Chapter 9

‘I wonder what Peter was up to,’ Maggie said on the way back to the stable.

‘Nothing good, I’m sure,’ said Leonard. ‘We’ll look around when we get home.’

Maggie worried the entire way. As soon as they reached the stable, she slid off Leonard’s back and began studying everything, trying to see if anything looked different. Lily had said that Peter was carrying a bag. Maybe he was planning to haul something away. Or maybe he had brought something that shouldn’t be there. Everything looked the same, however, so she led Leonard into the barn to remove his saddle and bridle.

After putting Leonard back in his stall, Maggie hurried to check on the piglets. There were a lot of rare and valuable animals in the stable, but the piglets and the tiny flying horses would be the easiest to steal. She counted the piglets and the tiny horses before looking in on the other animals. They were all where they belonged, and they all seemed fine.

‘Maybe Peter didn’t come here after all,’ Maggie said as she looked in on Leonard one last time.

‘Don’t jump to any conclusions,’ replied the horse. ‘He might have gone to talk to Bob.’

‘That’s true,’ said Maggie. She hoped Peter hadn’t gone to pester Bob; none of the conversations Bob had had with either Peter or Zelia had ever gone very well. She didn’t want Bob or Nora upset, especially not because of her.

Bob was writing a letter when Maggie walked into the cottage, but he set it aside when she stood in front of him.

‘I took the brush to Lily,’ Maggie told him. ‘She asked me to thank you.’

‘I’m glad she liked it,’ Bob said. ‘You did a very nice thing, Maggie.’

‘Did Peter stop by while I was gone?’ asked Maggie.

‘If he did, I didn’t see him,’ said Bob. ‘Why do you ask?’

‘Lily said that she saw Peter headed this way with a bag. She thinks he might have been up to something.’

THUD! THUD! came a sound from outside.

Startled, Maggie looked around as Bob got to his feet.

‘What was that?’ Maggie asked him.

‘It sounds as if one of the animals is cast in its stall,’ Bob said as he started to the door.

Maggie hurried after him. ‘What does that mean?’

‘That an animal lay down in a stall too close to the wall and isn’t able to get up,’ said Bob. ‘It’s kicking the wall as it tries to stand. If it stays cast, it might hurt itself, so I have to help it get to its feet.’

‘Peter couldn’t have caused this, could he?’ Maggie asked.

‘It’s not likely,’ said Bob. They could still hear the thudding as they reached the stable. The sound led them straight to Leonard’s stall. Maggie was relieved to see that he was standing and seemed to be fine.

‘Why were you kicking your wall?’ Bob asked him.

‘It was a good way to get your attention,’ said Leonard. ‘Someone put nasty weeds in my hay. I’m positive they weren’t here before we left. If I eat these, I’ll get really sick.’

Bob bent down to examine the hay. ‘Leonard is right! Eating these weeds would make any animal sick. We’ll have to throw out all this hay.’

‘I’ll check the rest of the stalls and see if the weeds are in the other animals’ hay,’ said Maggie.

‘We need to check the hay in the loft, too,’ said Bob.

‘Peter did this, didn’t he?’ Maggie asked.

Bob sighed. ‘You’re probably right. I never have believed in coincidences.’