youâve lost Silver.â
âGet lost yourself, Zoe!â exclaimed Amber, helping herself to another shrimp. âAnyone would think you were the elder sister instead of me. Just leave me alone, will you?â
âSomeone has to be responsible,â mumbled Zoe.
âJust how valuable is your Silver horse?â asked Ellie. âMy dad has a big bronze of a greyhound at home. Itâs really valuable, worth thousands of dollars and almost a hundred years old. Is Silver worth as much as that?â
âProbably,â said Amber, gloomily, twirling her red hair around her fingers, piling it up high on the top of her head and pushing one of the barbecue skewers through it to keep it in place. A few tendrils fell and bounced around her neckâshe looked really glamorous and about seventeen. I wished I could do that with my hairâonly itâs dark, reddish brown and really thick. If I tried to keep it on top of my head with a skewer, Iâd have to hammer it into my skull. Which wouldnât be such a good look, Iâm thinking.
âItâs not just that,â interrupted Zoe, âAmberâs always losing things. I always told her she couldnât be trusted with something so valuable.â
âYou just love it, donât you?â Amber exploded. âYou always wanted Silver and said youâd look after him better than me, so now youâve got your wish. Happy?â
âWhat wish?â
âYou told everyone Iâd lose Silver, and now I have. You were right. You must be happy!â
âEr, my momâs got a new boyfriendâAndy,â I said, hoping to distract the pair of them. âApparently, Momâs very excited, says he might be The One, whatever that means.â
âNew dad material?â asked Bean, eyeing up the sausages on the barbecue. She was keeping out of the Amber and Zoe argument and I didnât blame her.
âHope not!â I replied, âhe hasnât a hair on his head, apparently. Totally bald!â
âOur dadâs bald,â said Amber. âAs a coot!â
âWhatâs a coot?â I asked.
âNo idea!â laughed Amber. âBut whatever it is, it must be bald.â
âHey, Grace, have you heard from your mom?â Bean asked.
Grace screwed up her face and nodded. âYup,â she said, âbut she canât bully me over the phone, so I donât mind.â Grace had lightened up considerably without her mom breathing down her neck, especially after jumping. Sheâd even picked out all of Shadowâs hooves without any help. Yesterday, sheâd been convinced he would kick her to pieces if she went anywhere near a hoof. Today, she was trainee farrier material.
âHow about you, Ellie?â asked Amber, eager to keep the conversation away from her dreaded phone call home.
And thatâs when things went all weird. Ellie, who until now had been rather quiet, suddenly turned and fled toward the house like a swarm of bees was after her. Just like that. One minute she was there with us, chewing on a hunk of French bread like a dog with a bone, the next we were treated to a view of her back as she disappeared through the farmhouse door, wailing.
âWhat just happened?â asked Zoe.
âNo quite sure,â murmured Bean.
âDo you think we ought to go after her?â Amber asked.
âYou can if you want,â her sister replied.
âI donât know, sheâs so moody. One minute sheâs bragging about stuff we all know isnât true, the next sheâs sulking and quiet. She gives me the creeps,â said Amber. âYou go.â
Mrs. Reeve returned, puffing, with a bag of charcoal. Of course, she asked where Ellie was. So we told her. And then it was Mrs. Reeveâs turn to go all weird.
âWhat did you do?â she asked earnestly, like weâd attacked Ellie with a bread roll or something.
âNothing!â