Moonlight: Star of the Show Read Online Free PDF Page A

a well-hidden field, invisible from the busy road next to it.
    “Look!” Rosie suddenly exclaimed loudly, shooting out of her saddle as Dancer yanked the reins through her fingers. The mare ripped out a huge clump of grass from the verge and began to shake her head, scattering mud from the roots everywhere.
    The others all stared, following Rosie’s finger as it waved wildly at the ground.
    “What exactly are we meant to be looking at?”Charlie asked, squinting as Mia stood with her pencil poised.
    “Tracks!” Rosie said theatrically. “Lots of them!”
    They all looked again. Rosie was right – there were hoof prints all over the dusty drive. And they were recent. So recent, they could have been…
    “Ours,” Mia said witheringly, putting her pencil down again. “Honestly, Rosie, you’re hopeless.”
    Charlie and Alice shoved their gloved fingers in their mouths to stop themselves collapsing into fits of giggles. Pirate, taking advantage of Charlie’s moment of weakness, darted forward, bored with standing around. Charlie almost did a backwards roll, arms and legs flying in every direction, before falling to the ground in a dust-covered heap. Alice fell back onto Scout’s rump and laughed out loud.
    “Can I help you?”
    Alice stopped laughing in an instant, sat bolt upright and turned to see a grey-haired womanwith a severe face standing by the yard gate, staring at the four girls suspiciously. They knew from seeing the woman at shows that she was Poppy’s mum. Alice wished instantly that she’d taken the trouble to pick out all the bits of mud from Scout’s flowing tail. Rosie, covered with cowpat smears, turned bright pink as Dancer raised her head, a grass ball with a clod of mud attached to it hanging from her mouth. Charlie picked herself up from the ground, coated with dust. Only Mia, in her electric pink T-shirt, lilac gilet and bright purple checked jodhpurs, looked respectable. She glanced over at the others critically before taking it upon herself to be the spokesperson for the untidy gang.
    “I’m sorry to disturb you, it’s just that we keep our ponies nearby – at Blackberry Farm – and we know Moonlight from seeing him at shows. We read about him being stolen and thought we might be able to help, if we knew a bit more about what happened,” she said, trying to soundprofessional. “We were wondering if any tack was stolen with him?”
    Mia kept very calm even though the other three were starting to crack under the icy looks they were getting.
    “No, it wasn’t,” Poppy’s mum replied. She peered a bit closer, then marched up to Wish and Mia. Suddenly her face softened and she smiled slightly. “Hang on, it’s Mia, isn’t it? I recognise your pony. Wins a lot in the showing ring, doesn’t she?”
    Mia couldn’t help but smile smugly and nod.
    “Wait there a moment,” Poppy’s mum said.
    She disappeared into the yard and spoke to someone in the tack room. A girl came to the door a second later with drooping shoulders, her face pale. The four of them recognised her at once – it was Poppy Brookes, Moonlight’s owner.
    Mia raised her hand and forced a cheerful smile. Poppy knew Mia to say hello to – she was as much of a celebrity locally in the show ringas Poppy was in the showjumping world – but as Poppy tried to smile back, seeing the four of them standing there with their ponies, her face crumpled and she ran back into the tack room. As her mum stalked back out, Alice thought she saw a bit of dirt on Scout’s reins and tried to clean it off with her nail.
    “Listen, it’s very kind of you to try to help, and if you do see anything please let me know,” she said, “but I hope you realise how serious this is for Poppy.”
    With that she went into the cottage next to the yard, calling Poppy to have a lemonade. As she left the tack room, Poppy wiped her nose and looked over at the girls, half waving a goodbye as if she was trying to say thank you without having to