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Authors: Stacy Gregg
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beautifully lately. His dressage was really coming along…”
“I think we’re getting a little off the point here,” Stella snapped. She was still pacing around the coffee table, her hands clasped behind her back as if she were Sherlock Holmes addressing the crowd as he summed up a case.
She stopped now in front of them, raising one fingeraloft as if she were making a very crucial point. “Who would have a reason to want to hurt Annabel?” Stella asked.
“Oh, Stella, this really is too silly.” Kate was grouchy now. “No one had any reason to hurt Annabel. It was just an accident, obviously.”
“Or maybe,” Stella continued, “maybe they just got the wrong girl!” Stella turned to Issie. “Isadora, you said you saw Francoise coming out of the tack room in the middle of the night. Couldn’t she have done this? I mean, couldn’t she be the one who cut Annabel’s stirrup leather? She must have mistaken Annabel’s saddle for yours and sabotaged her leathers instead!”
“What? What are you talking about?” Dan broke in. “Who is this Francoise and why would she be in the tack room in the middle of the night? Issie? What is this all about?”
And so Issie and Stella and Kate all started talking at once over the top of each other. They told Dan and Ben all about El Caballo Danza Magnifico and the horses that looked just like Blaze, and how Francoise had come to visit that day.
When they had finished their story, Dan and Ben both sat gobsmacked in their armchairs. “Well, Issie,” Dan shook his head in disbelief, “you are most definitely the most interesting girl I have ever met!”
Issie blushed at this, and then Dan, realising what he had said, blushed too and added hurriedly, “I mean, I think Stella is right, maybe this Francoise does have something to do with Annabel’s accident. I think we should investigate further.”
“Ohhh, you should come with us!” Stella suggested. “To El Caballo Danza, I mean. Kate and Issie and I are going to go along on Sunday. Francoise said she would give us free tickets to the show, and we’re going to go backstage afterwards and meet all the horses. I’m sure she won’t mind if you and Ben come too.”
Everyone agreed that Ben and Dan should come with them that weekend to the show.
“Meanwhile,” Stella instructed, “I think all of us should keep our eyes open during the next practice session on Saturday, just in case any other gear gets tampered with.”
The five of them took a vote that night on whether to tell the other riders about this. “After all, Natashaand Morgan are in the team too,” Ben and Dan had argued. It was harder for them to keep it a secret, Issie realised, because Dan and Ben both went to Kingswood, the same school as Natasha and Morgan.
“No,” Issie had said, “we don’t know that it was Francoise who did this. And if there is someone else out there who is sabotaging the Interclub team, then the less people that know about it the better. We need to keep this to ourselves until we have more proof.”
Besides
, she thought to herself,
Natasha would only laugh at them if they tried to warn her
.
“Well, if we don’t tell them that they’re in danger then I think we should at least try to keep an eye on them too, and check that their gear is safe,” Stella suggested. The five of them agreed that this was a good idea. Issie would somehow get close enough to Natasha to check on Goldrush, while Stella would keep an eye on Morgan.
When they all left the clubroom that night, they carefully checked the tack room downstairs—Ben tried to make ghost noises in the dark to scare the girls. Then they made double-sure that the door really was locked before they went home.
The next Saturday morning, when they were saddling up at the club, all the riders made sure to check their stirrup leathers and girths extra carefully just in case. Stella took her sleuthing duties very seriously and when Morgan and Araminta arrived at the
“I think we’re getting a little off the point here,” Stella snapped. She was still pacing around the coffee table, her hands clasped behind her back as if she were Sherlock Holmes addressing the crowd as he summed up a case.
She stopped now in front of them, raising one fingeraloft as if she were making a very crucial point. “Who would have a reason to want to hurt Annabel?” Stella asked.
“Oh, Stella, this really is too silly.” Kate was grouchy now. “No one had any reason to hurt Annabel. It was just an accident, obviously.”
“Or maybe,” Stella continued, “maybe they just got the wrong girl!” Stella turned to Issie. “Isadora, you said you saw Francoise coming out of the tack room in the middle of the night. Couldn’t she have done this? I mean, couldn’t she be the one who cut Annabel’s stirrup leather? She must have mistaken Annabel’s saddle for yours and sabotaged her leathers instead!”
“What? What are you talking about?” Dan broke in. “Who is this Francoise and why would she be in the tack room in the middle of the night? Issie? What is this all about?”
And so Issie and Stella and Kate all started talking at once over the top of each other. They told Dan and Ben all about El Caballo Danza Magnifico and the horses that looked just like Blaze, and how Francoise had come to visit that day.
When they had finished their story, Dan and Ben both sat gobsmacked in their armchairs. “Well, Issie,” Dan shook his head in disbelief, “you are most definitely the most interesting girl I have ever met!”
Issie blushed at this, and then Dan, realising what he had said, blushed too and added hurriedly, “I mean, I think Stella is right, maybe this Francoise does have something to do with Annabel’s accident. I think we should investigate further.”
“Ohhh, you should come with us!” Stella suggested. “To El Caballo Danza, I mean. Kate and Issie and I are going to go along on Sunday. Francoise said she would give us free tickets to the show, and we’re going to go backstage afterwards and meet all the horses. I’m sure she won’t mind if you and Ben come too.”
Everyone agreed that Ben and Dan should come with them that weekend to the show.
“Meanwhile,” Stella instructed, “I think all of us should keep our eyes open during the next practice session on Saturday, just in case any other gear gets tampered with.”
The five of them took a vote that night on whether to tell the other riders about this. “After all, Natashaand Morgan are in the team too,” Ben and Dan had argued. It was harder for them to keep it a secret, Issie realised, because Dan and Ben both went to Kingswood, the same school as Natasha and Morgan.
“No,” Issie had said, “we don’t know that it was Francoise who did this. And if there is someone else out there who is sabotaging the Interclub team, then the less people that know about it the better. We need to keep this to ourselves until we have more proof.”
Besides
, she thought to herself,
Natasha would only laugh at them if they tried to warn her
.
“Well, if we don’t tell them that they’re in danger then I think we should at least try to keep an eye on them too, and check that their gear is safe,” Stella suggested. The five of them agreed that this was a good idea. Issie would somehow get close enough to Natasha to check on Goldrush, while Stella would keep an eye on Morgan.
When they all left the clubroom that night, they carefully checked the tack room downstairs—Ben tried to make ghost noises in the dark to scare the girls. Then they made double-sure that the door really was locked before they went home.
The next Saturday morning, when they were saddling up at the club, all the riders made sure to check their stirrup leathers and girths extra carefully just in case. Stella took her sleuthing duties very seriously and when Morgan and Araminta arrived at the
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