say 'meal'? Was he going to eat her?
A fat, grubby hand reached for her. She tried to bite
it but he was too quick. A bridle slipped over her.
'Spiteful little minx, aren't you?'
Next thing she was being reefed out of the float.
She tried to put on the brakes but the steel bit into
her mouth and she had no choice but to comply. She
found herself staring at a run-down farmhouse.
Some of the planks on the outside had fallen off, and
what paint there was had flaked. Rusting car bodies
littered the paddock where they had pulled up.
'Come on. Plenty of food for you.'
Food? That perked her up. But only for an instant.
She found herself in a paddock infested with weeds,
surrounded by a rusty barbed wire fence. One prick
from that wire and you could get tetanus. Gross.
She wondered where the food was that the guy had
mentioned. Then she realised he expected her to eat
grass. She wasn't a sheep!
The guy smiled through chipped teeth.
'I'm Mark, Leila. You are going to make me a lot
of money.'
Buster, you're going to earn every cent, thought
Leila as O'Regan headed towards the farmhouse
humming 'Hooray for Hollywood'. As he reached the
house's verandah he gave a little skip and his belly
wobbled. Choice, thought Leila. Come on, Charlotte,
come and find me.
Chapter 5
Charmsworth might have been one of the worst
experiences of Charlotte's life but the horror was
diminished by her concern for Leila. Okay, so
Charlotte had people laughing at her because she
couldn't balance a book or eat lobster the right way.
Big deal. She'd prefer a steak to lobster any day and as
long as you could balance on a horse, what did it
matter what you looked like crossing a room in high
heels? What did matter was Leila, who'd given up so
much to be with her. Instead of the two of them
having adventures together, here she was having to
listen to the strange looking Mrs Cooper.
'Have you noticed how weird Mrs Cooper's face is?'
Charlotte asked Hannah as they shared a sandwich
during afternoon tea in the grounds of Charmsworth.
'The only things that move are her eyeballs and
eyebrows. It's like a mask.'
'Botox,' said Hannah authoritatively.
'What's that?'
'You get needles in your face, which stop wrinkles.'
'Needles in your face? How disgusting.'
Charlotte hated needles of any description, let
alone in your face.
'Lots of women get them so they don't look so old.
And they get facelifts too. They stretch the skin up
from here.' Hannah reached under her chin. Charlotte
put up her hands in horror.
'Please. That's enough, you're putting me off my food.'
'Trouble is, when they have too many facelifts, they
can't move their face at all. Have you ever seen
Japanese theatre?'
Charlotte hadn't even seen Australian theatre.
Well, apart from the Christmas pantomime with her
father and two other stockmen dressing up as women
and playing ugly sisters. The panto was always held in
the church hall and the story never varied.
Hannah explained. 'In Japanese theatre the actors
have these white, blank faces. We lived in Tokyo for
six months.'
'Until I came to Thornton Downs I'd only ever been
out of Snake Hills once.'
Charlotte didn't have too many good memories of
that one time. Her mother had been in the hospital
at Rockhampton.
Hannah's brow furrowed. 'Well, I've travelled a lot
and I haven't come across anyone as horrible as The
Evil Three. We have to do something.'
'I'm way ahead of you on that.'
'Any ideas?'
'We need to get to the kitchen.'
'I'm not really hungry.'
'Me either.' Charlotte moved her eyebrows just as
animatedly as Mrs Cooper but her mouth showed
a lot more smile lines. 'It's time for payback.'
With Hannah in tow, Charlotte moved around the
outside of the building to the back door of the kitchen.
The cook was sitting outside, enjoying the sun and
reading the newspaper. She didn't even look up as
the girls slid in like shadows.
'What are we doing?' whispered Hannah, confused
but excited.
'Getting ready for the next lesson,'
A fat, grubby hand reached for her. She tried to bite
it but he was too quick. A bridle slipped over her.
'Spiteful little minx, aren't you?'
Next thing she was being reefed out of the float.
She tried to put on the brakes but the steel bit into
her mouth and she had no choice but to comply. She
found herself staring at a run-down farmhouse.
Some of the planks on the outside had fallen off, and
what paint there was had flaked. Rusting car bodies
littered the paddock where they had pulled up.
'Come on. Plenty of food for you.'
Food? That perked her up. But only for an instant.
She found herself in a paddock infested with weeds,
surrounded by a rusty barbed wire fence. One prick
from that wire and you could get tetanus. Gross.
She wondered where the food was that the guy had
mentioned. Then she realised he expected her to eat
grass. She wasn't a sheep!
The guy smiled through chipped teeth.
'I'm Mark, Leila. You are going to make me a lot
of money.'
Buster, you're going to earn every cent, thought
Leila as O'Regan headed towards the farmhouse
humming 'Hooray for Hollywood'. As he reached the
house's verandah he gave a little skip and his belly
wobbled. Choice, thought Leila. Come on, Charlotte,
come and find me.
Chapter 5
Charmsworth might have been one of the worst
experiences of Charlotte's life but the horror was
diminished by her concern for Leila. Okay, so
Charlotte had people laughing at her because she
couldn't balance a book or eat lobster the right way.
Big deal. She'd prefer a steak to lobster any day and as
long as you could balance on a horse, what did it
matter what you looked like crossing a room in high
heels? What did matter was Leila, who'd given up so
much to be with her. Instead of the two of them
having adventures together, here she was having to
listen to the strange looking Mrs Cooper.
'Have you noticed how weird Mrs Cooper's face is?'
Charlotte asked Hannah as they shared a sandwich
during afternoon tea in the grounds of Charmsworth.
'The only things that move are her eyeballs and
eyebrows. It's like a mask.'
'Botox,' said Hannah authoritatively.
'What's that?'
'You get needles in your face, which stop wrinkles.'
'Needles in your face? How disgusting.'
Charlotte hated needles of any description, let
alone in your face.
'Lots of women get them so they don't look so old.
And they get facelifts too. They stretch the skin up
from here.' Hannah reached under her chin. Charlotte
put up her hands in horror.
'Please. That's enough, you're putting me off my food.'
'Trouble is, when they have too many facelifts, they
can't move their face at all. Have you ever seen
Japanese theatre?'
Charlotte hadn't even seen Australian theatre.
Well, apart from the Christmas pantomime with her
father and two other stockmen dressing up as women
and playing ugly sisters. The panto was always held in
the church hall and the story never varied.
Hannah explained. 'In Japanese theatre the actors
have these white, blank faces. We lived in Tokyo for
six months.'
'Until I came to Thornton Downs I'd only ever been
out of Snake Hills once.'
Charlotte didn't have too many good memories of
that one time. Her mother had been in the hospital
at Rockhampton.
Hannah's brow furrowed. 'Well, I've travelled a lot
and I haven't come across anyone as horrible as The
Evil Three. We have to do something.'
'I'm way ahead of you on that.'
'Any ideas?'
'We need to get to the kitchen.'
'I'm not really hungry.'
'Me either.' Charlotte moved her eyebrows just as
animatedly as Mrs Cooper but her mouth showed
a lot more smile lines. 'It's time for payback.'
With Hannah in tow, Charlotte moved around the
outside of the building to the back door of the kitchen.
The cook was sitting outside, enjoying the sun and
reading the newspaper. She didn't even look up as
the girls slid in like shadows.
'What are we doing?' whispered Hannah, confused
but excited.
'Getting ready for the next lesson,'
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