Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek Read Free Page B

Book: Hide and Seek Read Free
Author: Alyssa Brugman
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out! Flapping in the breeze! Standards are slipping.'
    Shelby grinned. 'Maybe you should become a judge, Mrs C.'
    They both paused as Mrs Edel drove through the breezeway with the poo vac attached to the quad bike, on her way to collect the manure from Diablo's paddock.
    Once the bike had passed Mrs Crook crouched down to tidy Ditto's fetlocks. 'Maybe I should! And then I'll know for sure that money is changing hands. I've always thought it. Do you know what irks me the most?' She went on before Shelby could answer. 'You see these fat horses fresh out of the paddock – nothing but a quick shampoo, and head to toe in raven oil, and they're winning classes! I saw a Riding Pony mare
    – this is at the Royal, mind you, not some country fair – with cellulite on her quarters like a bowl of porridge. I don't think she'd seen a day of work in her life. Atrocious! And they're winning broad ribbons!'
    'Terrible,' Shelby murmured.
    'That wouldn't happen if I was judging,' Mrs Crook said. 'You know, I might just look into that, Shelby.' Then she had unplugged her clippers and led Ditto back to his yard.
    Shelby was startled out of her recollection by a knock on the bathroom door.
    'Hurry up, Shel! It's time to go,' Connor yelled.
    'In a minute!' she answered.
    Turning her face into the stream of water, Shelby rinsed the last of the shampoo from her hair. She tried to remember who else she had seen around Diablo's yard, but nothing she recalled seemed unusual.
    Soon she was dried and dressing. She slipped a hooded jumper over her head and pulled on her joggers without bothering to retie the laces.
    Her mother had packed an overnight bag while Shelby was at the stables. She had a quick look through, thinking to herself that she was probably old enough to pack her own bag by now. Her mum had put in a skirt. Even though it was a couple of years old, it looked new because she had never worn it.
    Hayley and Erin would never trust their mothers with something as important as their wardrobe. If they were going away they would want to pack make-up too. Shelby still didn't have anything more than lip gloss, and that was more to do with windburn than fashion.
    Erin had just got into perfume, which Shelby thought was the most incredible waste of money. Why pay a hundred dollars for a scent, when a four-dollar deodorant would do a better job? Imagine what you could buy with the other ninety-six!
    Shelby wondered if there was something wrong with her because she never noticed that she smelt or was dirty and didn't care about clothes.
    That term at school, some of the girls in her year had started teasing her. They would whinny when she walked past, make clip-clop noises, or say things about her being immature.
    For Shelby school was just a place she went between being at the stables. And besides, Shelby had dreams for the future and goals to achieve, whereas those mean girls at school spent their time reading magazines about celebrities and obsessing about their hair, or their fingernails, so who was the most immature?
    Still, there were so many girls who seemed care about all that stuff. Maybe she was missing out on something? Oh well , she thought. Even if she was immature she would grow up eventually, and in between times she had bigger things to worry about.
    Shelby grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

6 Aunty Jenny's Trip
    It was squashy in the back seat of the Alfa. It also smelt musty in the wet weather, and with the constant threat that the car might break down Shelby was irritable. She had to sit in the middle between her brothers' car seats. Connor was complaining that he was too big for his booster seat, and Blake was restless and whiney just because he was four.
    Their mother tried to distract them. 'I spy with my little –'
    'Is it a truck?' Shelby interrupted.
    'Well, yes. OK, your turn.'
    'I spy with my little eye, something . . .' Shelby started.
    'Road sign!' Blake yelled.
    '. . . starting with D,' finished Dad.
    'Dad!' Blake

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