Charlotte and the Starlet 2 (17 page)

Charlotte turned, alarmed. The man on the trail
bike was raising the gun to shoot.

What happened next was a blur. From out of the
bushes came a dark shape that pounced like a panther,
leaping at the bike. The rider gave a startled yelp and
lost control. The shape cleared the tumbling bike
and landed with grace.

'Warrior!' cried Todd in delight.

The man had fallen hard on his side and he and his
bike slid hard before crashing into trees. Warrior
pulled to a halt and twisted back to his master.

Todd was off Leila in a flash and up onto Warrior.

'Nice work,' neighed Leila in horse, ashamed that
Warrior was seeing her in this state. Why was it you
always ran into stallions when you looked your worst?

'You too,' offered Warrior.

Charlotte and Todd knew what the other was
thinking. They sent the horses galloping towards the
road.

Leila found it so much easier without the weight
of a second person. She and Warrior pounded side-by-side
through bush. It was almost fun.

Until the sound of a pursuing trail bike reached
them. Obviously they still had company. This was
unfamiliar territory. Warrior and Leila thundered on,
the noise growing as the bike gained little by little.
They burst through a strand of saplings and hit open
ground blitzed by a recent bushfire. Bad news. This
would help the trail bike.

Charlotte saw the gully too late. Without warning
the ground broke suddenly and deep – the gap seemed
the length of a cricket pitch. Todd saw it at the same
time. He roared and urged Warrior into a jump.

Charlotte only had time to say, 'Fly, Leila.'

The rescue and frantic gallop had taken the last of
Leila's reserves. She was busted, spent. There was no
way she could make it across that gully. Not even if
her life depended on it. But it wasn't just her life at risk
here, it was Charlotte's. Charlotte, who had come
without question to rescue her from criminals in the
deepest and wildest of country. Leila could not let
Charlotte down. She strained every sinew of her body
to propel herself forward. She felt the earth go from
under her.

She was flying now. Her life seemed to dawdle past
in little cameos. Here she was, a small foal with her
handsome father doting upon her. Then tragedy,
her father dead in a movie accident, her mother
forced overseas to earn money and Leila alone with
nothing but a television set. A walk-on appearance in
Charmed,
stardom, horsehoes in wet cement, arclights
at premieres, Feathers cracking jokes in her gigantic
trailer, Joel Gold and Tommy Tempest worshipping
the ground she walked on, a front cover of
Variety,
a
kidnapping to Australia, meeting Charlotte and ...

Whoa! It was a horribly long way below. The
ground came up towards her fast.

Without a bridle or saddle, Charlotte held on to
Leila for dear life. She whispered into her ear.

'Love you.'

She couldn't stop her eyes from shutting.

Thump.

She opened to find they had landed safely. Todd and
Warrior were already sprinting away. The sound of the
trail bike leaving solid ground and buzzing across
the gully reached her. She swung just in time to see the
front tyre hit the lip of the ridge this side. There wasn't
enough traction. The bike plummeted.

Charlotte urged Leila forward. They rode as hard as
they could for another twenty minutes.

'I think we're safe,' ventured Todd eventually,
cutting Warrior back to a canter.

Charlotte supposed it depended on your definition
of safe. Safe from the illegal loggers maybe, but by
now there was every chance her absence had been
registered back at Thornton Downs.

'I'm hungry,' was all Charlotte could manage.

'Tell me about it,' mumbled Leila under her breath.
'My stomach is roaring like a lion with toothache.'

Todd, who was up ahead, turned back.

'You say something?'

'Just mumbling to myself,' smiled Charlotte. Her
face froze. Headlights were powering towards them
fast. She and Todd swapped looks and Todd shot off
into the bush on Warrior. Charlotte tried to send Leila
after them.

'I'm sorry, Charlotte, I'm done. I've got nothing in
the tank.'

Now Charlotte could see the outline of the vehicle.

'A good thing that's a ranger then.'

The truck pulled up and a young man in a ranger's
uniform jumped out.

'I'm guessing you're Charlotte Richards.'

'Hey, I get top billing here,' protested Leila.
Fortunately it was too dark for the ranger to see.

'Sorry?'

Charlotte covered.

'I was just thanking my stars. We thought it was the
illegal loggers come to get us. To-oddd,' she hollered.
'It's safe. It's the ranger.'

A moment later Todd and Warrior appeared out of
the dark.

'You kids must have had quite an adventure.'

Todd said, 'We'll tell you about it some other time.
You had better call in help before they get away.'

Hannah stared at the clock, which didn't seem to have
moved. It was three a.m. and she had not heard
anything from Charlotte. Dare she wait until morning?
What if it had all gone wrong? She would not be
able to live with herself. No, she had to act now. Just
as she was about to swing out of bed there was a tap
on her door.

'Hannah? It's Tara.'

Tara was one of the girls in the next room.

'What is it?'

'I've got your sister on the phone.'

Hannah leaped out of bed and pulled the door open
on a drowsy Tara.

'Thanks, Tara.'

The girl waved her away.

'You can give me the phone back in the morning.'
She stumbled back to bed. Hannah shut the door.

'Charlotte? Where are you?'

Charlotte was sitting on the step of the ranger's
cabin at the park entrance, enjoying the best toasted
muffin ever. She wasn't getting to eat much of it, as
Leila would take a massive chomp every time she
went to take a bite, but it was still the best. Using the
ranger's satellite phone, Charlotte quickly told
Hannah her news.

'But what about at Thornton Downs?'

'So far, so good,' Hannah reassured her. 'Emma
suspects something but I've managed to thwart her.
Strudworth is still away. I can't believe you were
locked in a cabin with Todd Greycroft. From what I've
heard about him, you were born lucky.'

A little while ago she wouldn't have thought of
herself as fortunate but now, as she stroked Leila's
neck, she was inclined to agree.

'I had better go,' she said, noting an ambulance
slowly pulling out of the park with what she knew to
be the two trail-bike riders. From what the ranger had
said, they had both sustained broken bones.

'When will you be back?'

'Maybe dawn. Just depends. Todd's giving a
statement to the police and then I have to. But don't
say anything to anybody.'

'I won't. I'll sleep better now.'

They rang off. Leila gulped down another muffin.

'Hey, kid, sorry I kicked up a fuss about Hannah
before. I was jealous. I admit it.'

'You know I would never let you down, don't you?'

'I know.'

'You need a vet?'

'I need food. A little Korean massage wouldn't go
astray either. And a pedicure. My hooves look like
a Clydesdale's.'

A commotion drew their attention to where a
group of police were loading a handcuffed Pat, Reno
and Jimmy into a police van. Reno was talking loudly.

'You guys drugged me.'

Pat yelled, 'We did not.'

Reno snapped back, 'So. The horse talked, did it?'

The rest of the conversation was lost as the door
was shut on them. Todd emerged from the cabin.

'Your turn.'

Charlotte stood up.

'Thanks again. For everything.'

'You would have done the same for me.'

Leila watched as Charlotte moved inside. She liked
Todd. It was good he and Charlotte were friends. She
felt hot breath on her neck, turned and saw Warrior.

'Ah, the cavalry,' she quipped in horse.

'How are you doing?' He had a deep, masculine
voice.

'I'm fine, thanks for asking.'

'I was worried you weren't going to make that jump
back there.'

Leila re-ran his words through her head.

'Excuse me, did you say you were
worried
?'

That had to mean he fancied her.

'You heard me.'

Warrior moved off towards Todd. Leila got a little
spring in her step. So, Warrior liked her. Way to go, girl.

'See, here are the rules. Section 2 paragraph 1.3: "It is
compulsory for JOES to attend all educational classes.
Failure to do so without permission will result in
expulsion from the squad."'

Mr Graham squinted at the lettering that was being
pushed so close to his eyeball by Emma Cross that it
was just a blur.

'I'm aware of the rules.'

'Then you'd best act on them.'

They were in the hallway outside Mr Graham's
room. He had found Emma dressed and waiting for
him, literally at the crack of dawn.

Emma continued. 'I believe Charlotte Richards has
been absent.'

'I saw her yesterday.'

Emma raised an eyebrow.

'Did you? Would you swear that in a court of law?
Perhaps all you saw was what Hannah Weston wanted
you to see.'

Now that he thought about it, he wouldn't be able
to swear that it wasn't some ruse. Caroline Strudworth
was not yet back from the city, which meant it all
rested on his shoulders.

'Very well.'

He strode down the hallway, Emma falling in
beside him. If what the girl said was correct, it would
be most unpleasant. Charlotte Richards was a particularly
gifted horsewoman and she had lost her mount
through no fault of her own. However, rules were
rules. The money that financed the JOES came from a
private bequest from a Mr Thomas Abernathy, who
had personally written the unbreakable rules into the
deed of the grant. They stopped outside the door of
the Trigger room and knocked.

'Hannah? Charlotte?'

Inside, Hannah jumped at the sound of Mr
Graham's voice. Charlotte had not yet returned.
Hannah had not counted on him visiting so early and
had not even taken the trouble to stage a fake
Charlotte in bed. Was there time now?

'Open up, Hannah.'

No. The game was up. With shaking hands she opened
the door. There stood a serious Mr Graham with a
smiling Emma. Hannah might have known that where
there was a problem she would find Emma Cross.

'How's Charlotte feeling?' Emma asked, as if butter
wouldn't melt in her mouth.

'Um ...'

Mr Graham entered the room.

'Where is she?'

Hannah tried one last lie.

'Actually, she's just in the bathroom.'

Stupid, Hannah. Stupid. He's going to wait.

There was a knock on the door. It was Miss Batt.

'Mr Graham, Miss Strudworth is on the phone.'

Mr Graham waved a finger at Hannah.

'I want to speak to Charlotte.' He turned on his heel.

Emma bounced on her toes, and whispered, 'She's
going to take you down with her.'

For the second time in as many days, Hannah
slammed the door in Emma's face. She was about to
throw herself down on her bed in despair when she
looked out of the window and saw, to her amazement,
Charlotte riding Leila towards the stables. She must
have got a lift with Todd to Milthorp and ridden crosscountry
back to Thornton Downs. Hannah still had
Tara's phone. She dialled frantically.