Read Online The Case of the Racehorse Ringer by Anthony Read - Free Book Online

reached out to stroke it, but Fred grabbed his arm.
    “Don’t do that,” he said fiercely. “He don’t like having his face touched. Listen, don’t say nothin’ about this to nobody. Old Hoggy wouldn’t want anybody to know he’d been careless with Star, right?”
    “Right.”
    “Come on then, let’s get the bridles and saddles from the tack room. Then you can start muckin’ out while the rest of us ride ’em out to the gallops.”
    In the woods, Wiggins was startled from his sleep by a deafening cacophony. It sounded as though every bird in the world was singing its heart out to greet the day.
    “What the dickens is that all about?” he asked.
    “Sure and that’s the dawn chorus.” Gertie laughed. “All the little birds wakin’ up and shoutin’, ‘Good mornin’, everybody, I’m still here.’”
    “Do they have to make so much noise about it?” moaned Slippery Sam, who had stayed at the caravan overnight so that he could see for himself the racehorses working on the gallops.
    The three of them shared the last of the bread and cheese that the kind Mrs Gorman had given them before they left London. Then they picked up the binoculars, stopwatch and notebook from the cupboard and made their way to the edge of the woods. There, they concealed themselves among the bushes, making sure they could still see all the way to the gallops. They did not have to wait long before the string of horses appeared. Fred was at the front, riding Silver Star and leading Blackie on a long rein. The other lads followed on their horses. Major Lee and Hogg rode alongside them and took up their positions.
    The three spies watched from the bushes as the horses were put through their morning exercise routine, warming up gradually until at last they were ready to start galloping flat out. Sam leant forwards eagerly and raised the binoculars to his eyes. This was what he had come for.
    “Steady, now,” Wiggins warned him. “Stay back. The sun’s getting up and we don’t want it reflecting off the glasses. That would give us away and we’d be done for.”
    Sam looked at him with interest.
    “You’re a clever one, ain’t you? Where d’you learn it all?”
    “I’ve got a good teacher.” Wiggins grinned.
    “Who’s that, then?”
    “Mr Sherlock Holmes.”
    “What, the great detective?” asked Sneyd.
    “One and the same. We’re his irregulars, the Baker Street Boys. Me and Gertie and another five. There’s seven of us, all told.”
    “Well I never. Where are the others, then?”
    “Four are back at our HQ in London, waiting for instructions.”
    “That only makes six,” Sam pointed out.
    “Correct. We got one working inside the stables.”
    “Phew!” Sam stared at Wiggins in open-mouthed admiration. “How d’you manage that?” he exclaimed.
    Wiggins gave him a mysterious smile and tapped the side of his nose.
    “Did Mr Holmes fix it?”
    “No,” Wiggins answered. “Mr Holmes is away in Germany. We’re doing this ourselves.”
    “What, trying to catch a murderer?” said Sam in disbelief.
    “That’s right,” Gertie said firmly. “And we will.”
    “How are you going to do that?”
    “You’ll see. We’re gonna get my da off – especially now we’ve got you to help us. When you go to the police and tell Inspector Lestrade…”
    Suddenly Sam looked shifty and even more nervous than usual.
    “Ah, now wait a minute—”
    “Hang on,” Wiggins cut him off. “They’re starting, look.” He pointed to the horses. Major Lee was holding up a white handkerchief. When he brought it down, Fred kicked Silver Star into action. The horse leapt forwards. Holding the glasses to his eyes with one hand, Sam clicked his stopwatch with the other as the horse passed the first post. He followed it round until it passed the second post at the end of the course, when he clicked again. As Fred pulled the horse up and turned to canter back to the start, Sam licked the point of his pencil and wrote down the timing