Phantom: One Last Chance Read Online Free PDF Page A

is.”
    “And then we could return it,” Charlie agreed, intrigued by the picture.
    They looked at each other and smiled. “It’s not much of a mystery,” Alice said, knowing the others were thinking the same as her, “but the Pony Detectives haven’t had anything to do for ages, and this could count as a mini mystery, couldn’t it?”
    “Yes!” Mia and Rosie chorused, getting excited.
    They rushed round to drop off their other cards, deciding to leave Hope Farm till last.
    The wintry-looking lane leading to the farm twisted gently downhill between tall, bare hedges, their branches crusted in white and laden with red frost-dusted berries. Dancer picked her way down very slowly, her hooves sliding on the icy groundevery few strides – so much so that Rosie had to concentrate hard and keep her reins a bit shorter, rather than riding at the buckle end like she normally did. Rosie puffed as the lane evened out and gave Dancer a squeeze to urge her to catch up with the others, producing a long-necked, gogglyeyed , shuffling trot from her mare.
    They soon turned off into a field, which had a strip of grass around the edge. Charlie smiled, thinking that if she were riding Pirate he’d be bunny-hopping, desperate to gallop. Her smile faded as she remembered the time she’d taken Phantom along there and he’d flown out of control, his hooves thundering as Charlie had fought to pull him up before the vast hedge at the end. She quietly patted the bike, pretending it was Pirate.
    Dancer managed to trip on every lump and bump going, catching Rosie by surprise each time. Alice and Charlie couldn’t hold in their giggles, which set Rosie off too, just as Dancer almosttipped onto her nose, sliding Rosie up her neck. Mia shook her head at her friend’s clumsiness as Wish carefully placed her delicate hooves without stumbling once.
    “There it is,” Mia pointed out once Rosie had recovered herself. They had reached a five-bar gate in the high hedge that edged the field and could see out onto the lane. Opposite was the entrance to Hope Farm, with its ancient post-and-rail fencing dividing a patchwork of paddocks and barns. A rutted dirt track led from the lane up to a large square stable yard with a huge three-storey blue-and-white cottage to the side.
    The ponies clattered across the lane and onto the track. Charlie felt a tingle of nerves as she took the photo from her pocket and gave it one last look before clanging the gate shut behind them. 

Chapter Six
    AS the Pony Detectives got to the top of the drive, Fran Hope, who had begun rescuing badly treated animals nearly twenty years earlier, appeared from one of the fields carrying a knot of baler twine. Her curly brown hair was pulled back into a scrappy ponytail and she was covered in wisps of hay. Fran knew the girls well from sponsored rides and competitions held at Hope Farm, and she beamed at them, calling out her hellos. She opened the wooden gate with its weatherworn, hand-painted sign saying ‘Hope Farm’ and ushered them into the yard. They were immediately surrounded by a seething mass of dogs, snuffling and wagging their tails wildly. The girls jumped off their ponies and Charlie parked her bike in the corner.
    “Now, what can I do for you?” Fran asked, wiping her hands on her navy jods.
    “First of all, we brought you and all the animals a Christmas card,” Rosie said, passing the slightly bent envelope to Fran.
    “That’s very thoughtful,” Fran replied, smiling brightly. “Thanks.”
    “But that isn’t all. We found a photo in the woods near us just after we left the yard today,” Mia explained as Charlie pulled the picture out of her jacket pocket again, “and we thought that it might have been of a horse from here – you can just make out the sign I think. There’s a date on the back: it was taken six years ago. We wondered if you knew anything about the horse, or who the picture might belong to, so we could return it to the owner.”
    Fran