Читать книгу Goodbye, Chocolate Charlie - Marga Jonker - Страница 5

The Barbie-doll pony

Luke was draped over the fence of the small paddock, his arms resting on the top beam and his feet perched on the bottom one. For a thirteen year old, he was a bit on the short side. His straight dark hair was neatly cut, but his fringe stuck up in a cowlick. He had lively dark-brown eyes and a sprinkling of freckles over his nose and cheeks.

“She’s like a blonde pony. Man, she’s gorgeous!” Luke was in a great mood: not only was it Friday, but it was also the last day of term before the April holidays. He was looking forward to spending it here, at home, on the family’s Cederberg stud farm.

“She’s not blonde; she’s a palomino.” Nicky’s elbows rested on the fence’s middle beam, her chin on her hands as she too watched the new horse. Nicky looked more like Luke’s sister than his cousin. Just a year older, she was taller than him, but she had the same dark-brown hair, also cut short. Her eyes were dark against her olive skin, and she had the same spray of freckles across her nose.

“Looks blonde to me,” Luke teased, trying to get a reaction. “Yep, our very own Barbie-doll horse-pony!”

“My dad says your grandpa got an old nug when he bought this horse,” André chipped in, with his Afrikaans accent. Standing next to Nicky, his tall, lean frame easily reached the top of the fence. He’d grown his blond hair long – he was in grade 10, and his private school in Cape Town didn’t have the same strict rules as Snowy Mountain Primary, where Luke was in grade 7.

“It’s ‘nag’, not ‘nug’, André. N-A-G,” Nicky corrected him.

“Are you calling André a nag, Nicky?” Luke asked innocently.

André looked confused. “Me? A nag? But I didn’t say anything!”

“No, André, no one’s calling you anything!” Nicky sometimes had to help André with his English. “A nag is an old, useless horse. It sounds like your dad thinks our grandpa shouldn’t have bought her.” Nicky tried to return to the conversation at hand.

“Oh, a nag – ja, okay, I get it. And look at her grey hair!”

“She’s not grey, man; she’s blonde!” said Luke.

Nicky glared at her cousin and their friend. Sometimes it took her a while to realise when she was being teased.

“Well, if you two aren’t interested in hearing what Doc has to say about our new palomino, then I’ll just tell Colette,” she snapped. “She’s on her way from Stellenbosch and she’ll be here any minute.”

Nicky had been the only one around when Grandpa and Doc had delivered the pony to her new home earlier that day.

“Okay, sorry, Nicky. What did Doc say?” Luke said quickly, not wanting his older sister to hear the news before he did. Not that Colette was all that interested in what went on here at Solitaire Stud Farm, unless it affected her two sport horses. To Colette, Diana’s Duchess and Red Ace are the be all and end all of life on the farm.

“Yes, sorry, Princess,” André apologised.

Nicky liked it when he called her Princess. In his Afrikaans accent the word sounded different and interesting, making her feel good for a brief moment. One good moment in all the seconds, minutes and hours when she’d felt so bad about herself.

“Well, Doc said Grandpa’s bargain buy is a pet horse that’s too old to learn anything new,” Nicky told them.

All three stared intently at the new mare. Dr Tonie Smit, known to everyone as Doc, was the local veterinarian, and also André’s father.

“So has she never been trained? Is she wild?” asked Luke. For him, there was nothing more exciting than helping to train a horse. He was interested in everything about his father’s stud farm, from breeding horses to training and breaking in the young ones. And that was exactly what Solitaire Stud Farm was known for: thoroughbred, perfectly trained sporting horses; full-blooded South African champions. Their horses are in demand for showjumping, polo and dressage.

“Well, this pony doesn’t respond to the usual instructions, that’s for sure,” answered Nicky.

“My dad told me a bit about her yesterday,” said André. “Apparently she really is blonde – totally clueless!” He smiled and winked, tugging his own blonde mane.