But it seemed as if Hannah could. She picked up one of the magazines that was lying beside her. ‘OK. See you later.’

Lauren sighed. If only Hannah would come with her. She left the house and

reached Twilight’s field just as Grace came riding through the wood on Apple. Magpie, a glossy young piebald pony, was jogging beside Apple, his ears pricked up, his dark eyes curious.

‘Hi!’ Grace waved.

Lauren waved back and went over to take Magpie’s reins. He pulled forward excitedly, almost knocking Lauren over.

‘Sorry, he’s only young and he’s not used to strange places,’ Grace said as Lauren steadied him. ‘It’ll do him good to be here for a few nights.’ She looked round. ‘Where’s your cousin then?’

Lauren felt embarrassed. She didn’t want Grace to feel put out about having brought Magpie over for nothing. ‘Oh, she’s just inside at the moment,’ she said. ‘She’ll be out soon.’

Grace smiled. ‘I bet she’ll love Magpie. Oh well, I’d better be getting back. Mum’s been out at a show all day with some of the ponies and I said I’d be there to help her unload and feed them. Maybe we can all go for a ride some time? You, me, Jo-Ann and your cousin. Mel and Jess too, if they want to come?’

‘Yeah, sounds great,’ Lauren said vaguely. ‘Thank you so much for bringing Magpie round. I’ll give you a ring.’

‘Cool!’ Grace said. ‘See you!’ She rode off on Apple.

Lauren led Magpie over to the fence. Twilight whickered and came over and the two ponies touched noses. Magpie seemed to relax slightly as Twilight breathed softly at him.

‘Guess I’ll be riding you as well as Twilight for the next few days if Hannah doesn’t want to ride you,’ Lauren said to Magpie. A picture of Hannah sitting in the lounge reading her magazines came into her mind. Fun as it would be to have two ponies to ride, it would have been even better if she and Hannah could have gone riding together.

I wish Hannah hadn’t changed so much, she thought wistfully.

CHAPTER

Six

Lauren laughed in delight as she and Twilight swooped over the treetops later that night.

‘This is fun!’ Twilight said.

Lauren wrapped her hands in his mane. With the stars whizzing by, she could almost forget all about Hannah not liking ponies any more.

Suddenly her eyes caught a flash of yellow in the trees beneath and she heard the faint yap of a dog.

‘Twilight! It’s Mrs Fontana and Walter! Mrs Fontana must be feeling better if she’s out walking in the woods. Let’s go and see them.’

Twilight swooped down.

Mrs Fontana was walking slowly along the path. She was looking through the trees, almost as if she was searching for something. Walter was not bounding on ahead as he usually did, but was staying close to her side.

Twilight whinnied and Mrs Fontana glanced up. For a moment a look of delight crossed her face but then her shoulders seemed to sag and the delight instantly faded. Lauren stared at the old lady in surprise. It was almost as if Mrs Fontana had been expecting to see someone else instead of them.