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end of
the laneway where it opened out into a paddock.
Mrs Crook boosted Hayley onto Ditto's back and held
the stirrup steady while she pushed her foot into it.
    Shelby led the way towards the gate. Once she
was out of earshot, she asked, 'Is your mum always
like that?'
    'Like what?' asked Hayley.
    Shelby hesitated. 'Kind of . . . protective.'
    'I guess so,' Hayley replied with a shrug.
    'My mum wouldn't know the front of a horse from
the back,' Shelby said, giggling.
    Hayley flicked her eyes at Blue, but she didn't say
anything. 'So did you watch McLeod's Daughters the
other night?' she asked Erin.
    Shelby had watched it. It was one of her favourite
shows, and the only one she made an effort to watch
every week. She was glad that she and Hayley had
something in common.
    'Yeah. That's such a cool show,' said Erin.
    'You should come and watch it at my place,' Hayley
said. 'Some of the others usually come over. Do you
know Monica and Kim? They have the stables opposite
mine. A few of the others from Pony Club come too.'
    'That would be fun,' said Erin.
    Shelby wondered if she was included in the invitation.
Hayley hadn't actually looked at her while she
was speaking. She decided to test the waters.
    'What time?' she asked.
    Hayley blinked. 'It's on at seven thirty.'
    That didn't make anything any clearer.
    They made their way through the back paddock
of the property. The grass was tall and yellow, and
whispered as the horses stepped through it. Scraggly
eucalypts were clumped together here and there,
dappling the ground with shade, and providing relief
from the hot morning sun. There were about fifteen
horses congregated around the dam – mostly broodmares
and long-limbed racehorses being spelled between
racing seasons.
    In the distance Shelby could see the riding school
ponies trudging along nose to tail, the beginners on
them clutching onto the front of the saddles. Lindsey,
the girl who lived on the property and was about
Shelby's age, was in the lead. Erin and Hayley waved
to her.
    'Race you to the top of the hill,' said Shelby,
gathering up the reins. She and Erin usually raced up
this hillside.
    'No!' said Hayley. 'Ditto's not warmed up yet.
Mum would kill me if he stretched a muscle.'
    'What about you?' Shelby asked Erin.
    Erin and Hayley exchanged a glance. 'Maybe in a
minute,' she responded.
    'OK,' Shelby said. 'Meet you up there.' She leaned
forward and Blue bounded up the slope.
    She heard a little yelp from behind her, and when
she looked back she saw Ditto hopping up and down
on the spot. Hayley tugged on the reins, trying to
contain him.
    'What are you doing, you idiot?' Hayley yelled.
'You can't just go galloping off up the hill.'
    'Why not?' asked Shelby, turning Blue around and
waiting for them to catch up. She looked at Erin, but
Erin looked away.
    'Because it makes the other horses go berserk.
Don't you know anything?' Hayley snapped.
    'Sorry,' said Shelby. She was surprised. She'd seen
Hayley compete at the Pony Club gymkhanas. Horses
ran around each other all the time there, but that
never seemed to worry Hayley. It was almost as
though out here she was scared.
    They made their way at a sedate pace across
the paddock towards the far side, where it joined
the trails through the gully. Shelby didn't know what
to say so she kept quiet. She saw several logs on
the ground that normally she would have jumped,
but now she was worried about what the other girls
might think.
    Erin and Hayley rode side by side, talking about
different movies that they had watched and about the
horse show that was coming up in a few weeks' time.
    'I was hoping to take Scamp, but I don't think he'll
be back,' Hayley said.
    'I'll have to get Bandit's mane pulled before then,'
Erin said, flicking at it with her hand.
    Shelby hadn't decided whether to go to the show.
She'd gone a few times and been humiliated – coming
home without a single ribbon. Erin had consoled her
by telling her it was because Blue was a paint. 'It's not
your