Free Scout and the Mystery of the Marsh Ponies by Belinda Rapley Page B

horses and ponies. They were being led in and out and trotted up on the wide concrete walkways in front of groups of potential buyers.
    “I had no idea it would be so busy!” Rosie squealed, narrowly missing being trotted over by a huge grey horse as they made their way to the auction tent.
    Mia peered down the roped entrance into the gloom beyond and saw a ring with sawdust in themiddle and rows of metal-framed seats curled around it. On the opposite side was the auctioneer’s rostrum, a wooden, boxed-in platform about waist height with a wide shelf. Mia saw a vast man with a yellow checked waistcoat and a large, ruddy face leaning forward over it. He watched everyone who wandered in closely over his half-moon glasses, his eyes darting in every direction as he rubbed a bushy moustache. A few people called out and he waved to them, replying in a deeply booming rich voice.
    They paused for a moment outside the tent as the next ‘lot’, a tall, temperamental-looking bay, disappeared down into the tunnel out of sight. They heard the auctioneer’s quick-fire sales chatter start at once and pick up into a continuous crescendo, floating out of the ring to where they were standing.
    “He can’t have time to breathe!” Charlie laughed as they listened to his voice rising and falling, getting the bidding started and thentaking the price up without a pause. He could be heard encouraging everyone inside the tent to have a go, listing all the pony’s good points in any of the gaps between bids before racing up through the increases. Suddenly, the bidding stopped. The girls listened, peering down into the ring, and caught sight of the auctioneer going round the ring encouraging more buyers to join in, announcing that lot 23 was going once, twice, then a dramatic pause before the final slamming hammer fall.
    “Sold!”
    Alice stood back from the roped entrance as the bay horse, which had started to sweat up, jogged out of the marquee. He was followed by an excited-looking couple who walked with the handler back to the stables. The girls watched as the next lot, a small chestnut pony, trotted towards the ring, the whites of his eyes showing. There was a scuffle of hooves as he refused to enter for a moment, half rearing and pulling backon the reins. Alice could see his sides heaving as he neighed at the top of his voice, trying to turn his head back to the stable block before finally barging forward into the ring.
    She wondered if Scout had been as terrified with all the commotion and strange sounds and smells bombarding him when he’d been brought to the sale. She wished for a second that she could rush up and hug the pony, tell him he would be all right, but she couldn’t. He had disappeared and the bidding was starting, the auctioneer racing off at high speed until the hammer fell and the pony was led out. Alice felt relieved as she saw a young boy and his parents rush to meet the pony, thinking that at least it looked as if he’d gone to someone who’d love him as much as she loved Scout.
    “Right, we need to focus,” Mia announced after they’d each bought ice-cold cans of fizzy drink from a nearby stand. “The auction is only on this morning, so we don’t have long.”
    “And what exactly is it we’re meant to be focusing on again?” Rosie asked as she snapped back the ring pull on her can and took a glug of drink. It was so cold that the bubbles went up her nose and made her eyes water.
    “Mrs Valentine,” Charlie said, squinting into the sun, “and I think I might have just found her…”
    The others followed Charlie’s gaze and saw a tall, wiry woman dressed smartly all in navy, with a floppy hat, long blonde hair and huge dark sunglasses, slip across from the car park and disappear in front of them through the crowds and into the marquee.
    “Quick – don’t lose sight of her!” Mia instructed as they ducked down and raced forward, bumping into each other. They rushed into the relative gloom of the