Charlotte and the Starlet Read Free Page B

them!
    Feathers woke with a start, momentarily losing his
balance. He was forced to flap crazily to regain it. The
sound, he realised with relief as he became fully
awake, had come from outside the trailer and was not
a rifle shot. It had been the sound of a twig snapping.
Feathers looked out to see a skinny man sneaking
through the woods. One glance told Feathers he was
untrustworthy. Beady eyes. Never trust a man with
beady eyes and the shadow of a beard ... especially if
he's sneaking through the woods.

    This walking through woods was tough going. Bobby
much preferred the nice, smooth concrete you got at
places like racetracks. Who wanted trees and leaves
and ... Yuck! His lip curled as he realised he'd walked
right into a spider-web. He clawed it off. It was only
the thought of the money that made him carry on.
Bobby checked his watch. The tranquilliser he had
slipped into the security guard's coffee would have
worked by now. He'd be out like a light. Bobby crept
forward until he was only twenty metres from Leila's
shower. The security guard was passed out. Everything
was going to plan ...
    He stopped. What was that? There seemed to be
some dreadful out-of-tune singing coming from
behind the shower. Was somebody else in with the
nag? Oh no, what was he going to do? Ralph was
going to kill him. He might kill himself if that horrible
racket kept up.

    Luxuriating in the stream of warm water in her
purpose-built horse shower, Leila was imagining that
she was singing like her favourite singer, Kelly
Clarkson. Well, actually, she thought she sang much
better than Kelly. Singing came naturally to Leila.
Maybe she'd put out an album ... anonymously, of
course. Just as she hit the high note, she realised that
she was actually singing. Oops! It was the kind of
thing that could get a girl out of sequins and into a
hospital gown. She clammed up. She'd seen earlier
that her security guard had fallen asleep but you
couldn't be too careful. Somebody else might come by.
    Leila could stay under that warm water all night
but finally the thought of dessert dragged her out. The
caterers did a fabulous chocolate mousse and she
knew exactly when they arrived each evening – eight
minutes from now. She stepped out of the shower and
onto her special warm air-blower, which she could
operate with her hoof.
    Close by, Bobby said a silent prayer. The horrible
screeching had stopped. He parted the bushes and
saw the horse step out by itself onto its dryer. Good,
whoever had been there must have gone. Time for the
next stage of the plan. He reached into his bag, pulled
out a warm pizza in a cardboard box and opened the
lid. He looked in the direction of Leila's shower.
    'Come on, baby,' he softly urged.
    Her mane flowing in the warm air, Leila imagined
her film clip. She'd be galloping along a white beach.
The song would be some rubbish about being in love
in the summer sun.
    Leila suddenly stopped and her eyes flew open. An
aroma had crash-tackled her in the midst of her
reverie. Mouth-watering pepperoni pizza. If there was
one thing Leila couldn't resist, it was pizza. Especially
pepperoni. Her nose told her it was close by. Maybe if
one of the crew had it she could nuzzle him and he'd
feed her a piece? It usually worked.
    Like the children of Hamelin following the Pied
Piper, she left the shower and trotted into the woods,
following the scent.

    From his cage in the trailer, Feathers saw Leila
disappearing into the woods. He screeched at the top
of his voice. 'No, you dumb filly! It's a trap. A trap!'
But even as he shouted, he knew it was hopeless.
Once Leila got pizza in her brain the only thing that
would stop her would be a double-chocolate sundae
with nuts. And right now he didn't have a double-chocolate
sundae with nuts.
    Leila followed the smell. It seemed tantalisingly
close but each time she turned a corner, no pizza.
Finally she emerged into a small clearing. Bingo!
There was a truck with the back down, forming a
convenient walkway to