Hide and Seek (13 page)

'This is the science experiment assignment by Shelby and Erin from 8L,' Shelby said, staring into Erin's handheld video camera. 'I, Shelby Shaw, will conduct the experiment while Erin is the camera person recording the results.'

'And executive producer,' Erin added, turning the camera onto herself and waving.

'Our mystery that we are planning to solve is how Diablo, the stallion, magically disappeared and then turned up on the other side of the Gully. Was he stolen? No, he wasn't! We will prove that it's not magic. We will show a set of conditions which he can escape from, and how they occurred. Firstly, we have our control, which is Diablo normally.'

Erin zoomed in on Diablo, standing in the doorway of his stable, wearing a soft cotton rug and hood, and watching the girls.

'See how under these conditions Diablo is safely behind bars?' Shelby asked the camera. 'Now let us go to the first variable. Mrs Crook and the clippers.' She led the camera around, into the breezeway, where Blue was tied up as Ditto had been. 'Just imagine I am Mrs Crook. I want to use my clippers on Ditto, who is competing at the Royal Easter Show. This is Blue. Today he will be playing the part of Ditto.' Shelby pulled out the plug that provided power to the electric fence. 'I undo this plug here . . . and plug in my clippers. Except you'll have to imagine that I have plugged in clippers, because I don't have any. The important point is that the electric fence is now
off
.'

Shelby led the way back around to Diablo's gate. The stallion had moved out of his stable now, closer to the gate, watching the girls curiously.

'As you can see, Diablo is still locked in, therefore variable number one alone is not enough to cause Diablo's mysterious disappearance. Now let us move on to variable number two – the poo vac. Just imagine I am Mrs Edel with the quad bike, which the poo vac is attached to.'

Shelby held a make-believe steering wheel in her hands. Making a humming sound, she drove her imag-inary quad bike up to the gate and pulled on the pretend handbrake. She opened the metal gate to Diablo's paddock and drove the imaginary quad bike through, ducking under the white electrical tape. Shelby drove her pretend quad bike along the fence a little way, again pulling on the pretend handbrake.

She addressed the camera through the fence. 'So you can see that Mrs Edel leaves the metal gate open while she vacuums the poos – she assumes that the electric fencing is on, which is what she does every week. Now if Erin can zoom in on Diablo, we can observe his behaviour.'

Erin crouched down at a discreet distance, pointing the camera at the horse. Diablo took a step forward, sniffing the electric fence suspiciously. After a few feints, he touched the electric tape with his lip. He reared up and spun around, as though struck, stopping a few metres away. Then he sidled up to the fence a second time, lipping it again. He looked at Shelby. Shelby turned her back and whistled a tune, as though not paying attention.

'See the cheeky horse planning his escape,' Erin whispered.

With one more glance towards Shelby, Diablo slipped his head under the electrical tape, and then pushed forward. The tape slid up his neck. At his wither the tape caught on his rug. Diablo snorted and then surged forward. The tape tightened and then slipped over his back. Now loose, the stallion trotted up and down the fence between his enclosure and the mare's paddock – nostrils flared, high-stepping, and obviously pleased with himself.

Shelby came back through the gate, closing it behind her. Erin approached with the camera. 'So we see variables one and two working together have a dramatic effect on Diablo's freedom – i.e. that he is! Now enter variable number three. Kim of stable 17, Block B, has heard from her friend Monica in stable 16 about the mare that can escape from this paddock.' Shelby pointed to the mare's paddock behind her. 'The mare is the same height and the same colour as Diablo, with the same socks, and with rugs on it is very difficult to tell them apart. As Kim stumbles on this scene she assumes that this is the very same horse. For this experiment imagine that I am Kim.'

Shelby approached Diablo and took hold of the buckle of his hood. She spoke in a high voice. 'I am Kim and I am looking at Diablo's enclosure. I see the electric fence is still across the way, and Mrs Edel is inside, therefore I am assuming that this horse is the escape artist Monica told me about.' Shelby led Diablo through the gate to the mares' paddock. She looked into the camera again.

'We have to work quickly now, because Diablo should not be in with the mares and if Mrs Edel finds us here we will probably get into trouble. So, for the next part of the experiment we will simply be making a prediction.'

Erin zoomed in on Shelby's face.

'Variable four. The gate at the far end has a latch that Diablo can open, but I have tied it with baling twine, because if Diablo were to really escape . . .' Shelby could hear the sound of cantering hooves behind her. She would have to talk quickly now. She frowned. 'Hey Erin, point the camera here.'

Erin had the camera directed over Shelby's shoulder. Erin's mouth was getting wider and wider, as were her eyes. 'Look! Look! Look!' she yelled.

Shelby turned around just in time to see Diablo, with his legs neatly tucked under him, sailing straight over the gate to the back paddock. Once on the other side, the stallion bucked twice, and then stretched out low, with his ears pinned back to his skull. His hooves made a deep rumbling sound as they hit the earth. The horses in the day paddocks went berserk – thundering up and down their fence lines, whinnying, wheeling and rearing.

Diablo galloped, majestically, powerfully, and with purpose, up to the crest of the hill. Then with one more defiant buck, he disappeared out of view.

'He's so amazing,' Erin said.

'We are in so much trouble,' Shelby told her.

Erin was panicking. 'What do we do? Should we chase him? Do we tell Mrs Edel? What, Shel?'

'I don't think we should tell. I tried telling a grown-up before, and it ended up being a bigger mess. Let's just get our horses and ride up to Keisha's and bring him back. I'll lead Diablo and you can pony Blue off Bandit.'

The two girls ran towards the paddocks.

Erin stopped. 'Oh no! We can't!'

'What? Why?'

'Bandit kicks!'

'Then pony Bandit off Blue! It doesn't matter.' Shelby grabbed her friend's sleeve, dragging her along the path.

'You know what would have been a better idea?' Erin said, puffing. 'We should have put a halter on Diablo, and tossed the lead over his neck for the escaping part, and then when you were being Kim you could have put him in the paddock, but kept hold of him. Or, you know what else? Maybe we should have ...'

Shelby interrupted. 'Thanks Erin, that's a great help now, isn't it? You nong! Just hurry up, will you? We have to catch him before anyone asks questions!' She slowed. 'You've stopped recording, haven't you?'

'Yes,' Erin said, grinning and pressing a button. The camera whirred as the lens retracted into the casing.

'Go and get Bandit,' Shelby instructed. 'And grab one of your halters. Diablo's head is too big for Blue's.'

Erin ran towards Bandit's paddock while Shelby dashed in the other direction to collect Blue. She saw Mrs Edel standing in the middle of the path talking to Miss Anita. Shelby changed her running to skipping. She plastered a smile on her face.

'Hi there,' she skipped past, waving.

'Shelby,' Mrs Edel said. Miss Anita nodded.

As soon as she was out of view Shelby tucked her chin to her chest and sprinted. With each footfall she imagined another thing going wrong. Diablo wouldn't go to Keisha's place. He would take a left turn and head up past the Pony Club grounds, out onto Gully Way. Lots of trucks drove along that stretch of road – fast. She could hear the screech of tyres in her head, and see Diablo's eyes widen, as though it was a movie in her mind.

Or his rugs would catch on a low branch and tear. The torn material would wrap around his legs. He would fall awkwardly and his leg would snap like a twig. He would lie in the middle of the trail, writhing, screaming and alone.

Luckily Blue was standing near the gate. Shelby grabbed his bridle and slipped it over his ears. Her hands were shaking and she had trouble fastening the chinstrap. She could feel the sweat on her forehead. Her chest was tight, and she wheezed, the way she imagined asthma would feel.

The disastrous possibilities continued to roll through her imagination in vivid movie clips. Diablo would make it to Keisha's place. He would attempt to jump the fence as he had before. He would misjudge the height and he would land with all his weight on a post – staked through the thigh. He would struggle to free himself. Strips of flesh would tear away from the bone and hot blood would jet out from the wound.

The sweat dripped down and stung her eyes. Finally the buckle slid into place.

'He'll be fine!' she mumbled. 'They're always fine.' But a little voice at the back of her mind said,
You've got away with doing dumb, irresponsible things a hundred times before. This time will be the big one!

Once through the gate Shelby stood on an upturned feed pail and hopped onto Blue's back. She gathered the reins and set off down the laneway. As she passed the horses in their yards she could imagine more and more hideous ways for Diablo to suffer.

'It's all my fault,' she muttered to herself.

Soon she was at Bandit's stable. Bandit had a halter on loosely over his bridle, with the lead rope looped over his neck and tied in a knot.

Erin was struggling with the girth. Bandit was bloating and every time she tried to cinch the leather strap through the buckle it would slip through her fingers. Her face was red and her chest heaved. Shelby could tell she was about to cry.

'Forget about the saddle!' Shelby said.

'I can't ride him bareback, Shel,' she wailed. 'He's too clean. I'll slide right off him. He's big – you can't wrap your legs around like you can with Blue.'

'Will you ride Blue then?' Shelby asked.

Erin nodded, wiping tears from her cheeks.

The two girls swapped horses, and Erin boosted Shelby onto Bandit's back. As Shelby settled into place she could see what Erin meant. Bandit's coat was much finer than Blue's, and smooth as satin. She tried gripping with her legs and Bandit surged forward with the pressure. 'Ooh!' she said.

Erin sniffed as if to say,
See what I mean?

'We've got to get moving,' Shelby said.

She laced her fingers through Bandit's mane and grasped the crest of his neck, the way Zeb had taught her. She found that if she held onto the lead rope around his neck she had a strong grip. She held the reins in the other hand. Then the two girls set off.

Bandit had a lovely rocking-horse canter. He didn't pull, race or shy, and so long as he was cantering in a straight line, Shelby thought she had made the better part of the bargain. But then whenever he turned Shelby would tuck her leg in to keep steady, and Bandit would move his back end away from her leg, making the turn sharper still.

Erin opened the gate to the back paddock at the end of the lane without dismounting. The little paint pony was very accommodating, shunting sideways so Erin could reach the latch, and then pushing the gate open with his nose.

The two horses cantered up the hill and down the slope on the other side. Shelby held on tight and crouched low for balance. She squeezed with her knees, but not too tight in case Bandit took off.

As they reached the gate between the back paddock and the Gully trails, they came upon Monica and Kim, who were coming back from a trail. Both of their hacks were dark with sweat.

Shelby noticed that the back fence had been fixed where the branch had crushed it, but she hadn't seen the horses that were normally kept in the back paddock on their way through. She tried to remember if she had seen them in the paddock that Lindsey had put them in on the day Diablo first escaped, but she had been concentrating so hard on staying on Bandit that she hadn't noticed much else.

'Hey, where are you guys off to?' Monica asked, smiling. Kim held the gate open for them.

From the other side of the hill they could still hear the horses squealing and the thumping of hooves as they ran along their fence lines.

'What's going on up there?' Kim asked. She shaded her eyes, but couldn't see because the crest of the hill obscured the view.

'Was this gate open or closed?' Shelby asked.

'Have you seen Diablo?' Erin asked at the same time.

'Diablo?' Monica frowned.

'It was closed,' countered Kim.

'I thought it was open,' Monica said.

Kim said, 'It was open yesterday, but it was closed this morning. Did those people steal him again?'

'No, he escaped,' Erin began. She took a deep breath, about to go on, but after a warning look from Shelby, she shut her mouth.

'Can we help?' asked Monica.

'That would be great,' said Erin. 'There are only three trails he could have picked from here. You've just come from one way, so if we take the other two we have to find him.'

'We came from the Pony Club,' Kim told them.

Erin closed the gate. 'OK, we'll go straight through the middle and up to the water tower. That's the way he went before.'

Monica nodded, and then she and Kim sent their horses forward at a hand gallop along the right-hand trail.

Erin and Shelby rode their horses at a slower pace down the winding track into the Gully. When they reached the causeway, Bandit spooked and snorted at the water. Shelby didn't have time to be scared. She squeezed with her legs and the gelding kangaroo-hopped from one side to the other, making Erin laugh, despite her anxiety. On the other side he shook like a dog, nearly shaking Shelby off.

Bandit and Blue bounded up the hill side by side. Soon they were cantering past the lounge suite and alongside the fence at Keisha's place.

Zeb's son had the Clydesdale and the miniature liberty training in the round yard – trotting in opposite directions. He inclined his head in greeting to Shelby and she nodded in return. Keisha was lunging one of the Andalusians in the sandy area. Shelby could see the muscles across his back and neck as he moved.

Everything seemed calm and normal. Shelby looked up at the stables but the door to the stable that held Diablo before was open. He wasn't here.

Zeb was in the arena. Chad was sitting on Texas, holding the reins high and precariously, as though he was holding two dripping ice-cream cones. When he saw Shelby he dropped the reins and slipped off the quarter horse, embarrassed.

Shelby pushed Bandit so that he was alongside the arena.

'What are you doing?' she asked.

Chad ran his palm along the broad horse's neck. 'Zeb's been teaching me,' he answered. 'I didn't know you were . . . I was going to surprise you.'