Читать книгу Brigadier and the Spirit Pony - Marga Jonker - Страница 9

First impressions

After the long day on the road, Brigadier clearly couldn’t wait to stretch his legs, but the strange new place had made him nervous. The bay horse sniffed the unfamiliar air, bared his teeth and yanked at his halter. He swung his head from side to side, almost throwing his big body about, and Gabi had her hands full getting him to reverse out of the horsebox.

It was almost dark, but she was keen to give him a quick run around the paddock before she put him in the stable. As she struggled with the anxious horse, Gabi glanced up and saw Ben watching. But he seemed to be somewhere else entirely and made no attempt to open the paddock gate for her – Val had him by the arm and they both seemed oblivious to Gabi’s struggles.

“The owner has already gone home,” Val said, “but she said your horse can stay in the paddock during the day and in any of the available stables at night.” Val was jumpy and excited, like a child who couldn’t sit still. Then she turned on her heal, dragging Ben with her. “Come on, Ben – I’ll show you where we’re staying. It’s even prettier than on the website. You guys can unpack the car when you’re done with the horse!”

And she and Ben walked off, Ben leaning against Val, whose arms were tightly wrapped around him. They were followed by the barking Yorkies, whose names, Gabi had discovered, were Pipp and Zuki.

“It’s her horse, not mine,” Alex retorted to their retreating backs.

“Come along, Puff-Girl. Apparently unpacking the Land Rover is our job,” said Jinx.

“In my next play script, I’ll be using Val as the model for the role of Nasty Stepmother,” muttered Alex, taking her suitcase out of the boot.

“And you can add the absent Bio-Daddy in the role of the anti-hero,” Gabi commented as she led Brigadier into the fenced paddock. Her eyes were narrow and her cheeks flushed with anger. “Where’s the guy who was desperate to spend time with his daughters? Maybe fatherhood was just too overwhelming … All six hours of it!” Gabi unbuckled Brigadier’s halter. The newly freed horse immediately took off and cantered a few laps of the paddock. “You can call your play The One-day Dad. ”

Gabi suddenly felt tearful. Her mom and Marcus would never have left her to take care of Briggs all by herself after a long day on the road. Marcus always helped her with stabling, even though he knew nothing about horses. And they always supported her when she took part in showjumping competitions.

“You take care of your pony, Gabs, and we’ll unpack,” said Alex. “You scare me when you start getting bitchy.”

“Ah, they grow up so fast!” Jinx teased as he carefully lifted Lola from the Land Rover’s boot. “One minute she’s grade 8, the next she’s a scary teenager.”

Gabi cracked a smile – she was happy to have Jinx around.

He was a familiar presence, at least.