Scout and the Mystery of the Marsh Ponies Read Free Page A

to make their way through the crowds towards the food stalls.
    Alice wandered along, Scout by her side gently nuzzling her arm. She smiled as she remembered the magical day the advert had appeared in Pony Mad: ‘Dappled grey pony for loan owing to sad circumstances. In need of love and attention. Currently turned out on marshland on the Suffolk coast.’ Alice had persuaded her parents to call the number, just in case it was the same pony she’d fallen in love with on Dragonfly Marsh. To her absolute delight, it was. So Alice and her parents had met the pony’s owner, a Mrs Valentine, at the marsh. Mrs Valentine had explained that she’d had Scout since he was a foal for her daughter, Scarlett. But Scarlett wasn’t well, and Mrs Valentine couldn’t look after both Scout and Scarlett. She couldn’t bring herself to ever sell her daughter’s pony either, though, so a permanent loan seemed the best solution. Alice’s parents hadagreed to it there and then, seeing how deliriously happy it made Alice. Just a few weeks after Rosie’s family inherited Blackberry Farm, Alice excitedly led Scout into his new stable there.
    She bought an ice cream and sat on the grass with the others in the shade of a tall beech tree. The four ponies grazed at the end of their reins as the girls watched Poppy beat the opposition and take her class easily. Tallulah and one of her other greys, Starr Dream, came fifth.
    “I guess we’d better get the ponies back to the farm,” Charlie said, scratching behind Pirate’s ear then tightening his girth, although Dancer made it clear that she quite liked the sweet grass under the tree and wasn’t that keen to go anywhere.
    When she finally raised her head they hopped into their saddles and rode together through the dusty lorry park, towards the exit. They were just a few strides away when a tall, thin woman dressed smartly all in green, with a big hat, blonde hair and huge sunglasses, stepped into their path.
    “Alice…?” she asked softly, smiling as she tipped her glasses down just enough to look over the top. “Alice Hathaway?”
    Alice stopped for a second, staring hard as her eyes widened. It had been over a year since she’d last seen the woman standing in front of her, but she hadn’t changed a bit.
    “Mrs Valentine!” she beamed. She sat up taller in an instant, more pleased than ever that Scout had a red rosette flowing from his bridle. That way Mrs Valentine could see at once how well he was doing and how well she was looking after Scarlett’s pony.
    “You remembered, how sweet,” the woman said warmly in a voice like honey. “I thought I might catch you here. I’d been hearing very good things about this pony so I decided to come and see for myself. He was certainly very impressive earlier.”
    Alice nodded, smiling back.
    “I thought I’d take some pictures of him,”Mrs Valentine purred, patting her camera. “You know, to show Scarlett. She wanted to come today but she couldn’t; she’s still too ill, you see. This is the next best thing. So if you could jump off, get the pony standing nicely square, that’s it. Scarlett will be so happy to see Sunny…”
    As Alice slid out of the saddle she felt her knees suddenly buckle. She hadn’t heard Scout called Sunny for over a year and it was a sharp reminder that he wasn’t really hers. But there was no reason for Mrs Valentine to remember the new name that Alice had given Scarlett’s pony, even though she’d written to tell her. Alice had started calling Scout by that name right from when she’d first seen him on Dragonfly Marsh and he’d trotted into view through the long marsh grasses like a lone adventurer. When she’d found out from Mrs Valentine that his name was Sunny she’d tried using it, but Sunny just hadn’t suited the grey pony at all – it was more of a chestnut kind of name, and Scout had never responded to it anyway.
    Alice gently pushed Scout back a step so that he was standing almost square,