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Queen Rider
Bonnie Wyndham got out of her
mother's car and looked at Almonside School. "I'll make you sorry I've
come here," she told her, pleasantly. Her mother was getting out of the
other door at the time so she didn't hear, but Bonnie wouldn't have cared if
she had. Her mother knew her feelings. Mrs. Wyndham looked about her. Almonside
was a funny school, all bits and pieces, buildings hidden away amongst the
trees on a wooded hillside; very confusing at first sight. Then she saw the
signs on a post: science block, gymnasium, riding centre ...
"Riding centre," said Bonnie,
showing a sudden interest. "Headmaster's study," said her mother.
"This way."
Bonnie followed her mother
along a broad drive that curved between trees.
"I wish you'd walk beside me instead of
following me like a dog," said Mrs. Wyndham wearily, but she didn't seem
to expect Bonnie to do so.
A few minutes later, her mother
was talking to Bonnie's new headmaster in his study, while Bonnie herself sat
and waited outside the door. Suddenly, Bonnie jumped up. "Why should I
just it here?" she said to herself. "I'll be thrown out before very
long, anyway," she said mentally to the door, "so why not get it over
and done with?" She left the building and headed for the riding centre in
the direction indicated by the sign.
There was a nice old building
where the horses were kept, and a large structure for indoor riding. Bonnie
looked about her, but there was no one in sight. There was a certain reverence
about her manner as she approached the animals. Bonnie treated horses with
respect. The horses were very well looked after, she could tell that at once.
Almost every stall was
occupied, and she wandered along looking carefully at each horse and judging
it. "They know what they're doing here," she told a small pony as she
ran a finger along its nose. It was the next horse that pulled her up short.
"But aren't you the best of the lot!" she said. He was brown with a
touch of white. Lively, probably, but Bonnie liked that. "You know, I have
the feeling we've met before," said Bonnie, stroking his neck.
"It was in my dreams and I
was riding you to victory in some big competition." Over the stall was his
name: Maverick.
Suddenly, she couldn't resist the temptation to ride the horse. "I wonder where I can find a bridle for your head, and a saddle for your back. Can't be far away." The room containing all the riding equipment was — Bonnie was delighted to discover — unlocked. Absorbed in the pleasurable task of putting a saddle on Maverick's back, she forgot all about her mother and the headmaster. When she sat up high on the big horse outside the building, she felt like a queen, mistress of all she could see. Her nickname at her previous school had been Queen Bee, and she laughed delightedly as she remembered it. You're the best horse I've ever sat on, Maverick, ' she said admiringly, "and when I say that I'm not kidding, I can assure you, because I know about horses, even if I don t know about anything else."
She nudged him into a walk, then into a trot. "If I stay here, I
think you and I could be great friends," she confided. She went round and
round the paddock. The rhythm was exhilarating, a little breeze whipping
smartly past her cheek and making it glow. She could tell Maverick trusted her,
and she felt certain that he'd jump well.
