Prize Problems Read Online Free PDF Page A

days,” said Annabelle, her voice revving up to sound more exciting. “Ahhh, here’s Sharon, our groom,” she added, as a girl of about eighteen came bounding into the room. Slender with short, almost-white blond hair which stuck up in all directions like an explosion, Sharon wore a lemon polo shirt like Annabelle’s (only dirtier), navy jodhpurs, chaps and dusty boots. It was obvious that Sharon did all the dirty work, leaving Annabelle to stay clean and stylish. She gave us a huge grin and winked. We all grinned back.
    â€œHi there!” she said. She looked a lot more fun than uptight Annabelle.
    â€œI’m just about to run through the itinerary,” Annabelle explained, waving her clipboard in the air.
    â€œIt’s like prison camp, here,” Sharon joked, winking at us. “You won’t know what’s hit you!”
    Amber laughed, but Grace looked terrified.
    â€œNo it isn’t, Sharon, everyone will have a wonderful time!” exclaimed Annabelle, clearly annoyed by Sharon’s irreverence. “After lunch, I’ll introduce you to the ponies. We’ve already allocated them to you all, according to the rider profiles you returned to us, but we may have to swap you round if we find things don’t work out.”
    â€œOh, who have I got?” pleaded Amber. “I so want Sorrel!”
    â€œOnly because you think she’ll teach you the finer points of horsemanship,” teased Zoe, quoting from the High Grove website.
    â€œGet lost Zoe, you loser!” replied her sister.
    Annabelle glanced at her clipboard, shook her head and looked a bit smug. “Sorry, my dears, no one will know until after lunch. We’ll have a lesson this afternoon to make sure you all get on with your ponies, then after we’ve cleaned our tack and turned the ponies out, it’s probably warm enough for a swim before supper. Then tonight we’ve got some wonderful horsey DVDs for you all to watch! Meanwhile, there’s a full schedule on the notice board in the dining room. You’ll also see there that we always have a best-kept pony competition, a tidiest-stable competition and a cleanest tack competition, so bear that in mind whenever you’re grooming, mucking out and cleaning tack!”
    I heard Bean groan. She hated doing any of those things. I thought Sharon could be right about the prison camp, despite the wink and the grin.
    â€œCool!” exclaimed Amber, punching the air. “I am so going to try to win one of those!”
    â€œSame here!” said Ellie.
    â€œYou so won’t, Amber,” Zoe said. “You’re always in too much of a hurry.”
    Amber pulled a face. “I said I’m going to try,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with trying.”
    I heard Grace’s mother whispering to Grace that she ought to try and win something. It would do her good, according to her mother. Grace stayed mute.
    â€œDo you think Grace’s mom is going to stay all week?” Bean whispered to me out of the corner of her mouth.
    â€œDon’t—that’s totally not funny!” I whispered back, fighting visions of Grace’s mom laden down with trophies—she’d be bound to win everything.
    â€œI can’t wait to tell Dee about her,” Bean continued, staring at Grace’s mom in fascinated horror. “She thinks her mom’s bad!”
    I nodded in agreement. Dee’s mom Sophie was a hundred times better.
    Finally, Grace’s mother managed to tear herself away—but not before she’d had a long conversation with Annabelle, which we all overheard, regarding the expectations she had of High Grove Farm. It seemed that unless Grace morphed into a potential for the Olympic equestrian team over the next five days, she would consider the money paid for Grace’s vacation totally down the drain.
    â€œYour mom’s a nightmare!” Amber said, nudging Grace’s