Rosie grumbled, “I don’t know if I’d want him to go back to them.”
“Either way, we’ve got signs up for Puzzle now – here and at the post office,” Charlie said, “but what do we do next about Phantom, considering this search has got us nowhere?”
“I reckon we need to go back to the beginning,” Mia suggested. “Back to Compton Manor wherehe disappeared from in the first place. Someone there must have seen something .”
“It’s getting too dark to go now,” Rosie pointed out, “but at least it’s the weekend tomorrow, so we’ll have time to ride over.”
Alice and Mia agreed. Charlie sat quietly as the ponies trotted towards Blackberry Farm, thinking that Compton Manor was the last place she wanted to go if Sasha was going to be around. But then, if it helped solve the mystery of Phantom’s disappearing act, she’d just have to ignore Sasha and get on with the business of being a Pony Detective.
When the girls got back they said hi to Daisy and Puzzle and put the ponies away. Each girl quickly flicked over their pony’s coat, picked out their hooves into skips and rugged them up snugly, checking their haynets and water before goingto the feed room to make their dinner.
“That’s odd,” Alice said as she opened Scout’s feed bin. She dipped the feed scoop in but the level had gone down more than she was expecting.
“Have you taken any pony nuts for Dancer?” she asked Rosie. Both of their ponies ate the same type of nuts and sometimes they used each other’s if one of them was getting low. But Rosie shook her head, opening her own bin and frowning.
“Even odder,” she said. “Mine have gone down too.”
“Puzzle’s been having a small handful each evening,” Daisy said.
“I know,” Alice replied, “but it’s still gone down more than I was expecting, even taking that into account.”
That evening, after they’d fed and said good night to the ponies, they all began to wonder whether they had a third mystery on their hands: the case of the missing pony nuts.
Chapter Seven
“GET those jumps down, Bex,” Sasha shouted over her shoulder as she trotted The Colonel out of one of the big indoor schools. “Er – hello! Like, today! Honestly, you’re so slow sometimes.”
“Sorry Sasha. I thought you said earlier that you wanted me to leave them up?” Bex said, sounding confused as she hurried towards the school.
“Whatever. Now I’m saying that I want them down,” Sasha huffed, making a face at Bex as if she were stupid, “so hurry up.”
While Bex rushed inside to see to the jumps, Jade stood smirking at her, patting The Colonel.
“I don’t know why you’re laughing. You should be in there helping her,” Sasha sniffed as she dismounted.
“Oh, right, ’course,” Jade said, looking caught out.
“Only joking,” Sasha cackled, throwing her reins at Jade. “Here, take Colly and untack him for me. Make sure you brush him over, too.”
Jade forced a smile and led the sweating chestnut away. He was so exhausted that his back hooves scraped along the concrete, as if he was too tired and his muscles ached too much to be able to lift them properly. And he wasn’t even being given a warm down by the looks of it.
Charlie leaned forward on Pirate and peeped around the door to the school. A whole course of massive fences had been set up inside. Sasha slid the door shut with a slam, spooking the ponies.
“Oh, you’re back again,” she said, turning her gaze on the four girls in front of her, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Charlie. “I see your pony hasn’t grown, but it looks like you have. Anyway, what is it this time? Have you messed up your entry forms or something?”
Mia gave a fake smile, wanting to say that her handwriting was perfectly neat, thank you very much, but she kept her cool.
“No, we’ve come to ask you about a horse called Phantom,” she said. “He used to be stabled here, until last Saturday.”
“Ha!” Sasha burst out,
“Either way, we’ve got signs up for Puzzle now – here and at the post office,” Charlie said, “but what do we do next about Phantom, considering this search has got us nowhere?”
“I reckon we need to go back to the beginning,” Mia suggested. “Back to Compton Manor wherehe disappeared from in the first place. Someone there must have seen something .”
“It’s getting too dark to go now,” Rosie pointed out, “but at least it’s the weekend tomorrow, so we’ll have time to ride over.”
Alice and Mia agreed. Charlie sat quietly as the ponies trotted towards Blackberry Farm, thinking that Compton Manor was the last place she wanted to go if Sasha was going to be around. But then, if it helped solve the mystery of Phantom’s disappearing act, she’d just have to ignore Sasha and get on with the business of being a Pony Detective.
When the girls got back they said hi to Daisy and Puzzle and put the ponies away. Each girl quickly flicked over their pony’s coat, picked out their hooves into skips and rugged them up snugly, checking their haynets and water before goingto the feed room to make their dinner.
“That’s odd,” Alice said as she opened Scout’s feed bin. She dipped the feed scoop in but the level had gone down more than she was expecting.
“Have you taken any pony nuts for Dancer?” she asked Rosie. Both of their ponies ate the same type of nuts and sometimes they used each other’s if one of them was getting low. But Rosie shook her head, opening her own bin and frowning.
“Even odder,” she said. “Mine have gone down too.”
“Puzzle’s been having a small handful each evening,” Daisy said.
“I know,” Alice replied, “but it’s still gone down more than I was expecting, even taking that into account.”
That evening, after they’d fed and said good night to the ponies, they all began to wonder whether they had a third mystery on their hands: the case of the missing pony nuts.
Chapter Seven
“GET those jumps down, Bex,” Sasha shouted over her shoulder as she trotted The Colonel out of one of the big indoor schools. “Er – hello! Like, today! Honestly, you’re so slow sometimes.”
“Sorry Sasha. I thought you said earlier that you wanted me to leave them up?” Bex said, sounding confused as she hurried towards the school.
“Whatever. Now I’m saying that I want them down,” Sasha huffed, making a face at Bex as if she were stupid, “so hurry up.”
While Bex rushed inside to see to the jumps, Jade stood smirking at her, patting The Colonel.
“I don’t know why you’re laughing. You should be in there helping her,” Sasha sniffed as she dismounted.
“Oh, right, ’course,” Jade said, looking caught out.
“Only joking,” Sasha cackled, throwing her reins at Jade. “Here, take Colly and untack him for me. Make sure you brush him over, too.”
Jade forced a smile and led the sweating chestnut away. He was so exhausted that his back hooves scraped along the concrete, as if he was too tired and his muscles ached too much to be able to lift them properly. And he wasn’t even being given a warm down by the looks of it.
Charlie leaned forward on Pirate and peeped around the door to the school. A whole course of massive fences had been set up inside. Sasha slid the door shut with a slam, spooking the ponies.
“Oh, you’re back again,” she said, turning her gaze on the four girls in front of her, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Charlie. “I see your pony hasn’t grown, but it looks like you have. Anyway, what is it this time? Have you messed up your entry forms or something?”
Mia gave a fake smile, wanting to say that her handwriting was perfectly neat, thank you very much, but she kept her cool.
“No, we’ve come to ask you about a horse called Phantom,” she said. “He used to be stabled here, until last Saturday.”
“Ha!” Sasha burst out,
Similar Books
