Sophie and Shine (6 page)

I've found a little space round the side of the barn so I can be on my own.

I suddenly had to stop writing earlier because Beth came into our room.

“When Aneela said you…Well, I panicked,” she told me, shakily. “I ran up to the top field – I was really scared and I didn't know what to do.” She took a deep breath then and said, “But I do now. I've come to get the things I took, and I'm going downstairs right now, to tell everyone the truth. Don't worry, they won't think it was you for long.”

She leaned over her bed and rummaged in the bottom corner, under the covers. She pulled out Shanice's brush, and the purple silk and the ribbons. She was very pale and her
hands were trembling.

“But what if you get sent home?” I asked. “Won't your dad be really angry?”

Beth's eyes filled with tears but she looked determined. “I'll just have to face that” she said. “You've been such a good friend to me, Sophie, I'm not going to let you down again. I'd better…” And she gestured to the door.

I suddenly found myself standing up. “I'll come with you,” I said.

She smiled a watery smile. “Thanks.”

So we went down to the games room together, Beth clutching the stolen things. The other girls were all chatting and Jody was there too, clearing the cups and snacks away.

“Jody, I've got something to tell you,” Beth began, and then burst into tears.
I put my arm round her as she held out the missing things.

Beth didn't need to say anything else. Jody understood straight away. “Oh, Beth,” she said, “you have been a silly girl, haven't you?” The other girls gradually fell silent and gathered around us.

“I'm so sorry,” Beth said to Izzy, then Daisy, then Shanice as she handed back their things, but none of them said, “That's okay.”

For a moment there was an awful silence. Then Izzy mumbled, “She should go home.”

We all looked at Jody. She sighed. I could see she was really disappointed in Beth. I was certain she was going to send her home. But then Jody said, “As it's Friday tomorrow and Beth has owned up, she'll be staying to the end of the week. However, I will be speaking privately to her father tomorrow, and she'll be excluded from the hack this afternoon as
punishment. Beth, you can do poo-picking in the field instead. Now, why don't you pop upstairs and wash your face?” With that, Beth raced out of the room without looking at anyone.

“Now, come on, time for you all to get back on the yard, there's a lot to do,” Jody told us. As I was turning to go, Aneela caught my arm and said, “Sorry for thinking you were the thief, Sophie.”

I was going to be cross with her, but then I remembered how I'd done that too, over Courtney and the silk, and I blushed. “That's okay,” I told her. I knew how bad she felt because I felt like that too. I should never have jumped to conclusions.

I'm glad no one thinks I'm a thief any more. I just want things to go back to normal, but I don't know if I can be friends with Beth again.

We didn’t have a lecture this afternoon, just an extra-long hack in the countryside. Beth didn’t come as she was poo-picking the upper field, and some of the other girls were saying mean things about her as we rode along, but I didn’t want to join in. I thought Beth had been very brave to own up. Millie didn’t seem interested in being nasty about Beth, either and instead we just concentrated on having fun. Shine was so brilliant, she really loved being out in the countryside!

When we were going through the woods a bird flew out of the bushes and Shine did her spooky thing of going sideways again. I didn’t mind, though, and I just steered her back on to the path without even worrying. I realized that
I just need to do that in the manège, as if it’s nothing, and then Shine will behave and I won’t get panicky. I’m definitely going to put that into practice tomorrow.

We had a canter across a stubble field too and it was fantastic. Millie stopped holding Tally back and he galloped the whole way – and Shine followed! It was brilliant, just hearing the pounding of their hooves and leaving everyone else behind, even the older girls! Shine got so excited I had to do a circle at the other end of the field to slow her down, before she’d go back into trot, and again I just calmly did it and she got the message. When we finally halted, me and Millie just looked at each other,
grinning and catching our breath. In fact, even thinking about it is making me smile now. I did miss Beth a bit, though. It seemed strange just being Millie and me.

When we got back and went in for tea, Beth was already in the kitchen, helping Jody to serve up. We were all talking about the hack and how much fun we had. But no one really included Beth and when she did try to say something to Izzy and Aneela they just ignored her. Millie and I weren’t exactly talking to her either, but I didn’t like seeing her so left out. I was really embarrassed when Jody leaned over the table and said, “Come on, girls, everyone makes mistakes, and it took a lot of courage for Beth to own up. So let’s put this behind us, shall we? We’re here to enjoy our ponies and the riding, remember?”

There was a really awkward silence that went on for ages and ages after that, but
people do seem to be being a bit nicer to Beth now. After tea, Courtney did my make-up and she let me practise my tail plaiting on her hair. After a couple of goes I started getting the hang of it, so I’m definitely going to try it out on Shine tomorrow.

This evening we watched a DVD of famous three-day eventers at Burghley Horse Trials. Jody made us popcorn, and we were glued to the TV, all going “Wow!” and “Eeek!” together as the eventers cleared these massive jumps. It was good because Beth could easily join in and no one was not speaking to anyone.

I can’t believe it’s my last day here tomorrow – and my last ride on Shine! I can’t wait for the gymkhana! I’m going to give Dad my camera to take loads of pix – and hopefully I’ll win a rosette too!

I’m quickly writing this before our parents arrive and the gymkhana starts!

It’s really funny because everyone keeps crashing about up here looking for their hair bobbles and changing their mind about what top to wear and stuff. I got changed really quickly into my smart clothes – I’d planned what I was going to wear for the gymkhana about 3 days before I even got here, I was looking forward to it so much!

We had great fun on the yard just now – we tied all our ponies up next to each other so we could get them ready for this afternoon. We shared the box of ribbons and the quarter-mark stencils and everything, and borrowed things from each other, and it was like a pampering party for ponies.

Here are all the things I did to spruce up Shine for the gymkhana:

Then we all cleaned our tack until it was spotless and gleaming. Hopefully me and Shine will win the tack and turnout competition after all that effort, although I have to admit the other ponies looked fantastic too. Courtney did some cool chequer-pattern quarter marks on Flame, and Daisy did the tail plait with ribbons in it that Lydia showed us on Tuesday. When she got a bit stuck halfway, Beth offered to help and Daisy said yes please, so that was good.

When Beth came back over to Monsoon, I gave her a secret grin and she grinned back. Yes, I’ve decided to be friends with her again. Then Shine stretched her neck and nuzzled Beth’s shoulder, like she was pleased that things were turning out okay, too.

In our last lesson this morning we had a go at neck reining, which Sally explained is this way of putting both reins in one hand and using the pressure of them against the pony’s
neck to steer. She said it makes riding much easier when you’re holding things for the gymkhana games, but when we tried it, we all kept going the wrong way and nearly crashing into each other. Sally laughed and said, “On second thoughts, maybe just use both hands on the reins or it’s going to be chaos this afternoon!”

We had a go at some of the games we’ll be playing too, so that everyone knew what to do. Shine’s quite quick at the bending, and all the stuff I’ve remembered this week about how to use my legs as a pair to keep her straight really helped. I stayed relaxed with her too, and when she tried to skitter about I just kept going as if it didn’t bother me. She soon settled down and Sally even noticed and said well done, so that was fab! Let’s hope me and Shine win a rosette this afternoon – I’ve never won anything before and I’d love to have one to stick on my wall!