lift their heads if you tie them down? They might not even do it, and then you're tying it down for nothing.'

'If he doesn't lift his head then it doesn't matter either way.' He started to laugh. 'Listen, little girl, if you want to do tricks he wears a tie-down. If you don't want him to wear a tie-down, you don't do tricks.'

Shelby stared at him. She had always been against side-reins, running-reins, and martingales. Miss Anita often had to re-school horses that had been taught with these kinds of devices. Miss Anita explained that persistent head-tossing was usually due to bad saddle fit, or some other problem, and tying their heads down only punished them for trying to let you know that something was wrong.

'I need to think about it.' She watched as the climate on Zeb's face changed from a sunny day to a brooding storm. He stared at her, and Shelby squirmed but she wasn't going to change her mind.

'Forget it,' Zeb said, tossing his hands up. Blue was startled and took a step backwards. Zeb stomped back towards his barrow.

'Would it make you feel better if you rode one of our horses?' Molly asked Shelby. 'They're used to wearing them.'

Before she could answer Zeb called over his shoulder. 'Forget the whole thing. Safety is everything. If she won't do it, then fine. She'd be a danger to us all.'

'That's not fair!' Molly protested.

Shelby watched as they argued. She didn't think trick riding was right for her anymore. She had always believed that, since Blue had no choice in what they were doing, the least she could do was ensure he would be comfortable. There were pieces of equip-ment that overstepped those bounds and it seemed to her that the tie-down was one of them.

Then Molly said, 'But we do need new riders for the troupe, Zeb. This girl is strong and fit, and she's keen. Why don't we give her a try?'

Shelby's heart started to race. They actually meant to try her for the troupe – for real? Imagine if she could give up school and ride full-time!

'OK, put her on Tex and we'll see what happens,' Zeb finally agreed, changing from cloudy to sunny just as quickly. 'What's your horse's name?'

'Blue.'

'Blue?' Zeb snorted. 'We'll have to give him a stage name.'

While Molly went to saddle up another horse, Zeb led Blue into the arena. Shelby was pleased to see that he had taken off the tie-down. He slipped his leg over Blue as easy as could be and then cantered him around the arena. Zeb rode effortlessly, as though he'd been in the saddle since he was three.

'What about Calypso? Or Comet?' he said on the way past. 'Or Deuce! Deuce is a good name.'

After he'd cantered around the arena a few times, Zeb started to move around. He leaned forward and back, dropped the reins and then picked them up again. He leaned over one side and then the other.

Blue skidded to a stop. Shelby could see him thinking, 'Whoa there, big fella! You're going to fall off!'

'Keep going, little Deucey,' Zeb said, urging the pony on. He seemed to be enjoying himself, the tantrum of just a few minutes earlier completely forgotten. It made Shelby nervous. She found it more difficult to switch moods.

'Nah, Deuce is no good. How about Dynamo?' he asked.

Shelby curled her lip. Blue was lots of things, but dynamic wasn't one of them.

Once Blue was in a canter Zeb started to move around again, swinging his legs up around Blue's shoulders, and leaning back on his rump.

'At the moment he's sensitive to your movements. If he's going to be a trick horse he has to get used to you being all over him – shifting your weight. He'll have to compensate for that. You want to teach him to keep at an even pace no matter what you're doing.'

Shelby folded her arms. She liked the fact that Blue slowed down when she lost her balance and stopped when she fell. It made him much safer. Zeb wanted to teach him to keep on going even if she was hanging off the side. What if she was actually dragging?

Soon Molly was back with the bald-faced quarter horse Shelby had seen before. He was wearing the same type of bit with the long shanks that Keisha had been using on the Lipizzaner.

'Fizz, Firebug, Fury . . . I've got it!' Zeb said, rocking from side to side. He dropped the reins and lifted his hands up as though he was holding a sign. 'The Great Fandango!'

Molly sighed and shook her head. She turned her attention to Shelby. 'Good, you're wearing joggers.'

Shelby looked down. She'd forgotten to change into her riding boots.

'No, that's good,' Molly assured her. 'You need to grip with your feet in trick riding. Normal boots are too slippery. On you hop.'

Soon Shelby was cantering around behind Blue. The quarter horse was very broad – much broader than Blue, and the saddle was so flat it was like riding around on a barrel. His canter was also much smoother than Blue's. Shelby could imagine manoeuvring in this saddle even if he was going fast.

Zeb pulled Blue to a stop at the end of the arena. 'Good boy, Fandy.' He patted Blue on the neck.

Fandy? Shelby thought.

'This is the station,' he explained. 'You canter around the arena, do your trick in front of the audience.' He waved his hand, indicating one side of the arena where the audience would be. 'You stop back at the station. Then the next girl goes around, does her trick and stops here. Then the next. After that it's your turn again. Get it?'

Shelby nodded.

They practised cantering around the arena and stopping at the station.

'Now we do our first trick. We'll start standing still. The key to trick riding is balance. You have the horn of the saddle, and you have your horse's mane. You will use them both for balance. OK?'

Zeb kicked his left foot out of the stirrup. Holding onto the horn, he stood up in his right stirrup and swung his left leg over the back of the saddle, so that he was standing up in the stirrup on the right-hand side of the horse.

'This is called a "stand-aside",' he said. 'Now your turn. Number one: hand on the horn. Two, kick your foot out of the stirrup. Three, over the back and tuck it in place. Underneath. Lovely! Hips forward. That's right! Now wave to the audience with your other hand. Don't let go altogether. Beautiful!'

It felt weird to be standing on the side, as though she was about to jump off. She worried that the saddle was going to slip around Tex's belly, but it didn't.

'Again!' Zeb instructed.

Shelby went through the steps in her head.

'Very good! This time when you hop back in the saddle swing your leg straight. It looks better that way. Clever! Smile. You are a natural, I think.'

Shelby grinned. It did feel natural to her – much more natural than the things she had been doing with Miss Anita. More than that, she was having fun. She was glad she'd come here instead of going back to the stables.

Shelby practised again and again, and then she did the stand-aside with Tex walking around the arena. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Keisha return. Shelby waved to her, but the girl didn't wave back. Instead she jogged into the house. Shelby was having such a good time that she was willing to consider that Keisha hadn't seen her.

Molly and Zeb didn't notice Keisha. They thought Shelby was waving to an imaginary crowd.

'That's showmanship!' Zeb said, clapping. 'See that, Molly?'

Molly smiled and nodded. 'Yep, she's doing really well.'

Shelby lifted her chin, proud of the compliment.

'Next we do trot, which is harder, then canter is easier again, because of the rhythm,' Zeb explained.

Shelby was about to trot when she heard a yell.

'Hey!' On the veranda was the man with the dark hair who Shelby had seen doing the liberty work with the matched ponies.

'Hey you!'

He looked so serious that at first she thought he'd seen something – maybe a snake, or that some of her equipment was loose. She looked around, trying to figure out what the problem was.

'Yes, you!' He stalked across the paddock with his hands rolled into fists.

'What?' she asked. As he came closer she could see that he wasn't just serious, he was furious.

'You!' The man shouted louder still, pointing to Shelby. 'Get off my property!'

22 The Great Fandango

'They did it,' Shelby said, climbing into the car. 'They

stole Diablo.'

'Did they confess?' her mother asked.

'No.'

'Did you see evidence?'

Shelby fastened her seatbelt. 'Kind of. Not exactly.'

The car rattled as it sped up, joining the flow of traffic. 'Then how do you know?' her mother asked, grimacing as the gears crunched.

Shelby's father had been playing around with the clutch again after their trip up the coast. Sometimes he took apart bits of the car because they needed fixing, but Shelby thought he took it apart this time simply because he had the week off over Easter, and the Alfa was his favourite toy.

Shelby crossed her arms. 'Lindsey is right. They are bad people. They put shoes on their horses and tie their heads down. You should have seen the bits they use. They were going to nail metal to Diablo's feet and make him run around with a tie-down, and maybe they would let him stand in a dirt paddock for an hour a day in hobbles. It's like those pictures you see on the internet with the bears getting their bile removed, or the bonsai cats in bottles.'

'Honey, have you ever actually seen pictures of bonsai cats on the internet?'

'No.' Shelby frowned. 'But only because, if I think there are any coming up, I close my eyes and make Erin switch the page.'

Shelby's brothers had recently started playing soccer, and on the way home Shelby's mum stopped to pick them up from training. While they waited in the car, watching the final minutes of the training session, Shelby told her mother about learning to do the stand-aside.

'So everything was fine. Great, in fact! The Zeb man said I was a natural, which is what I thought, and then the man came out screaming at everyone. Sneaky Keisha went and dobbed on me. If she had a problem with me being there she could have said it to my face. Anyway, the man – I think he's Zeb's son – he's shouting that I'm going to fall off and sue them. Then he accused Zeb of always taking in strays. He said every time he brings in a stray they get into trouble. Zeb is bellowing back that he is an elder and deserves respect. Then the son yelled that Molly was a stray, and then she yelled back that he was a pig. And he is! He was so rude. He could have just said that he didn't want me there. He didn't need to call me names!'

Shelby's mother tucked her hand inside her sleeve and used the cuff to wipe the inside of the windscreen. Blake was at one side of the field with the smaller children. They each had a ball and were attempting to bounce it on their knees with very little success. One of the girls managed to bounce it twice and then catch it. The coach cheered and clapped his hands over his head, and then ruffled the girl's hair.

Connor was at the other side of the oval in a line with the older children, who were taking turns to dribble the ball around a row of witches' hats. When the ball got away from Connor just before the last hat, Shelby's mum sighed. 'Ooh, nearly.'

'Are you even listening?' Shelby demanded.

'He called you names,' her mother replied.

'Yes, he said I was kibitzing! What is that, anyway?'

Her mother's mouth twitched in a smile. 'I think it means interfering – being a busybody.'

'I wasn't even!' Shelby protested. 'I meant to kibitz, but I never got around to it.'

Her mother put her hand over her mouth, smothering a giggle.

'I'm glad you think it's funny, Mum.' Shelby stared out the window again, annoyed that her mother seemed to be so interested in the soccer. Her mother never went to Pony Club – even on the competition days. 'How long does this go for, anyway?'

'Shouldn't be much longer.'

The coach brought the kids into a circle and talked to them. At the end the kids all cheered. Shelby could hear them from inside the car. 'Go! Go! Gully Goats!' Each child high-fived the team-mates standing on either side of them. The group broke up and Connor and Blake looked around for their mother. Blake spied them, waved, and then the two boys jogged towards the car.

'He wasn't the only one calling names. You know what else?' Shelby grumbled. 'Zeb wanted to change Blue's name to "The Great Fandango".'

'The Great Fandango?' her mother repeated.

'That's what I said. He called him Fandy for short. Fandy!' Shelby huffed.

'Fandy, eh?' Shelby's mother bit her lip. She wasn't laughing, but she was close. 'Maybe you should go back and –'

'I'm not going back there,' Shelby interrupted. 'That horrible man basically chased me off the property. He told me not to come back or he would call the police and charge me with trespassing, even though Zeb invited me. I didn't just barge in there. So then he stood over me with these big, evil eyes glaring while I took their saddle off Blue. I was all flustered so I couldn't undo the buckles properly. I liked it better when he was yelling. Then Blue and I took off back to the stables.'

The two boys spilled into the car. Blake was wrig-gling with excitement. 'First we hit the ball with our feet, and guess what we did after that, Mum?'

'What?'

'No, you have to guess!'

'Umm . . . Did cartwheels?'

'No, guess again.'

'Had a lamb roast?'

'No, silly! We hit the ball with our heads!'

'Did it hurt?' she asked.

Blake shook his head. 'Nuh-uh.' He licked his lips, which were chapped and red, so it looked as if he had pink lipstick on. 'A little bit, but it was fun anyway. What's for dinner?'

'Rissoles,' his mum answered.

'Again?' Shelby complained.

'Your brothers like them.'

'Yeah, we love 'em, so tough,' Connor said.

The two boys began an earnest discussion about the merits of gravy over tomato sauce as an accompaniment to a variety of meat dishes. Shelby tuned out.

After a few minutes her mother said to Shelby, 'That was interesting what Zeb's son said about strays, though, don't you think? He could have meant Diablo.'

Shelby was glad that her mother had been listening after all. 'Then wouldn't he have said "stray horses"? No, I bet he stole Diablo. I bet he doesn't want me there because he's doing illegal stuff and he knows I'm onto him.'

They drove on in silence.

'Well, that's that then.'

Shelby looked out the window, still fuming just thinking about it.

Behind her the boys had moved on to a critique of the various barbecue sauce brands available.

'Big Ricks is awesome,' conceded Blake, 'but I think I prefer the one in the yellow bottle with the honey.'

'Taste-wise yes, but in a sandwich it's too runny,' Connor added.

Blake stroked his chin. 'Ah, yes. Good point.'

Her mother sighed. 'I really want to know what happened to Diablo now. It will always bug me.'

23 Boundless Plains

'Sit back. Push into your seat, now ask for canter. No! You're leaning forward! You shifted your balance. See how you made her trot really fast? Do it again. Sit down. Now, just think canter. That's it!'

Shelby pulled her shoulders back and lifted her chin, enjoying Penelope's rocking-horse canter. It was so much nicer than Blue's, but they were both getting tired. They had been doing trot/canter transitions all morning. Still, it felt good. She was improving.

'OK, trot at B,' Miss Anita said, indicating the letter at the edge of the dressage arena. 'Sit trot. No rising. That's good! You didn't lose her head that time. Canter again at E.'

Shelby gathered her reins, sat down hard and thought, 'Canter!' Penelope sprang forward right on the mark.

'Perfecto!' Miss Anita said. 'That will do for today. Good work, Shelby.'

Shelby slowed Penelope down and walked around the arena on a loose rein.

'Thanks, Miss Anita, I enjoyed that,' Shelby said, as she jumped down. She brushed her hair away from her face, thinking of the question she had been forming in her mind since the night before. 'I was just wondering, would you ever use a hard bit?'

Miss Anita stroked Penelope's neck. 'Not on the flat. You want to drive them forward into the bit, not hold them in at the front. For cross country or jumping I would. You need to be able to shorten the horse's stride in an instant. You can haul on their mouth, and eventually get a response – maybe too late – or you can use a strong bit and stop right now. It's about safety.'

'So you think there is a place for it?' Shelby asked.

Miss Anita nodded. 'Spurs, whips, bits – they all have a place. I don't think you should use a harder bit yet. You will get to a certain level and you'll need more advanced aids. It's like any tool – in the hands of an expert you can get things done more quickly and safely, but an amateur will do damage. You're not ready yet.'

They walked out of the arena together.

'What about shoes?' Shelby asked.

Miss Anita smiled at her young protégée. 'In an ideal situation you would keep horses barefoot, in a herd and travelling over varied terrain twenty-four hours a day. It stimulates the blood flow, which makes for healthy feet. We can't achieve that here, but we get as close as we can.' She nodded in greeting to various clients as they walked down the laneway towards the stable block.

'So, when would you put shoes on a horse?'

'Personally? I wouldn't.' Miss Anita paused, thinking of a way to explain. 'If you keep your horse in a confined space for twenty-three hours a day and then ask it to perform on a hard surface for one hour, you can't expect it to stay sound.'

They stopped at a crossway where Miss Anita was heading in one direction, and Shelby the other.

'You're saying it would be OK to put on shoes if you stabled your horse?' asked Shelby.

'Not at all. If a horse I'm working on has tender feet, or I'm travelling over a surface they're not used to, I would prefer to use boots. What I'm saying is, under those same conditions you can put shoes on a horse and it will look sound.' She smiled wryly.

'Lots of kids at Pony Club have shoes on their ponies,' Shelby said.

Miss Anita shook her head. 'Well, obviously lots of people don't keep up with the latest research – and this is supposed to be the information age.' She tutted. 'See you next week, Shelby.'

While Shelby washed Penelope she decided to spend at least an hour on the internet that night reading up about horse health. Miss Anita was a real tiger when it came to her students knowing how to look after their own horses. Shelby didn't want to get caught flat-footed. Also, she would earn brownie points if she could talk knowledgeably about pasture types, or iden-tifying mineral deficiencies, or some other detail.

As she put Penelope away Shelby could see Lindsey and Erin coming back from the morning's trail ride. At the same time Hayley approached from the stable block. She was grinning.

'I was supposed to have a lesson on Ditto this morning, but Mum said he could have a week off after the Royal.'

'That's good,' Shelby mumbled. She couldn't understand why Hayley didn't enjoy learning from Miss Anita. Hayley rode so beautifully that she hardly ever got into trouble. Besides, she did interesting, tricky things such as flying changes and pirouettes.

'Mum said I could go on a trail ride instead,' Hayley said, 'but only if I borrow a horse. You know how she is. I was wondering if I could ride Blue.'

The surprise must have registered on Shelby's face, because Hayley rushed on. 'It's OK. I'm sure Lindsey would let me take Cracker or Blockhead if you don't want to. Or Erin might let me ride Bandit.'

'You can take Blue, but I don't have a saddle at the moment.'

Her friend grinned again. 'Thanks, Shel! I've got an old synthetic lying around somewhere that would fit him.' Hayley rushed off to her tack room to fetch the saddle.

Shelby made her way over to where the other girls were finishing up the trail ride. The riders climbed off gingerly, groaning and stretching their stiff muscles. Many of them simply dismounted and walked away, leaving their horses wandering loose in the yard with their reins dangling.

'Beginners!' Erin rolled her eyes.

'Shh!' Lindsey scolded. Some of the customers were still within earshot.

'Beginners are the best!' Erin added. 'Give me a B! Give me an E!' She made out the shapes of the letters with her arms.

'What's up, Shel?' Lindsey asked, ignoring Erin's cheerleading in the background.

'Hayley wants to take Blue for a trail ride.'

Lindsey raised an eyebrow.

'Yeah, I know!' Shelby said. She brought in Blue from the paddock and tied him to the hitching rail, then she helped to unsaddle the other riding school ponies. As the sweaty horses were untacked, Shelby took the saddles and bridles into the tack room and placed them on their racks. Meanwhile, Lindsey led them one by one to the nearby tap for a quick hose down. As soon as they were let back into the paddock they rolled in the dirt, covering their wet bodies with a thick layer of dust.

'Why do they always do that?' Erin asked, watching a little grey pony, Hiccup, who was on his side, eyes closed, groaning with pleasure. When he stood up, one whole side of his body was encrusted with soil.

'Not sure,' Shelby answered. 'I suppose dirty horses have oily skin. Maybe when they're clean their skin gets dry and itchy.'

'They're probably itchy because they're hot and sweaty,' Lindsey added.

'Imagine if we did that after PE class!' Erin said. Then she dropped onto the grass, rolling around and groaning.

Lindsey and Shelby laughed at her, and then laughed more when several of the horses snorted at her suspiciously. When Erin stood up again her hair was full of grass and twigs, but she didn't seem to notice.

Soon Hayley was back with her spare saddle. She set about adjusting the girth to fit Blue's tummy. Hayley's 'old synthetic' was an earlier model, but it looked almost brand new. Shelby wished she had such a thing 'lying around'. Hayley might be willing to sell it to her. She wondered how much it was worth and whether her parents would give her the money. Shelby was going to have to get a saddle sometime soon. She felt like a scab borrowing one all the time.

She thought about Aunty Jenny's offer and wondered if renting their house would mean things were easier for her family. Her mother talked about being 'stretched', and Shelby saw that on her face – a frayed, harrowed look. She knew her parents worried about money all the time, but they didn't fight about it. If anything they were drawn together by it. They worried as if it was a team sport.

'Who are you going to take?' Hayley asked, surprising Shelby out of her thoughts.

'You want me to come too?'

Hayley screwed up her nose. 'Of course, you big nong! You think I was going to take your horse out in the Gully by myself?'

Erin tossed her head, looking miffed.

'And you too, you dill! I meant all of us. Jeez Louise!'

Erin rolled her eyes. 'Man! I wish you'd said so before I took Bandit's saddle off. Lindsey already washed him. Now he's all muddy!'

'Why don't you ride Tic Tac?' Lindsey suggested, pointing to an appaloosa gelding that hadn't yet been unsaddled after the trail ride.

Shelby took Scooter and soon the four girls were on their way out the back gate and along the wide trail. Hayley was still smiling and it was infectious. Shelby thought she looked funny on Blue, with her perfect seat, moseying along on a loose rein.

'Blue is a real person, isn't he?' Hayley sighed. 'He reminds me of my first pony. I reckon in your lifetime there is always one special horse that you're almost telepathic with. You can have good ones – really nice horses, but it's not the same as your best friend horse.'

'Aren't you best friends with yours?' Shelby asked.

Hayley shook her head. 'We communicate, but we don't connect. Although at the show Ditto was pretty smoochy. It's just because I was the only person he knew there. As soon as we got back here he was going, "Hayley who?" And Scamp is almost too educated. He's slick like a salesman now.' Hayley curled her lip. 'He's a bit greasy.'

'He looks flash, though,' Shelby said.

'Yeah, he'll make Horse of the Year.'

The girls moved into single file as they passed through a narrow rock cutting.

'You know who he reminds me of?' Hayley said. 'Jafar from Aladdin.'

Shelby laughed.

Erin broke into song. First she sang James Blunt, but the other girls shouted her down so she started singing a Rogue Traders song, then Hayley and Shelby joined in.

'Don't you think it's weird that she says, "here come the drums", and then there aren't any?' Hayley observed.

'There aren't either!' Erin said. She started singing 'My Hump' by the Black Eyed Peas.

Lindsey's jaw dropped. 'Did you just say your lady lumps? That's disgusting!'

'What song do you know, Lin?' Hayley asked.

Lindsey cleared her throat. 'Australians all let us rejoice ...'

'For we are young and free!' the others joined in for the rest of the verse.

Shelby looked at her friends laughing as they finished the anthem. Hayley had dropped the reins and held her arms wide as though she was an opera singer.

It was a beautiful clear autumn day and they were all on healthy, happy horses, mucking around in the Gully. Who cared about where Diablo had been? He was back now and everything was the way it should be.

Shelby went on alone, 'Beneath our radiant Southern Cross we toil with hearts and hands, to make this Commonwealth of ours renowned of all the lands ...'

'What's that?' asked Hayley.

'The second verse,' Shelby answered, smiling. She had learned it for the choir at primary school. They had sung both verses of the anthem, then 'Home Among the Gum Trees', and they'd finished with the old crowd-pleaser, 'Old Macdonald had a dog and Bingo was his name-o'.

'I didn't even know it had a second verse!' said Erin. 'I can't believe you know it!'

'You're making it up,' Lindsey protested.

'For those who've come across the sea we've boundless plains to share . . .' She stopped in the middle of the trail.

Keisha sat on her beautiful white horse further along the trail, waiting.

The four girls stared at her. With the sun dappling through the leaves making a golden light on her skin, and her long dark hair around her shoulders, she looked like something from a movie. She looked like Arwen from Lord of the Rings.

'I've been looking for you, Shelby,' Keisha said. 'Dad said you can come back. He said you can try out for the troupe, if you still want to.'

24 Traitor-Potato

At first Erin and Hayley didn't say anything. Lindsey's face went purple, like a volcano about to erupt. She turned her horse around and rode away. The mare was not keen to leave the other horses, and Lindsey gave her a sharp dig in the ribs with her heels. 'Get up!'

Shelby noticed Keisha's eyes narrow as she realised that Shelby hadn't told her friends about her visit the day before.

Shelby opened her mouth and then shut it again.

Hayley shook her head and then rode off after Lindsey – on Shelby's horse. Shelby looked after her, wondering if she should mention that, but decided against it.

Erin frowned. 'What's she talking about? You don't even know her. You weren't even there.'

Shelby watched her friend's face as she pieced the information together in her mind. Erin put her hand to her mouth and said, 'Oh my God, Shelby! Traitor-potato.'

Then she turned Bandit around and trotted after the others.

'Do you want to come over now?' Keisha asked.

'I better not.' Shelby listened to the muffled footfalls of her friends' horses trotting along the trail. Although she couldn't hear their words, she could hear the tone of their voices as they talked about her. 'I have to work this afternoon.' She thought about how horrible the afternoon was likely to be. 'Maybe I could come over tomorrow,' she suggested in a small voice. 'But I may not be able to. I might not be allowed, or something.'

Keisha nodded. 'I'm sorry I made trouble for you.'

'Now we're even,' Shelby confessed.

'The police? I thought that might have been you.' Keisha smiled, but without any humour in it. 'Is that one yours too?' she asked, eyeing Scooter.

'This one's just a loaner.'

'Nice colour,' Keisha said.

'Can I ask something?'

'You can ask.'

Shelby tilted her head to the side, peeking at Keisha from under the brim of her helmet. 'You don't go to school, do you?'

Keisha shrugged. 'I'm mostly home-schooled. There is a school for all us circus kids. I get to go when we're not travelling. I do a lot via correspondence. Is that what you were going to ask? I was sure you were just going to come out and ask me whether we stole that stallion.'

'I was. I will. It's just that you're kind of a straight-talker. Almost . . . rude. I wondered if you've spent much time with other kids – had to get along with people, when they could, umm, leave, if you were annoying them.'

Keisha stared at her. The white horse nodded its head, chewing on the bit.

'Did you steal Diablo?' Shelby asked.

'No.'

'Then what happened?'

Keisha's horse shifted on its feet and she patted it – murmuring for it to wait. Then she looked up at Shelby again. 'We have a full circuit of bookings through the winter. We go down south to Wagga and then west to Mildura up to Broken Hill and then Bourke, Brewarina, Narrabri, back to the coast. We stay in Coffs Harbour for two weeks. It's nice there, and then down the coast. At first you would do some simple tricks, stand-asides, step-throughs, step-downs. You could learn along the way. Half the show is liberty and dressage at the moment. We could make up a routine as we go with costumes and music. We could be the big finale – you, me and Molly.'

Shelby shook her head. 'Why would you want me?'

'You have the right horse. Zeb reckons that paint horse of yours is the best trick horse he's seen in a long time. You're coordinated and a good shape for it. Besides, most people's parents won't let them miss school. Would your parents let you go? Now's probably a good time to ask.' Keisha turned her horse around. 'You should go and make up with your friends. See you tomorrow.'

After Keisha left, Shelby turned Scooter along the trail. Keisha's offer was everything she dreamed about, but it had come too easily. It made her anxious. Nothing to do with horses had ever been easy for Shelby. In the past things that seemed straightforward always had some consequence she hadn't anticipated. She was sure there would be some nasty price to pay that would jump out at her in some unpreventable way.

When Shelby arrived back at the stables Hayley had already put Blue in his paddock and fed him, so Shelby walked to the feed shed. Inside there was a sign on the whiteboard that said,

S, please do first row feeds and rugs. Don't even try to talk to us.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

E, H & L.

At the bottom was a frowny face. There was even steam coming out of the cartoon ears.

25 Briefing Dad

Shelby scuffed her foot on the driveway and watched the oncoming traffic. Soon the Alfa came into view, slowed and drew into the shoulder of the road.

'What's going on, chicken? Normally I have to wait for you, not the other way around.' Shelby's father leaned over the steering wheel so that he could see his daughter through the passenger window.

'Everybody hates me,' Shelby huffed and slammed the door behind her.

Her father winced at the sound. 'What did you do?' he asked.

'I don't want to talk about it.' She rolled the window down with vigour – to her father's horror – and then rested her elbow on the windowsill. Next she put her feet on the dashboard.

Her father looked over his shoulder, waiting to merge into the traffic. 'Rapid mood swings. Communicates in grunts. Disregard for the delicacy of other people's vehicles. I think your teenhood is coming along beautifully! Have you been drinking?'

'What? No!' Shelby snorted.

'Why not? What's wrong with you?'

'Do you think I should?' she asked.

He rubbed his stubbly chin. 'I don't think you should, but I think you will, eventually.'

Shelby regarded him sombrely. 'What will you do when I do?'

Dad shook his head. 'I haven't a clue. It keeps me up at night. What do you think I should do?'

'What if I went away for a while and came back grown up? I could do my experimenting with drinking and you wouldn't have to see,' she suggested.

Her father pulled a face. 'Unsupervised! That's a parent's least favourite word. Tell me why everyone hates you.'

It hurt when he said it aloud like that. Shelby stared out the window, trying to look as though she didn't care. They passed the shopfronts and strolling pedestrians. She recognised a group of girls from the stables that were hanging around the newsagent. They waved to her and she raised her hand in reply.

'Not everyone hates you then,' her father commented.

'Maybe they haven't heard yet,' Shelby mumbled, inspecting her dirty fingernails.

'Heard what?'

Shelby sighed. 'Lindsey hates Keisha because she thinks Keisha stole Diablo. Erin and Hayley hate Keisha because Lindsey does. Keisha doesn't like me very much, or at least I don't think she does. She's kind of weird because she's home-schooled. She wants me to join their troupe anyway, and she said so in front of everyone, now Lindsey hates me, and Erin and Hayley hate me because Lindsey does.'

'I see. And Diablo is . . .?'

'A horse.'

'Right.' Her father nodded. 'Did Keisha steal Diablo?'

Shelby kicked off her boots and folded her feet underneath her. 'I asked Keisha and she said she didn't, but then she changed the subject onto the whole troupe business.'

'Ah!' said Dad, knowingly. 'The old switcheroo.'

Shelby waited for her dad to enquire about the 'troupe business', but he obviously missed it. Never mind. There would be opportunities to bring it up later.

'Keisha wasn't avoiding it; it was as if she didn't think it was worth talking about. I don't think she did it. Chad doesn't either.'

'And Chad is the elusive um friend?'

'He's just a friend, Dad.'

'Good.' They drove for a while in silence. 'Well, it seems to me that Lesley –'

'Lindsey,' corrected Shelby.

'Lindsey,' continued her father, 'is the one full of hate here, so the rest of you should just stop being friends with her and be your own troupe.'

'Lindsey's mum owns the stables.'

'Oh,' said her father, turning into their street. 'Well then, the sooner you find this Diablo beast the better!'

'No, Diablo is back already,' Shelby explained.

'He is? So the problem is . . .?'

Shelby stared at him as he pulled the car into the driveway.

'This is a girl thing, isn't it?' Dad observed.

Shelby nodded.

'Righto. Best talk to Marie, I'd say.'

'Thanks for trying,' she said.

He ruffled her hair, and then pinched her nose. He stuck his thumb between index and middle fingers. 'I got your nose!'

'Dad!' Shelby rolled her eyes.

26 Getting Serious

After having a bath and changing into her jammies, Shelby decided that now was as good a time as any to start her science assignment. She picked up the paper in front of her.

Design an experiment (or series of experiments) to solve a problem. For example – what is the ideal temperature to keep milk? With which household products can you make glue? It must be an original project designed and carried out by you personally. Note: this is an extended section of work, so pick a topic of personal interest.

She was about to phone Erin and ask what topic she had chosen, but then she remembered Erin's face when she called her 'traitor-potato'. Her eyes stung and she felt as though something was wedged in her throat. Erin, for all her thoughtlessness, would not have withheld infor-mation like that from her friends. It made Shelby feel ashamed. She should have found a different way.

Shelby blew her hair out of her eyes, dropped the paper back on her desk and wandered out into the lounge room. She could smell that dinner was almost ready. It was her mum's creamy mushroom pasta served with crusty garlic bread – one of Shelby's favourites.

Dad was at the computer with Blake and Connor on his lap.

'Wow! That's so awesome!' Connor said. 'Where is Kensington, anyway?'

'A Kensington is a type of house,' Shelby said. 'They just built one on top of Blue's old paddock. The Crooks live in a Kensington Regent.' There was a bowl of peanuts on the table and Shelby took a handful. Her brothers stared at her. 'What?' she asked with her mouth full.

'Kensington is also a suburb in London – a very central suburb,' Shelby's dad said. 'We're looking at pictures of the apartment Aunty Jenny has rented over Christmas. Do you want to see?'

'No thanks.' Shelby cracked open another nut.

'It's pretty good,' Dad added.

'It's awesome!' Connor repeated.

'I don't need to see it to know that it's going to ruin my life.' She sniffed.

A shadow of irritation crossed her father's face. 'Quite frankly, we're all tired of walking on eggshells around you, Shelby. The rest of us are inclined to go. Jenny has made us a very generous offer – and this is not the first time. Seems to me you have a short memory, but that's a side issue. I don't understand this belligerent attitude. You told me that your life is already ruined. What's the harm in trying some new place where nobody hates you yet?'

Shelby's lip trembled and then she ran out of the room.

'Honey! I didn't mean it like that!' her father's voice called after her.

Shelby sat on the floor in her room, hugging her knees with her back leaning against the bed. She could feel hot tears slip down her cheeks. She was trying to be brave. She had lived her whole life in this house and now everything was changing so fast that she was numbed by it. It reminded her of the Cha-Cha ride at the show.

You line up to get on, thinking it will be fun, watching other people screaming and laughing. You pick a car and wait for it to start, then you're whirling and laughing and feeling sick in the stomach. At the back of your mind you worry that it's not really safe – that the operator will have forgotten to attach that one simple pin or bolt and any minute the whole thing is going to come flying off spinning in the air and crashing in a spectacular spray of metal and bones. Then it stops and you're stumbling out the exit gate feeling giddy, elated, relieved, and a bit short-changed.

Shelby's mum poked her head around the door. 'Dinner's on the table.'

'I don't want any.' Shelby rested her forehead on her arms.

'Yes, you do. It's pasta – your favourite.'

Shelby stood up, wiping her eyes. 'I'll have it in my room then.'

'There's no eating in your room. You know that. You'll sit at the table and eat with your family.'

Shelby stared at her mother. 'Did you hear what my father said to me?'

Her mother smiled and gave her a hug. 'You know he didn't mean it like that. You are becoming quite the little miss, aren't you? Come and eat up. Things always seem better when you have a full tummy.'

Shelby followed her mother down the hallway. She sat at the table and waited for her father to serve her a plate of pasta.

Connor pulled off half the loaf of garlic bread and put it on his plate.

'Don't you want to share that?' his mother chided.

Connor rolled his eyes and tore the bun in two. He handed the soggy, squished portion to his brother, who shoved the whole lot in his mouth, which then was too full to close. Blake's eyes became very wide as he tried to chew the mass.

His mother frowned. Connor laughed, and then Blake coughed, scattering globs of half-chewed bread on the table in front of him.

'Blake!'

'I didn't mean it!'

'I won't be coming to live with you up the coast anyway,' Shelby announced. 'Keisha asked me to join the trick riding troupe. We're going to travel around western New South Wales for the winter – out to Broken Hill and then back again. Zeb said Blue was the best trick riding horse he had seen. They're going to teach me on the road. We're going to be the grand finale.'

'Hang on a sec. Who is Zeb? I thought it was Chad!' her father asked.

'He's one of the circus performers.' Shelby's mother explained.

'Circus performers? Trick riding?' asked her father. 'Explain to me what that is quickly, because I'm having visions of you standing on the top of a horse, or jumping off, or hanging off the side while the horse gallops around,' her father said.

'That's basically it,' Shelby agreed.

'And you didn't think to mention this in the car this afternoon?'

'I did! I told you Keisha asked me to join the troupe, but you were all obsessed about Diablo being stolen.'

Her mother shook her head at her husband. 'That is so yesterday, my love.'

'I said I would go away and learn how to drink unsupervised. Remember?' Shelby reminded him.

'I assumed you were joking!' he replied.

Shelby had been, at the time. She still wasn't serious about it – at least she didn't think she was – but this was a good opportunity to send the trick riding idea out there and see what happened.

'You already know how to drink, silly!' Blake said, perplexed.

'Special drinks, darling,' his mother explained. 'You won't be doing any drinking!' she warned Shelby. 'I think we should start this conversation again from the beginning.'

Blake was still frowning. 'Even if it was a special drink, wouldn't you just put it in your mouth and swallow?'

'You feel you're qualified to give lessons on ingestion, Mr Garlic-Bread Fountain?' asked his dad.

Connor laughed so hard he got the hiccups.

'Keisha came up to me in the Gully today and said they had changed their mind about me. They have shows booked all around the state and they want me to come along. Maybe. If I turn out to be good enough. I'm going over there tomorrow to try out. I thought I might as well since Erin, Hayley and Lindsey are not even speaking to me.'

'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 had the greatest price. Could she really go without seeing her mum and dad for that long? Staying at home, which was the one she thought she really wanted, looked dumb when she wrote it down. It looked like missing a chance. It looked like hiding.

When Shelby reread the last line she took a deep breath. It hadn't occurred to her before she'd actually written it down that if she fought with Lindsey, she might need to find a new home for Blue. It wouldn't be a place that was convenient, or cheap. There wasn't any such place. Shelby had looked before.

She didn't want to pretend to be friends with Lindsey just so she could get agistment. That would be going over the line that her mother talked about.

Shelby didn't want to pretend anyway. She liked Lindsey – or at least she liked the old Lindsey, the poor, unprejudiced Lindsey. She still had qualities that Shelby admired; ones Shelby was sure were real. Lindsey was brave, reliable and tough under pressure. When Lindsey said she was going to do something she did it, and she told the truth.

Even if Shelby did leave – either for the trick riding troupe, or to stay at Aunty Jenny's – she didn't want to leave things this way with Lindsey. There was only one way she could clear it all up.

Shelby had to find out what truly happened with Diablo on Good Friday night.

28 Facing the Music

Sitting down for breakfast, Shelby stared out the window. It was a gorgeous, clear, autumnal day so she decided to ride her bike to work. Cycling meant her parents didn't have to organise their schedule around her. While she ate her cereal the rest of the family made plans for the day.

The boys were hoping for a day at the zoo, or the aquarium. Her father had heard there was a European car exhibition out in the western suburbs. His wife was trying to distract him with descriptions of a lavish picnic in the Botanic Gardens. None of those activities appealed to Shelby – except for the picnic food.

Cycling also meant she could dawdle. Shelby had worked out that if she arrived just after the first trail ride left she could clean some stables, make up some meals, and then be gone before Erin and Lindsey came back from the ride.

She might run into Hayley, but Mrs Crook was usually hanging around, and she didn't think Hayley would make a scene in front of her mother.

Shelby's mum refilled Shelby's glass with orange juice. 'So what have you decided?' she asked, referring to Shelby's list.

'Don't hassle me!' When she saw the look on her mother's face she quickly added, 'Please, beautiful mother, as I am already feeling stressed about it.' She drank the orange juice in one long gulp and plonked the glass on the table with a clunk.

Blake copied her. Luckily his drink was in a plastic tumbler. She waited for her dad to start the speech about setting a good example, but instead he scolded Blake.

'Actually, I have decided I really do need to know what happened with Diablo, so I'm going to ask Zeb about it today. I'm going to make them tell me. So when I get home could you help me finish the time-line, please?'

'No problem,' her mother smiled.

Shelby wheeled 'Misty', her old bike, out of the garage. The bike was much too small for her. She wondered whether she should ask for a new one for Christmas. December was a long way away. Maybe her parents would consider buying her a second-hand one? They would save money in petrol not driving her to the stables, and time too. She still didn't have a saddle, though, and that was a higher priority. There were so many things she needed. It made her tired just thinking about it.

Perhaps if Chad was her boyfriend he could give her a lift across the Gully on his motorbike? Shelby could feel the colour rise in her cheeks. She pedalled furiously around the corner and past the shops, enjoying the sensation of her muscles working and her blood pumping.

Her mother had suggested that Shelby invite Chad over for a barbecue. With everything going on she had forgotten all about it.

Shelby stopped at the tee-intersection, feeling the wind from the passing vehicles whoosh against her. She hesitated. She could turn left and ride around the Gully, straight to Keisha's place, and avoid the stables altogether. It was tempting. It was also cowardly. Her friends had a right to be cross with her, even if it was based on bad information. Once she proved that none of Keisha's family had stolen Diablo they couldn't stay grumpy. Erin would have trouble staying cranky anyway. For now Shelby would have to suffer through it. Spending time with Blue would make it worth-while. Sometimes just being with him, smelling his dusty pony smell, or tracing the outline of his patch-work coat made her feel calm.

There was a break in the traffic and Shelby turned right, standing above the pedals while the bike swung from side to side. Once she was at cruising speed she sat back in her seat, pedalling smoothly.

Shelby had never had a boyfriend, not even one that she didn't speak to, the way some of the other girls did, although she did go to the year six formal with Justin Ganneck. Well, she didn't actually go there with him. They met out the front and walked into the hall together, and then they danced in the same group for a few songs. Shelby supposed Justin Ganneck didn't count, and besides, he ended up going to a dif-ferent high school.

Lots of the other girls in her year were already kissing and touching boys in the playground. Even the thought of doing that stuff gave Shelby that hollow nervous, sick feeling in her stomach.

She wondered whether she would have to actually say to Chad, 'Will you go out with me?' or if he would, or whether they would just start hanging out and it would be assumed that they were 'together' without either of them saying anything at all.

Hayley would know these sorts of things. She could ask her – but then she remembered that Hayley wasn't speaking to her, and she felt a small hurt in her chest again.

A car tooted as it swept past and Shelby saw Monica grinning at her through the passenger window of her mum's car. Shelby waved back. She was nearly at the driveway to the stables now. She slowed the bike down, getting her breath back. At the gate she climbed off the bike and wheeled it up the driveway.

With a sinking feeling she could see that Lindsey had held up the trail ride waiting for her.

Shelby leaned the bike against the tack shed.

'You're late. Helping with the trail rides is part of your job,' Lindsey said.

'Sorry,' Shelby replied. 'Where's Erin?'

'Erin doesn't work here.'

'OK. Just asking. I guess that means you're speaking to me now.'

Lindsey blinked. 'If you want to say stuff to me later you can, but not in front of clients.' She looked around to see who was within earshot. Shelby guessed that if a couple of riders had been further away she might have copped an earful.

She quickly saddled Blue.

'It's about time you got your own saddle too. Don't you think?' Lindsey added.

Shelby blushed. She also felt a flash of anger. Lindsey knew Shelby's situation. She'd been more open with Lindsey than with her other friends, believing Lindsey was in the same boat.

'Yeah, I think,' she snapped. 'But we don't all have our own goldmine, Lindsey.'

This time it was Lindsey's turn to redden.

They headed out. Shelby tried to muster enthusiasm. She was glad for the first time that their standard practice was to ride one at the front and one at the rear. Just before they reached the back paddock the line of riders stopped so that Lindsey could tighten one of the horse's girths.

Blue tucked his head around and sniffed Shelby's boot, sensing her tense mood.

'I love you too, handsome boy,' she whispered, and reached down to stroke his forelock.

A younger girl with big brown eyes was riding Cracker. 'I just love horses so much!' she told Shelby. She was wearing such a hearty grin that Shelby couldn't help smiling back.

Shelby leaned forward and hugged Blue around the neck. Sometimes she forgot how lucky she was.

After the trail ride Shelby cleaned out stables by herself. She could hear Hayley, Erin and Lindsey laughing together in the next block and she wondered if they were just trying to make her feel bad. It was working.

When they had finished mucking out the other stable blocks the three girls took their horses out to the jumping arena. Erin stared at Shelby as she rode past. Shelby smiled at her, but Erin just looked away.

Once they were out of sight Shelby dumped her last barrow of manure, washed her hands and collected Blue from his paddock.

She rode around the back way, through the paddocks, rather than along the laneway that went past the jumping arena, hoping that the other girls wouldn't see where she was going. With the back gate behind her, Shelby rode swiftly across the Gully.

29 Kibitzing

'Now with a step-though, you start by sitting sidesaddle, then tuck the top leg under the one that's on the stirrup, and bring it round the back so you are sitting astride. You're going around the saddle in a circle. Get it?' Molly asked.

Today Molly had another horse saddled, so that Keisha could show Shelby what to do. They had already practised the stand-asides. At one point Shelby had found herself slipping, but she remem-bered what Zeb had said about balance. She leaned forward and grabbed Tex's mane, and soon she was steady again.

In the background, Zeb continued working with Blue, or 'Fandy', as he insisted on calling him. He was teaching him walk/canter transitions out of the station, turning on the hind leg, which Zeb called a 'half roll-back'. Blue was going really well. Shelby thought it was because she usually rode him without depending on her reins, and most of the time in trick riding you didn't use reins at all.

'You try a step-through,' Molly said. 'Remember to hold on.'

Shelby was about to try when she heard a familiar sound. It was Chad's bike. He rode up to the gate, switched off his engine and leaned the bike on its stand. Suddenly she felt shy and clumsy. Now that he was there in person she knew she would never have the courage to ask him out. He would have to ask her, if he was interested, which she was now certain that he wasn't. Chad probably had girls ask him out all the time.

'How's everybody?' he asked.

'Chadwick! Come in, son,' Zeb greeted him.

Shelby thought there was something very relaxed and familiar about the exchange, as though this visit was expected.

'Do you change everyone's name?' Shelby asked.

'What's that, Blondie?'

'You can do better than that, Zeb,' Molly challenged.

'Maybe we should just call you Nat.'

'Nat?' Chad asked.

'Yeah, she came in here, bold as you please, and told us she's a natural trick rider.' Zeb held his fingers up indicating parenthesis marks as he said the last part.

Chad grinned. Shelby felt Keisha's eyes on her as well and she blushed.

'And you'd never guess it, she really is!' Zeb added.

'Told you,' Shelby muttered.

Molly called for Shelby's attention. 'Let's get back to it, OK? Try a step-through.'

Shelby wished they could go back to doing the stand-asides so Chad could see her being 'natural'. She tried the new move, but she couldn't get her leg to go underneath the other one. It was awkward. Finally she was able to push one leg past the other, and then swing it over the back. The move was chumpy and inelegant. She waited for someone to make a joke, but nobody did.

'You need to put all your weight in the stirrup. Push it out so you can slip that leg under,' Keisha sug-gested. 'Tilt your hip to the side so you're leaning away from the saddle.'

Following her advice the next time Shelby found it much easier.

Soon they were doing step-throughs at a canter. Chad sat at the side of the arena watching. When she was concentrating she was able to forget he was there, but every now and then, when one of the girls did a particularly good step-through, he would clap, and then she would remember. He made Shelby feel flus-tered and gawky.

'You're learning so quickly!' Molly said. 'Usually it takes a bit longer than this.'

Shelby grinned.

'She trusts Texas, that's why,' Keisha added. 'That's half of it, I reckon, trusting that they are going to stay at the same pace – moving with the horse's rhythm, not trying to guess where it might be two seconds from now.'

Molly nodded. 'Keisha had a fall,' she told the others. 'She still hasn't got her confidence back.'

Keisha looked away, scowling.

Shelby didn't know what to say, so she changed the subject. 'What's next?'

'Keen!' Molly said, smiling. 'Step-downs are the same as a step-through, except that, after you have slipped your leg through, you drop down, as though you're getting off, bounce off your toe and then get back on again. Show her, Keisha.'

Keisha pushed her horse into a canter and did a neat step-through, dropping onto her pointed toe, like a dancer, in the middle.

'You make it look easy,' Shelby said.

Keisha pulled into the station without a word.

'It's easier when the horse is moving faster. You can use their momentum,' Molly said.

As she rode around, practising her step-downs, Shelby remembered why she was here. She was supposed to be kibitzing. Shelby tried to think of a way of bringing up Diablo.

'Did you ride that stallion while he was here?' she asked, stopping Texas at the station.

'Do you think we should have? How does he go?' asked Molly.

'I haven't ridden him myself,' she said, with a secret smile, imagining Mrs Edel's horror if she should ask. 'I've seen him move, though. He's got nice action.'

'We've seen him in action too,' Molly said. She and Keisha traded a glance and then burst out laughing.

'What?' Shelby asked. She looked over at Chad, but he shrugged, just as perplexed as she was.

Molly shook her head. 'One of our mares . . . um, we haven't had a vet test yet, but we think she might be in foal.'

'She was in season?' Shelby asked. 'Do you know how much a service from Diablo is worth?'

'About as much as the fence he broke down to get to her,' Zeb called out.

30 Jigsaw

'We have a motive now!' Shelby beamed at her mother. Shelby was wearing an apron over her pyjamas and fluffy slippers. She finished cutting the onions and slid them off the cutting board into a bowl. She spoke loudly over the sizzle of the barbecue. Flames licked up between the bars, searing the steaks as her mother turned them over.

Shelby continued. 'Way back when it happened, I said, "Why would Diablo leave the mares?", and Lindsey told me he would if there was a mare in season in the Gully, which she thought was unlikely, at the time, but now we know there was one!'

'And what about this accomplice you have here?' her mother said, pointing with the tongs. They had laid the chalkboard on the outdoor table between them.

'Yes, the escape artist,' Shelby said. 'I thought she looked a lot like Diablo. Monica thought not. It depends on who you ask.'

She rinsed the cutting board under the garden tap and then started shredding lettuce for the salad.

Her father wandered through the barbecue area with a basket of washing that he had just taken down from the line. He looked Shelby up and down. 'That's a great look you've got going there. What if your um friend saw you now?'

'Chad was there today,' she told her parents. 'He watched us practising. I was going to talk to him after, but he just said "See ya", and rode off on his bike. I don't think he likes me as an um friend.' She shrugged. 'He's been going over there a bit. He might have a hotty on for Keisha. I don't know why else he would go there.'

'I'm sorry, honey,' her dad said, suddenly concerned.

Shelby sighed. 'It wasn't even anything in the first place. Jeez, Dad. You need a hobby!'

Dad took the tongs from Shelby's mum and squeezed Shelby's nose with them.

'Ow! Yuck!' she protested, wrestling the tongs away from him. 'They've got grease on them. How disgusting! What is this nose obsession you have, anyway?'

'Eww, how disgusting,' he squealed, mimicking her as he took the washing inside.

'Hush, you two, this is serious business.' Her mother stared at the board with her hands on her hips. 'Go back to the beginning, Shel. At four forty-five you fed Diablo.'

'And then I walked through the breezeway – stopping to talk to Mrs Crook.'

'Who was clipping the horse, is that right?'

Shelby nodded, wiping her greasy nose on the apron. 'And then Mrs Edel drove past.'

'With the poo vac,' her mother finished. 'Now we reach this part here. The part where your friend Kim puts this accomplice horse back in the broodmares' paddock.'

Shelby cut an avocado in half and scored the flesh into squares with her knife. 'Yes.'

'And this horse she put away looks the same as Diablo?'

'Yes,' said Shelby.

'Well, then it's obvious what happened.'

'It is?' Shelby asked.

Shelby held the cordless phone to her ear.

'Is Erin there?'

'Hi, Shelby,' said Erin's mum. 'I've been instructed to tell you that Erin isn't talking to you.'

'That's OK. I don't want her to talk. I just want her to listen.'

'Excellent. I'll put her on then.'

Shelby could hear Erin's mother handing over the phone. She licked her thumb, tasting traces of tomato sauce from dinner. She walked towards the bathroom to wash her hands. Then she heard Erin's breath blowing across the mouthpiece.

'I'm guessing you haven't done your science assign-ment,' Shelby said, tucking the phone between her chin and shoulder. Her voice echoed around her in the tiled space.

Silence. In the background Shelby could hear the television in Erin's lounge room.

'I know you're there. I can hear you breathing. Maybe you could blow twice in the mouthpiece for yes, and once for no.'

Shelby heard one breath. 'Are you saying no, or are you just breathing?'

Two breaths.

'Have you done the assignment?'

One breath.

'So, you haven't done it?'

More breathing. Shelby wandered up the hall to her bedroom and flopped on her bed.

'This is dumb, Erin. Breathing at me is communication. It's the same thing as talking.'

'Maybe I wasn't communicating. Maybe I was just breathing.'

'So which was it?' Shelby asked.

Erin huffed. 'It doesn't even matter now because you already tricked me into speaking!'

'You've got a video camera, haven't you?' Shelby asked, curling a ringlet of hair around her finger.

'Yes, why?'

'Bring it to the stables tomorrow. We're going to do our assignment together. If Hayley or Lindsey say you can't, tell them I have guaranteed you will get an A.'

31 The Experiment

'This is the science experiment assignment by Shelby and Erin from 8L,' Shelby said, staring into Erin's handheld video camera. 'I, Shelby Shaw, will conduct the experiment while Erin is the camera person recording the results.'

'And executive producer,' Erin added, turning the camera onto herself and waving.

'Our mystery that we are planning to solve is how Diablo, the stallion, magically disappeared and then turned up on the other side of the Gully. Was he stolen? No, he wasn't! We will prove that it's not magic. We will show a set of conditions which he can escape from, and how they occurred. Firstly, we have our control, which is Diablo normally.'

Erin zoomed in on Diablo, standing in the doorway of his stable, wearing a soft cotton rug and hood, and watching the girls.

'See how under these conditions Diablo is safely behind bars?' Shelby asked the camera. 'Now let us go to the first variable. Mrs Crook and the clippers.' She led the camera around, into the breezeway, where Blue was tied up as Ditto had been. 'Just imagine I am Mrs Crook. I want to use my clippers on Ditto, who is competing at the Royal Easter Show. This is Blue. Today he will be playing the part of Ditto.' Shelby pulled out the plug that provided power to the electric fence. 'I undo this plug here . . . and plug in my clippers. Except you'll have to imagine that I have plugged in clippers, because I don't have any. The important point is that the electric fence is now off.'

Shelby led the way back around to Diablo's gate. The stallion had moved out of his stable now, closer to the gate, watching the girls curiously.

'As you can see, Diablo is still locked in, therefore variable number one alone is not enough to cause Diablo's mysterious disappearance. Now let us move on to variable number two – the poo vac. Just imagine I am Mrs Edel with the quad bike, which the poo vac is attached to.'

Shelby held a make-believe steering wheel in her hands. Making a humming sound, she drove her imag-inary quad bike up to the gate and pulled on the pretend handbrake. She opened the metal gate to Diablo's paddock and drove the imaginary quad bike through, ducking under the white electrical tape. Shelby drove her pretend quad bike along the fence a little way, again pulling on the pretend handbrake.

She addressed the camera through the fence. 'So you can see that Mrs Edel leaves the metal gate open while she vacuums the poos – she assumes that the electric fencing is on, which is what she does every week. Now if Erin can zoom in on Diablo, we can observe his behaviour.'

Erin crouched down at a discreet distance, pointing the camera at the horse. Diablo took a step forward, sniffing the electric fence suspiciously. After a few feints, he touched the electric tape with his lip. He reared up and spun around, as though struck, stopping a few metres away. Then he sidled up to the fence a second time, lipping it again. He looked at Shelby. Shelby turned her back and whistled a tune, as though not paying attention.

'See the cheeky horse planning his escape,' Erin whispered.

With one more glance towards Shelby, Diablo slipped his head under the electrical tape, and then pushed forward. The tape slid up his neck. At his wither the tape caught on his rug. Diablo snorted and then surged forward. The tape tightened and then slipped over his back. Now loose, the stallion trotted up and down the fence between his enclosure and the mare's paddock – nostrils flared, high-stepping, and obviously pleased with himself.

Shelby came back through the gate, closing it behind her. Erin approached with the camera. 'So we see variables one and two working together have a dramatic effect on Diablo's freedom – i.e. that he is! Now enter variable number three. Kim of stable 17, Block B, has heard from her friend Monica in stable 16 about the mare that can escape from this paddock.' Shelby pointed to the mare's paddock behind her. 'The mare is the same height and the same colour as Diablo, with the same socks, and with rugs on it is very difficult to tell them apart. As Kim stumbles on this scene she assumes that this is the very same horse. For this experiment imagine that I am Kim.'

Shelby approached Diablo and took hold of the buckle of his hood. She spoke in a high voice. 'I am Kim and I am looking at Diablo's enclosure. I see the electric fence is still across the way, and Mrs Edel is inside, therefore I am assuming that this horse is the escape artist Monica told me about.' Shelby led Diablo through the gate to the mares' paddock. She looked into the camera again.

'We have to work quickly now, because Diablo should not be in with the mares and if Mrs Edel finds us here we will probably get into trouble. So, for the next part of the experiment we will simply be making a prediction.'

Erin zoomed in on Shelby's face.

'Variable four. The gate at the far end has a latch that Diablo can open, but I have tied it with baling twine, because if Diablo were to really escape . . .' Shelby could hear the sound of cantering hooves behind her. She would have to talk quickly now. She frowned. 'Hey Erin, point the camera here.'

Erin had the camera directed over Shelby's shoulder. Erin's mouth was getting wider and wider, as were her eyes. 'Look! Look! Look!' she yelled.

Shelby turned around just in time to see Diablo, with his legs neatly tucked under him, sailing straight over the gate to the back paddock. Once on the other side, the stallion bucked twice, and then stretched out low, with his ears pinned back to his skull. His hooves made a deep rumbling sound as they hit the earth. The horses in the day paddocks went berserk – thundering up and down their fence lines, whinnying, wheeling and rearing.

Diablo galloped, majestically, powerfully, and with purpose, up to the crest of the hill. Then with one more defiant buck, he disappeared out of view.

'He's so amazing,' Erin said.

'We are in so much trouble,' Shelby told her.

32 A Surprise

Erin was panicking. 'What do we do? Should we chase him? Do we tell Mrs Edel? What, Shel?'

'I don't think we should tell. I tried telling a grown-up before, and it ended up being a bigger mess. Let's just get our horses and ride up to Keisha's and bring him back. I'll lead Diablo and you can pony Blue off Bandit.'

The two girls ran towards the paddocks.

Erin stopped. 'Oh no! We can't!'

'What? Why?'

'Bandit kicks!'

'Then pony Bandit off Blue! It doesn't matter.' Shelby grabbed her friend's sleeve, dragging her along the path.

'You know what would have been a better idea?' Erin said, puffing. 'We should have put a halter on Diablo, and tossed the lead over his neck for the escaping part, and then when you were being Kim you could have put him in the paddock, but kept hold of him. Or, you know what else? Maybe we should have ...'

Shelby interrupted. 'Thanks Erin, that's a great help now, isn't it? You nong! Just hurry up, will you? We have to catch him before anyone asks questions!' She slowed. 'You've stopped recording, haven't you?'

'Yes,' Erin said, grinning and pressing a button. The camera whirred as the lens retracted into the casing.

'Go and get Bandit,' Shelby instructed. 'And grab one of your halters. Diablo's head is too big for Blue's.'

Erin ran towards Bandit's paddock while Shelby dashed in the other direction to collect Blue. She saw Mrs Edel standing in the middle of the path talking to Miss Anita. Shelby changed her running to skipping. She plastered a smile on her face.

'Hi there,' she skipped past, waving.

'Shelby,' Mrs Edel said. Miss Anita nodded.

As soon as she was out of view Shelby tucked her chin to her chest and sprinted. With each footfall she imagined another thing going wrong. Diablo wouldn't go to Keisha's place. He would take a left turn and head up past the Pony Club grounds, out onto Gully Way. Lots of trucks drove along that stretch of road – fast. She could hear the screech of tyres in her head, and see Diablo's eyes widen, as though it was a movie in her mind.

Or his rugs would catch on a low branch and tear. The torn material would wrap around his legs. He would fall awkwardly and his leg would snap like a twig. He would lie in the middle of the trail, writhing, screaming and alone.

Luckily Blue was standing near the gate. Shelby grabbed his bridle and slipped it over his ears. Her hands were shaking and she had trouble fastening the chinstrap. She could feel the sweat on her forehead. Her chest was tight, and she wheezed, the way she imagined asthma would feel.

The disastrous possibilities continued to roll through her imagination in vivid movie clips. Diablo would make it to Keisha's place. He would attempt to jump the fence as he had before. He would misjudge the height and he would land with all his weight on a post – staked through the thigh. He would struggle to free himself. Strips of flesh would tear away from the bone and hot blood would jet out from the wound.

The sweat dripped down and stung her eyes. Finally the buckle slid into place.

'He'll be fine!' she mumbled. 'They're always fine.' But a little voice at the back of her mind said, You've got away with doing dumb, irresponsible things a hundred times before. This time will be the big one!

Once through the gate Shelby stood on an upturned feed pail and hopped onto Blue's back. She gathered the reins and set off down the laneway. As she passed the horses in their yards she could imagine more and more hideous ways for Diablo to suffer.

'It's all my fault,' she muttered to herself.

Soon she was at Bandit's stable. Bandit had a halter on loosely over his bridle, with the lead rope looped over his neck and tied in a knot.

Erin was struggling with the girth. Bandit was bloating and every time she tried to cinch the leather strap through the buckle it would slip through her fingers. Her face was red and her chest heaved. Shelby could tell she was about to cry.

'Forget about the saddle!' Shelby said.

'I can't ride him bareback, Shel,' she wailed. 'He's too clean. I'll slide right off him. He's big – you can't wrap your legs around like you can with Blue.'

'Will you ride Blue then?' Shelby asked.

Erin nodded, wiping tears from her cheeks.

The two girls swapped horses, and Erin boosted Shelby onto Bandit's back. As Shelby settled into place she could see what Erin meant. Bandit's coat was much finer than Blue's, and smooth as satin. She tried gripping with her legs and Bandit surged forward with the pressure. 'Ooh!' she said.

Erin sniffed as if to say, See what I mean?

'We've got to get moving,' Shelby said.

She laced her fingers through Bandit's mane and grasped the crest of his neck, the way Zeb had taught her. She found that if she held onto the lead rope around his neck she had a strong grip. She held the reins in the other hand. Then the two girls set off.

Bandit had a lovely rocking-horse canter. He didn't pull, race or shy, and so long as he was cantering in a straight line, Shelby thought she had made the better part of the bargain. But then whenever he turned Shelby would tuck her leg in to keep steady, and Bandit would move his back end away from her leg, making the turn sharper still.

Erin opened the gate to the back paddock at the end of the lane without dismounting. The little paint pony was very accommodating, shunting sideways so Erin could reach the latch, and then pushing the gate open with his nose.

The two horses cantered up the hill and down the slope on the other side. Shelby held on tight and crouched low for balance. She squeezed with her knees, but not too tight in case Bandit took off.

As they reached the gate between the back paddock and the Gully trails, they came upon Monica and Kim, who were coming back from a trail. Both of their hacks were dark with sweat.

Shelby noticed that the back fence had been fixed where the branch had crushed it, but she hadn't seen the horses that were normally kept in the back paddock on their way through. She tried to remember if she had seen them in the paddock that Lindsey had put them in on the day Diablo first escaped, but she had been concentrating so hard on staying on Bandit that she hadn't noticed much else.

'Hey, where are you guys off to?' Monica asked, smiling. Kim held the gate open for them.

From the other side of the hill they could still hear the horses squealing and the thumping of hooves as they ran along their fence lines.

'What's going on up there?' Kim asked. She shaded her eyes, but couldn't see because the crest of the hill obscured the view.

'Was this gate open or closed?' Shelby asked.

'Have you seen Diablo?' Erin asked at the same time.

'Diablo?' Monica frowned.

'It was closed,' countered Kim.

'I thought it was open,' Monica said.

Kim said, 'It was open yesterday, but it was closed this morning. Did those people steal him again?'

'No, he escaped,' Erin began. She took a deep breath, about to go on, but after a warning look from Shelby, she shut her mouth.

'Can we help?' asked Monica.

'That would be great,' said Erin. 'There are only three trails he could have picked from here. You've just come from one way, so if we take the other two we have to find him.'

'We came from the Pony Club,' Kim told them.

Erin closed the gate. 'OK, we'll go straight through the middle and up to the water tower. That's the way he went before.'

Monica nodded, and then she and Kim sent their horses forward at a hand gallop along the right-hand trail.

Erin and Shelby rode their horses at a slower pace down the winding track into the Gully. When they reached the causeway, Bandit spooked and snorted at the water. Shelby didn't have time to be scared. She squeezed with her legs and the gelding kangaroo-hopped from one side to the other, making Erin laugh, despite her anxiety. On the other side he shook like a dog, nearly shaking Shelby off.

Bandit and Blue bounded up the hill side by side. Soon they were cantering past the lounge suite and alongside the fence at Keisha's place.

Zeb's son had the Clydesdale and the miniature liberty training in the round yard – trotting in opposite directions. He inclined his head in greeting to Shelby and she nodded in return. Keisha was lunging one of the Andalusians in the sandy area. Shelby could see the muscles across his back and neck as he moved.

Everything seemed calm and normal. Shelby looked up at the stables but the door to the stable that held Diablo before was open. He wasn't here.

Zeb was in the arena. Chad was sitting on Texas, holding the reins high and precariously, as though he was holding two dripping ice-cream cones. When he saw Shelby he dropped the reins and slipped off the quarter horse, embarrassed.

Shelby pushed Bandit so that he was alongside the arena.

'What are you doing?' she asked.

Chad ran his palm along the broad horse's neck. 'Zeb's been teaching me,' he answered. 'I didn't know you were . . . I was going to surprise you.'

33 The Herd

'Have you seen Diablo?' she asked.

'Have you lost another horse?' Chad asked. 'Do they normally go missing this much, or are you just hopeless?'

Shelby turned Bandit around, nudging him with her heel more sharply than she intended. The gelding laid his ears back and swished his tail.

'Don't be mad with me, Shel,' Chad called out. 'I was only joking!'

Shelby looked over her shoulder as Bandit moved away. 'I'm not mad, I just have to find this horse before something bad happens. I think it's good that you're learning to ride. I have to go. Catch you later.'

He grinned. 'I look forward to it.'

Shelby and Erin continued on down the path. After they were out of earshot Erin said, 'He loves you, Shel!'

Shelby snorted. 'He does not!'

'Does too! He was just about falling over himself to make you happy. And you were so cool. I've never seen you be an ice queen before. Looking down your nose, all superior.' Erin flicked her hair dramatically. 'Catch you later, Chad,' she mimicked in a breathy voice. Then she pursed her lips together, making a kissy noise.

'I wasn't being superior,' Shelby muttered.

'Were too! And he's cute as well, for a horse stealer.'

Shelby stared at her friend. 'Haven't we just spent the last few hours proving that he had nothing to do with it?'

'Oh yeah, I forgot about that bit,' Erin said, grinning. 'Funny, isn't it? When you decide the way you think about someone it's hard to undecide it again.'

'Well, you need to undecide about Chad, because he's my friend,' Shelby said.

'Oooh! Chad and Shelby sitting in a tree,' Erin teased, 'K-I-S-S-I-N-G.'

'Shut up!' Shelby said, smiling. She was so pleased to hear that Erin thought that Chad liked her. She'd almost given up on him. She was also glad that Erin was back to her silly old self. She was such a good friend, Shelby thought. Erin never held grudges.

Still, there was plenty of time to think about all that later. For now their priority had to be the stallion.

The two girls rode quickly, following the path around the side of the Gully. Soon there was a trail that zigzagged down towards the creek and the girls took that turn. Bandit was more used to Shelby now. She found it easier to balance as they headed for home.

They listened for hoof beats along the other trails, and after a few minutes they could hear horses on the trail ahead.

Shelby hoped that it might be Diablo and got as far as wondering if he would let them catch him, but it was Monica and Kim. Both of their faces were flushed with the exercise.

'Nothing?'

Erin shook her head.

'We went all the way around.' Kim used her finger to indicate the rim of the Gully. 'And then straight across and up to the lookout. There was a group of bushwalkers. They'd come from the other side of the Pony Club and they haven't seen him either.'

Shelby shook her head. 'There are just too many little trails he could have taken. It will take us forever. We're going to have to head back and get reinforcements.'

'Are we the only ones looking?' Monica asked.

Erin and Shelby looked at each other. 'We haven't exactly told Mrs E that he's missing yet.'

'What?' Kim asked. 'You have to tell her!' She kicked her horse and he trotted. 'I'm going back right now. Imagine if it was Blue and nobody told you? You would be so mad.'

Shelby felt embarrassed. She knew Kim was right. Kim turned her horse around and they followed her in single file – Shelby at the back.

Telling, not telling, dobbing, lying, hiding the truth, and fine lines – it was all so complicated. No wonder teenagers were moody!

The four girls cantered up the hill, returning to the stables.

'Man! I hope we find him soon, because my bum's sore!' Erin complained.

As they rode along the trail towards the back gate they could hear the thunder of hooves.

'Wow, they're still going nuts!' said Monica.

Soon they were out of the trees and they could see what was happening. The whole herd from the back paddock rumbled full-tilt up to the crest of the hill away from them and out of sight.

Bandit pranced and tugged at his bit.

After a moment the horses came around the side of the hill, bucking, wheeling and turning all at once, like leaves caught in the wind – some with their tails held high, others bouncing on the tips of their toes, like Pepé Le Pew. Even from this distance Shelby could see the dark patches of sweat on their necks and flanks.

Shelby watched as the buckskin colt tucked up his legs and leapt nothing at all. The mare with the scarred face, in full flight, bucked and plunged, twisting her neck towards the other mares.

There at the front, looking mighty, wild and handsome – even in his rugs – was Diablo. He raced across the paddock, tail flashing and head thrashing. He bucked and Shelby guessed all four feet must have been a metre above the ground.

'Oh, thank God for that!' Erin said, putting her hand to her chest.

'You mean he was here the whole time? After all that!' Monica groaned.

'Last time he must have gone over that fence that was down,' Shelby said. 'Lucky he didn't cut his legs or get tangled.'

'He probably jumped it,' Kim added.

'Boy, can he jump!' Erin observed.

The herd wheeled around again.

Bandit pigrooted. Shelby held on to his mane. Bandit lifted up his front feet and then pigrooted again. Shelby could feel herself beginning to slip, and so she quickly slithered to the ground – holding the lead rope around Bandit's neck. He let out a high-pitched whinny right in her ear. She could see the whites of his eyes and the sweat curling the hair on his neck.

Diablo charged towards them, ears back and teeth bared. The whole herd stampeded their way – their hooves drumming against the ground so hard that Shelby could feel the rolling, thrumming noise of it in her chest. They covered the ground quickly.

'They'll turn,' Shelby thought. They had to turn; there was a fence.

But they weren't turning. Fifty metres closed to twenty in seconds. Monica and Kim's horses panicked and bolted up the trail. The two girls shouted and tugged at the reins hopelessly.

Blue's nostrils flared, his eyes widening in terror as the stallion bore down on them. The little gelding backed away, trampling bushes and brushing against tree trunks. The stallion didn't stop. He was ten metres away, with the rest of the herd hard on his heels. Erin's face went white. If Diablo didn't stop, if he jumped the fence, he would crush them. How many of the others would follow him?

Blue reared – something he had never done before – and wheeled to the side, heading along the trail after Monica and Kim's horses.

Shelby held onto Bandit with all her might, calling, 'Whoa, whoa, whooooah!' She turned Bandit's head away, and the gelding danced on the spot, squealing, trembling and shaking his head.

At the last moment Diablo skidded on his back feet, switched directions and flew up the fence line. Like a flock of birds the herd turned, chasing Diablo. The dirt from their churning hooves sprayed into Shelby's face and she closed her eyes.

Away they soared. Shelby opened her eyes again. She had seen horses running around before, but this was something else. It was fierce and wild.

'Wow,' she whispered.

The other three girls trotted up behind her. Their horses were still spooking and shying, but were under control.

'Yeah, awesome, but how on earth are we going to catch him?' Kim asked.

'And get him back into his stable before Mrs E –'

Erin was interrupted by a shrill whistle. The girls all turned their heads in the direction the sound had come. Standing up on the crest of the hill, hands on hips, were Lindsey and her mum.

'. . . 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 electric fence. I was reading on the internet about it . . .'

'You let him out for a school assignment?' Mrs Edel repeated. There was no mistaking her expression now – Mrs Edel was furious. She stepped over to Bandit and removed the halter that he was wearing over his bridle. Her voice was low and shook with anger. 'I think you should go back to the stables now, girls. Wash down those horses and then get to work, because I don't trust myself to speak to you right now.' Lindsey's mum set off down the hill towards the herd.

'She swears when she's cranky,' Erin told Monica and Kim, nodding sagely.

On the flat Diablo and the colt were playing a rearing, biting game. Diablo was distracted when he saw his mistress approaching with the halter. The colt bit the stallion on the neck, and then he squealed and ran with his short tail high in the air. The little buckskin stopped about twenty metres away, looking over his shoulder to see if the older horse was chas-ing him, but Diablo had lost interest. He was deciding whether he wanted to be caught.

'You too, Lindsey,' Mrs Edel called over her shoulder.

'What did I do?' Lindsey protested.

'Go!' her mother said.

Her daughter stood still with her hands on her hips, unbelieving, but Shelby understood that Brenda Edel wasn't mad with Lindsey, she was angry with herself. Sometimes when you're in the wrong or you're enraged it's better to take time to cool down so you don't say things in the heat of the moment that you might regret later. Mrs Edel had jumped in before. This time she was doing it differently. Shelby admired that.

'Do you want a lift?' Kim asked.

Lindsey used Kim's stirrup to climb up behind the saddle. The girls set off across the back paddock.

'What's this about a video?' Kim asked.

Erin told the other girls about how Shelby's mum had unravelled the mystery, and how she and Shelby had designed the experiment. 'We were going to show you and your mum after we had finished,' she told Lindsey.

'You should have told us straightaway,' Lindsey grumbled.

'You wouldn't have believed us,' Shelby said. 'You weren't trying to find out what really happened. You'd already decided who was to blame.'

Lindsey opened her mouth and shut it again.

'She's right, Lin,' Erin said. 'It's like our assign-ment. You can have a theory, but you don't know for sure unless you test it. You would always have been suspicious of Chad and the troupe. And Diablo only got into the back paddock so it wasn't that bad.'

Lindsey frowned, but she didn't answer.

Erin continued to prattle on as they walked along the lane. 'You know, I never really got Science before. You do an experiment in class and everyone knows what's going to happen, because it's in the textbook, or the brainiacs do it faster, so by the time Shel and I finish we've seen it, like, fifteen times already, but this was exciting! When Diablo jumped that gate it was like, you know, discovering germs, or dinosaurs or something. I think I'm actually going to listen in class from now on, instead of just writing down stuff.'

Shelby smiled. She could imagine Erin's resolution lasting for about twenty minutes.

'You know in CSI when they do the experiments there's always funky music playing? I'm going to suggest that to Mrs Rowels. When we get out the bunsen burner she should put on something with one of those slap bass riffs, like the Seinfeld theme.' Erin did her best bass guitar impersonation. 'Dow, dow dowow. Do you guys remember that show? It was so unreal.'

They reached the wash bay and the girls dismounted.

'So your mum will drop the charges now, right?' Shelby asked Lindsey.

'I suppose she'll have to, but don't expect her to say sorry. She never will. Neither will I.' Lindsey stormed away.

Lindsey might not apologise, but Shelby thought Mrs Edel would. She was gruff, but in Shelby's experi-ence she was also fair.

While she hosed down Bandit Shelby could see Lindsey talking to Hayley. Hayley looked across to the wash bay, but Shelby couldn't see her expression.

'Don't worry about it, Shel,' Erin said with a sunny smile. 'Lin's just cranky because she doesn't like being wrong. She'll get over it. It'll all be coolies. You watch.'

'Maybe.'

As Erin washed Blue down she was trying to make the popping sounds from the Seinfeld theme. 'That was so unreal when Diablo jumped the gate,' she said. 'I can't wait to get home so I can watch it again.'

Shelby couldn't help but laugh.

35 Mrs Crook's Blessing

Shelby pushed on the pedals as she headed up the hill. A car slowed down behind her and she pulled in as close to the kerb as she could. The horn tooted and Shelby frowned. 'I'm over as far as I can, jeez!'

She looked around and was surprised to see Mrs Crook in her four-wheel drive, waving for her to stop. Hayley sat in the front looking tired and grouchy.

'Can we give you a lift?' Mrs Crook called out the window.

'No thanks,' Shelby answered, still pedalling.

'I'm giving you a lift,' Mrs Crook said, steering the car around in front of Shelby. The door at the back hissed as it swung open. Hayley slunk out of the passenger side to help Shelby with the bike.

'I'm sorry,' she murmured, lifting the front of Shelby's bike into the car.

'That's OK, Hales. I'm sorry too.'

'No, you don't even know yet. Just wait,' Hayley whispered.

Shelby slid into the back and strapped on the seatbelt as Mrs Crook pulled back onto the road.

'I understand that you're seeing Chad Hammond,' Mrs Crook said, looking at her in the rear-view mirror.

'Um,' Shelby began, not sure how to answer.

'Mum, please!' Hayley protested.

'I just think Shelby should know,' her mother said.

'Know what?' Shelby asked. 'Is this about him being Koori, because I do know and I don't think it matters. I can't believe you do.'

Hayley and her mother exchanged a glance.

'That's my opinion.' Shelby folded her arms.

The car moved from side to side as Mrs Crook weaved her way through the traffic. They would be home in no time at this speed.

'I can't believe you haven't told her!' Mrs Crook said to Hayley.

'Told me what?' Shelby said, exasperated.

'Can you ever let this go?' Hayley wailed.

'Chad Hammond broke Hayley's heart at the Myuna Bay camp!' Mrs Crook blurted.

Hayley covered her eyes with her hands. 'Mum! We were in year four.'

'Hayley and Chad had been going out for two months, and then at the Myuna Bay camp, Chad went kayaking with Olivia Dunstable, so Hayley told Cody Burnett to tell Chad he was dropped.'

'It was Logan,' Hayley corrected.

They stopped at a traffic light.

'Logan, Cody, whatever. It turned out that Olivia was Chad's cousin, and then, you know what? He wouldn't have Hayley back. Hayley rang me on her mobile. The crying! So I rang Chad and begged him to reconsider.'

'You rang him? At the camp?' Shelby asked.

Hayley groaned. 'Wait, Shelby, just wait.'

The light changed and Mrs Crook zoomed off again.

'And you know what? He said to me, "Mrs Crook, I am so disappointed that Hayley didn't trust me." I tried to reason with him, but he's never forgiven her! The whole school knew about it. Everyone on the P&C was talking about it.'

'Mum! It was five years ago!'

They turned onto Shelby's street.

'When everyone at the stables was saying that he had something to do with this Diablo business I knew it couldn't be true. He might have broken Hayley's heart, but he's a good boy deep down,' Mrs Crook insisted. 'And then when Brenda Edel told me about your video, and how she'd been wrong, I knew it. Just knew it. So I got on my mobile and I rang Chad straightaway.'

As they pulled up in front of her house, Shelby suddenly felt a sense of dread.

'And you know what? He told me that his brother had been to the police and confirmed that Chad was up the coast on Good Friday. So there. That's over and done with.' Mrs Crook nodded with satisfaction. 'So you know what I did then, Shelby?'

'What did you do?' Shelby asked.

Hayley covered her ears and moaned.

'I said to him, "Chad, I know we've had our dis agreements in the past, but if you want to go out with Shelby Shaw you have my blessing."'

'You didn't!' Shelby whispered.

'She did,' Hayley sighed.

36 Shelby's Destiny

Shelby woke up in the morning to the merry and persistent chirping of a willy wagtail. It was the time of morning just before dawn when the quality of light through the window is grey and misty, and you're not sure yet if it's going to be a rainy day.

She lay snuggled in her doona in that moment between wake and sleep; relaxed, and content to let thoughts drift across her mind like clouds, or smoke, like daydreams.

Tonight, after work, she was going to sleep over at Erin's and they would edit their assignment video. The assignment asked them to reflect on what they had learned, and they hadn't filmed that part yet. Neither of them had ever come first in an assign-ment before. Shelby thought this time they would. They'd put quite a lot of work into it already, but it was enjoyable, mostly. Shelby hoped she could find ways to do video assignments in other subjects. It was much more fun than writing.

She'd never finished an assignment early before either. Now she had another whole week of holidays stretching out in front of her.

Tonight, Shelby had decided, she would tell Erin all about Aunt Jenny's trip and how the troupe had asked her to join them for the winter tour. Erin wouldn't want her to go, but maybe there was more to her perspective that Shelby hadn't thought of. If Shelby could trust Erin for anything, it was having a different perspective!

Shelby rolled onto her stomach, resting her chin on her forearms.

She was going to ring Chad as well, and ask him to come over for a barbecue. It would be embarrassing, especially after Mrs Crook ringing him, but she would like to see him again, and so she would have to get over that embarrassing part some time.

Dewdrops clung to the cobwebs in the trees, making them look like dream-catchers. The little bird sat on the fence swinging its hips, swaying its long, black tail, and chirruping.

There was a rabbit on the back lawn. It was a greyish brown colour and lean, with large black eyes. Every few seconds it would lift up its head and turn its ears independently, like two radar dishes. Shelby couldn't decide if it was cautious or bold, and decided it was both at the same time. So far the bunny seemed content with the lawn, but Shelby would have to wake her dad soon, before it discovered his precious vegie patch.

There were hundreds of bunnies in the paddocks at the stables. Mrs Edel was at constant war with them – terrified that one of the horses would step in a burrow and break its leg. That hadn't happened yet, but so far the rabbits were winning.

Shelby closed her eyes again.

Before she met Erin, Shelby had sat in the play-ground with a girl called Maddy – a slow-talking mouth-breather. Maddy had loved horses too, but her parents said she wasn't allowed to, so she loved them in secret. She drew pictures of them in the back of her exercise books, but they were always stylised and mystical looking – not like real horses at all. Some-times Maddy tore the pages out and burned them in case her parents found them.

Shelby wondered what sort of parents would say you're not allowed to love something. They can say you can't own a horse, but they can't be the boss of your feelings.

Why wasn't Maddy allowed to love horses? She'd never met them, but Shelby imagined Maddy's parents with pinched faces, and squinty, close-together eyes. Besides, it just didn't work. Maddy loved horses more than ever.

Once upon a time Shelby had wished to be one of the Crooks, but now she could see Mrs Crook ran Hayley's life to a tight schedule. Hayley didn't get to make her own decisions, even about her boyfriends! Brenda Edel lived her life in constant hard work every daylight hour, and some of the night, and Lindsey had to work too, whether she wanted to or not. Shelby guessed Lindsey had never had a holiday, or even two days off in a row. Both of those girls had inherited horses in their lives.

Erin, on the other hand, didn't come from a horsey family. She got a horse because Shelby had one. It wasn't a deep, long-standing passion like it was for Shelby or Maddy. Shelby thought it was almost too easy, and Erin could probably give it away tomorrow. Shelby could imagine some time in the future Erin would find a boyfriend, and then Bandit would sit in a paddock, dumped, like Lyrical and those other riding school ponies.

Shelby's own parents let her make mistakes. They trusted her to make decisions. They respected her. Shelby didn't have to pretend to be a different person when she was around them, like Maddy did. Shelby wasn't their puppet, or their slave.

She stirred again. The sun slanted across the yard, making long shadows, and glinting on the leaves. It wasn't going to rain after all.

It seemed so obvious to her now in this moment. She didn't need lists to know her destiny. The choice was simple, given who she was and what she believed in – given how she had been brought up.

The bunny must have heard something. It sat up on its hind legs, nose twitching. She could see the fur on its belly and imagine, if she stroked it, how soft and warm it would be. Before long another one lolloped into view. The two rabbits regarded each other with a seriousness out of keeping with their cute appearance.

Soon she would tell her father about the rabbits. Shelby smiled thinking about her dad in his pyjama shorts in the backyard, waving his arms and shouting at the bunnies – an effective but short-term solution.

First she would show her little brothers. Connor and Blake probably hadn't seen a real bunny up close before. Shelby climbed out of bed and tiptoed down the hallway.

Back in her room, Connor was still rubbing his eyes and complaining. Shelby shushed him. Blake's hair stood on end; his face was puffy with sleep. He peeked out the window.

'Awesome!' he whispered.

There were three now. One was only small, with its back to them, as if showing off its cotton ball tail. They nibbled and crept across the lawn, moving one at a time, and always watchful, like pioneers taking new territory.

She smiled. It seemed to Shelby that a cautious boldness was the secret to success.

About the Author

Other books by Alyssa Brugman about Shelby and her friends include For Sale or Swap, Beginner's Luck and Hot Potato.

Alyssa's earlier novels are Finding Grace, Walking Naked and Being Bindy, which are distributed around the world. Alyssa's books have been shortlisted for numerous literature and children's choice awards in Australia and overseas.

Alyssa lives in the Hunter Valley with her partner and their seven horses. She writes full time. You can find more information about Alyssa, her books and her horses at www.alyssabrugman.com.au

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