Hester did have the Internet so she didnât need to use carrier pigeons after all. âBut what an excellent idea!â Hester had laughed when Issie suggested this as a joke. âCarrier pigeons! I shall have to train some up just in case. We are always having problems with the phone lines here after the autumn storms. A pigeon might come in handy!â
Issie wasnât sure if her aunt was joking or not. After all , she told Stella in her email, this is a place where it is considered perfectly normal for ducks to open doors, and tomorrow Iâm supposed to be teaching the goat how to bow. Aunt Hester says itâs time I filled her shoes and began animal training. Yikes! Itâs like Iâm Dr Doolittle or something. I canât believe I am missing the summer dressage series. Say hi to Coco and to Kate and Toby. Miss you. BFF XXX Issie.
Issie only had to wait a few minutes after sheâd sent her email before she heard the ping of an email coming back in return.
You think youâve got it tough? Stella wrote back. I wish I was teaching goats to bark or whatever youâre doing. Meanwhile, Iâm stuck here doing the summer dressage series and guess who is winning by, like, a million-kazillion points with her new pony and wonât let any of us forget it? Iâll give you a clue and that clue is STUCK-UP TUCKER! Oh I wish I was at the farm instead with all those animals â it sounds cool. Apart from the bit where you got chased by the thing in the forest and nearly killed by the wild stallion. Youâre lucky that Blaze is so fast â if it had been me on old slow-poke Coco weâd have been eaten by the Grimalkin already! BFF Stella XXX
Issie knew Stella didnât mean to make fun of her, and neither did Aidan really. Still, she wished she had never told anyone about the animal that had chased her and Blaze on the ridge that morning. Now that Issie was safely tucked up in bed at Blackthorn Manor she was beginning to wonder if there really
was
an animal in the woods or if her mind had been playing tricks on her. It was only natural that Blaze would be a bit spooky in her new home. Perhaps the mare had shied at her own shadow and then bolted? Maybe there wasnât any animal chasing them. After all, Issie hadnât actually seen anything, had she?
No,
she thought.
I didnât see anything â but I did hear something
.
Blaze had heard it too. The mare hadnât just been spooked â she had been terrified. She wasnât imagining things. Something was out there; she was sure of it.
Issie fell asleep in her four-poster bed that night thinking about the creature in the woods. The moon was full in the sky outside and she could see the inky crest of the ridge outlined through her bedroom curtains as she dozed off.
When she woke again she guessed it must have been about midnight. The moon was still high in the sky, illuminating the view outside. Issie lay in bed and listened. In the hush of the night she could hear a scratching noise. It was coming from her door. She got up and quietly padded across the floor to open it, and there was Strudel, waiting patiently for her.
âHello, Strudel. I suppose you want to come in?â Issie said.
The dog began to pad into the bedroom, but then suddenly she stopped. Her ears perked up and she froze. Then she turned tail and raced off again straight down the stairs. Issie grabbed her dressing gown and followed after her. A noise outside made the hairs on the back of her neck bristle as if someone had just walked over her grave. She could have sworn she had just heard the growl of a cat. A very big cat.
Outside on the back veranda Issie found Strudel standing alert. The dog was growling a low, rumbly growl.
âWhat is it, girl?â Issie said, putting her arm around the golden retriever. âCan you hear something?â
Suddenly a cacophony of squawking and flapping came from the henhouse. Strudel took off in
Issie wasnât sure if her aunt was joking or not. After all , she told Stella in her email, this is a place where it is considered perfectly normal for ducks to open doors, and tomorrow Iâm supposed to be teaching the goat how to bow. Aunt Hester says itâs time I filled her shoes and began animal training. Yikes! Itâs like Iâm Dr Doolittle or something. I canât believe I am missing the summer dressage series. Say hi to Coco and to Kate and Toby. Miss you. BFF XXX Issie.
Issie only had to wait a few minutes after sheâd sent her email before she heard the ping of an email coming back in return.
You think youâve got it tough? Stella wrote back. I wish I was teaching goats to bark or whatever youâre doing. Meanwhile, Iâm stuck here doing the summer dressage series and guess who is winning by, like, a million-kazillion points with her new pony and wonât let any of us forget it? Iâll give you a clue and that clue is STUCK-UP TUCKER! Oh I wish I was at the farm instead with all those animals â it sounds cool. Apart from the bit where you got chased by the thing in the forest and nearly killed by the wild stallion. Youâre lucky that Blaze is so fast â if it had been me on old slow-poke Coco weâd have been eaten by the Grimalkin already! BFF Stella XXX
Issie knew Stella didnât mean to make fun of her, and neither did Aidan really. Still, she wished she had never told anyone about the animal that had chased her and Blaze on the ridge that morning. Now that Issie was safely tucked up in bed at Blackthorn Manor she was beginning to wonder if there really
was
an animal in the woods or if her mind had been playing tricks on her. It was only natural that Blaze would be a bit spooky in her new home. Perhaps the mare had shied at her own shadow and then bolted? Maybe there wasnât any animal chasing them. After all, Issie hadnât actually seen anything, had she?
No,
she thought.
I didnât see anything â but I did hear something
.
Blaze had heard it too. The mare hadnât just been spooked â she had been terrified. She wasnât imagining things. Something was out there; she was sure of it.
Issie fell asleep in her four-poster bed that night thinking about the creature in the woods. The moon was full in the sky outside and she could see the inky crest of the ridge outlined through her bedroom curtains as she dozed off.
When she woke again she guessed it must have been about midnight. The moon was still high in the sky, illuminating the view outside. Issie lay in bed and listened. In the hush of the night she could hear a scratching noise. It was coming from her door. She got up and quietly padded across the floor to open it, and there was Strudel, waiting patiently for her.
âHello, Strudel. I suppose you want to come in?â Issie said.
The dog began to pad into the bedroom, but then suddenly she stopped. Her ears perked up and she froze. Then she turned tail and raced off again straight down the stairs. Issie grabbed her dressing gown and followed after her. A noise outside made the hairs on the back of her neck bristle as if someone had just walked over her grave. She could have sworn she had just heard the growl of a cat. A very big cat.
Outside on the back veranda Issie found Strudel standing alert. The dog was growling a low, rumbly growl.
âWhat is it, girl?â Issie said, putting her arm around the golden retriever. âCan you hear something?â
Suddenly a cacophony of squawking and flapping came from the henhouse. Strudel took off in
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