A Twinkle of Hooves Read online

  They reached the wooded area in a short time. Wide paths wound among the birches and field maples and there was a flat grassed area with a shallow pond in the centre.

  Steph looked around, but couldn’t see Ellie and Turpin. She didn’t mind if they were late. It meant she would have longer to ride Comet before she had to find somewhere out of sight to dismount and become visible again.

  Comet moved along a grass path, bars of sunlight and shade striping his smooth patched coat.

  ‘It’s really pretty here, isn’t it? Oh!’ Steph gasped.

  She only just managed to keep from slipping sideways as Comet slewed to a sudden halt. He stretched his neck forward to snuffle at the ground.

  ‘Comet? What’s going on?’ She glanced down to see a faint line of softly glowing violet hoof-prints. They led between the trees and stretched away into the distance.

  ‘Destiny! She has been here!’ Comet neighed joyfully.

  Did that mean that Comet was leaving to go after her? ‘Is she close? Can you tell where she is?’ Steph asked him anxiously.

  Comet shook his head. ‘The trail is cold. But I know now that Destiny came this way. When I am very close to catching up with her, I will be able to hear her hoof-beats. And then I may have to leave at once, without saying goodbye.’

  ‘Oh.’ Steph felt a tug of dismay as she realized that she would never be ready to lose her magical friend. ‘Are you sure that you and Destiny wouldn’t like to stay here and live with me?’ she asked in a small voice.

  Comet shook his head, his eyes softening. ‘We must return to our family on Rainbow Mist Island,’ he reminded her gently.

  Steph nodded sadly. ‘Destiny must be missing her home after being lost for so long.’ Her eyes stung with tears, but she knew that she must face the truth, however hard it was. Besides, Comet wasn’t leaving yet. There was still time to enjoy every moment spent with him.

  She caught a movement from the corner of her eye as a pony and rider approached the spinney. It was Ellie and Turpin.

  Comet quickly slipped behind a thick bush and Steph slid from his back. There was a tiny spurt of violet sparkles as she became visible again.

  Steph stepped out and began walking towards Ellie. ‘Hi! Ellie! I’m over here!’ she called delightedly.

  ‘Steph!’ Ellie called, a note of urgency in her voice. She encouraged Turpin into a trot. ‘Hi! I’m sorry I was a pain yesterday. Can we still be friends?’

  ‘You bet!’ Steph said happily.

  She frowned as they rode up. Turpin looked a bit strange. She couldn’t see why, until Ellie reined him in.

  Turpin had just been clipped. Cutting the pony’s coat using electric clippers was something only experienced owners attempted.

  Steph had never seen such a botched job. A good clip left smooth skin and neat areas of unclipped longer coat. Poor Turpin had random wobbly lines cut through his coat on his sides and back.

  ‘Oh my goodness! Who did that?’ Steph asked, horrified.

  Ellie’s face said it all.

  ‘You did it? But why?’ Steph blinked at the other girl in amazement. She couldn’t believe that Ellie had attempted something so complicated.

  Ellie rolled her eyes. ‘Mum and Dad were going on again about how I had to learn how to look after Turpin properly. So I thought I’d impress them by giving him a clip. I read how to do it in one of my pony mags and it looked dead easy. But I couldn’t get it to look right. Then the clippers went blunt and I couldn’t find the spare blades.’

  ‘Well, you can’t leave him like that,’ Steph said, aghast. ‘It looks like moths have been chomping him!’

  Ellie’s face fell. ‘If you’re just going to make fun –’

  ‘I’m not,’ Steph cut in quickly, wishing that she’d bitten her tongue. Ellie was obviously upset, although trying hard not to show it, and she didn’t want them to fall out again. Especially as they’d only just made up after last time. ‘Um… is there anything I can do to help?’

  ‘Yes. You can clip him properly for me,’ Ellie stated.

  ‘What!’ Steph looked at her in horror. Clipping a pony was really complicated and could take ages. ‘I helped while Fleur was clipped once, so I know what to do. But I don’t think I’m up to doing the whole thing by myself.’

  ‘You have to try! Please!’ Ellie begged. ‘Mum and Dad have gone out, but they’ll be back soon. They’ll go nuts if they see Turpin looking this.’

  Steph felt squeezed into a corner. She guessed that Ellie wasn’t exaggerating; she was already on thin ice with her parents where Turpin was concerned.

  ‘Well – OK then,’ Steph decided reluctantly. ‘I’ll just have to do my best. I’ll get my grooming kit and meet you at your house.’

  Ellie beamed at her in relief. ‘Thanks, Steph. Be as quick as you can, won’t you?’

  ‘OK.’ Steph let out a sigh of exasperation as Ellie rode away. ‘I must be mad. It’s going to take a miracle to make Turpin look even half decent. That’s if I even have time to get started before Ellie’s mum and dad see him!’

  ‘I will help you,’ Comet neighed.

  ‘Thanks, Comet. What would I do without you?’ Steph smiled gratefully at her magical friend.

  Chapter

  EIGHT

  As soon as Ellie couldn’t see her, Steph mounted Comet and held on tightly. Rainbow streaks glittered in the magic pony’s flowing black mane and tail as he galloped at the speed of light towards Steph’s house. They picked up the plastic box with her grooming kits and clippers and quickly set off back to Ellie’s before Steph’s mum and dad realized she’d been there.

  On arriving at Ellie’s, Comet’s shining hooves barely brushed the ground as he galloped into the paddock behind the stable and stopped for Steph to dismount.

  Steph immediately became visible and set off at a run towards the stable door. Comet followed by her side. They had only taken a few steps when they heard raised voices.

  Steph caught her breath in alarm. ‘Uhoh! It sounds like Ellie’s mum and dad have come back early,’ she whispered.

  Mr Browning’s angry voice floated out of the open door. ‘Honestly, Ellie. Look at this place. There’s stuff lying about everywhere. Turpin’s kicked over his water bucket and hasn’t got anything to drink.’

  ‘I… um… haven’t had time to clear it up. I was just going to, but –’ Ellie burst out.

  ‘No more excuses,’ Mrs Browning said firmly. ‘I think we have to accept that you’re not ready to own a pony. You’d be better off going back to riding-school ponies for a while.’

  ‘No! I am ready. I know I am,’ Ellie insisted hotly. ‘Please let me keep Turpin! I couldn’t bear it if you sold him. I love him to bits!’

  ‘I know that, honey. No one’s arguing about that,’ her mum said gently.

  ‘Loving a pony isn’t enough, I’m afraid,’ Ellie’s dad added. ‘You have to accept the responsibility of looking after one too. I agree with your mum about this.’

  Steph chewed at her lip. Poor Ellie was getting a severe telling-off. What could she do? She knew in her heart that Ellie had got what it took to be a good owner. She could see that she loved Turpin almost as much as Steph loved Comet! Steph really wanted to help Ellie discover that for herself, but she might never get the chance to do that now.

  On impulse, she stepped forward and rushed straight into the stable.

  The atmosphere inside was electric.

  Ellie stood there facing her furious parents with hunched shoulders. Her hands were thrust mutinously into her jeans pockets. Tears were trickling down her face.

  Only Turpin was calm, placidly pulling at his hay net with soft ripping and chewing noises. The wobbly lines cut into his coat looked even worse in the sunshine pouring in through an overhead window.

  ‘Hi, Ellie,’ Steph said breezily. ‘I’ve sharpened my clippers now and found the spare blades. So I can carry on with Turpin’s clip– Oh… er… Hi,’ she said. She looked round with wide eyes at Ellie’s pare
nts, as if she’d only just noticed that there was something wrong.

  ‘Steph?’ Mrs Browning frowned. ‘You clipped Turpin?’

  Steph nodded. ‘Um… yeah. I made a bit of a mess, didn’t I? Sorry. I was hoping to make a better job of it before you saw him.’ She gave what she hoped was a convincingly guilty shrug.

  Ellie’s dad raised his eyebrows as he turned to his daughter. ‘Ellie? Why didn’t you tell us this?’

  Ellie opened and closed her mouth. She wiped her wet eyes with the back of her hands as she threw a puzzled glance at Steph.

  Steph took a deep breath and plunged in. ‘She probably didn’t want to get me into trouble. Ellie didn’t want me to clip Turpin, but I did it anyway. I s’pose I was showing off,’ she fibbed madly. ‘And then it all went wrong because my clippers were blunt.’

  ‘Well, at least you’re honest,’ Mrs Browning said tersely. ‘But it was a very irresponsible thing to do.’

  ‘I know. And I am really sorry,’ Steph repeated. She hung her head, not caring how much hot water she got into if it was going to help Ellie keep Turpin. ‘Especially as I knew Ellie would be in terrible trouble if you saw Turpin looking so awful – even if it wasn’t her fault.’ She had a sudden brainwave. ‘So that’s why I’ve promised to… give Ellie a hand with mucking out and stuff.’

  Ellie was stunned. ‘Um… you have?

  Steph gave her a level look, pleading with her eyes for Ellie to go along with this. ‘Definitely. Remember? We agreed that I’d come over every day and help you get into a good routine with Turpin. I’m going to show you how to groom him too and pick out his hooves and stuff, aren’t I?’

  Ellie blinked at her, catching on at last. ‘That’s right. We’ve… er… only just arranged it. I haven’t had time to tell you yet,’ she said to her parents.

  Mr Browning ran his hand through his hair. He grinned drily. ‘Well, I guess your mum and I didn’t give you much of a chance to speak up. We did rather wade straight in. Maybe we were a bit hasty to talk about selling Turpin. What do you think?’ he asked, looking at his wife.

  ‘I think we should give Ellie another chance to show us that she’s ready to be a responsible pony owner,’ Mrs Browning said.

  ‘Yay!’ Ellie threw herself at her mum and dad, but not before giving Steph the biggest grin ever. ‘I won’t disappoint you – or Turpin!’ she promised.

  Steph could tell that Ellie meant every word.

  *

  ‘Phew! Finished at last.’ Steph brushed back a strand of damp hair from her forehead.

  Turpin looked amazing with his smart new clip. Steph’s fingertips still tingled faintly, but that faded as the last few violet sparkles floating around the clippers blinked out.

  ‘Wow! He looks fab-u-lous! You’re the best!’ Ellie enthused. ‘I promise not to try anything like that ever again without mentioning it to you first!’

  The two girls grinned at each other. Steph felt happy that they seemed to be becoming such good friends.

  Steph gazed adoringly at Comet, who was snuffling around in the empty stall. She couldn’t have done the clip without him. He was her own wonderful secret, never to be shared with anyone else.

  ‘And thanks for what you said to Mum and Dad. It really worked,’ Ellie went on. ‘You didn’t have to go as far as promising to come here every single day.’

  ‘Just you try to keep me away!’ Steph said. ‘Besides, Mum and Dad are going to save up to get me a new pony so, in the meantime, I’ve got lots of spare time.’

  ‘Well, all right. But only if you agree to ride Turpin as often as you like.’

  Steph’s grin stretched from ear to ear. ‘I was hoping you’d say that!’

  Ellie gave her a big hug. ‘There’s one thing puzzling me. How come you got back here so super-quick earlier? I’d barely returned from the spinney, when you arrived.’

  ‘Oh, that. Speedy’s my middle name,’ Steph joked. You’d never believe me if I told you!

  Ellie linked arms with her. ‘Let’s go into the house. Mum’s making us all cold drinks.’

  Steph was about to agree when, suddenly, she heard a sound she’d been both hoping for and dreading.

  The hollow thud of galloping hooves overhead.

  She stiffened. Destiny! There was no mistake.

  As Comet raced out of the stable, Steph pulled away from a puzzled-looking Ellie and dashed after him. ‘There’s something I have to do! I’ll follow you into the house,’ she cried.

  Just as Steph reached the paddock, a twinkling rainbow mist drifted down around her. In the centre of it, Comet stood there as his true self, a black-and-white pony no longer. Bright sunlight glowed on his noble arched neck, magnificent golden wings and cream coat. His flowing mane and tail glistened like strands of finest gold thread.

  ‘Comet!’ Steph gasped. She had almost forgotten how beautiful he was. ‘Do you have to leave right now?’

  Comet’s deep violet eyes softened with affection. ‘I must. If I am to catch Destiny and save her from our enemies.’

  Steph’s throat ached with sadness as she knew she would have to be strong. She ran forward and threw her arms round Comet’s shining neck. Laying her cheek against his silken warmth, she murmured adoringly, ‘I’ll never forget you.’

  ‘I will never forget you either, Steph’, he whinnied softly. He allowed her to hug him one last time, then gently moved away. ‘Farewell, Steph. You have been a good friend. Ride well and true,’ he said in a deep musical voice.

  There was a final flash of violet light and a silent explosion of rainbow glitter that sprinkled round Steph and tinkled softly as it fell to the ground. Comet spread his wings and soared upwards. He faded and was gone.

  Steph blinked away tears, unable to believe that everything had happened so fast. Something lay on the grass. It was a single glittering-gold wing feather. Bending down, she picked it up.

  It tingled against her palm as it faded to a cream colour. Steph slipped it into her pocket. She would always keep the feather to remind her of the wonderful adventure she and Comet had shared.

  As she walked out of the paddock and rounded the stable, Ellie appeared at the kitchen door, holding two glasses of orange juice.

  A smile broke out on Steph’s face as she went towards her. The rest of the summer holidays stretched ahead of her. She felt her spirits rise at the thought of countless days of shared fun with Ellie and Turpin.

  ‘Take care, Comet. Thank you for being my friend. I hope you find Destiny and live happily together on Rainbow Mist Island,’ she breathed.