Riding Holiday Page 9

  “No.” Kate looked nervous. She sat upright and listened but all she could hear were the usual horsy sounds of a stables.

  “It was probably nothing,” Izzy said, settling back down.

  The two girls sat in the dark, whispering to each other. They had made allowances for the fact that they would get bored, but they hadn’t made allowances for the tiredness that would creep in.

  “Kate...Kate, are you awake?” After five minutes of silence, Izzy nudged her friend. There was no movement and, as Izzy leaned over her friend’s body, she could hear gentle little snores.

  She shrugged her shoulders. Typical. So much for them both keeping an all-night vigil. Now there was even more responsibility on her shoulders.

  “Oh Kate...” she murmured under her breath. The peaceful quiet of the stable lulled Izzy and, as she sat there, she shifted her weight around to relieve the boredom.

  Izzy felt her eyelids closing, getting heavier and heavier. She couldn’t help herself – she was drifting off to sleep. And then she thought she heard a noise. Had she imagined it – or dreamt it? She sat bolt upright. There it was again, only this time she knew for certain that she wasn’t imagining or dreaming. Izzy felt her heart racing faster. Somebody was pulling back the iron door of the barn. A grating sound echoed down the aisle.

  Izzy froze to the spot. This was what they were there for – to stop Ted from getting near Seattle, but now that it was actually happening, she didn’t know what to do.

  “Kate...Kate,” she whispered as she shook her friend’s shoulder. “Can you hear that?”

  “Uh...” Kate sat upright and rubbed her tired eyes. “I must have fallen asleep.”

  “Never mind that,” Izzy whispered. “Can you hear a noise?”

  Kate listened carefully, but there was only silence. “No, it’s nothing, Izzy,” she murmured. “You must be imagining it. You know, I think we should go back to the house.”

  “Ssshh.” Izzy clutched at Kate’s arm as the grating sound echoed around the barn. And this time, Izzy and Kate froze, eyes wide open.

  “Oh my goodness, Izzy. What do we do now?” Kate whispered, starting to panic.

  “I don’t know.” Izzy mouthed the words, her calm rapidly evaporating with every passing second. The noise was getting louder and louder.

  “I’m going to confront him,” Izzy said firmly. And before she could think twice about it, she jumped to her feet.

  “Ted?” she cried out. “Ted, is that you?”

  It was silent for a moment, but not silent enough. Izzy could definitely hear something and now as she looked ahead of her, she could make out a shadowy figure.

  “Ted?” she called hesitantly.

  Whoever it was was dressed in black, but it was so dark that Izzy couldn’t really see more than that. In a split second, the figure had sprung into action and was gone – fleeing out of the barn in a flash.

  Izzy didn’t stop to think. She pulled herself to her senses and followed suit – down the aisle and out of the door. The sensory lights flooded the yard with light as she sprinted across the gravel to the other side, past the tack room and over the gate into the dark paddocks beyond.

  He was getting away. Izzy’s lungs felt as though they would burst, she was panting so hard. She could hear voices behind her, but still she kept on running...

  Then she drew to a halt, gasping to catch her breath as she realized what a hopeless task it was. Izzy stared in front of her and then back at the yard. The lights looked comforting and it didn’t take long for Izzy to decide to go back. Wearily she walked across the paddocks. As she climbed over the gate and into the yard, Kate and the security guard rushed towards her.

  “Izzy, thank goodness you’re all right.” The relief was written all over Kate’s face. “You shouldn’t have run off like that.” She hugged her friend.

  “Yes, well, as you can see, I’m fine.” Izzy shrugged her friend’s arm off, feeling embarrassed. Then, seeing Kate’s hurt look, she gave her a little smile. “He was a bit too fast for me, that’s all.”

  “Yes, well it’s lucky that he was,” Kate shivered.

  “It looks like he’s long gone,” the security guard said, looking worried.

  Izzy looked over Kate’s shoulder in the direction of the house. She could see some lights in the distance. That meant that Sally and Courtney and Megan would be across in no time at all.

  “Did you get a look at him?” the security guard asked.

  I don’t know, I mean...” Izzy had half of her concentration focused on the conversation and the other half focused on the track that led from the house. She turned back to the security guard. “Well, no, not really. I couldn’t see very much of him.”

  Izzy looked back again and this time she saw Sally coming through the archway, closely followed by Courtney and Megan.

  “What is it? What’s going on?” Sally drew to a halt by the group, her eyes wide and her hair tousled from sleep.

  “Someone was trying to get into Seattle’s stable,” the security guard started. “Though just how anyone got into the grounds, I don’t know. These girls caught him going into the barn.”

  “But...but Seattle – is she all right? Izzy, Kate, tell me what happened.” Sally looked alarmed.

  “Seattle’s fine,” Izzy said quickly. “He wasn’t able to get anywhere near her – not with us there.”

  “Oh thank goodness...thank goodness she’s safe. But what were you doing out here? Are you girls all right?” Sally looked at Izzy and Kate. “You shouldn’t have been out here at night.”

  “I know, um, but...well, we were sleeping in Seattle’s stable. You see, we were worried about her,” Izzy broke in.

  “Worried?” Sally hugged Izzy and Kate close to her. “Oh, you silly girls. Thank goodness nothing happened to either of you. You could have put yourselves in real danger. Enough’s enough.” Sally covered her face in her hands. “We can’t go on like this...” Her voice broke into hysterics. “I should have known that everything was going too smoothly with Seattle’s training. I shouldn’t have let Ted go – we really needed him here.”

  Kate and Izzy looked at each other. They didn’t know what to say.

  “You couldn’t have stopped Ted from going, Mom,” Courtney said, looking at Megan for support.

  “No, I know,” Sally said, more calmly now that she had composed herself. “Look, let’s go check on Seattle. I want to make sure she really is all right.”

  The girls followed Sally into the barn and down the aisle. Izzy and Kate felt relieved as they looked in over Seattle’s stable. Unaware of the commotion that had been going on around her, the little grey mare was sleeping soundly.

  “Thank goodness for that,” Sally breathed. “She’s fine. She turned to the security guard. “Why weren’t you guarding the barn?”

  “I thought you wanted me to patrol the grounds,” he said gruffly.

  “Yes, well, I suppose I did,” Sally said. “But from now until morning I want you to stand outside this barn. I’ll need to inform the police but I can call them in the morning. Now come on girls, let’s get across to the house. We all need to get some rest...”

  16

  CLEVEDON PARK

  No one was in very high spirits as they sat down to breakfast the next morning. In fact, no one so much as said a word. Courtney just sat there, stirring her cereal. Megan stared vacantly out of the window, and Sally seemed to be in another world completely. As she got up and left the room, Courtney turned to Izzy.

  “You know, we’re really mad at you. Why didn’t you include us in your plans? We could have kept watch with you. We trusted you with everything about Graytops...why couldn’t you trust us?”

  “Well...” Izzy didn’t know what to say. How could she tell them that they’d thought about it, and then decided not to because of how the twins felt about Ted? Izzy felt relieved when Sally came back into the room and she could change the subject. “Did Seattle get off to the track all right?”

&n
bsp; “Fine.” Sally nodded. “The trailer came to get her at five.”

  “She will be safe, won’t she?” Courtney said, her face as white as a sheet.

  “Of course she will,” Sally said. “Hank Brewer’s been driving for us for years. He won’t let her out of his sight. I would have liked to have gone in the trailer with her, but with Ted gone there’s no one else to see to the other horses here. Anyway, we’ll get to the track by noon,” Sally said wearily. “And I’m sure that Seattle will be safe.”

  But Izzy could tell from the way that Sally was gripping the handle of her coffee cup that there was no definite guarantee of that.

  Sally buried her head in her hands and looked up again. “Look Izzy, I know that you must have gone over this again and again, but the police may want to question you later. Did you catch a glimpse of this man at all? Is there anything you can remember about him?”

  “Well,” Izzy faltered. “It was so dark, I couldn’t really see. He wasn’t very tall.” Hopelessly she stared down at her feet.

  Sally sighed. “Well, if anything should come to you – anything at all – you must tell us. I know that it’s scary, but anything you remember could hold the key to it all.”

  “I know, and of course I will,” Izzy said firmly. If only she could say she had definitely seen Ted.

  “Don’t worry.” Sally patted Izzy on the shoulder. “Let’s get over to the yard now and start mucking out.”

  “Well actually, Sally,” Izzy hesitated. This was her moment.

  “Yes,” Sally turned back.

  It was now or never. Izzy took a deep breath. “It’s just something that Kate and I have been thinking...”

  “Go on.”

  “Well,” Izzy stammered. “We were wondering – I mean – where’s Ted at the moment?”

  “Ted?” Sally looked surprised. “What’s that got to do with anything? You’re not thinking Ted could have been our night-time intruder, are you?” She let out a low laugh.

  “Well...” Izzy hesitated.

  Sally looked suspiciously at her. “You are joking, aren’t you?”

  “You’ve got to admit that it’s a little strange that he’s gone away for a few days.” Kate stepped in. “I mean – this is Seattle’s big race, isn’t it?” She started to turn red as she tried to work out an easy way of saying things. But there was no nice way of putting it. “And he knows the farm from back to front – it would be easy for him to slip past the security guard, and he’s been around all of the other times and...” Kate was about to go on, but Sally interrupted her.

  “It’s not Ted.” Sally took a deep breath.

  “But how can you be so sure?” Kate said.

  “I just know, that’s all,” Sally said, patting Kate on the shoulder. “Now, come on. We’ve got work to do.”

  And with that, she left the room, followed by Courtney and Megan. Kate turned to Izzy.

  “Well, that’s it, we’ve blown it. No one’s ever going to believe us about Ted now – we’ve just managed to get him off the hook. He’s going to get away with all this completely scot-free...”

  It had just gone midday when Sally finally turned into the car park at Clevedon Park Racetrack. It was already busy and there were rows and rows of cars ahead of them. Izzy and Kate followed Sally’s lead through the turnstiles and into the grounds. They were feeling upset, and Courtney and Megan were being really unfriendly.

  Sally handed everyone their badges as they came to a halt in front of a bronze horse. Clevedon Park was nothing like the racecourses that Izzy and Kate had been to in England. They’d only been National Hunt racing back home and that took place in the winter months. At Clevedon Park the sun was shining and, just at that moment, a band was striking up.

  “Okay, well Seattle’s not running until the third race.” Sally turned to the group. “So I’m going to go and check up on her. Why don’t you all go and soak up the atmosphere? We’ll meet over there before Seattle’s race.” She pointed to the right of the grandstand in front of them.

  “OK.” Courtney and Megan nodded.

  As Sally hurried away, the girls stood awkwardly together.

  “I guess that’s the winning post then?” Izzy said finally, pointing to the red and white pole directly in front of the manicured lawns.

  “Yeah, well, it’s called the wire over here, but it’s the same thing,” Courtney said. “Now that you have your bearings, we can go take a look at the horses.”

  Izzy and Kate nodded, following Courtney and Megan through a white-railed gate to where a man was checking entry tickets. Izzy flashed him her junior badge and slipped through, and then they walked past the parade ring and in the direction of the stables. Finally they got as far as they could go. They stood, watching from behind the railings.

  It was already really busy. Grooms were leading sheeted horses around; people were running this way and that, and camera crews were wheeling equipment about, preparing for the live coverage of the day’s racing. And then there were the horses – chestnuts, bays, greys – every possible colour.

  “Let’s go and find Seattle.” Courtney and Megan ducked under the railings. “Look, Izzy...Kate...why don’t we split up for an hour? It might be hard for the four of us to stay together with all these crowds. We could meet on the right of the grandstand in half an hour.”

  “Yes, good idea,” Izzy breathed a sigh of relief. It would be nice to have some space away from the twins and, as they walked away, she immediately started to feel better.

  “Well, we’ve totally blown it with Courtney and Megan, you know,” Kate said finally

  “I guess,” Izzy answered. “Hey,” she yelped as someone trod on her foot.

  “Sorry,” the man apologized.

  “That’s OK.” As Izzy smiled up at him, she spotted something, or rather someone, across the lawn and in the distance. “Hey, look over there. Isn’t that Paula?”

  “Where?” Kate squinted into the sun as she looked over to where Izzy was pointing. Paula was hurrying away, threading her way through the crowd. They hadn’t spoken to their friend since that phone conversation when Izzy had promised to tell Sally – they owed it to her to tell her about everything that had happened since then.

  “Come on,” Kate said. “Let’s go and see her.”

  “Paula...Paula...” Kate called breathlessly, darting this way and that through the crowds.

  It looked at first as though they’d never catch her. There were just too many people and the noise was too great, but then something must have caught Paula’s attention because she looked back over her shoulder.

  “Paula...Paula!” Kate and Izzy stopped right in front of her.

  “Oh, it’s you guys. What are you two doing here?” she frowned.

  “It’s Seattle’s big race – remember?” Izzy said.

  “Oh yes, so it is.” Paula stopped short.

  Izzy and Kate looked at each other, puzzled by Paula’s reaction. Surely she must have remembered that Seattle was racing today. It was all they’d talked about for the last couple of weeks.

  “Let’s hope she runs well then,” Paula smiled, but her manner was still aloof. “Look, I’m really busy. What was it you wanted anyway?”

  “Well, nothing really – just to say hello,” Izzy shrugged, puzzled by Paula’s unfriendly attitude. “And to tell you what’s been going on at Graytops as well.”

  “There was an intruder at the farm last night,” Kate said breathlessly. “We started to tell Sally that we thought it could be Ted, but then she went nuts...said it couldn’t possibly be him.”

  “Well, did you tell her you’d seen his face?” Paula said.

  “Well no, because we didn’t,” Izzy said.

  “Well, then you shouldn’t be surprised that she didn’t believe you,” Paula said firmly. “You should have told her about Ted when I told you to – right back when we found that piece of paper.”

  “Yes, well you’re probably right,” Izzy said, looking closely at Paula and
noticing that a sweat had broken out on her forehead. “Paula? Paula, are you all right?”

  “Yes, of course I’m fine.” Paula smiled weakly.

  “Seattle has no idea of the fuss that’s been going on around her,” Kate joined in. “She got here safely so at least she should be all right today – after all, Ted’s not around.”

  “All right?” Paula sneered. “Well, if she is all right it won’t be because of you.”

  Izzy and Kate looked shocked, but before they could say anything more, Paula had started again.

  “Ted may not be here, but that doesn’t change the fact that Joe Hagan’s at Clevedon Park, does it? It’ll be your fault if Seattle’s found with benzocaine in her system, just like the last horse...”

  “Uh, look, let’s all calm down,” Kate said, not wanting to quarrel openly.

  “Yes, you’re right,” Paula said angrily. “We should calm down. In fact, I’m not standing around arguing with you pair of fools. I’ve got a job to do.”

  And with that, she was gone – disappearing into the crowd.

  “What was all that about?” Kate looked confused. “It was like she was a different person.”

  “I don’t know,” Izzy said, feeling hurt. “Do you think she’s not feeling well, or something? Did you see the way she was sweating?”

  “Yes, her fringe was soaking,” Kate said doubtfully. “But to speak to us like that. I thought she was our friend.”

  Izzy snorted. “We might be younger than her but she didn’t need to talk to us like we were idiots and just what did she mean that it would be our fault if Seattle was found with benzo-” Izzy stopped short. She and Kate looked at each other. “Benzocaine!”

  “But no one’s supposed to know about that drug,” Kate stammered. “No one except for the family. Oh Izzy...”

  Izzy paled as she looked at Kate. “We’ve been barking up completely the wrong tree. We’ve got to get to Seattle – and quick...”

  17

  A NASTY DISCOVERY

  It seemed to take Izzy and Kate an eternity to get from the lawn in front of the grandstand to the stables. Impatiently, they pushed their way through the crowds...through the gate...past the parade ring...until, out of breath, they dashed down the track to the stables.