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“Why, Lyndz? Why??”
“Did your brain turn to gloop?”
The bell had gone and we’d all piled out into the playground for break. It had stopped raining, but there were big puddles everywhere. I felt like a puddle myself. The others were giving me a seriously hard time.
“I messed up,” I admitted. “I’m sorry, OK?”
“I wanted to do Costume!” Fliss whispered accusingly. Her eyes were all watery, like she was about to cry.
“You only went and chose THE most boring topic on the list!” wailed Frankie. “What were you thinking of?”
“I – I don’t know,” I stuttered. “It was that picture, I guess…”
Kenny slapped her forehead. “I might have known it! A picture of a horse and Lyndz loses all control. Not to mention all her brain-power!”
“We could’ve done loads on horses in Animals,” Rosie pointed out.
Kenny groaned, clutching her stomach like she had tummy-ache. “And we could’ve done stupid horse-racing in Sports…”
Usually with the Sleepover Club, things blow over really quickly. If one of us is feeling a bit cross about something, the others tease them out of it. But not this time. This time it really felt like four against one.
“We know you’re horse-mad, Lyndz,” said Frankie. “But this is ridiculous.”
“And you’ve been spending so much time down at those smelly stables recently,” sniffed Fliss, wrinkling her nose. “You never do anything we want to do.”
“That’s not true!” I said. “I never miss our sleepovers!”
“No, but what about that Saturday when my mum took us to the shopping centre?” said Fliss.
It was true. I had missed that.
“And you never came to see Shrek with us!” said Frankie.
“That was years ago!”
“What about when I wanted to build that treehouse?” said Kenny.
“But I would’ve been no use at that,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s the principle,” said Fliss haughtily. For a moment she sounded just like her mum. “The Sleepover Club should be the most important thing.”
“It is!” I protested.
Fliss shrugged huffily. “Anyone would think you prefer those ponies to your friends!”
“Well, if you’re all going to be so completely mean, then maybe I do!” I shouted, and stomped off across the playground. I could feel my cheeks burning beetroot red, and my eyes were all prickly, like I was about to cry.
What made it a million times worse was that I stomped straight past the M&Ms, who were doing some silly clapping game. They stopped in mid-clap and stood whispering together with horrible smug smiles on their faces.
So I stalked off round the corner where the big school bins are kept. It was pongy there, but at least I was out of sight. I was so cross I pulled three of the gruesomest faces I could think of, which usually makes me feel better.
Not this time. I couldn’t get over how unfair it was. Just this morning we’d been talking about undying friendship and making those bracelets. And now my four best mates in the world had turned on me. All because of some stupid project. Suddenly I was struck by the most terrible thought:
Was this the end of the Sleepover Club?
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The next lesson was maths, and it was the longest lesson of my entire life.
Does that ever happen to you too? Does time seem to whizz by when you’re having a laugh and really drag when you’re miserable? To me, two weeks of holiday can go five billion times quicker than two weeks of school. What a bummer.
Well, this maths lesson was exactly like that. I thought the clock had broken, its hands were moving so slowly.
I was back at my old desk, next to Rosie and slap bang in front of Frankie and Kenny. Of course I was ignoring them. But ignoring people is such hard work! You have to concentrate on them all the time, to make sure you don’t do something normal by mistake, like look at them or ask to borrow a pen.
Mrs Weaver had written up a load of sums on the board. We were supposed to be working quietly on our own, but I could hear rustling and whispering around me, so I knew the rest of the Sleepover Club were doing something. Saying mean things about me probably, I thought.
But then Rosie slipped a folded piece of paper on to my desk. I opened it, and this is what I saw:
I was so relieved, it felt like the sun had just come out inside my head. “Oh, guys!” I said, turning round to them with the biggest grin on my face. “I’m sorry too!”
We tried to have a group hug, but it was tricky because Fliss was sitting on the other side of the aisle. And then Mrs Weaver spotted us – “I said no conferring, you girls!” – so we had to turn back to our desks. But I mouthed, “See you at lunch!” and the others all nodded.
It was the best making-up ever. We had a proper hug as soon as the bell went, and then I did high fives with everyone.
“It’s a nightmare falling out,” said Kenny. “Let’s not do it again, all right?”
I nodded, grinning and feeling teary at the same time. “New club resolution.”
“Seconded!” said Rosie.
“Thirded!” yelled Frankie.
“You can’t say thirded,” said Fliss. “But I know what you mean.”
While we were waiting in the lunch queue the M&Ms swanned past with their trays already full. They’re such greedy guts, they always push to the front.
“Untwisted your knickers yet?” asked the Goblin (that’s our name for Emily Berryman) in her weird gruff voice.
“What a shame you’ve got the worst project,” smarmed Emma Hughes. “But then, your presentation’s bound to be pathetic, so it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“Actually, Transport is the coolest subject,” said Kenny, “and anyone with even half a brain can see that.”
“That’s not what you were saying to Lyndsey at break,” said the Goblin.
“You sneaky little eavesdropper!” gasped Fliss. “You’ve no right listening in to private conversations!”
The Goblin snorted. “Well, what’s the point when they’re as boring as yours?”
And before any of us could reply they sailed off with their noses in the air, like the silly stuck-up idiots that they are.
“Grrr! What would I give to squash those two toad-faces into a big pile of mushy peas!” growled Kenny.
“We’ve got to make sure our project is a squillion times better than theirs,” said Frankie. “At least!”
“We will,” said Rosie firmly, linking arms with me.
Sitting at a different table from the M&Ms, we soon forgot all about them. Kenny kept making farty noises with the ketchup bottle, which made everyone fall about, and Frankie did her impression of Mrs Weaver in a bad mood, which is freakily good. I’d cheered up loads, but there was just one more thing I wanted to say.
“Transport is definitely the coolest subject, of course,” I began sheepishly, not meaning it at all, “but, guys – you’re right that I’ve missed some Sleepover Club things because of the stables. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Frankie, waggling a chip in the lake of ketchup she’d made on her plate. “We all do other things, like Fliss goes to ballet and Kenny goes to those tedious footie matches. Oof!” Kenny’d grabbed her lunch tray and pretended to boff Frankie over the head with it.
“And anyway,” Fliss said, prodding at her salad with her fork, “we don’t think all those things we said about the stables, honest.”
“Only some of them,” said Kenny, with a wicked grin. “The minute you start stinking of horse poo, Collins, I’m outta here!”
You’re going to think I’m mad, considering what had happened that day, but when I got home from school all I wanted to do was go to the stables. In three weeks’ time there was going to be a gymkhana there – a riding competition with lots of different races and games that you can enter with your pony. I’d played a few gymkhana games before, but I’d never entered a proper competition, so I wanted to do my best.
On my bike I can whizz to the stables in about two minutes, which is dead handy. Today, the moment I got there, I went to see Bramble. She’s a lovely bay – brown with a black mane and tail. Of all the ponies at Mrs McAllister’s stables, she’s my favourite (only don’t tell Alfie and Marvel and the others!).
And when you’ve had a wobbly day at school, there’s nothing like having a pair of kind brown eyes to talk to and a lovely warm furry neck to hug.
“Hey, Bramble,” I said, stroking her soft nose to say hello. She nuzzled my hand gently. It seemed like she was pleased to see me.
“Hello, Lyndsey!” called Mrs McAllister, who was walking across the yard. She’s my riding teacher, as well as being the owner of the stables.
“Hi, Mrs McAllister,” I called back. “Can I do some practice today, for the gymkhana?”
Mrs McA looked at her watch and pursed her lips. “Well… give me about half an hour. Then I’ll come and watch you do some jumping on. Bramble’s had a fair amount of exercise today, so why don’t you just give her a gentle warm-up while you’re waiting?”
“Great!” I said. “Thanks, Mrs McAllister.”
“Glad to see you’re so keen, Lyndsey,” she said, heading for her office.
“Well, less than three weeks to go now!” I said.
“Two, you mean!” she called, tapping the poster taped to the office window as she passed. “See you later!” And the office door swung shut behind her.
Two weeks? I frowned, puzzled. But surely the gymkhana was on the 28th? “Wait a sec, Bramble,” I whispered, and ran across the yard to have a look at the poster.
My watch just tells the time. It doesn’t have a little date window on it, like Fliss’s does, so I’m never the person to ask if you want to know the date (unless it’s my birthday!). But for once I could remember Mrs Weaver writing it up on the board this morning: Monday 16
.
Well, I bet you’ve done the maths already, haven’t you? Yep, that’s right. Dozy here had been reckoning on nearly three weeks to turn herself into Cuddington’s answer to Zara Phillips when there were less than two. The gymkhana was a week on Saturday!
That was enough of a shock in itself. But the next moment I felt as if Bramble had leapt across the yard and given me the most almighty kick.
“Oh no!” I groaned out loud. “Frankie’s sleepover!” She’d said a week on Saturday, hadn’t she? And I had promised promised promised (cross-my-heart-and-hope-never-to-set-foot-in-a-stirrup-again) not to miss it. What on earth was I going to do?
Through the window I could see Mrs McAllister, the phone pressed to one ear, looking at me weirdly. I was probably grimacing really gruesomely, worse than the M&Ms with tummy ache. Quickly, I turned round and marched back to Bramble’s stable, to tack her up.
Half an hour later, when Mrs McAllister came out to the field and shouted, “How about some jumping on, then, Lyndsey?” I wasn’t feeling any better. If anything, I think I was feeling worse. My heart was going ker-boom ker-boom in my chest, like it was trying to get out, and I kept thinking how desperately I wanted to enter the gymkhana. I had to find a way. But how could I, after what I’d said to the others? Especially after the barny we’d had about me preferring ponies to my friends!
It was hard to concentrate, but I needed to – jumping on is really tricky. You see, there are some races where, to be quick enough to stand a chance of winning, you have to get off your pony and get back on again while it’s still moving. I’m OK at the flying dismounts (sounds like a circus trick, huh?). It’s the vaulting – that is, the getting back on again – that I have problems with, big time.
“Now try to relax, Lyndsey,” said Mrs McAllister. “And remember: watch Bramble’s stride. You should jump when the front foot that’s nearest to you hits the ground.”
I nodded. I knew this. It was just easier said than done. And I had quite a few bruises from when I’d messed it up last time.
Trying not to be nervous, I urged Bramble into a canter. I ran alongside, gripping her saddle in one hand and the reins in the other, and watching her feet. I was going to have to jump, swinging my legs out over her back end to land in the saddle.
“Come on Bramble,” I whispered breathlessly. “We can do this!”
And then I jumped.
“That was a beauty!” I heard Mrs McAllister call.
I was in the saddle – no bruises. I’d done it!
“Way to go, girl!” I laughed, patting Bramble’s neck.
Well, that put me on such a high I thought I’d show off and go straight into a flying dismount. I swung my body forward and my legs back. But one of my feet got caught in its stirrup. My other leg was already swinging over, and I could feel my weight dragging me out of the saddle. The foot that was stuck was twisting now at a really awkward angle, so I couldn’t get it out.
It must’ve all happened in a nanosecond, but to me it felt like some horrid slow-motion dream. Panicking that my foot wasn’t going to come free, I let go of the reins and was immediately flung out sideways. The ground swung up towards me with a sickening lurch, and then: thwack. Everything stopped dead.
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It took me a moment or two to work out what had happened. I just lay there like a sack of potatoes, with my face in the muddy grass.
“Lyndsey! Lyndsey! Are you all right?” I heard Mrs McAllister’s voice right in my ear. She was out of breath; she must’ve shot across the field like an Olympic sprinter.
I groaned and tried to sit up. But when I pushed on my left hand the most horrible pain shot up my arm. “Owww!” I yelped.
“Don’t move yet,” said Mrs McAllister. “Where does it hurt?”
“My arm,” I gasped. “Left… arm.”
Straight away Mrs McAllister sprang into super-efficient emergency gear. First she checked me all over to make sure my arm was the only bit that hurt. Then, ever so gently, she helped me sit up. I was crying by this time, blubbing worse than my little brother Ben (who is the biggest cry-baby in the world, in case you didn’t know). I never knew part of me could hurt that much. I swear, if your arm felt like mine did right then, you’d have been bawling too!
“All right, Lyndsey. We’re going to get you to the hospital,” said Mrs McAllister.
“Where’s Bramble?” I said, turning my head. My eyes were so full of tears, everything was a splodgy blur.
“She’s fine,” said Mrs McAllister. “She’s away by the fence, nosing about in the grass. Think you can stand?”
I nodded, sniffing loudly. I hoped I hadn’t yanked on the reins in my panic and hurt Bramble’s mouth. But I couldn’t worry about Bramble for long. Getting to Mrs McAllister’s Land Rover took all my concentration. My right hand was holding my left arm close to my body to stop it moving, but somehow it still felt as if every step I took gave it a hideous jolt.
