Ponies at Owls' Wood Read Online Free Page A

it all quickly. ‘I’m going to go to the Steeple Chase again tomorrow,’ she told him, ‘but this time I’ll go round by the wood and try and look from the back of High Farm without that man noticing me. I’ll go on my bike.’
    â€˜I don’t think you should,’ said Tom at once. ‘He was horrible.’
    â€˜I don’t care,’ said Hannah, ‘I’m positive he’s hiding something. And someone’s put that pony in here to keep him safe, I’m sure of it. So I’m going again. Then if I get something more to go on I’ll do what you say and ring the police.’
    â€˜If you must, I’ll come with you,’ said Tom, ‘but you’ll have to leave it till Thursday. My mum’s sister is ill and we’re going to see her tomorrow. I can’t come until the next day.’
    â€˜Well,’ Hannah was doubtful, ‘I don’t want to wait too long. I’ll see in the morning. But thanks for the offer.’
    â€˜I definitely think you should wait for me,’ said Tom again.
    â€˜Don’t fuss,’ said Hannah as she got her bike to leave.
    â€˜And make sure you tell your dad about that creature,’ said Tom. ‘And think about ringing the police.’
    â€˜Yes, sir,’ she called back as she cycled away.

    Later that day her father came home in a good mood, but Hannah had no intention of telling him about Jack, or her plan to try and find out more about the horses at High Farm. She didn’t want him getting worried and telling her not to go to the Chase. He’d probably just ring up the police anyway, and she wasn’t ready for that. The arrival of Jack had made things much more complicated.
    â€˜Hey!’ she said as he came into the kitchen, ‘you’ve been shopping!’ The kitchen floor was strewn with empty carrier bags and the worktops were covered with jars, tins and boxes.
    â€˜Wicked!’ She gave her dad a kiss and for a few minutes forgot all her anxieties. Food! She took three packets of Hula Hoops up to her room, and hoped someone would do some cooking soon.

4
    Jess
    On that same day, Jessica Collier had woken up feeling scared. She had never directly crossed her aunt’s boyfriend Pete before, and her former certainty that he wouldn’t notice a missing pony out of so many seemed like wild optimism in the bright light of day. The sparrows were singing cheerily outside her window as if her worry was no concern of theirs. Even the photo of her mum and Auntie Cyn laughing on the beach in Norfolk, taken two years before her mother had had her accident, failed to cheer her as it usually did.
    Jess knew she’d acted impulsively. She’d seen Hannah’s notice the evening before when her aunt had persuaded her, with some difficulty, to bike down to West Brook village and see whether or not Pete’s van was parked in the pub car park. It hadn’t been, but on the way back she’d had to get off her bike and push, and the red paint on the field notice had caught her attention.
    Had what she’d done been such a good idea?
    Fearing that if she didn’t get up as early as usual Pete might notice and come and call her, Jess decided to dress and go downstairs. The best thing might be to say she was going round to her gran’s caravan for breakfast and then stay out of the way until he’d been down to give hay to the ponies. Then she would know the worst. She was surprised, however, to find him sitting at the kitchen table looking as if he’d had good news. Someone must have given him some money, she thought. It appeared that he’d already taken the hay, and he certainly didn’t look like a man who’d lost a coloured cob. She began to relax a little.
    â€˜Morning Jess,’ he said as he saw her. ‘The kettle’s boiled if you want some tea. Cyn’s gone back to bed with a headache. She says would you look in on her