Free Phantom: One Last Chance by Belinda Rapley Page B

‘Runaway Pony’ written at the top, until she came to the latest page, titled ‘Pirate’.
    Pumpkin jumped onto Charlie’s lap as she nestled into her sleeping bag. She let the curtain fall, shutting out the cold, dark night, as Mia held the notebook under the beam of torchlight. Rosie and Alice shuffled closer to Mia as she began to read:
    1 – Black hairs found in my pink body brush, several times – possibly one of the riders who came up to try Pirate out.
    2 – Megan is the keenest of the lot and wants to turn Pirate into a dressage star. She pins up a training plan in the tack room.
    3 – We try to put Megan off Pirate by showing her an ad for a dressage pony for loan at Rockland Riding School.
    4 – Megan gets scared by Pirate’s full-speed gallop through the woods on her first hack with him.
    5 – Charlie tells Megan that she doesn’t think she should take Pirate on loan, but Megan’s already taken down her plan from the tack-room wall – has her decision been made?
    6 – There are more black hairs in my grooming kit the following weekend, and Pirate has been groomed and has minty breath – is Megan sneaking back in to continue with her plan?
    7 – We leave a tail hair across the tack-roomdoor to see if anyone is coming onto the yard while we’re out – we come back and it’s broken!
    8 – Hettie’s loose on the yard and Pirate’s had his mane neatened, too.
    9 – Next day, Beanie alerts us to the presence of a stranger (although it sounds like he knows AND LIKES the stranger – can’t be Megan?).
    10 – As we sneak up on the intruder Rosie trips over the gate, LOUDLY, and gives us away.
    11 – My body brush is lying outside the tack room – someone’s been in…
    12 – Charlie calls Megan at home but she’s out. Her Dad says she’s spending time with her bay loan pony! Pirate???
    13 – The next morning, there are hoof prints on the yard, but no footprints . Pirate’s clean hooves have mud from the wood in them! AND, Hettie is in Phantom’s box…?
    14 – We discover that Megan has taken the dressage pony from Rockland Riding School on loan.
    15 – So, if Megan isn’t coming in here and messing about with Pirate and Hettie… who is???!!!
    “Someone who doesn’t leave footprints,” Alice said, spooking herself in the torch-lit bedroom as Mia finished reading out the last point. They talked over everything again and again, going round in circles without a single clue to follow, until they heard lights being turned off below them, footsteps on the stairs and lowered voicesas Rosie’s parents went to bed.
    Charlie rested her head back against the wall, and played with Pumpkin’s ears. She listened while the others whispered about what might be going on for what felt like ages, until the house fell silent. Suddenly, Charlie remembered that she was meant to be keeping an eye on the yard. She pulled back the curtain to peep behind it. A bright white moon lit up the sky, fading in and out as silver-edged clouds drifted slowly over its surface. An instant chill gripped her.
    “Pirate’s stable door!” she squeaked. “It’s open!”
    Suddenly the room burst into life as everyone unzipped their sleeping bags and rushed to the window.
    “I can’t see him anywhere!” Charlie panicked, pressed up against the window and searching desperately as a larger cloud drifted across the moon.
    “I can’t see my socks, either,” Rosie muttered, wishing now that she’d kept them on. She hoppedover to the light just as Mia pointed out of the window.
    “There, heading down between the paddocks!”
    Charlie peered. She could only just see Pirate’s outline in the shadows thrown by the moon.
    At that very second Rosie reached the light. Alice turned and squealed at her to stop, but it was too late. The room was flooded with light, suddenly reflecting Charlie and Mia’s faces back at them in the glass until Alice raced over and flicked it off again.
    “I’ve lost him!” Charlie whispered