Free Hide and Seek by Alyssa Brugman Page A

hard every day. They didn't buy new things when a second-hand item would do the job. The Edels' house was small. It had old threadbare furniture in it, and it was untidy a lot of the time, with horse gear draped across the table, or rugs needing repair folded on the floor.
    'And what kind of a poor person are you?' Shelby asked.
    'Lindsey's not any kind of poor person!' Hayley laughed.
    Shelby frowned, confused.
    'Don't you know that?' Hayley grinned.
    'Shel, you know that property up on the corner that was for sale? It sold for two and a half million dollars a few weeks ago. It's five acres.' Erin smiled knowingly. 'Lindsey's mum has one hundred and seventy-five acres.'
    Shelby's eyes widened.
    'And that's just the value of the property. Think about how much this place rakes in. A service from Diablo is worth two and a half grand. You've seen how often mares go through here,' Erin said. 'How many trail riders are there every day? Twenty? At forty-five dollars a pop, that's what . . . twelve and a half grand just over this school holidays!'
    'And what about agistment?' Hayley added. 'People pay fifty dollars a week each, just to keep a horse in the very back paddock. That's not even counting all the horses in the front paddocks, or in the stables. And what about those ones like Ajax on full board? They pay a hundred and fifty dollars a week each ! Lindsey is a multi-squillionaire, Shel!' Hayley laughed again.
    Shelby stared at her friend. 'Is this true?'
    Lindsey didn't answer. Instead she squeezed another tube of paste into the horse's mouth.
    'What do you do with it all?' Shelby whispered.
    'It's actually really hard to make money out of a horse business,' Lindsey said. Hayley groaned, but Lindsey ignored her. 'I know you guys think we charge a lot, but we're constantly upgrading the equipment, there are always fences that need doing, or mainten-ance to machinery, and we buy the best quality feed. Then there are clients who don't pay, or who leave us with vet bills. Half the riding school ponies are aban-doned agisters. People run up thousands of dollars in debt – way more then their horse is worth, and then just leave it here. We never hear from them again.'
    'Really?' Shelby was shocked.
    'We use them for the riding school, or we sell them. It happens all the time. That's why I'm riding Lyrical – the Arab. The guy said he was into endurance riding, but we haven't seen him for six months. If she's any good we'll tell him to post over her papers and we'll be square.'
    'Wow,' said Shelby. 'Free horses.'
    'No, they're not free,' Lindsey snapped. 'They owe us more than they're worth.'
    'Don't change the subject!' Hayley said.
    Shelby led the horse out and then caught another horse, Beaumont – affectionately known as Blockhead
    – a big, grey Percheron, and one of Shelby's favourites. 'Mum has a fair bit in managed funds,' Lindsey
    admitted.
    'What's that?' Shelby asked.
    'You've heard of shares, haven't you? Basically you pick a company that you think looks good and you buy a little part of it. With the extra money the company tries to make more money, and if it does, then all these other people want to own a little bit of it as well, so that means your share is worth more. Then you can sell your share and start again with a different company.'
    'Kind of like buying a horse at the sales and educating it,' Shelby said.
    'Or gambling,' Hayley joked.
    'Yeah, but Mum has this guy that runs it all.'
    'A professional gambler,' Hayley teased.
    Lindsey continued, 'Except sometimes just for fun we'll pick something random, like a goldmine or something.'
    'Just for fun?' Shelby repeated.
    Lindsey nodded.
    'You could buy whatever you wanted!' Shelby said. 'Why don't you buy more stuff?'
    'Like what?' Lindsey asked. 'What don't I have?'
    Shelby led Beaumont out to the yard, frowning while she thought about it. 'Nice new furniture for your house?' she suggested.
    'Are you kidding? All that stuff is antique! One-off collector's items.