Dreams Read Free Page A

watched him and blew out a scornful breath through his teeth. “Don’t you go getting ideas about things like that. It’s the show ring that matters. Just you remember that.”
    Ellie felt herself really struggling not to say something as Joe responded with a nod, keeping the peace as best he could. “Should Ellie and I go and give these out, Dad?”
    Len grunted. “Yes and no hanging around. We’ve got a busy morning. First off, I want the two of you in the ring on Barney and Picasso—they need some jumping practice. Troy needs to be brushed over and tacked up, as well. I’ll ride him straight after you’ve schooled those ponies; he was messing about yesterday. Right—” he mixed the last feed up and thrust it at them—“get yourselves moving.”
    Ellie and Joe headed out on to the yard.
    “I don’t know how you put up with your dad sometimes!” Ellie muttered under her breath as she finally let out her anger. “He thinks he rules the world!”
    “I guess he does rule this little bit of it here on the yard.” Joe caught her eye. “There’s no point getting wound up about it, Els. Just let it go.”
    “How do you do that, though?” Ellie appealed.
    Joe smiled drily. “Practice.”
    As they walked past the end stable of the courtyard, a black horse flew at the door. They stopped and watched him toss his head angrily. It was a new show horse called Lucifer. He’d arrived the evening before. He was jet-black with just a small white star, but ever since he’d come he’d been squealing at the other horses and threatening to bite anyone who went near his stable.
    “He’s not settled in yet, has he?” said Joe.
    Ellie shook her head. “He’s beautiful though. Do you think he’ll do well in the ring?”
    “He’d better. Or there’s going to be trouble with Jeff Hallett.”
    Lucifer was owned by Jeff Hallett whose company, Equi-Glow, sponsored High Peak Stables. Equi-Glow was a horse-food manufacturer and the sponsorship was worth a lot of money because it provided the yard with free feed. It was really important that Lucifer was successful.
    “So how’s it going to work?” Ellie asked curiously. “Is Mr. Hallett going to ride Lucifer himself?”
    “No. He’s for Anna, Jeff’s daughter. She wants to go in the hack classes, but she’s in college now and so Dad will produce him and train him, and for the shows Anna can’t make, Dad’ll take him in.”
    “He’s wild,” said Ellie, looking at the black gelding who was now weaving from side to side, radiating hostility.
    Joe nodded and glanced around. “Come on. He’ll settle down soon. We’d best not hang around.”
    They went to the barn and emptied the feeds into the ponies’ mangers. Then leaving Joe to wash out the buckets, Ellie headed to the hay store to fetch the ponies’ haynets. Luke was in there with his terrier dog, Pip. Tall and dark-haired, Luke had come to live and work on the yard a year and a half ago when he had left his expensive boarding school. Ellie didn’t know much about Luke’s family life, but Joe had told her that his parents were rich, he hadn’t had the happiest of childhoods and he had spent many of his school breaks at High Peak Stables with Joe and his dad.
    “Morning,” he greeted Ellie.
    “Hi,” she said. Luke was the complete opposite of Joe—swaggering, confident, and seemed to be only interested in shows and chatting up girls. To start with he had really irritated Ellie, but at her first show a few weeks ago he’d given her some good advice and helped her get Picasso ready. He’d seemed in his element there—completely focused on the horses and loving the atmosphere. Ellie had had a brilliant time too, and since then she’d begun to feel there was more to Luke than the brazen act he put on.
    “So what were you and Joe doing out on the yard so early?” he asked curiously as she began to help him sort the haynets into piles, while Pip hunted for mice among the stacked-up bales of hay. “I