Trophy Horse Page 8

  ‘Well done, that was awesome,’ said Kristy.

  ‘And you’re a natural teacher. Counting the canter beat out loud really helped me keep Jazz’s rhythm steady. Where did you learn that?’ said Sofia.

  ‘In one of my pony magazines, I think. I used to do it when I was schooling Cassius.’

  Sofia patted Jazz and jumped off. ‘Now it’s time for me to keep my end of the bargain.’

  They found Emma in the kitchen, washing up one-handed.

  Sofia marched over to the sink. ‘I’ll do that. Kristy’s got something to tell you.’

  Emma wiped her hand on her jeans. ‘Go on, spit it out. What catastrophe has she caused now?’

  ‘Annie?’ said Kristy, surprised. ‘She hasn’t caused any catastrophe. In fact she’s worked really hard today. And she seems to have really clicked with Jigsaw.’

  Emma nodded grudgingly. ‘I have to admit she does have a way with horses, even if she is a liability around the yard. So what did you want to tell me?’

  Kristy chose her words carefully. ‘You know I said I wanted to find Cassius?’

  Emma frowned. ‘I’m sorry Kristy, I’m not sure it’s a good idea.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘What are you going to gain from it? It’ll only upset you.’

  Kristy had decided not to share her plan to win Arabella Hayward over and inveigle her way back into Cassius’s life. She didn’t want anyone pouring scorn on her dreams. She placed her hand on her heart. ‘I won’t get upset, I promise. I just want to see him one last time.’

  ‘So what do you want from me?’

  ‘Bella’s address. You must still have it from when she was a livery.’

  Emma looked conflicted. ‘I do. But -’

  ‘Please Emma.’

  Emma sighed. ‘Alright then. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. And don’t tell the Haywards how you came by their address. I don’t want any comeback. Client confidentiality and all that.’

  She reached into the drawer of the dresser, pulled out a black leather address book, licked her thumb and flicked through it. ‘There it is. The Old Coach House, South Street. You know where it is?’

  Sofia peeled off her rubber gloves. ‘It’s that private road at the back of the hospital, isn’t it? Very posh.’

  ‘That’s the one. I have a phone number, too, if you want it?’

  Kristy shook her head. ‘It’s way too complicated to explain over the phone. Sofia’s going to come with me, aren’t you Sof?’

  Sofia nodded and linked arms with her. ‘Don’t worry, Emma. I’ll look after her.’

  The two girls stood outside The Old Coach House and gazed up at its impressive brick facade.

  ‘Wow,’ said Kristy, her stomach a knot of nerves.

  ‘How the other half live.’ Sofia’s voice was wry. ‘Shall we see if the Haywards are home?’

  Kristy flashed Sofia a smile. ‘No time like the present.’

  They crunched up the gravel drive, passing a formal knot garden and lichen-covered statues of Greek gods and goddesses. A sleek metallic grey Mercedes was parked outside the front door.

  ‘At least someone’s at home,’ Sofia whispered.

  Kristy took a deep breath and rapped on the door. After a beat it swung open to reveal a tiny grey-haired woman wearing a paisley housecoat and an enquiring smile.

  Kristy stepped forward. ‘Mrs Hayward?’

  The woman erupted in peals of laughter. ‘I’m Shirley, the housekeeper. Mrs Hayward’s at her bridge club. Can I help you, love?’

  ‘We were wondering if Arabella was home?’ said Kristy.

  Shirley glanced furtively behind her. ‘Bella?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Kristy patiently. ‘Is she home?’

  The housekeeper beckoned them closer. ‘Bella doesn’t live here any more. She and her father had a falling out. They’d been clashing more and more. And after that business with the horse -’

  ‘What business?’ said Kristy sharply.

  ‘Mr Hayward said he’d finally had enough of her capricious ways. Said he was disinheriting her. He didn’t mean it, of course. She’s always been the apple of his eye. But she stormed off and we haven’t seen hide nor hair of her since. Her parents are devastated.’

  ‘So you don’t know where she is?’ said Kristy with a sinking heart.

  Shirley shook her head sadly. ‘And now we’re not allowed to talk about her. It’s as if they can’t bear to hear her name.’

  ‘Shirley, is someone at the door?’ said a gruff voice from deep inside the house.

  The housekeeper flinched.

  ‘Only some girls wondering if we’ve any odd jobs need doing, Mr Hayward.’

  They stiffened at the sound of footsteps on flagstones. Shirley glanced behind her again. ‘You need to go!’ she hissed. She started pushing the door closed. But Kristy was too quick, jamming it open with her foot.

  ‘You must know something that might help us find her, Shirley. Please, try to think. It’s really important,’ she implored.

  The housekeeper shook her head. ‘I told you, we’ve no idea where she’s gone. All I know is when I was cleaning her room after she’d left I found a note on her dressing table.’

  ‘What did it say?’ said Sofia impatiently.

  ‘Call me Teddy. And a mobile number.’

  ‘Have you still got it?’

  Shirley shook her head. ‘I didn’t think to keep it. I threw it in the recycling.’

  The sound of footsteps grew louder. Shirley held a finger to her lips and the two girls nodded. Kristy took a step back just as the door creaked open. A tall, slightly stooped man whose forehead was puckered with frown lines looked them up and down.

  Kristy smiled brightly. ‘We were just telling your housekeeper we’re looking for odd jobs. Gardening, car washing, that kind of thing.’

  ‘Very enterprising I’m sure,’ said Mr Hayward. ‘But I can’t help you, I’m afraid. Good day.’

  And Kristy and Sofia watched helplessly as the door clicked shut in front of them.

  ‘Why would Bella want people to call her Teddy?’ Sofia whispered, as they tramped back down the drive. ‘Do you think she wanted to change her identity so her parents couldn’t find her? If so, why choose a boy’s name? It doesn’t make sense.’

  Kristy shook her head impatiently. ‘I don’t think the note said ‘call me Teddy’. I reckon it said ‘call me. Full stop. Teddy’.

  Sofia’s brow crinkled and then her face cleared. ‘Oh I see. It was a note from someone called Teddy asking Bella to call him. Like, for a first date or something?’

  Kristy nodded. ‘What if Bella did call Teddy, and they got on so well they had a whirlwind romance? What if Teddy is the man I saw at Mill Farm, the man looking for Cassius?’ She turned to Sofia with shining eyes. ‘What if Teddy is the mysterious rich fiancé?’

  ‘It’s a lead, that’s for sure. But it doesn’t really get us anywhere. We have no idea who Teddy is or where we might find him.’

  Kristy’s shoulders slumped. ‘Another dead end.’

  ‘Not necessarily. Teddy’s quite an unusual name. There can’t be too many of them around here who drive a red sports car and live on a big estate.’

  ‘If only Shirley had kept that note,’ Kristy wailed.

  ‘Life is full of if onlys, Kristy. The fact is she didn’t. We just need to find another way to track him down.’

  17

  Too Much Fizz

  Kristy lay in bed, wide-eyed and restless. Something had been bugging her ever since she and Sofia had gone their separate ways at the end of the Hayward’s long drive. Something she’d missed. An important clue that could lead her to Teddy.

  She tossed and turned under her duvet. Sleep was impossible. Her mind was in overdrive as she replayed Teddy’s visit to the yard and every conversation she’d had about him with Emma and Karen. She picked it all apart, word by word, to see what nugget of information about Bella’s mysterious fiancé she might have missed. But whatever it
was, it stayed tantalisingly out of reach.

  She yawned and checked her clock. It was half past midnight. If she didn’t get to sleep soon she’d be in no fit state for their practice session the next day. She put Teddy firmly to the back of her mind and ran through the quadrille routine in her head over and over until she finally grew drowsy.

  Then, in the brief moment between wakefulness and sleep, she had a second of lucidity. Her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright. What an idiot she’d been! Teddy had written Emma a cheque to cover Bella’s debts, hadn’t he? Hardly anyone used cheques any more when bank transfers were so much faster. But Teddy was obviously the old-fashioned type. And he would have signed the cheque. All she had to do was ask Emma to show it to her and she would have his last name.

  Kristy felt a spark of hope that she might finally be a step closer to finding Cassius and she smiled into the darkness. ‘Not long now, Cass, I know it,’ she whispered. ‘Just stay safe until I find you.’

  Kristy jogged down the Mill Farm drive, desperate to speak to Emma. School had dragged so slowly she had at times wondered if someone had somehow pushed the pause button on her life forcing time to stand still.

  At last, after a tortuous biology lesson in which Kristy had fidgeted so much her teacher had asked if she needed to use the lavatory, the final bell sounded. Kristy exhaled so loudly the boy sitting at the desk in front of her looked around in astonishment. She had jumped to her feet, scooped up her books and darted out of the classroom before the bell had finished ringing.

  Pelting towards her locker as fast as a human tornado, Kristy silently congratulated herself on her forward planning. Tucked under her PE kit was a carrier bag containing her jodhpur boots, jods, a spare top and a cereal bar. It meant she could go straight from school to the stables, saving at least half an hour.

  But when she arrived at Mill Farm there was no sign of Emma’s Land Rover or Annie. The yard was empty save for Marmalade, who was spreadeagled in a patch of sunlight on the dusty concrete.

  ‘Where’s Emma, Marmalade?’ Kristy asked, hoping her boss hadn’t decided to drive one handed to the feed store. But the cat just stared at her, his pupils wide and his eyes unblinking. Kristy tickled his chin and headed for the barn. There was no-one there. The tack room and feed room were also empty.

  ‘Where can they be?’ Kristy muttered to herself.

  At that moment the silence was broken by the asthmatic belch of a diesel engine. Kristy spun around. Emma’s Land Rover was leapfrogging down the track, narrowly missing the gatepost as it lurched into the yard and ground to a halt a couple of metres in front of her.

  ‘Look where you’re going, for goodness sake!’ shrieked a familiar voice from the passenger seat. ‘That’s my head groom you nearly knocked over!’

  The driver’s door opened and Annie hopped out, a sheepish look on her face. ‘She’s a bit tense,’ she mouthed to Kristy, dipping her head in Emma’s direction. ‘I think I might make myself scarce. Give her time to calm down a bit. Honestly, she gets more like her sister every day. Though thinking about it, my driving instructors were all the same.’

  ‘How many did you have?’ said Kristy, bemused.

  ‘Four. They were all as jumpy as Emma. I can’t think why. I’ll see you later for practice, OK?’

  Kristy suppressed a smile and went around to the passenger side.

  ‘Everything alright, boss?’ she said, opening the door and bracing herself for a verbal onslaught.

  ‘No, it is not alright! The dozy girl offered to take me to hospital for my check-up. She claimed she could drive. Well, she’s about as good at driving as I am at flame throwing. Which, surprise surprise, is not very good at all. Honestly, my blood pressure is through the roof. Forget painkillers, it’s tranquillisers I need!’

  ‘You’re here now,’ said Kristy in a placatory voice. She unclipped Emma’s seatbelt and held out her arm. ‘How about I make you a nice cup of tea?’

  Once Emma was settled at the kitchen table with a mug in front of her, Kristy felt able to broach the question she’d been dying to ask all day.

  ‘You know the cheque Bella’s fiancé wrote to cover the livery fees and stuff? Do you still have it?’

  ‘Why d’you ask?’

  ‘I was thinking it would have his details on. To help, you know, track him down.’

  Emma sighed. ‘You’re not still fixated about finding Cassius are you? I hoped you’d get over that.’

  Kristy bit her lip. As if she could ever get over him. ‘Do you still have the cheque?’ she repeated.

  Her heart sank as Emma shook her head. ‘I cashed it this afternoon. The gormless girl dropped me off at the bank before my hospital appointment. Nearly took out a man on a mobility scooter while she was parking, mind you.’

  ‘So you haven’t got it?’ said Kristy in a small voice.

  ‘Afraid not.’ Seeing the dejection on Kristy’s face, her expression softened. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘It’s OK. It was worth a try. You weren’t to know. I’d better go and help Annie bring the horses in.’

  Kristy was pulling on her wellies outside the back door when Emma called out, ‘I can remember his name if that’s any help?’

  She dropped the boot she was holding and dashed back into the kitchen.

  ‘You can?’

  Emma nodded. ‘It was an unusual name. Teddy. I remember wondering who on earth would call their son after a teddy bear.’

  Kristy nodded to herself. Her theory about the note was right. Teddy and Bella must have hit it off. ‘Teddy what?’ she asked expectantly.

  ‘Oh, it was something really commonplace.’ Emma’s face clouded over. ‘I’m really sorry, Kristy. I can’t remember.’

  Kristy knew she mustn’t let her disappointment spoil the quadrille practice so she pasted on a smile and beckoned the team over.

  ‘OK, so we know we can’t practice the whole routine too many times otherwise the ponies and Jigsaw will get stale. They’ll start anticipating the moves before you’ve given them your aids, and it will all go horribly wrong.’

  The twins, Sofia and Annie nodded.

  ‘So we’re going to work through different elements individually until they are perfect, like the serpentines and circles and crossovers. Then we’ll have a couple of run-throughs of the whole thing before the actual day.’

  ‘Which is only a week on Saturday,’ said Norah.

  ‘Ten days’ time,’ agreed Kristy. ‘So today we’re going to practice the windscreen wiper. I think it’s probably the trickiest manoeuvre in the whole routine, don’t you?’

  William nodded vigorously. ‘It’s really hard to keep Copper in line with Silver. He’s so slow.’

  ‘He’s not slow!’ cried Norah indignantly. ‘He can’t help having shorter legs!’

  Kristy held up her hands. The last thing she needed was to referee a fight between the twins. ‘It’s a good discipline to be able to extend and collect your trot, so that’s what we’ll work on today.’

  Once they had warmed up with a few trot and canter circles Kristy called them over again. ‘So if you remember, you’ve just ridden a serpentine down the school. When you all reach A you ride your windscreen wiper back up.’

  ‘I can’t remember where I’m supposed to be,’ said Sofia.

  Kristy gave her a smile. ‘I know, it’s hard to remember out of context, isn’t it? Norah’s on the inside, then you, then William, with Annie and Jigsaw on the outside.’

  Norah clicked her tongue and Silver bustled into position. The others lined up beside her.

  ‘What I really want to practice today is synchronisation and accuracy,’ said Kristy. ‘I want you all to keep a steady tempo and be totally aware of everyone else so you can temper your pace to match the others. We want to be turning at exactly the same time and keeping even spacing, so when we reach E and C we’re still perfectly in line, just like you are now.’

  Jazz chose that moment to spook at a swallow in the eaves of the schoo
l and shot forward like a racehorse out of the starting gate.

  Norah tutted. ‘Not like that!’

  ‘Sorry,’ mouthed Sofia, collecting her mare and riding back in line.

  ‘No worries. So let’s give it a go, shall we?’ Kristy jogged to the far end of the school. ‘Go large to get a nice working trot going and start the windscreen wiper at A.’

  Riding four abreast, they trotted around the school. With Silver and Norah on the inside and Annie and Jigsaw on the outside it should have been relatively easy to stay in line, but Jazz was so full of beans Sofia was struggling to keep her in check and as they drew level with A she was already half a length in front of the others.

  ‘Steady Jazz,’ Sofia muttered. The mare flicked a golden ear back and spun sideways into Copper. Fortunately the chestnut gelding, who was as laid-back as William, took no notice. But Jigsaw had picked up on Jazz’s excitement and began cantering on the spot.

  As they completed their wavy windscreen wiper only Silver and Copper stayed in line. Kristy sighed inwardly. All four lined up in front of her and looked at her expectantly.

  She fished around for something positive to say. ‘This certainly gives us something to work on,’ she said eventually. ‘Shall we run through it again?’

  After several more attempts Jigsaw at least had calmed down but Jazz was still skittering about like a lamb with a bellyful of spring grass. Kristy checked her watch. It was half past six.

  ‘Let’s call it a night. And I’m giving you tomorrow off. I think a long hack might be in order for Jazz, to try and get rid of all her energy.’

  Sofia held her reins lightly as the mare jogged around the school. ‘I don’t know what’s got into her. I suppose it’s not that new stuff I bought her?’