Ponies at Owls' Wood Page 10
‘We’re down near the shed,’ Jess said, answering at once. ‘The ponies are running all over the place. We’ll have a job catching them, but Charley says that two are definitely the ones that were taken from her field.’
Hannah and Tom made their way as quickly as they could down the old dirt path towards the shed. It was dark after all the lights of the farm, but there was just enough moonlight for them to find their way. Through the trees they could hear the sounds of ponies, snorting and running around in confusion, not being sure whether to stop and graze or run further away from all the trouble.
Hannah heard Charley’s voice calling to her pony.
‘Delia! It’s me, come on lovely girl!’ She spoke soothingly, and although Hannah couldn’t see what was happening, she sensed Delia stopping to listen to the familiar voice.
Thank goodness, she thought, at least something has gone right.
She and Tom followed the sound of Charley’s voice, and soon the four of them met. Hannah gazed at the shed looming up in the darkness and shuddered as she remembered the miserable heaps of mouldy hay and the depressed look of the ponies when Jess had first shown them to her. So much had happened since then and yet it was only a matter of days since all this started.
She put her arm round Jess.
‘Are you OK?’
‘Course I am,’ said Jess, ‘but what about you? I’m sorry about my horrible family.’
‘Pete’s not your family,’ said Hannah. ‘And the rest of them are great. And your gran was a hero tonight.’
‘Yes she was,’ said Jess with pride. ‘But I hope they take Pete away before we get back up to the farm. I never want to see him again.’
‘We’ve got to catch this lot first,’ said Hannah. But it turned out to be easy, as once Delia realised that Charley had come for her, she was glad to be caught, and then the rest of the ponies gave up too. Jess, Hannah, Charley and Tom led them all out of the woods, arriving in the farmyard just in time to see the rear lights of an ambulance, together with another police car, which had come to escort Pete to hospital.
They put the horses back into the field and checked the gate latch carefully.
‘No more action for you lot tonight,’ said Hannah. ‘We’ll come and sort you out tomorrow.’
The yard was deserted, but through the windows of the caravan they could see heads moving in the light. Grace was back in her chair and PC Stanley and Lucy were squashed close together on a footstool. They all piled in, to find a much cheered-up Cyn and Hannah’s dad making hot drinks in the tiny kitchen. Her dad was explaining how Charley had turned up with her father, banging on the door after everyone except Liam had gone to sleep, convinced that her pony Delia had been taken by the same thieves Hannah had uncovered, and wanting Hannah to show her the hiding place in the wood.
‘I knew I risked getting Hannah into trouble,’ Charley said, picking up on the story, ‘but it was an emergency, and I was terrified I might lose Delia forever. Poor Dad was feeling ill so we left him in the house. I don’t think he believed we were going to find Delia.
‘It’s lucky you did risk getting me into trouble,’ said Hannah, smiling at Charley. ‘If Dad hadn’t turned up when he did we might have lost all the ponies, including Polly.’
‘Our local police station contacted us,’ Charley went on, ‘at about 9 o’clock. They said they thought there might be a gang working from the next county, as there’d been so many reports of horses going missing in the area between our place and yours. So I felt sure it must be the same people Hannah had told me about. I went on at Dad till he agreed to bring me here. He’s probably fast asleep by now on your sofa Mr Matthews.’
‘He’s welcome,’ said Hannah’s dad. ‘At least Liam will have had to get off it. And you must both stay the night anyway.’
Somehow, everyone managed to find enough room in the caravan to have their tea and some of Grace’s favourite cake. Jess’s gran also offered a lamb sandwich to anyone feeling hungry, and then shook with laughter as, with one voice, they refused.
PC Stanley took up the story: ‘It all suddenly connected,’ he said. ‘Apparently the fraud section at the Metropolitan Police Headquarters had been investigating a shipping company and found orders for quantities of horse feed from a ship that normally only took supplies for sheep. That wouldn’t have set alarm bells ringing if it weren’t for the fact that one of the fraud investigators had a daughter who had recently had a pony stolen, and it was on his mind. So he decided to follow it up and when they brought in the ship’s captain for questioning he admitted that he’d been moving horses illegally. Some of the European countries will pay a good price for horse meat, and they like it to be fresh.’
Hannah and Jess shuddered, and Hannah felt a comforting arm on her shoulder as Tom looked at her.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘Polly will be safe now, and anyway, I’m there to keep an eye on her.’
He really can be all right, thought Hannah.
‘What a night!’ said Grace, ‘I think we should say well done to all of you! And if what you’ve done means that Pete goes away, I shall be even more pleased. Sorry Cyn,’ she said, ‘but I’m sure you’ll be happier without him.’
Cyn sighed. ‘I never thought I’d say this Mum, but I think you could be right. If he can be so cruel to horses, I know he’s no good for me.’
It was almost light when the two police officers said they must go. They’d taken everyone’s details and promised they’d be in touch.
‘We’re not that good with equines,’ said PC Stanley, ‘but we’ll need to contact all the owners concerned and get them to come and make statements, and collect their animals. I hope you might be able to help us? One horse looks the same as another to me, and I’ll need to give descriptions and so on.’
‘We’ll help,’ said Hannah, ‘won’t we?’ She looked at Jess and Tom.
‘‘Course we will,’ they said together.
The party broke up and Hannah, Charley and Tom said good night to Jess, Grace and Cyn, as they all watched the police car disappear down the lane ahead of them.
Mr Matthews drove them home, stopping to drop Tom off on the way. Hannah got out of the car at the same time.
‘I won’t be a minute Dad,’ she told him, ‘I just want to check on the ponies, and especially Polly.’ But before she did she turned to Tom.
‘I’m glad you helped us tonight,’ she said, ‘we couldn’t have done without you.’
‘Well, you could in fact …’ he started to say, and then he smiled. ‘I’m glad too. See you tomorrow.’
Hannah checked the padlock then climbed the gate and walked across the wet grass to the corner where ten ponies were standing quietly together.
She went to Polly first and put her arms round her neck.
‘I love you Polly,’ she said, ‘and I’m so glad you’re safe. I know you’ve got rather a lot of companions at the moment but they won’t be staying long. I’ll come and see you in the morning and I’ll explain everything then.’ She gave Polly a kiss and with a kind word to the rest, she hurried back to the car.
Liam and Talia were asleep when they got back to the house, and Charley had been right about her father who had indeed dropped off to sleep on the sofa. But they all got up when they heard the front door go, and with yet more tea round the kitchen table, Hannah and Charley, with Hannah’s dad adding a few anxious comments, told the story of the night they had just had. The milkman was coming down the path by the time they decided to go to bed.
‘Pity he doesn’t deliver whisky,’ said Hannah’s dad, as the milkman gave a cheery wave through the window. ‘I think that’s something we’ve still got to talk about, eh Hannah?’
‘Sorry,’ said Hannah, ‘but it was for a good cause.’
Hannah sorted out a mattress for Charley in her bedroom, and the two girls snuggled down in bed at last.
‘I like your friend Jess,’ said Charley, ‘and I like Tom too. He likes you, that’s for sure.’
As she dropped off to sleep, the thought drifted through her mind that when all the owners had collected their horses from her field she would still need a companion for Polly. She’d be back where she started. What then? Another notice? Then a warm feeling crept up from her toes, as she realised that, in fact, things were very different. She had two great new friends and maybe, just maybe, Jess would let Grace buy her the pony she was always offering, and the two of them would be able to ride together. Or maybe, just maybe, Tom would like to learn to ride? She smiled at the thought of this.
Finally, she remembered her mother, and was happy to think she would be home in a few weeks. Some people are born to ride, she thought, and some to sing. And that was completely OK. In fact, it was great.
The End