Sitting down for breakfast, Shelby stared out the window. It was a gorgeous, clear, autumnal day so she decided to ride her bike to work. Cycling meant her parents didn't have to organise their schedule around her. While she ate her cereal the rest of the family made plans for the day.
The boys were hoping for a day at the zoo, or the aquarium. Her father had heard there was a European car exhibition out in the western suburbs. His wife was trying to distract him with descriptions of a lavish picnic in the Botanic Gardens. None of those activities appealed to Shelby – except for the picnic food.
Cycling also meant she could dawdle. Shelby had worked out that if she arrived just after the first trail ride left she could clean some stables, make up some meals, and then be gone before Erin and Lindsey came back from the ride.
She might run into Hayley, but Mrs Crook was usually hanging around, and she didn't think Hayley would make a scene in front of her mother.
Shelby's mum refilled Shelby's glass with orange juice. 'So what have you decided?' she asked, referring to Shelby's list.
'Don't hassle me!' When she saw the look on her mother's face she quickly added, 'Please, beautiful mother, as I am already feeling stressed about it.' She drank the orange juice in one long gulp and plonked the glass on the table with a clunk.
Blake copied her. Luckily his drink was in a plastic tumbler. She waited for her dad to start the speech about setting a good example, but instead he scolded Blake.
'Actually, I have decided I really do need to know what happened with Diablo, so I'm going to ask Zeb about it today. I'm going to make them tell me. So when I get home could you help me finish the time-line, please?'
'No problem,' her mother smiled.
Shelby wheeled 'Misty', her old bike, out of the garage. The bike was much too small for her. She wondered whether she should ask for a new one for Christmas. December was a long way away. Maybe her parents would consider buying her a second-hand one? They would save money in petrol not driving her to the stables, and time too. She still didn't have a saddle, though, and that was a higher priority. There were so many things she needed. It made her tired just thinking about it.
Perhaps if Chad was her boyfriend he could give her a lift across the Gully on his motorbike? Shelby could feel the colour rise in her cheeks. She pedalled furiously around the corner and past the shops, enjoying the sensation of her muscles working and her blood pumping.
Her mother had suggested that Shelby invite Chad over for a barbecue. With everything going on she had forgotten all about it.
Shelby stopped at the tee-intersection, feeling the wind from the passing vehicles whoosh against her. She hesitated. She could turn left and ride around the Gully, straight to Keisha's place, and avoid the stables altogether. It was tempting. It was also cowardly. Her friends had a right to be cross with her, even if it was based on bad information. Once she proved that none of Keisha's family had stolen Diablo they couldn't stay grumpy. Erin would have trouble staying cranky anyway. For now Shelby would have to suffer through it. Spending time with Blue would make it worth-while. Sometimes just being with him, smelling his dusty pony smell, or tracing the outline of his patch-work coat made her feel calm.
There was a break in the traffic and Shelby turned right, standing above the pedals while the bike swung from side to side. Once she was at cruising speed she sat back in her seat, pedalling smoothly.
Shelby had never had a boyfriend, not even one that she didn't speak to, the way some of the other girls did, although she did go to the year six formal with Justin Ganneck. Well, she didn't actually go there with him. They met out the front and walked into the hall together, and then they danced in the same group for a few songs. Shelby supposed Justin Ganneck didn't count, and besides, he ended up going to a dif-ferent high school.
Lots of the other girls in her year were already kissing and touching boys in the playground. Even the thought of doing that stuff gave Shelby that hollow nervous, sick feeling in her stomach.
She wondered whether she would have to actually say to Chad, 'Will you go out with me?' or if he would, or whether they would just start hanging out and it would be assumed that they were 'together' without either of them saying anything at all.
Hayley would know these sorts of things. She could ask her – but then she remembered that Hayley wasn't speaking to her, and she felt a small hurt in her chest again.
A car tooted as it swept past and Shelby saw Monica grinning at her through the passenger window of her mum's car. Shelby waved back. She was nearly at the driveway to the stables now. She slowed the bike down, getting her breath back. At the gate she climbed off the bike and wheeled it up the driveway.
With a sinking feeling she could see that Lindsey had held up the trail ride waiting for her.
Shelby leaned the bike against the tack shed.
'You're late. Helping with the trail rides is part of your job,' Lindsey said.
'Sorry,' Shelby replied. 'Where's Erin?'
'Erin doesn't work here.'
'OK. Just asking. I guess that means you're speaking to me now.'
Lindsey blinked. 'If you want to say stuff to me later you can, but not in front of clients.' She looked around to see who was within earshot. Shelby guessed that if a couple of riders had been further away she might have copped an earful.
She quickly saddled Blue.
'It's about time you got your own saddle too. Don't you think?' Lindsey added.
Shelby blushed. She also felt a flash of anger. Lindsey knew Shelby's situation. She'd been more open with Lindsey than with her other friends, believing Lindsey was in the same boat.
'Yeah, I think,' she snapped. 'But we don't all have our own goldmine, Lindsey.'
This time it was Lindsey's turn to redden.
They headed out. Shelby tried to muster enthusiasm. She was glad for the first time that their standard practice was to ride one at the front and one at the rear. Just before they reached the back paddock the line of riders stopped so that Lindsey could tighten one of the horse's girths.
Blue tucked his head around and sniffed Shelby's boot, sensing her tense mood.
'I love you too, handsome boy,' she whispered, and reached down to stroke his forelock.
A younger girl with big brown eyes was riding Cracker. 'I just love horses so much!' she told Shelby. She was wearing such a hearty grin that Shelby couldn't help smiling back.
Shelby leaned forward and hugged Blue around the neck. Sometimes she forgot how lucky she was.
After the trail ride Shelby cleaned out stables by herself. She could hear Hayley, Erin and Lindsey laughing together in the next block and she wondered if they were just trying to make her feel bad. It was working.
When they had finished mucking out the other stable blocks the three girls took their horses out to the jumping arena. Erin stared at Shelby as she rode past. Shelby smiled at her, but Erin just looked away.
Once they were out of sight Shelby dumped her last barrow of manure, washed her hands and collected Blue from his paddock.
She rode around the back way, through the paddocks, rather than along the laneway that went past the jumping arena, hoping that the other girls wouldn't see where she was going. With the back gate behind her, Shelby rode swiftly across the Gully.