“OH, DAISY, COME quickly!” sobbed Poppy, waving frantically at her cousin. “I don’t know what to do. Parsley has disappeared!”
“What?” said Daisy, running as fast as she could towards the horsebox. “How can he be missing? I’ve only been away for fifteen minutes and you’ve been looking after him, haven’t you? If this is a joke, then it’s not very funny when I have such an important jump-off ahead of me.”
Poppy hung her head in shame. “It’s not a joke. I wish it was. I’m so sorry, I left him alone for a few minutes. We went for a wander and an ice cream, that’s all.”
Daisy was very cross and upset that her cousin had broken her promise.
“I bet Edward is behind this! And to think you left Twinks as well, after all he’s been through,” she said.
Word of Parsley’s mystery disappearance spread like wildfire through Summer Meadow. The jump–off, which all the crowds were so looking forward to, could not take place until he was found. It seemed as if Poppy’s carelessness had ruined the whole show: everything had come to a complete standstill. The commentator made an announcement on the loudspeaker.
“Attention please. This is an important announcement. A grey pony almost fourteen hands in height, answering to the name of Parsley, has vanished from the meadow. Can everyone please stop what they are doing and join in the search for him? Look in your horseboxes and behind stalls. Please report any sightings to the administration team. The Advanced Class jump-off cannot proceed until this pony is found. Thank you!”
Poppy felt sick. It was all her fault. Daisy had every right to be angry with her. But this made her all the more determined to fix everything.
Poppy’s mum and dad, and Daisy’s too, were working out a plan. They decided to split up into pairs to look for Parsley, while Edward stayed with Twinkletoes.
But there was no sign of the pony. It was as if he had never existed. Everyone was hunting high and low, all to no avail. At one point someone triumphantly showed Daisy a grey pony, but a girl came after him shouting, “Hey! That’s Angus. He’s mine!”
Poppy and Mum went round every horsebox, asking people very politely to check for Parsley. Poppy’s face was smeared with tears and dust.
“What does he like best of all, Poppy?” asked Mum. “That might give us a clue to where he might have headed. Just think, darling.”
Poppy concentrated very hard on Mum’s question. “Well, he does love apples!” she replied, remembering how Parsley always guzzled them at top speed.
Mum looked as if she’d had an idea. “Poppy, come with me. Let’s check out the orchard in Wildspice Woods. He might just have followed the smell of ripe summer apples in the air!”
Poppy thought this was unlikely, but she felt so desperate that she was prepared to give anything a try. As they entered the dense woods, she felt as though they were looking for a needle in a haystack.
“We’ll never find him in here! It’s so dark,” she moaned, looking up at the canopy of leaves that shaded the sunlight overhead.
Mum was gazing at the ground. The soft grassy pathway was indented with hoof marks – she was sure they were going to find him. “Not far to the orchard now!” she cheerfully.
Poppy was exhausted and thirsty. The last thing on her mind was her own success in the Novice Class – all that mattered was her cousin’s pony.
“I hope he’s here – if he’s gone the other way, onto a road, it could be so dangerous!” she said.
Mum led Poppy into the orchard. “Delphi and I always used to come here to gather apples for your granny’s delicious pies and crumbles!” she told her. “Come this way – these are pear trees; the apple trees are further on!”
As they walked into the sweet-smelling avenue of green apple trees, they heard a rustle, then a loud crunching noise.
“Shhh!” said Mum. “Be very quiet . . .”
She pulled back the branches of one especially laden tree, and there was Parsley! He was gorging on the wonderful apples as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Poppy laughed with relief and tried to hug the naughty pony, but he made off in the opposite direction. Perhaps he sensed that his private apple-munching party had come to an end.
“Come here, Parsley, there’s a good boy!” said Poppy.
“Get a few apples and we’ll coax him back to Summer Meadow!” suggested Mum, feeling so relieved that she started to giggle and couldn’t stop.
“Good idea,” replied Poppy as she picked some lovely juicy apples and showed them to Parsley.
Finally, between them, Mum and Poppy lured Parsley back to the show. When someone saw them coming through the gates, word soon spread back to Daisy, who ran across to greet them. Poppy explained where they had found the pony and how mischievous he had been and apologized again for leaving him alone.
“Don’t worry, Poppy-kins – it could have happened on anyone’s watch!” said Daisy, delighted to have her pony back. “At least you found him again!”
“All thanks to Mum!” said Poppy.
Daisy stroked Parsley’s nose and gave him a kiss. “You and apples!” she scolded him gently on hearing that he had been binging in the orchard. “I’ll get you a whole barrel of apples if you behave for the rest of the day!”
Without further ado, the competition organizers announced that the drama was over: Daisy and Parsley would soon be in the ring for the jump-off.
Lilac was relieved to hear that Parsley was safe and well. She would have been very disappointed if the jump-off had been cancelled. Her mum, dad and grandfather, Colonel Forster, were all proudly supporting her. This was Black Beauty’s first show and she was excited at the prospect of winning. But she had to win fair and square – no more cheating.
Daisy was first into the ring. She and Parsley looked unbeatable as they cantered round. But just before the starting bell sounded, Parsley froze, rolling his eyes, and then shied.
Poppy followed his gaze and realized that he had spotted something rustling in the nearby bushes. She soon realized that it was two balloons stuck in the bush, bobbing together. Daisy hadn’t seen it, but she knew that something was wrong from the way Parsley’s body had tensed. She tried to soothe him, but he began to tremble. Then, as her pony gave a huge buck, Daisy was thrown into the air and ended up lying on the ground, quite motionless.