Pony Club Team by Josephine Pullein-Thompson

Author:Josephine Pullein-Thompson [Pullein-Thompson, Josephine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jane Badger Books

7

Owing to Christopher’s timely recovery the much dreaded task of telling the Holbrookes did not have to be performed by Noel, John or Henry. Christopher had told the whole story before dinner. The Major merely said that he hoped everyone had had enough of a fright to make him more sensible in future and Mrs. Holbrooke added that they must wear hard hats. Archie’s escapade also passed off very agreeably; Mrs. Holbrooke said that Noel, John and Henry were idiots to let him out, but that really it didn’t matter a bit and if she had been at home there would have been no trouble about catching him. After dinner Christopher had been sent to bed because of his concussion and the others had made the dogs do their tricks and then read until bed-time.

After breakfast on Saturday, while the Pony Club members were grooming their ponies and agreeing how peaceful it was without Merry, the Major was talking to Crandall, his farm foreman. As he followed the riders into the paddock, they noticed that he looked rather grim and when he asked if they had been aware that they had spent the morning before spoiling a field of young grass, they knew the reason why. “Crikey,” muttered John, who being a farmer’s son knew the enormity of the offence.

“Young grass,” said the Major, “is delicate stuff; for its first summer it should only be lightly grazed and certainly not galloped over and cut up by a pack of idiotic children, who ought to know better.”

“Oh dear,” said Noel, and Susan said, “Golly, but I didn’t know that anything hurt grass.”

“I should have imagined that people who hunt would have taken the trouble to learn a little about crops,” said the Major acidly, “but anyway the deed is done and my foreman tells me that we shall have to take a man and a tractor off harvesting on Monday to roll the field in an attempt to repair the damage.”

“I’m terribly sorry, Sir,” said Dick. “We had no idea —”

“No, none at all,” added Henry. “In fact someone asked me if I thought it would be O.K. to ride there and it never entered my head that the field was anything other than ordinary grass.”

“Well, perhaps in future, such thoughts will enter your head,” said the Major, “and now you are all going to change horses for the first half of this morning’s ride. I want Hilary to give Northwind to Noel and fetch the Merry Widow from the stable. Roger and Henry change over. Susan take Sonnet and give Dick Golden Wonder. John, you take Crispin and Turpin back to the stables and bring down Fireworks for June; you’re riding Golden Glory.”

“Gosh!” said everyone and the people who were pleased with their new mounts — John and Roger, Hilary and Dick — added “Hurray”; the less fortunate groaned, sighed or muttered discontentedly.

“It’s very easy to make mistakes about people’s riding ability if you always see them on the same

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