Stormchaser and the Silver Mist Read Online Free Page B

coincidence,” Charlie frowned.
    Mia slid the paper nearer and read out loud to the other girls. “It says here that it looks like seven horses and ponies at Mrs Maplethorp’s farm escaped after a gate was opened deliberately. Three of the ponies got onto one of the main village roads, causing chaos. The police have asked all horse owners to doublecheck that their gates are securely locked.”
    “Mrs Maplethorp’s the local Pony Club District Commissioner, isn’t she?” Charlie asked.
    Rosie grimaced. “She’s a real old dragon.”
    Mia carried on reading. “She said that she didn’t notice anything odd, but she thinks she heard a powerful motorbike roaring away at some point during the night.”
    “They heard a motorbike at Long Lane as well,” Alice pointed out, leaning over Mia’s shoulder to look at the paper, “it says in here.”
    “Ooh, what if those horses in the field next door belong to Mrs Maplethorp?” Rosie suggested. “They might have been wandering about and someone passing could have shepherded them onto the common land. Maybe whoever was driving that trailer just spotted the loose horses and stopped to save them. They might not have been dumped after all!”
    “Maybe,” Charlie said doubtfully. “But I can’t see Mrs Maplethorp letting her horses get as thin as those ones looked this morning.”
    “It’s worth checking with her, though, justin case,” Mia suggested. “We can ride there this morning.”
    “It’s quite a long way,” Mr Honeycott pointed out.
    “We’d better leave now then,” Rosie said, clearing away her plate. “Otherwise we’ll be late for lunch…”
    Alice nudged her. “We’ve only just finished breakfast, I’m stuffed! How can you even think about lunch already?”
    “You always have to plan ahead where food’s concerned, Alice,” Rosie said, deadly serious.
    Everyone thanked Mrs Honeycott for breakfast and dragged on their coats, ready to leave. But before they did, Mia asked if she could keep that page of the paper. Mr Honeycott agreed, and Mia carefully tore out the small article, slipping it into her pocket.

    Forty five minutes later, the girls were mounted on their ponies and riding along Duck Lane. Everywhere around them looked like it had beendusted with glitter. Huge cobwebs sparkled in the hedges and a robin flitted in and out of the frosted rosehips.
    Wish and Phantom both had exercise rugs on to keep their hindquarters warm as they clopped along smartly, side by side. Behind them, Alice sat in Scout’s saddle, hardly able to move under all the layers she was wearing. Dancer plodded next to Scout, curling her head towards the grey pony to keep warm. As they rode, the girls speculated about the new horses’ backgrounds.
    “Well, if those horses aren’t Mrs Maplethorp’s, it sounds like we might have two mysteries on our hands,” Charlie said, turning slightly in the saddle so she could see her friends behind her. “The horses dumped on the common land, and ponies being let out of their fields.”
    “We’re never going to get a chance to squeeze in any Christmas shopping at this rate,” Rosie grinned. “Mind you, I’ve got Dancer’s presents already, and they’re the most important ones.”
    “Excuse me?” Alice joked. “What about your three best friends?”
    Rosie giggled as they turned up onto an iron-hard, rutted path beside a ploughed field.
    “It’s too frozen even to trot,” Charlie groaned, as Phantom stepped gingerly over the lumpy ground. Phantom was on his toes, and Charlie knew that he could do with a really good gallop. But instead, they had to stick to a steady plod.
    After another half an hour of riding around the edges of ice-tinged fields and along the verges of slippy lanes, they reached a grey flint cottage. Ponies dotted the fields surrounding it, rugged up warmly and grazing on hay piles. But the gate opening onto the lane had heavy-duty padlocks wrapped around both posts. The first field stood