The Vets at Hope Green by Sheila Norton

Author:Sheila Norton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Joe had told me that he needed me to go with him to the local riding stables in the morning to check on a pony who was recovering from colic. Natalie had booked a day off and, to Joe’s annoyance, Val was only able to cover from ten o’clock. Because he needed to be back from the stables in time for his first appointment, he needed to set off at eight o’clock – so I’d agreed to go in early. He’d said he only needed me there just in case another pair of hands was necessary and I was desperate not to let Joe see that, in fact, I was feeling very shaky about the whole thing. The truth was that I’d had nothing to do with horses or ponies at my previous job – or for a long time before that. And if I was honest, I wasn’t too sure how I was going to cope.

The stables were only a few minutes’ drive out of the village. Joe drove in silence, a constant frown on his face. I looked out of the window at the fresh green of the countryside and tried to calm my nerves by thinking about what I’d have been doing now if I were still in London. Probably rushing out to catch the ‘dratted Tube train’ as Nana called it, I supposed.

We’d pulled up in the stable yard and had walked past the first few stables when Joe stopped, leant into the next stable and began to pat the head of the pony inside.

‘Hello, Hugo! How are you today? Yes, good boy, good boy, that’s right, hello!’

‘I thought we were coming to see a pony called Bandit?’ I said, my surprise overcoming my anxiety for a moment.

‘We are,’ he said distractedly, still stroking Hugo’s head. ‘This one’s mine.’

‘Oh!’ He’d never mentioned owning a pony.

‘Well, he’s my daughter’s. She’s learning to ride, so we stable him here. She spends half her life down here,’ he added with a smile to himself. ‘Comes up here on her bike after school with another older girl. They have their riding lessons, then groom and muck out to their hearts’ content.’

It was the most he’d ever said about his daughter.

Hugo was a beautiful chestnut-and-white skewbald with big kind-looking eyes. I imagined the little girl Ruby enjoying this gentle companion and my heart gave a lurch.

‘Right, well, come on, we haven’t got all day,’ Joe said suddenly, looking at his watch and walking on abruptly.

A middle-aged woman dressed in jodhpurs and boots approached us.

‘Hello, Mandy,’ Joe said. ‘How’s Bandit getting on?’

‘Much better, thanks,’ she said, joining us as we approached another stable where a bigger black pony was watching us over the top of his door. ‘I think the medication has done the trick.’

‘Ah, yes.’ Joe watched as Mandy opened the stable door and led Bandit out. ‘He certainly looks a lot calmer than when I saw him the other day. You’re feeling better now, aren’t you, boy?’ he said gently to the pony, patting his neck.

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