Chocolate Box Girls: Coco Caramel by Cathy Cassidy Read Free Book Online

school. Jean and Roy just can’t take the
risk.’
    ‘Well, I’ve got a plan,’ I
say, reining Bailey into step alongside her. ‘I’ve asked my mum, and guess
what? I think we’ll probably be buying Caramel!’
    Kelly looks surprised. ‘Seriously?
Your mum said that?’
    I bite my lip. ‘Not exactly,’ I
hedge. ‘She said she’d think about it. Possibly. Maybe …’
    Kelly rolls her eyes, and in that moment she
reminds me of my big sisters. I know she’s laughing at me.
    ‘Possibly?’ she echoes.
‘Maybe? That doesn’t sound too definite!’
    ‘It will be,’ I protest as the
ponies move steadily through the trees, hooves crunching down on twigs and dried leaves
beneath. ‘I’m working on her. I am pretty sure I can talk her
round.’
    ‘This is a pony we’re talking
about, Coco, not a new computer game!’ Kelly says. ‘You can’t just nag
your mum and hope she gives in. It’s a huge undertaking, a real
commitment.’
    ‘I know!’ I insist. ‘Of
course! I am a hundred per cent committed!’
    Kelly looks at me, and her eyes reveal a
mixture of sadness and pity and exasperation. I know what she’s thinking –
it’s what people always think. That I’m too young, too silly; not to be
taken seriously.
    ‘I honestly don’t think
it’ll happen,’ Kelly says kindly. ‘For all kinds of reasons. Caramel
is a challenging pony – I know you love her, and you do have a good connection with her,
but you’ve seen yourself how unpredictable shecan be. She needs
an experienced owner. Jean and Roy would never sell her to a novice rider, even if your
mum really did want to buy her.’
    ‘I’ll talk to them,’ I
argue. ‘I’ll apologize, explain. I might not be the best rider in the world,
but … Caramel deserves a home where she’ll be loved. They have to give
me a chance, Kelly!’
    ‘Coco, I hate to tell you, but I think
you’re too late,’ she says. ‘It’s already sorted – that bloke in
the office is almost certainly going to buy her.’
    A sharp pang of grief shoots through me,
dulling to a sad, heavy ache. I’m too late. Caramel is being sold.
    ‘Is there anything I can do or say to
stop it?’ I plead.
    ‘Doubtful,’ Kelly sighs.
‘It’s probably for the best, you know. Mr Seddon has trained horses before,
and he knows what he’s taking on – he’ll get her settled down. He’s
rich – he’s got a big house with paddocks and stables out Hartshill way.
Don’t worry, she’ll have a good life.’
    I’m not so sure. I didn’t like
the look of the posh, tweedy bloke – he seemed too sharp, too cold, his lips a thin,
hard line. Besides, if he buys Caramel, I will never see her again.
    My eyes well with tears and Kelly, panicking,
distracts me with a sharp burst of rising trot and a long canter across the meadows that
edge the woods. Later, as we trek back through the trees towards the stable-yard gate,
we see the shiny, silver four-wheel drive move out slowly, towing the horsebox.
    I’m too late even to say
goodbye.

10
    As I walk Bailey back to his stable, a figure
steps out of the shadows.
    ‘Well done, Coco,’ Lawrie
Marshall says coldly. ‘Thanks to you, Caramel belongs to that thug Seddon now.
Great stuff. Just great.’
    ‘Thug?’ I echo uneasily.
‘Kelly says he’s rich and knows loads about horses. She says Caramel will
have a good life with him.’
    ‘She obviously doesn’t know
him,’ Lawrie says.
    He turns away, stepping into Caramel’s
empty stable.
    ‘What d’you mean, he’s a
thug?’ I demand. ‘You can’t just make accusations like that! How do
you even know?’
    ‘I just know, all right?’ he
scowls, shovelling dirty straw. ‘You don’t like bullies, do you?’
    ‘Who does?’
    ‘Well, a bully is exactly what Seddon
is,’ Lawrie mutters. ‘With animals, with people, with everyone.’
    ‘Where were you earlier then?’ I
accuse. ‘If it’s true, you could have said something, stopped it all! Jean
and Roy would never knowingly