Dreams Read Free Page B

saw you bringing Solo in.”
    She nodded. “Joe had just been joining-up with him.”
    Luke’s eyes glinted with humor. “Oh, I see— horse-whispering .”
    Ellie felt a flash of irritation. “Don’t just dismiss something when you know nothing about it! You’re as bad as Uncle Len.”
    “Me? Never,” Luke protested. “I just don’t see why you want to mess around with things like that. Len’s ways work. He’s won enough in the ring.”
    Ellie bristled. “It’s not just about winning!”
    Luke raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t it?”
    “No!”
    He gave her an amused look. “Say what you like, Ellie, but you like to win too. I know you do. I saw it at that last show we went to. And you know there’s no point doing stuff like join-up here. You’ll never convince Len to use horse-whispering ways. I mean, can you imagine him chatting to a horse before it went into the ring—what’s he going to say? ‘Come on, Picasso, I’ll give you a carrot if you do a great gallop?’”
    “See, you don’t know anything about it!” Ellie said hotly. “Horse-whispering isn’t about actually whispering to horses. It’s about listening to them, reading their body language and—”
    She broke off as she saw Luke’s broad grin. “Gotcha!”
    Ellie let out an exclamation of annoyance. Of course Luke knew perfectly well what horse-whispering was about even if he chose not to try it. He had just been winding her up, refusing to take things seriously as always. “Oh, you…” She swung around angrily to pick up three haynets to take to the ponies. As she did so, she caught her foot in a long piece of bale string. She would have gone flying if Luke hadn’t stepped forward and grabbed her just in time. He steadied her.
    “Have a good trip?” he inquired.
    Ellie flushed and pulled her arm away, embarrassed. Just then, a pretty girl with straightened blonde hair and lashings of dark eyeliner came in. It was Sasha, the junior groom on the yard, and Luke’s girlfriend for the last four weeks.
    “There you are,” she said to Luke. “Didn’t you hear me calling you?”
    “Sorry, babe. I was just…” Luke glanced at Ellie and grinned. “Just helping Ellie out.”
    Sasha immediately gave Ellie a suspicious, narrow-eyed look.
    Oh, puh–lease! Ellie thought, almost laughing out loud at the thought she would be anything like Sasha and fawn all over Luke for his attention.
    “I’m taking these to the ponies.” Ignoring the older girl’s death-ray stare, she grabbed as many haynets as she could carry.
    “Watch your step, Ellie!” Luke called innocently as she left the hay store.
    Ellie had to bite back her laugh. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d made her smile—his ego wouldn’t be able to cope! Shaking her head, she carried the haynets down the yard.

Chapter Three
    THE MORNING PASSED IN a bustle of activity as the horses were groomed and exercised, and the stables mucked out. As well as Luke, the three grooms worked full-time on the yard: Stuart, an ex-jockey in his forties, was the yard manager; Helen, his girlfriend, was the senior groom; and Sasha was the junior groom. Ellie and Joe helped whenever they weren’t at school. The Easter holidays had just started, so Ellie knew they could expect to be on the yard from dawn until dusk, often longer.
    Len’s standards were exacting. He never failed to let anyone know if a horse they brought out to be ridden was in a state below his expectations. The yard was swept twice a day, tack cleaned every time it was used, stables bedded down with thick beds of clean straw or shavings, and the feed and water buckets always scrubbed. Anyone who cut corners or was caught not working would be shouted or even sworn at. Len was tireless himself and he wouldn’t tolerate laziness or slackness.
    Despite her uncle’s brusqueness and temper, Ellie enjoyed working on such a professional yard. It was hard work but exciting, and the horses were amazing to