“CUCUMBER SANDWICH, POPPY dear?” said Granny Bumble, who was sitting on the rug with Poppy and Edward.
“Oh, um, yes, please. I was miles away,” said a startled Poppy. “I should be paying attention to how all the other riders in my class are doing. Oops!”
Poppy and Edward chatted as they kept score. Poppy was delighted – it seemed she was in with a real chance. There were no clear rounds, and everyone else was slower: her position was strong.
The final rider was Pollyanna Willoughby.
“I don’t think you’ve got much to worry about, Poppy,” said Edward. “I saw Pollyanna at Daisy’s last show: her pony is a bit chubby and very slow!”
Poppy smiled. It seemed the red rosette would soon be hers. But Edward had not bargained on Pollyanna Willoughby’s new grey pony with a white blaze on his face. He was called Lightning and he looked very fast and strong. Poppy realized that she might be knocked off the top slot after all.
She and Edward stood up and watched intently as the bell sounded and Pollyanna began her round. Lightning was well named. He took off at breakneck speed and jumped beautifully. Poppy felt sure she was going to lose out to this pair. As they approached the water jump, she knew they were much faster than she had been.
That’s what I get for daydreaming that I’ve already won! Poppy scolded herself.
Lightning cantered up to the jump. Poppy could hardly bear to watch. She’d come so close to winning – she would be devastated if she was beaten by the final competitor. As Lightning soared over the jump, he seemed to glance down at the stretch of water beneath him. He twisted in midair and then his hind legs came down and splashed right in the middle of the water feature! Pollyanna struggled to bring him under control, but he didn’t like the water one little bit! Eventually he emerged, shook himself and carried on, but they now had four faults, just like Poppy and Twinkletoes, and surely they’d lost a lot of time at that last jump.
Poppy and Edward couldn’t quite work out if it was a better round overall than Poppy’s or not. As they were trying to hear what the commentator had to say, they were distracted by the Advanced Class starting to assemble.
“I think he said the winner of the Novice Class would be announced at the prize-giving at four o’clock, but I didn’t hear Pollyanna’s final score!” said Granny Bumble, who had been trying to listen.
Poppy could hardly bear the suspense – she was desperate to know whether she had won or not, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She had to support Daisy, so she and Edward dashed over to the main ring.
Parsley and Daisy were going first. Parsley looked fit and sleek and performed beautifully, even though it was a very tricky course. He had no faults and a time of 65 seconds. After some other good performances – though none as fast as Daisy’s – Lilac, the last competitor, came in on the gorgeous Black Beauty.
They made a lovely team and also had a clear round. No one could believe it when the commentator announced their time: also 65 seconds! It was a tie between Daisy and Lilac!
The judges announced that at three o’clock there would be a jump-off on a shortened course between Daisy on Parsley and Lilac on Black Beauty. Luckily Lilac was being a good sport on this occasion, but Daisy was very nervous. She had been working with Parsley for years, whereas Lilac had only just bought Black Beauty. It really mattered to Daisy that she won.
When the new course was ready, Daisy decided to walk it first; she asked Poppy to keep an eye on Parsley for her.
“OK, Daisy, no problem,” said Poppy. “I’m watching Twinkletoes anyway.”
Poppy checked that Parsley was securely tied to the horsebox, next to his best friend, Twinkletoes, and settled down on the picnic rug with a pony magazine. Just then Edward returned from a blacksmith’s demonstration of how to shoe a pony. He was full of news about the showground.
“Want to go for a wander round the stalls?” he asked Poppy. “We could get an ice cream. There’s loads of fun stuff going on!”
“I’d love to, but I’m meant to be looking after the ponies,” replied Poppy as she looked around to see whether anyone else might be able to keep an eye on Parsley and Twinkletoes for her.
Unfortunately, all her friends and family seemed to be off doing other things – there was no one around to look after the ponies. She felt she was missing out on all the fun.
“They’re both tied up and we won’t be long,” said Edward persuasively.
As the hot sun beat down on her, Poppy thought an ice cream sounded lovely, and she really wanted to have a look at the stalls.
“Oh, come on then, let’s be quick,” she replied, “but don’t tell Daisy.”
Poppy and Edward strolled around looking at stalls and enjoying toffeeripple ice-cream cornets, but before long Poppy began to feel bad about breaking her promise to Daisy.
“I think I’d better go back and check on Parsley and Twinks. Daisy will be back soon,” she said.
“OK then,” agreed Edward. “Let’s go.”
When they arrived at the horsebox, Twinkletoes was happily munching on some juicy-looking grass, but Parsley was nowhere to be seen! Poppy’s mouth went dry with fear.
“Oh, my goodness! Parsley has totally vanished!” she screamed.
“Maybe Daisy came back for him while we were away? Ponies don’t just vanish,” said Edward, who was also worried – after all, he had persuaded Poppy to leave the ponies alone in the first place.
At that moment they both spotted Daisy, on her way back from the ring. How was Poppy going to tell her that she had failed to look after her pony?
