Star Dancer Read Free

almost – made himself believe he was one of them.
    I’ll come back again, Ger promised himself. No matter what.
    I’ll come back again tomorrow and see Star Dancer.

3 – An Awful Nightmare
    ‘ WHO WAS THAT BOY YOU WERE TALKING TO ?’ Anne asked Suzanne as they fastened Star Dancer’s head collar to the crossties. With a rubber curry comb, Suzanne began rubbing away the damp mark on his back where the saddle had been. ‘Just a boy,’ she said. ‘He’s called Ger Casey.’
    ‘One of the grooms? He looked a bit young.’
    ‘I don’t think he works here.’
    Star Dancer twisted his neck around so he could nudge Suzanne with his nose. The instructor frowned. ‘Have you been giving him sugar again? You shouldn’t do that, Suzanne, I’ve told you. It makes him beg and that’s a bad habit.’
    ‘But he loves it. And he’s been good.’
    ‘I know. Just remember to reward him with a pat instead. Giving sugar to horses makes some of them start biting, trying to get more.’
    But Dancer wouldn’t bite, Suzanne thought to herself. She waited until she thought Anne was looking the other way, then took a lump of sugar from her pocket and slipped it to him.
    ‘I saw that,’ Anne said sternly. ‘Suzanne, I’m ashamed of you. You did something after I told you not to, and that’s not honest, is it?’
    Suzanne felt the colour rise to her cheeks. ‘I … I s’pose not. I’m sorry.’
    ‘Sorry you got caught, you mean. Listen here to me. It’s important to be honest, Suzanne. Horses are very sensitive andthey pay a lot of attention to people. They can always tell if you aren’t honest, and they won’t trust you.’
    ‘I won’t do it again,’ Suzanne said, embarrassed. She wanted Star Dancer to trust her always.
    Anne went off to talk with the parents of one of her other students and Suzanne began grooming Dancer. They both enjoyed it when she rubbed his muscles firmly with the rubber curry comb, then brushed him with long, sweeping strokes until his coat shone. With her fingers, she gently separated the strands of his black mane and tail, then brushed them too. Bending over, she lifted each of his feet in turn and scraped out the insides with a hoof pick, watching for small stones that could make him go lame. As a final touch she wiped his eyes and nostrils with a damp sponge. Then she put his lightweight rug on him and left him in his loose box with a bucket of fresh water and a net of fragrant hay.
    By then the morning was over. There were no other riders left in the barn. Only the grooms remained, working over their charges. But Suzanne groomed Star Dancer herself at shows. Anne was pleased. ‘You’ll learn a lot more about your horse that way,’ she had told the girl.
    As Suzanne left Dancer’s box, she almost bumped into Brendan Walsh. A thin, red-faced man who always wore a wool cap, Brendan was the stable manager at the stables where Dancer was kept. ‘Oh Suzanne, I was looking for you,’ he said. ‘Don’t suppose you’d have time to groom some ponies for me later, would you? We’re a bit shorthanded at this show. Especially tomorrow, with so many of our riders going in the hunter classes.’
    ‘I’ll have to ask my dad tonight,’ Suzanne said.
    ‘Ah sure, he won’t mind.’
    ‘My parents made me promise not to work around any horses but Dancer without checking with them first,’ Suzanne explained.
    Brendan nodded. Trying to keep the child safe, they were, and no harm in that. ‘Ask away so,’ he said. ‘Tell me in the morning what they say.’
    Suzanne left the stable to get a hamburger for her lunch, then ate it slowly while she watched some of the pony classes. She remembered when she thought it would be the most wonderful thing in the world to have a pony. Now she had a horse, and it was wonderful. Except …
     
    Meanwhile, Ger was making his way home. He knew he was going in the right direction when he began seeing more boarded-up windows and more rubbish in the road. He