Stay Well Soon Read Free Page A

might look a bit like the chestnut gelding from that book, The Chestnut Gelding , but smaller. I call him Star because he would look even better if he had a white star on his forehead.
    I brought Star an old apple that has gone squishy. I put the apple on my hand and offer it to him with my hand completely flat so he won’t eat my fingers. He takes the apple and eats it in one bite. His mouth is frothing and some gets on my hand, but I don’t mind. ‘Good boy,’ I say and pat his face. I wish April and Charlotte could see me now. I do so have horse-handling experience.
    I get out my drawing things and sit on a stump. It is even harder to draw a horse when there is a horse in front of me. Star keeps shuffling back and forth so that the angles of his legs keep changing.
    It is already three in the afternoon so I think Charlotte’s pony will definitely be at her house now. I can’t wait to meet her pony. I am pleased for Charlotte because she has wanted a horse for almost as long as I have.
    I don’t think I will ever get a horse because they are so expensive. It’s not just the horse you have to pay for; you have to get currycombs and hay and pay for a farrier to put their shoes on. I want to get a job, but you have to be fourteen to work at the Tender Chook.
    Charlotte has heaps of money because she has a stall at the Captains Hill market. She makes eco-jewellery out of dried fruit peel and eggshells. Her mum helps her. I wanted to buy some earrings from her but Mum said no because number one, they’re a rip-off, and number two, they’re compost.
    I am not satisfied at all with my drawing of Star. It is nowhere near as good as my drawing of riding Atta Girl bareback across Russia.
    Star has gone away from the fence now. I think he knows he’s not going to get any more apples from me today. Good old Star.
    When I get home from visiting Star, Mum is still in her sheep pyjamas on the couch.
    â€˜I thought you were going out tonight,’ I say. ‘I thought Brenda was coming over to look after us.’ I was really looking forward to it because Brenda is fun and lets me have as many chips as I want.
    â€˜I can’t leave Rhys,’ says Mum.
    â€˜But Brenda is a nurse,’ I say. ‘She knows what to do better than you.’
    â€˜Rhys needs me.’
    â€˜Rhys ruins everything.’
    â€˜It’s not Rhys’s fault he’s sick.’
    â€˜If he really is sick.’ I say that last part really quietly.
    â€˜What was that?’
    â€˜Nothing.’ I know she heard me, though, because she looks really mad, so I run to my room and close the door.

2
    Wild Brumby
    Charlotte is staring at the basketball court.
    â€˜What are you looking at?’ Brianna asks her.
    Charlotte sighs. ‘I’m just thinking about Cinnamon.’ Charlotte called her pony Cinnamon because he is light brown like a doughnut.
    Charlotte says she hadn’t known how much having a horse would change her life. She says no-one can understand how it feels unless it happens to them. It is one of life’s great experiences.
    April says Cinnamon settled in really well and was feeling relaxed, she could tell.
    I give Charlotte the card I made. It’s the drawing I did of Star with Welcome Home to Your New Pony! written on the front.
    April says, ‘Why is there a picture of a dog?’
    I just ignore her.
    â€˜Cinnamon’s not a pony, you know,’ says Charlotte. ‘He’s a horse.’
    â€˜I thought he was only fourteen hands?’ I say.
    â€˜What would you know? You haven’t even seen him,’ says Charlotte.
    â€˜If he’s only fourteen hands, he’s a pony.’
    â€˜That is so superficial,’ says April. ‘The way Cinnamon holds himself, he’s definitely a horse.’
    â€˜Yeah,’ says Charlotte. ‘He has the spirit of a horse.’
    â€˜There’s nothing wrong with being a pony,’ I say.