Night Storm the Flat-Racer by Hazel M Peel

Author:Hazel M Peel [Peel, Hazel M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jane Badger Books

6

Night Encounter

A FEW DAYS before Derby Day the Hendersons were frantically busy. Some of the young stock were being sold the very day before the race, and as Tom and Jim would not be able to get back to the stud until midnight Ann and Pat were kept fully occupied.

Once the main chores were finished Ann left Pat in charge. Because it was Robert’s birthday she had arranged to spend the evening with Mike and Susan. Knowing Jim wouldn’t be home until late, Ann stayed on chatting, reluctant to return to her empty house.

“I feel quite lazy sitting here,” said Ann, with a yawn.

Mike laughed. “You’re always lazy!”

“I’m not,” Ann told him indignantly. “This is the first time in ages I’ve sat down quietly without doing some job or other.”

“Don’t tell me riding horses is hard work?” he teased her.

“How is Dido now?” asked Susan.

“She really does look much better. With all this rain the grass has been lovely and green, and she has started getting a little fatter. I rode her the other day, and it’s just as Bill said. She really seems to be a different animal now—much more lively, even with a bit of bounce. I must start to work on her, give her some schooling at turns, see how she shapes.”

“Pilot is out in the field for the summer now, then?”

“Yes, we’ve got just Dido and Darius for riding. You must get over more often, Susan—you’re not getting enough practice, and though Darius hasn’t had any more schooling yet he’s very quiet, and ideal for you to ride. Oh, dear, I suppose I’d better move. Jim said they hoped to be back by midnight.”

“It won’t take you long to drive back, Sis. Here’s your cardigan,” said Mike, seeing Ann out to the Land-Rover. “Now make sure you’re up in plenty of time tomorrow. We don’t want to miss the race through your over-sleeping !”

Ann ignored his teasing and drove off home. It was a delightful summer’s night, warm, dry, and with a near cloudless sky. She drove happily homeward, and was busy thinking about Night Storm and his race when she suddenly realized she had missed the turning to Leysham. She halted the vehicle and sat considering. The lane was very narrow, and she would have to reverse for a hundred yards to regain the road. She decided to carry on ahead. The lane did lead to Leysham, but by a slightly longer route. She engaged gear and drove on. The countryside was deserted, the vehicle’s headlights being the only moving things as they shone out into the night.

Ann was humming to herself as she rounded the corner, and it wasn’t until she had driven on for a few more yards that she realized what she had seen. A parked car, at such an hour of the night, and in the deserted countryside—how odd!

She was automatically slowing her Land-Rover as she thought, What a peculiar place to park, between two trees and half surrounded by bushes!

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