Prize Problems: The Pony Whisperer (Pony Whisperer, 4) - Softcover

Rising, Janet

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1402239556 ISBN 13: 9781402239557

Verlag: SOURCEBOOKS INC, 2011

Inhaltsangabe

Being able to talk to ponies isn't all that it's cracked up to be!

Pia never thought anyone actually one magazine contests. So when her friend Beans wins a riding vacation for two, she's totally excited to go with her. A whole wonderful week riding new ponies and making fabulous new friends. But when things start to go missing around the ranch, Pia turns to the ponies to see what they have to say—and is shocked at what she hears!

Can Pia and her new pony pals solve the mystery before their vacation gallops to an end?

"This combination of magic and quick-moving, contemporary plot is a light and enjoyable read. The horses are particularly amusing as they reveal their complaints and requests to their owners through Pia."—School Library Journal review for The Pony Whisperer: The Word on the Yard

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Janet Rising lives in the UK and is the editor of PONY, Britain's top-selling horsy teen magazine. She is also the author of Pony Talk: 50 Ways to Make Friends. Janet's work with horses has included working at a donkey stud, producing show ponies, and teaching riding to both adults and children.

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Chapter 1

You will never, in a million years, guess what this is!" shouted Bean, bursting through the tack room door and waving an envelope in our direction.

Dee-Dee, who was searching through her tack box in disgust to see how many yellow ribbons her mother had thrown in there, didn't want to know. "Close the door, it's freezing out there!" she shrieked.

"A letter," declared Katy, shoving a chip in her mouth and crunching, barely glancing up from her book about cross-country jumping. She sat on a pile of pony rugs, her feet propped up on an empty bucket, tendrils of red hair escaping her hat.

"Well, yes, technically," confirmed Bean, irritated, slamming the door behind her. "But what's in the letter?" she teased, holding the envelope by the corner and wafting it in Katy's direction.

"Words?" I suggested, dipping my hand into the chip bag and pulling out the biggest one, which immediately snapped in two. Of course, the big piece floated to the ground and I watched dismayed as Squish, the yard's greyhound, pounced and gulped it down in one.

"Oh no," said Dee, holding up her fingers so she wouldn't lose count, "dogs aren't supposed to have salt. Squish will die a horrible death."

"What, from half a chip? Unlikely," I said. "Besides, it was nacho cheese, not ready salted."

"It's still loaded with salt," said Dee accusingly. "Oh no, here's a white one! When did I get that?" she wailed, aiming the unwanted ribbon at the empty feed sack we use as a trash can, and missing.

"Jeez, most people would be thrilled to come fourth in the classes you go to. Gimme another chip," I said, stretching over.

Katy shook her head and snatched the bag away. "Don't think so, you've just wasted that one!"

"Hey, what about my letter!" exclaimed Bean.

"How are we supposed to know what's in it?" whined Dee. "It's your letter."

"Oh, you all think you're so smart—only you're not," smirked Bean. "I am," she added, flicking back her blond hair and sticking her nose in the air.

That did get our attention. Bean isn't famous for being smart. She's in a world of her own most of the time with a unique way of being with us in body, but not in spirit, if you know what I mean.

"How come?" I asked, intrigued.

Bean pointed to her chest and lifted her chin. "You're looking at Charlotte Beanie, winner of a riding vacation—in that competition I entered in Pony mag. Don't tell me you've forgotten!"

I hadn't. It was forever ago, last autumn, and the reason I hadn't forgotten was because Bean had pestered us with most of the questions. The way I remembered it, I had answered most of them.

"No way!" said Dee, her mouth dropping open.

"But no one ever wins those things!" cried Katy, letting the chip bag fall. Squish took advantage of the situation and wolfed down the rest of the contents, salt and all. Dee was too flabbergasted to notice.

"That's exactly what you said then—but I did, so there!" Bean replied with justifiable smugness.

"Let's see!" I said, grabbing the envelope and pulling out the letter. "Bean's right," I said, scanning the words. "Congratulations! Blah, blah, a vacation at High Grove Farm, blah, blah five days blah, blah, for you and a friend, blah, blah the vacation must be taken during the Spring Break," I read out, "and is nontransferable—what does that mean?"

"It means you can't give it to anyone else," said Katy, looking over my shoulder.

"Like I was going to!" Bean snorted.

"You seem very calm," I remarked. "If I won a riding vacation, I'd be bouncing off the walls."

"I was earlier, when the letter arrived, but I've gotten used to the idea now," Bean said, folding the letter carefully and returning it to the envelope. "What you see here is me, playing it cool."

"Who are you taking with you—one of your sisters?" Dee asked.

Bean made a sound like a deflating balloon. "Yeah, right!" she exclaimed. "Actually, seeing as how you helped me with so many of the questions, Pia, I wondered whether you'd like to come. After all, I wouldn't have won without your help. I hope you don't mind," she looked at Katy and Dee, "but I can only take one person with me and it seems right as Pia helped me so much."

I felt my lower jaw dropping in surprise. I so totally hadn't seen that coming!

Dee huffed loudly. "I'd love to be able to ride an ordinary pony for a week, away from my mom, doing fun stuff instead of endless show schooling on Dolly," she said.

"Don't start all that ordinary pony talk again!" snapped Katy. "It's so...so insulting to all our ponies!"

"Oh, you know what I mean," wailed Dee.

I held my breath. Was Bean's win going to cause friction between us? But then Dee shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, as Pia helped you," she sighed, "then I suppose it's only fair."

"Yeah, anyway, I don't want to ride any other pony but Bluey," added Katy. She sounded a bit sniffy about it, but I knew Katy was telling the truth. She adored her chunky blue roan gelding, especially as he'd restored her confidence by proving to be amazing at cross-country jumping. Bluey loved jumping more than anything—except Katy. Dee, on the other hand, had a whole new show season to look forward to on her gorgeous dappled gray mare, Dolly Daydream. After qualifying for the Horse of the Year Show last year, Dee—or rather Dee's mom, Sophie—was determined to do so again. And do better than the incredible ninth place they'd achieved at Nationals. Just getting to HOYS was, as Sophie never tired of saying (usually overheard on her cell phone to one of her showing friends), a significant achievement in itself. If they didn't qualify again this year, Sophie had already decided it would be nothing less than an almighty injustice. The only problem was that Dee was never allowed to do anything else with Dolly. Her mom just wouldn't let her risk it in case Dolly injured herself or got a splint, and so Dee missed out on all the fun things we all did with our so-called ordinary ponies. I know I wouldn't have swapped my ordinary pony, Drummer, for all of Dee's ribbons—whatever color they happened to be!

"Well?" Bean said to me, her eyebrows disappearing into her blond bangs. "Why aren't you bouncing off the walls? I assume you'd like to come with me?"

"Would I?" I almost screamed, trying not to sound too excited as Katy and Dee were being left out. "Yes, yes, I would. Do you mean it?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll let the people at the mag know. We'll have an awesome time!"

"Oh, you are lucky!" said Dee, half whining—but only half. "You'll have so much fun and I bet you get gorgeous ponies and have midnight feasts and everything. Everyone I've ever known who's gone on a riding vacation has said it's just the best thing ever. My friend Cindy went on one and said they had virtually no one in charge and just ran wild for a week. She didn't even take a bath!"

"And that's your idea of a great time?" asked Katy, who still sounded a bit put out and was looking at Dee with a pained expression. "Going native?"

"Oh, lighten up," snapped Dee. "Cindy said they rode the ponies to the beach and they had a gymkhana at the end of the week, and she totally fell in love with her pony and cried buckets when she had to leave at the end, and everything. She couldn't wait to go back the following year with all her new friends."

"Can we take Drummer and Tiffany?" I asked, thinking how cool it would be for Drum to have a vacation, too. I didn't particularly want to fall in love with any other pony but my wonderful bay gelding.

Bean shook her head and made a sad face. "Nah—I've already asked. No go. We'll be riding the center's ponies."

"Will someone look after Drummer for me?" I asked, aware that it...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: SOURCEBOOKS INC
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2011
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1402239556
• ISBN 13: 9781402239557
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 192
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Sourcebooks, Inc.; https://sourcebooks.com; ; Theodorstrasse 105; DUSSELDORF; 40472; Deutschland