Phantom: One Last Chance by Belinda Rapley Read Free Book Online Page B

loft. Charlie kept an eye on the yard through a small hole in the barn wall. When Rosie joined them and everyone had snuggled into blankets, Mia found her notebook and her pen. She flipped it open, turning to a fresh page. At the top, she wrote ‘Pirate’.
    “I know we all want a new mystery to solve,” Rosie said, slurping her drink as Pumpkin, the huge ginger yard cat, leaped onto her lap and tried to snaffle some of the cream from the top, “but isn’t this one just a totally obvious case?”
    “The fact that everything’s focusing around Pirate,” Alice agreed, “and with him being groomed and smartened up, it definitely points to one culprit.”
    “That and the presence of Hettie on the yard,” Rosie added. “It has to be Megan.”
    “Maybe,” Mia said, making some notes.
    “For a starter, she can see from her window when we’ve left the yard,” Charlie said, “so she knows when it’s safe for her to come over.”
    “And she was desperate to prove that she was the perfect partner for Pirate,” Alice said. “She put so much effort into that plan. I think that she’s carrying on with it to get Pirate looking like a dressage pony so that Charlie will change her mind.”
    “Or so that if Charlie can’t find anyone else for Pirate,” Rosie added, “she can step back in and still be kind of on track.”
    “Really? I’m not so sure,” Mia said, looking up from her notebook. “Didn’t any of you notice anything odd in the tack room when we got back from that hack with her last week?”
    “What kind of thing?” Charlie asked, looking up.
    “Well, Megan looked pretty shaken up by how fast Pirate flew when we took off after Phantom,” Mia pointed out. “And when we got back, she’d already taken her plan down from the wall.”
    “So you think Megan had already made up her mind not to loan Pirate,” Charlie said, frowning, “even before I said anything?”
    “It’s possible,” Mia said. “I didn’t think that much of it at the time, but now, with all this going on, it might be relevant.”
    “But if you don’t think it’s Megan, how do you explain what’s going on with the black hairs and Hettie?” Rosie asked, unconvinced.
    “That’s just it,” Mia sighed. “I can’t.”
    “So what do we do now?” Alice asked, as Rosie finished her hot chocolate and reached for the tin of mince pies.
    “I think we should start to keep a watch on the yard,” Mia suggested. “That way we can keep an eye out for Megan, or whoever the visitor might be, and catch them red-handed if they sneak in.”
    Suddenly Rosie squealed.
    “What?” Charlie asked.
    “Our stash of mince pies!” Rosie gasped. “They’ve all gone!”

Chapter Nine
    THE next morning the four girls turned out their ponies, except for Phantom, who hated going in the field. They’d planned to hide on the yard all day so they could keep a lookout, which meant no riding. They mucked out, refilled haynets, scrubbed water buckets and swept the yard. Mrs Millar had texted Charlie, saying that she had got her message, was doing a bit of digging for information, and then would call.
    Charlie stayed a while in Phantom’s box. “Things will get better, I promise,” she whispered, to convince herself as much as to persuade the black horse. Phantom stood warily, unmoving, at the back of the box. He turned his deep liquid eye on her, the whites showing, and Charlie felta tingle of nerves run through her. He made her feel so tiny, with just one look. He still scared her, no matter what she tried to tell herself. She let herself out of the stable, and headed into Rosie’s cottage with the others for some hot buttered toast and hot chocolate.
    “Oh, I almost forgot,” Mrs Honeycott said vaguely as she put the plates on the table. “There was something in the post for Charlie this morning.”
    “For Charlie?” Rosie asked. Mrs Honeycott scratched her nose with the end of a thin paintbrush which she’d found behind her ear. She