CHAPTER 14

They spent the rest of the journey discussing the various elements of freestyle dressage and how important it was to find a beat and a rhythm that suited the horse. Some music was just too slow and some too irregular.

‘It needs to be strong and upbeat,’ Charlie said.

‘I think it needs to mean something too,’ Joe added. ‘You’ll know when you find it because it’ll make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.’

They reached the farm after dark and Mrs Bass beeped the horn to let the boys know they were back. They came running out of the farmhouse to help them unload.

‘We’ve had fun and games today!’ Charlie told them. ‘Looks like we’ve got a big championship to get ready for.’

‘I thought we were just going to watch?’ her mother interjected.

Charlie looked at her and tried to raise her eyebrow.

Mrs Bass laughed. ‘You’ll get it one day, my love!’

Harry pulled the ramp down and started to open the first partition.

‘That’ll keep us on our toes!’ he said. ‘On our toes! Get it? Like a ballet dancer … ha ha!’ He made himself laugh so hard that he couldn’t stop Percy barging past him and charging down the ramp.

Joe had time for a very brief supper before he had to head back to the airport. He willingly accepted a slice of brie and marmalade flan.

‘This is such an original mix. Very … interesting,’ he said as he tentatively moved the flan round his mouth. ‘I’ve really missed this. The food at Powerscourt is pretty tame by comparison. It’s nice, but it’s never … surprising.’ He took another mouthful and gave an impressed nod. ‘Really, it’s better than it looks!’

As Joe got ready to leave, Charlie was still thinking about the dressage routine for the National Championships when he asked, ‘Have you seen the film The Greatest Showman?’

‘Yes! It’s brilliant. Polly and I have seen it four times so far. I think it’s the best film I have ever seen.’

‘What about the music?’ Joe asked as he opened the car door. ‘Don’t you think it would be perfect for Noddy?’

Charlie felt that surge of electricity that happened when she was really excited about a brilliant idea.

‘OMG, you’re a genius, Joe Butler! Of course that’s the answer. I can just see him trotting down the centre line to “This Is Me”! I can’t wait to see what Polly thinks!’

She kissed him on the cheek and shut the front door as he revved up the engine and spun the car round to head down the drive. Charlie waved him goodbye and ran back into the farmhouse, full of creative energy.

As soon as she got the green light from Polly, planning became Charlie’s major assignment. She loved making lists, and with her mother’s help she devised a timetable for Polly and Noble Warrior that would prepare them for a dressage test to music at the National Championships. What Polly was doing for her and the netball team, Charlie would repay by doing the same.

Charlie rang the organizers and tried to enter Polly and Noble Warrior. It was long past the deadline so she had to make their entry hors concours, which meant they weren’t allowed to win any prizes, but they could still be judged and their score compared to everyone else’s.

Charlie had read in her Horse & Hound that the Paralympic selectors always went to the National Championships to see if there was any new talent. She was certain that Noble Warrior and Polly would put on a performance that they couldn’t ignore.

Harry and Larry got to work on the computer to create a medley of songs from The Greatest Showman that they could play from the portable speakers so that Polly could get used to the changes in rhythm and plan her moves accordingly. Finally they had found an outlet for their shared interest in choreography. They had no idea how relieved the chickens would be to be released from their dance lessons.

The test needed to show the best of Polly and Noble Warrior so they made sure it included two sections of extended trot across the diagonal line of the arena, plus a walk-to-canter transition that could really flaunt his fluency. Charlie was genuinely impressed with the effort her brothers were putting in. She couldn’t believe they cared so much.

They were watching with her as Polly went through the test in the arena they had built.

‘Um, Charlie?’ Harry said tentatively.

They were standing to the side of the arena, watching Polly practise the walk-to-canter transition.

‘Try that again, Pol!’ Charlie shouted. ‘He’s just starting to anticipate it a bit. Do it on the other corner so he doesn’t know it’s coming.’

She kept her eyes on Polly, but cocked her head towards her brother. ‘Yeah?’

‘Well, it’s about One Market …’ Harry said.

‘One Market?’

‘The supermarket – the one that’s opening in Andover. They’ve been back in touch with another offer since we kind of let the conversation slide.’

Larry was taking photos of Noble Warrior on his phone to upload to the blog later on. He looked on his screen and zoomed in on the picture, lightened it and added a sparkle effect.

‘That looks much better!’ Charlie shouted at Polly. She glanced back at Harry.

‘They’ve kept our fee the same, but they’ve also offered to make a significant donation to Wilmington RDA,’ he said with a grin.

Charlie stopped looking at Noble Warrior and turned to face him fully. ‘What?’

‘Well, they want Polly to come as well, you see. They are changing the way their supermarkets look and feel. They want to make it fully accessible and they don’t just mean parking and electric doors. They’ve got buttons to press to lower things from shelves that are too high to reach.’

‘Wow!’ said Charlie. ‘I’d never even thought about that.’

‘And they’re putting audio guides on every aisle,’ Harry added. ‘So you can get an app on your phone or they give you this special scanner that reacts to voice command so when you point it at something, it can explain what it is and how much it costs. They’ve also got Braille labels on everything.’

Polly finished her practice test by trotting down the centre line and halting. As she saluted to an imaginary judge, Larry snapped another photo while Harry and Charlie started clapping.

‘That’s beginning to look really polished,’ Charlie said as Polly walked towards them, patting Noble Warrior on the neck.

‘He can do it, he really can,’ said Polly. ‘And he loves that music. He reacts to it as if it was written just for him.’

‘Keeeep dancing!’ the boys said together.

Charlie smiled. Trust them to bring it all back to Strictly.

‘The Racehorse Who Learned to Dance is the new title of Harry’s blog,’ Larry explained. ‘The latest post had more hits than anything we’ve written before. People love it and I think that’s why One Market came back with a better offer. I’ve told Polly about it and she’s keen, aren’t you?’

Polly nodded.

Charlie was thinking. Maybe she’d been a bit of a snob about the supermarket idea. She hadn’t liked the thought of Noddy being exploited, but this … sounded like a really positive idea. And if they were going to give a large donation to Wilmington RDA, there was even more reason to say yes. They had a waiting list as long as her arm of children and adults who wanted lessons. With a good chunk of money, she knew Miss Cameron could buy another pony, build more stables or take on another member of staff so that they could help more people.

‘When do they want to do the grand opening?’ Charlie asked.

Harry looked at Larry, who looked at Polly, who looked back at Charlie. They waited. Eventually Harry asked, ‘Does that mean you’re saying yes?’

‘Well, I’m not saying no …’

Larry clapped his hands together. ‘It’s next month, just a couple of days after the National Championships.’

Charlie grimaced. It was a lot to expect of Noble Warrior: two public appearances within days of each other when he’d hardly been out of the field for a year.

‘I think it could work really well,’ Polly said. ‘We do the Nationals and then he gets a day off to relax and then it’s only a couple of hours in Andover to stand there and get patted by everyone. He’ll enjoy the attention.’

‘They know Percy has to come too?’ Charlie asked her brothers.

‘Yup,’ said Larry. ‘I told them he’s the food expert in the family!’