Phantom: One Last Chance Read Free Page A

do you mean Whispering Bridge?” Alice asked. “That’s the one where everyone goes to make wishes! In the summer, the bottom of the stream sparkles with pennies dropped in there.”
    “Yes, that’s the one!” the girl replied, her face lighting up.
    “You’re way off track,” Mia told her, twisting in her saddle and pointing further into the wood. “If you follow the brook just beyond the path you’ll get there, but it takes ages on foot.”
    “There is a short cut,” Alice added, “but it’s a pretty scary ride – we never go that way – far too twisty and hilly, and the path’s always pretty tangled up.”
    “And all the walkers avoid it during the winter anyway,” Rosie said. “The water rises really high, and the rocks around the bank get all slimy and slippery. Seriously dodgy.”
    The girl was still staring into the woods where Mia had pointed, as if she’d drifted into a different world. Then she shivered and looked back at the others. “Well, I guess I’d better try to get back. Only, I’m still kind of lost,” she said shyly. “I don’t suppose you could tell me how to get back to the village from here, could you?”
    “Of course,” Mia smiled. “We’ll take you right the way home.”
    “Oh no, you don’t need to do that,” the girl said quickly. “I don’t want to put you out.”
    “You aren’t,” Rosie said.
    “And it’s really not out of our way,” Alice added, to reassure her. She could sense how lost the girl was, and it had nothing to do with not knowing her way back to the village.
    The girl smiled. “Ok then, thanks.”
    Charlie pulled the reins over Phantom’s head and ran the stirrups up on his saddle.
    “Aren’t you getting back on?” Mia asked, frowning. Charlie never walked anywhere when she could ride.
    “Oh, I thought it would be nicer for…” Charlie looked towards the girl.
    “Neve,” she said quietly.
    “I thought it would be nicer for Neve if I walked with her,” Charlie said, not looking Mia in the eye. Something powerful was stopping her getting back into the saddle; it felt as if a switch inside her had been flicked, and the thought ofit made her freeze. For the first time ever, she was too scared to ride. She just didn’t trust Phantom. She clung onto his reins tightly as he fought against her, scuttling backwards and threatening to rear. Neve glanced over at her.
    “Try loosening your grip a bit,” she suggested “That way you’re not giving your horse anything to fight against.”
    Charlie realised Neve was right – her fingers were locked with cold and fear, and she was rigidly hanging onto the reins. She softened her grip and Phantom shook his head, relaxed and lowered his neck slightly. She looked sideways at Neve, secretly impressed but also kicking herself for looking like a complete novice with her own horse.
    Neve walked with her head down, quietly. Charlie noticed that she kept looking over at Phantom, as if she couldn’t take her eyes off him. But at the same time, it was like she was miles away. They walked on in silence until they came to a fork in the bridleway.
    “I think I’ll take Pirate back now, if that’s okay, Charlie?” Megan asked, still looking a bit wobbly.
    “No probs,” Charlie replied. “I’ll see you back at the yard, Megan.”
    “Are you sure you should be carrying on?” Alice asked, concerned.
    Charlie nodded, not particularly feeling up to another enthusiastic dressage conversation with Megan, let alone having to tell her that she couldn’t take Pirate on loan. Megan turned a reluctant Pirate away from the others and jogged him up the right-hand path.
    “Blackberry Farm, where Rosie lives and where we keep our ponies, is just up there,” Alice told Neve. Neve nodded. “You can always pop round if you come out to the woods again.”
    “Thanks,” Neve replied quietly, “but I’m going back to Ireland straight after Christmas, so I won’t be around for long.”
    “Well, that’s