Ponies at Owls' Wood (11 page)

This was a long speech for her father and it made Liam get up off the sofa and sit at the kitchen table in shock. Talia came in, too, and seemed more cheerful than usual.
Must have a new boyfriend
, thought Hannah.

So between them they made a grand fry up, with sausages, bacon, eggs and oven chips. It was great, but Hannah couldn't help feeling as if it was the last meal of her life. Did this big dinner mean that they'd all stay up late so that she wouldn't be able to get out of the house?

‘You're a bit quiet Poppet,' said her dad. ‘What have you been up to today?'

‘She's been at the field, of course,' said Talia, ‘the same as every day. Are you going to tell us what's keeping you up there for so much of the time? I was talking to Mrs Berkeley in the shop today and she asked me whether you'd started taking liveries. Said she'd seen another pony in your field. Is that right?'

Hannah knew that Talia had saved these questions for when their dad was there to have maximum effect. The kitchen went quiet as everyone looked at her.

‘What's this?' asked her dad. ‘How have you got another pony Hannah?'

Hannah shot a pleading look at Talia, who smiled.

‘Not really,' she said, ‘well, just one. But I'm trying to find out where he's from and I've been asking around my friends.' This had a bit of truth somewhere in it. She couldn't think of any way to change the subject and, for once, the full glare of parental interest was focussed on her.

‘What's been going on?' pressed her dad.

‘Nothing much. It's just that after I put my advert on the gate a new pony was left in the field with Polly. But it's not a problem. He's helping to eat the grass and I'm sure someone will come and claim him soon.' She tried to sound offhand.

‘How odd. Are you sure that's all you know? What's Mrs Walters got to say about it? We only pay rent for one pony at the moment, surely?'

‘Yes, well, it'll all be sorted out soon,' said Hannah, trying to sound confident. ‘Mrs Walters never comes up to the field at this time of year as she gets hay fever, and anyway, she doesn't like ponies. She just lets the field because her husband used to keep sheep in it and left it to her when he died. I shouldn't think she'll care if there's an extra pony in there for a while.'

Her father was just about to ask another question and Hannah was beginning to panic, when she was saved by the phone. It was her mum.
Oh thank heavens,
she thought. Of course she wanted to hear her mum's voice, and was more than grateful for the timely interruption, but she had also realised, since meeting Jess, that having a mother, even a singing one, was a good thing.

While her mother spoke to the others Hannah got a bit of a story prepared, and it wasn't entirely untrue. So when it was her turn to speak, she let them all overhear what she had to say.

‘It's not a big deal Mum,' she said as she finished telling her version of Jack appearing. ‘But we're really worried about Delia. When are you coming home?'

‘Not yet love,' said her mum. ‘It's a five week tour and we've only done the first fortnight. But it'll soon pass. It sounds as if you're busy anyway.'

‘Sort of,' said Hannah.

By the time her mother rang off the rest of the family had forgotten Hannah and her ponies, and she decided to go up to her room as quickly as possible, out of the danger zone.

I miss Mum, she thought, but I'm glad she's not here at the moment. I need to get tonight over, and we need to find Delia. And not lose Polly. And not get murdered by Pete.

At 11 o'clock Hannah opened her bedroom door and listened. Her father's snores were audible from the landing so she had no worries there. She could hear Liam's computer game giving out its steady bleeping from the lounge, and it sounded as if Talia was soaking in the bath with the radio on. Hannah made sure her own bedroom light was off and her door shut, and then she crept downstairs and out of the back door with her rucksack.

She got her bike and pushed it as quietly as she could down the path. She'd thoughtfully undone the gate latch earlier, so that nobody would hear it click. The night was very dark and it felt as if the rain was starting again. Light drizzle – the sort that soaked you through. Conditions couldn't have been worse, although the darkness might turn out to be helpful. Hannah took a deep breath and started off up the hill. She knew every inch of the way, so the fact that she didn't dare put her bicycle light on was not a problem. What was a problem were her nerves.
I must keep calm
, she told herself.

As she approached the top of the hill, Hannah looked anxiously at Tom's house in the hope that he and his mother might have got back from London, but apart from one car and a solitary light in one of the upstairs windows, there was no sign of life. That must be his dad, she thought. How different it would have been if Tom had been there to meet her. In the field, Jack was lying down, but Polly was standing by the gate, staring out into the night. Hannah didn't have time to stop and talk to her, but picked up head collars, some rope and, as an afterthought, a pair of strong scissors. These she stuffed into the rucksack on her back.

‘We'll talk later,' she said softly to Polly, ‘wish me luck!' But Polly simply wandered off in search of a late night snack.

Hannah set off down the lane towards the Steeple Chase. She cycled quickly but twice on the way saw headlights approaching in the distance and had to drag her bike behind a hedge until the cars passed. Periodically the rain eased, the clouds cleared and she could see well, but Hannah knew that at those times she could also be seen.

It was close on midnight when she pushed up the hill approaching High Farm. It took a little while to hide her bike – whatever happened, it mustn't be found until all this was over. She moved it deep into the undergrowth where the remains of this year's cow parsley had grown tall and strong and would provide good cover.

She looked down at the wood from the top of the path. It appeared as a dark mass, silent and forbidding. She ran as quickly as she could, the wet grass soaking her trainers and the bottoms of her jeans. Yet as the path led to the edge of the wood, she realised that it was not silent at all but full of scrabbling and rustling. The trees dripped water onto the grass and, although there was no wind, an occasional waft of a breeze set them stirring. As Hannah entered the full darkness of the woods, she knew she had never felt so frightened in her life. She thought she heard banging in the distance, then realised that the sound came from her own heart. Where was Jess?

Hannah pushed on and reached the point where her friend was to meet her. The log they had sat on to talk now glistened with damp moss, but Hannah nevertheless sank weakly onto it, trying to still her trembling legs. There was no Jess. Hannah prayed that she would soon come. She tried to picture Grace, Cyn and Pete watching Liam's DVD safe in the caravan, but then remembered the title of the film they were watching.
The Night of the Living Dead!
Terrible enough, but it wasn't the living dead that scared her, it was the very alive Pete, and the memory of his hand on her shoulder.
Oh please let him stay where he was!

It seemed an age that she sat there. Above her in the trees she heard the occasional flapping of wings.
Just owls,
she told herself.
That's why it's called Owls' Wood and not Vampires' Wood, or Axe Murderers' Wood.
She tried to direct her thoughts to the rescue they were about to undertake. That was the important thing. She had to stop being such a wimp and concentrate on the task ahead.
Think about the ponies.
She made a huge effort to be brave.
I'll kill Tom for not being here,
she thought.
At least I could have died in company.
She tried closing her eyes but that was worse.

At last, she heard light footsteps hurrying through the trees and Jess appeared, out of breath and very wet.

‘I've been standing outside the caravan trying to make sure they'll be staying there,' she said. ‘Pete's been back to the house once already looking for more whisky, so the film can't be that good. I heard him open the door to my bedroom but I lay still like I was asleep. I don't think we've got much time. He might get bored any minute and come down to check the horses or something. And he's been on his mobile again. Something's going on. Have you got head collars? I've found four, but the foals won't need them – they'll just follow. I hope. But where's the boy you said was coming?'

‘He couldn't come,' said Hannah. ‘His mum took him out and they didn't get back in time.' She showed Jess her head collars and the rope and scissors. ‘We'll have to manage with just us.'

‘D'you think we'd be better riding them than leading?' asked Jess. ‘What do you reckon? If we each rode one of the mares and led two others, and let the foals follow, I think it would be easier than trying to lead three each in the dark. We'll have to go bareback.'

Hannah thought this was a good idea. She didn't say that she wasn't that good at riding bareback.
I'll just have to become good quickly,
she thought. Now that there were two of them she felt much better, and ready to risk all to get the ponies out of that dreadful shed and away to safety. She stopped thinking about what might happen next and concentrated on what was happening now.

The two girls ran through the trees and down between the scrubby bushes. The building where the ponies were hidden was standing damp and quiet, and very dark. It was as if they themselves were tense and waiting for rescue. Jess had got the door unlocked and had put head collars on four of the ponies. Hannah put on the last two. They clipped lead ropes on and Hannah was glad she'd thought about scissors, as they had to improvise reins for the two mares they'd chosen to ride. Jess assured Hannah that she'd sat on both of them and they'd been fine.

‘I don't think we should mount until we're out of this bit of wood,' said Hannah. ‘We'll need to get onto the track where it gets wider.' She led the way with her mare and a couple of the others on long lengths of rope. Jess followed with the same arrangement. They noticed that one of the ponies, a gelding of about 14 hands, was very jumpy and kept nudging the pony in front. The foals were crowding in, determined not to get left behind. They crashed around through the undergrowth and Hannah was afraid they might panic.

It was a confused group that emerged onto the track. The ponies had spent days without proper food and they were weak and in poor condition. Although they'd been kept indoors, they were dirty from lying on damp straw and, of course, Pete had never thought of mucking them out. Now, Hannah and Jess helped each other by holding ropes and improvised reins as, one by one, they jumped as gently as they could onto the backs of the two mares. Grasping a collection of lead ropes and hoping for the best, they set off up the track.

They didn't speak. Hannah thought that the ponies seemed to know they were being taken somewhere better. She was surprised that they didn't just make for the nearest grass to stop and eat, but all followed the ridden mares. Every step was one away from Pete and towards safety, but at any second it could all go wrong. Glad of the clouds that helped them remain invisible from the farm, Hannah and Jess pressed on.

From the track they turned right onto the lane, and a new danger. If a car came it wouldn't be able to get past; with eight ponies they were taking up all the space. The distance was only a couple of miles, but to Hannah the lane appeared to go on forever. She wondered how Jess was feeling and looked over at her in the dark as they rode side by side with the other ponies bunched up around them. Jess's thin face looked set and determined, and Hannah thought her very brave to be doing this against the terrible Pete.

‘Be ready to dodge into a field if a car comes,' Jess said. ‘I don't know what else we can do. They're not going to walk in single file.'

That was an understatement. Although the mares were well behaved, the rest, and the foals in particular, changed position in the group time and again, and Hannah found it took all her strength and skill just to hang onto the ropes, and not get them tangled up. But they were doing OK. They were still together, and they saw no cars. The lane was dark, but their eyes by now had adjusted and eventually, as they came up the hill, they could make out Tom's house and the outline of the trees around Hannah's field in the distance. Hannah began to feel that they might make it after all. It was tempting to try and hurry the ponies but she knew this would be unlikely to work. In another ten minutes they were nearing the field. Then Jess stopped.

‘Oh God,' she whispered. ‘Can you see what I see?'