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manoeuvre!'
    'Yeah,' Shelby gasped. 'I'm glad this saddle didn't slip. I'm not quite sure how I did it, but it's a good thing I did!'

5 Packing a Bag
    By the time the girls arrived back at the stables, Shelby's father was waiting to pick her up. Shelby sighed. She had forgotten that her family was going to visit her Aunty Jenny for the Easter weekend. Shelby was fond of her great-aunt, but she would much rather be staying with her friends, especially now that there was an emergency.
    'Can I stay at Lindsey's instead?' she asked.
    'Not a chance,' her father replied as he ushered her towards the car under his umbrella.
    'You don't understand, Dad. They need me! Diablo is gone. It's the biggest catastrophe ever.'
    'Honey, major catastrophes are an alarmingly frequent occurrence with you. I'm sure they'll make do.'
    Shelby rolled her eyes and waved to Lindsey with a regretful smile.
    'You know, Shelby, I worry about you,' her father said, as they turned out of the driveway. 'This horse thing has been an obsession for so long now. Shouldn't you be boy-crazy by now? Shouldn't I be chasing young men away with garden implements and forbidding you to go on dates with them?'
    'I'm going to have horses forever. Even when I'm in my fifties.'
    'That old, huh?'
    When they reached home Shelby's mother had their bags ready by the door. Her two younger brothers, Connor and Blake, were wrestling on the lounge room floor.
    'Oh, Shel, you'll have to jump in the shower,' her mother said. 'Be quick though. With this rain the traffic is going to be murder.'
    'What? Why?'
    'Because you're covered in mud and you stink like a stable floor,' her father replied. He pinched his nose. 'I didn't want to say anything while I was within striking range.'
    Shelby touched her cheek and was surprised to find flecks of mud had dried there. She sniffed her sleeve. It did have a rather horsey aroma. She hadn't noticed.
    The hot water beat against her shoulders and she breathed in the steamy air. Shelby squeezed some shampoo into the palm of her hand. Feeling was coming back into her toes now that they were warmer.
    Shelby worried about Diablo's disappearance. Her mind kept returning to it, like fingers to an itchy bite.
    Diablo was different to the other horses on the property – being the only stallion. Mrs Edel was fanat-ical about safety. His routine was upheld with strict consistency. His diet was monitored. Shelby weighed each scoop. His enclosure was out of bounds for everyone except the Edels and Shelby. It was almost like a church.
    She closed her eyes and tried to remember if she had seen anyone suspicious at the stables during the week, but she couldn't remember anyone out of the ordinary.
    Mrs Crook had been anxious and snappy. Hayley Crook and her horse Ditto were competing at the Royal Easter Show. The gelding had been staying in a box on site at Homebush, but Mrs Crook brought him back in the float on Good Friday afternoon for some peace and quiet in familiar surroundings.
    Shelby had stopped to talk to her in the breezeway behind Diablo's stable, where Mrs Crook was using her electric clippers.
    Ditto had nosed at the feed bucket in Shelby's hand, but it was empty.
    'Sorry there, fella. That was Diablo's tucker. You missed out.'
    'The mud is terrible,' Mrs Crook complained. 'By the time they get in the ring they're soaked and a mess. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it. And people are so rude in the practice arena. Hayley has a sour look on her face half the time. I'm ready to give the whole business away, Shelby.' Mrs Crook frowned with con-centration while she ran the clippers over Ditto's wither. 'You should have seen the led classes. There was a Galloway with its mane hogged. Hogged!' She pursed her lips. 'Pink ribbons, bows and sequins all over the place. It's like a circus! There's no sense of tradition any more. I remember when it was all plain brown leather. That was when it was actually about the quality of the horses. One girl had her hair