Diamond Spirit Read Online Free PDF Page A

dogs rolled about in the sandy patches and lay on their bellies in the cool water, panting happily. Jess closed her eyes and let the trickling sounds of the river flow through her soul. For a brief moment Dodger stopped snatching, and she exhaled.
    Shara’s big mare raised her head and let out an anxious whinny, breaking the serenity. Dodger did the same, sniffing at the air and stepping backwards. He seemed suddenly nervous. Their call was answered, and from around a bend in the river came a brilliant white horse with a finely dished nose and a long curly tail. Her name was Chelpie, and her rider, wearing a white shirt and black helmet, was Katrina Pettilow.
    ‘Settle down, Chelpie,’ Katrina said in an annoyed voice, and turned to the girl riding behind her. ‘Tegan, keep back a bit. You’re making her nervous. I told you she gets hard to manage when we ride near the river.’ She looked down at the horse’s back legs. ‘You’ve splashed mud on her!’
    Jess groaned inwardly. Katrina made such a big deal about her horse being white. ‘Not many horses are truly white, you know, most are really just greys that fade with age ,’ Katrina would tell people. Like anyone cared. Then she would crap on about the genetics of white horses, and why her horse was so special. And although both Shara and Jess agreed that there was something special about the horse, they also agreed that there was something truly painful about the rider.
    Her shadow, Tegan Broadhead, was equally so, even though there was nothing special about her small brown pony. She worshipped the ground Katrina walked on, which only encouraged her to be even more painful. Together, they were excruciating.
    ‘Hello,’ said Katrina, without quite looking Jess in the eye.
    ‘Hi,’ Jess mumbled.
    Shara pretended to be busy adjusting her horse’s girth.
    Great, she’s going to leave me to do all the talking.
    Katrina pulled Chelpie to a halt. ‘Sorry to hear about your pony,’ she said. ‘What was its name again?’
    ‘Diamond,’ said Jess.
    ‘Oh yeah, that’s right, knew it was something like that.’ She pointed her dressage whip at Dodger. ‘Is that your new horse?’
    Behind her, Tegan snorted.
    Without warning, Dodger pinned his ears flat back and lunged at Chelpie, almost dislodging Jess from the saddle.
    ‘No, it’s not my new horse,’ she said, pulling him sharply away. ‘Stop it, Dodger!’
    ‘It’s got a bad temperament,’ said Katrina. ‘Has it been abused or something?’
    ‘Where’d it come from?’ asked Tegan, looking at Shara. ‘Get another one from the dogger’s yard?’
    Shara gave her a mock smile and said nothing.
    ‘He belongs to my cousin,’ said Jess. ‘There’s a drought out west, in case you hadn’t heard.’ Jess felt Dodger’s back tense beneath the saddle as he lifted his tail. She smirked.
    Nice timing, Dodger.
    She turned in time to see a large green poo ooze like toothpaste from his rear end, hit the water and swirl towards Chelpie’s curly white tail and silvery hocks.
    ‘Oh, yuck !’ said Katrina. She raised her whip and brought it down sharply on the little mare’s rump. Chelpie shot out of the water with a cranky swish of her tail, sending a spray of green all over Tegan.
    Jess smiled sweetly. ‘Must be the change in his diet,’ she said with a shrug. ‘Sorry.’
    ‘That horse is a welfare case, Jessica Fairley!’ Tegan said, wiping her face with her sleeve. ‘Gross! It’s probably full of worms.’
    ‘You can talk,’ said Jess. ‘Why don’t you get a bigger horse and give that poor thing a break?’
    ‘Yeah, why don’t we just toss it out onto the river flats and let other people’s horses chase it through a cattle grid? Why don’t we just let it snap its legs in half?’ Katrina retorted. She yanked on Chelpie’s mouth. ‘Come on, Tegan, let’s get out of here.’
    Jess’s mind scrambled. She growled at Dodger to stop his head-tossing and gave him a sharp kick in the ribs.