Free Ponies at Owls' Wood by Scilla James Page A

mean.
    â€˜My sister’s a pain,’ she told Jess, breaking her own promise almost straightaway. ‘She used to be nice but these days she just spends all day texting her mates. They’re all into boys. It’s really boring. She says I’ll look like a horse when I grow up.’
    â€˜What’s wrong with that?’ asked Jess.
    â€˜She’s pretty, like my mum. Mum never used to go out much, or at least she was always there when I got home, and she’s a brilliant cook. But then she got into this singing thing and now she’s gone off for weeks with her choir. She wanted me to join it – they do have some kids to do choruses and bits, but I said I’d rather die. Anyway, I’ve got Polly to look after. Dad’s nice, but he’s useless in the kitchen.’
    â€˜Sounds like you like food,’ said Jess, and Hannah wondered if she was trying to be funny.
    â€˜Well, don’t you?’
    â€˜I don’t really care that much,’ said Jess.
    It was a lovely day, and the girls were thrilled to be able to have a canter together along the river path. Polly kept up with Bridget and they all had a great time. When a group of ducks flew up from the water and Polly spooked, she soon settled again in the company of Jess’s older mare, and on they went again. Hannah couldn’t remember when she’d enjoyed a ride so much – not since Charley had gone, she supposed. Only when they slowed down to chat again did both their minds turn to the job they knew they had to do.
    â€˜It’s got to be tomorrow night,’ said Jess, raising the subject first.
    â€˜OK,’ said Hannah, her stomach giving a lurch as she thought of what was to come. ‘But what shall we do about Pete?’
    â€˜I’ve been thinking about that,’ said Jess. ‘Pete often stays up long after Cyn’s gone to bed, so getting out of the house without him hearing me won’t be easy. I’m thinking that if I could get them both over to Gran’s caravan for the evening I could come out to meet you before they get back. Gran would need to give them enough to drink so they forget about me.’
    â€˜Won’t they expect you to go with them?’ asked Hannah.
    â€˜I’ll be ill,’ said Jess, ‘I’ll get a stomach ache and go to bed early. I can start looking bad during the day and try and suggest it might be catching. I can’t think what else to do.’
    â€˜Right,’ said Hannah with a confidence she didn’t feel, ‘we’ll try that. And I’ll leave home at eleven. Dad should be fast asleep by then and Talia and Liam won’t notice. Should be simple!’
    They laughed, but both knew that it was not a laughing matter and that it wouldn’t be simple.
    By the time they got back to Hannah’s field it was already half past two. Grace’s cake had long worn off and, as usual, Hannah was starving.
    â€˜You’d better get back,’ she said, ‘and I suppose I’d better go home. Will your gran and Cyn mention me being with you today?’
    â€˜I should think so,’ said Jess, ‘or Cyn will anyway. But he can hardly complain that I’ve got a friend.’
    Hannah felt uneasy. ‘But if Pete sees me he’ll know me from when we met in the wood,’ she protested.
    â€˜He won’t see you,’ said Jess with confidence.
    As Jess and Bridget trotted off, Hannah took Polly into the field and led her over to the shed for a good rub down and a treat or two.
    â€˜You’ve been a great pony today,’ she said, ‘and I love you very, very much. Actually,’ she went on, looking at Polly with a critical eye, ‘you’re looking thinner too.’
    She turned to where Jack was standing by the hedge.
    â€˜Thanks to you, Jack, for helping to eat the grass. Now, both of you, please, please keep out of sight of the gate. And don’t talk to anyone wearing