Stardust and the

Daredevil Ponies

STACY GREGG

www.stacygregg.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2008. HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk

Text copyright © Stacy Gregg 2008

Illustrations © Fiona Land 2008

Cover design copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2020 Cover photography © Shutterstock.com CBBC logo © British Broadcasting Corporation 2016

The author and illustrator assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work.

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Source ISBN: 9780007245161

Ebook Edition © 2009 ISBN: 9780007340682

Version 2020-08-18

For my editor, Sally Martin, who

always makes everything better

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Map

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

The Pony Club Secrets series

About the Publisher

Chapter 1

The dark castle gleamed in the rain, its stone turrets like blackened teeth against the moon. It had seen many storms like this one. Perched high on top of a rocky citadel, it was at the mercy of such grim weather. As the rain fell like a cloak, the huge iron portcullis that hung over the drawbridge creaked and groaned in the wind. A wolf howled at the cold moon. Then, louder than either of these, came another sound–the thunder of hoofbeats.

Far below the castle, at the foot of the mountain fortress, a horse and rider could be seen in the moonlight. The rider was a young woman with long blonde hair. She wore pale blue jodhpurs and her white cotton blouse was soaked from the lashing rain. The horse she was riding was impossibly beautiful, a golden palomino with a mane and tail so white they almost sparkled in the pale light.

The palomino’s hooves flashed and clattered against the cobbled stones of the mountain path as the girl drove the horse on, up and up the terraced steps which wound like a corkscrew around the mountainside to the castle above.

As the girl and the horse galloped up to reach the second terrace it suddenly became clear that they were not alone. Seven riders on jet-black horses were quickly closing in on them. The riders looked enormous compared to the girl. They wore long black robes that billowed out behind them as they rode. Black hoods hid their faces, making them look like ghostly apparitions in the dark night.

The hooded horsemen were gaining on the girl and by the time she reached the third terrace they had surrounded her. Trapped, the palomino turned on the horsemen and reared in the air, lashing out with her front hooves, catching one of the black-robed riders with a glancing blow to the shoulder.

The hooded rider grabbed at his injured shoulder and cursed the palomino in a strange language. Then he gave instructions to the other horsemen and they obeyed him without question, forming a tight half-circle around the palomino. As the horses closed in, the palomino began snorting and stamping, turning this way and that, looking for a way to escape.

Up close, the black horses were monstrous and otherworldly. Their eyes gleamed red, their mouths frothed as they champed at their bits and their bridles were strung with strange talismen, carved symbols that hinted at the power of the ancient curse that bound them to their fate.

Suddenly the head horseman rode forward to face the girl. The other riders closed ranks behind him and stood, watching and waiting as their leader raised his pale, bony hand and drew back the hood of his cape.

The face that was revealed beneath the hood did not belong to any earthly man. The horseman had no hair at all and his bald head throbbed with pale, purplish-grey veins. His cruel, pale eyes and hooked nose gave him a crow-like appearance. His skin, which shone horribly in the moonlight, was as white as a corpse.

The palomino snorted in fear at the sight of him and the girl put her hand to the sword that lay on her hip, ready to unsheathe it.

“Leave her alone, Francis,” the girl said bravely. “You cannot possibly think you will win like this.”

“Oh, but that is exactly what I think, Princess,” the black-robed rider hissed like a lizard. “Tonight we take Seraphine’s life. She is the last of her kind. Your last hope. When she joins us and becomes one of the Horses of Darkness then you will have lost your kingdom forever.”

The horseman jumped down from his black mount and stepped forward so that he was standing before the palomino. A smile played across his lips, which widened to reveal a set of long white fangs.

“Say good night, Seraphine,” the vampire rider said softly as he opened his mouth wide and lunged forward to plunge his fangs deep into the palomino’s golden neck…

“And…cut!” a voice shouted out. The rain suddenly stopped and the studio lights flashed on, bathing everyone in a golden glow.

“Terrific! Great scene, everyone! That’s a wrap!”

There was a clapping and a whooping from the film crew at the news that the night’s shooting was over. Issie jumped down off the palomino and looked up at the man who had shouted “cut!” He was sitting on an enormous camera crane erected high above the horses. “Hey, Rupert,” she called out to the director, “is it all right if I take this off now?” She gestured to the long blonde wig that she was wearing over her own long dark hair.

“Absolutely. Hand it over to Helen in make-up and give your costume back to Amber, then get those horses back to the stables and you can go home. You did great work this evening, Isadora. You too, Aidan!”

The head vampire rider smiled at this, then stuck his fingers in his mouth to pull out a pair of shiny, white fake fangs. “What a relief to finally have those out! They’re murder to wear when you’re riding!” he said, smiling at Issie.

“Ohmygod, Aidan! You are so scary with those fangs; sometimes I almost forget that we’re just making a movie and get all freaked out!” Issie grinned back.

Aidan, who was busy peeling off his latex bald cap to reveal the thick black hair hidden underneath, looked pleased at this. “Really? Thanks! You did some great stunt riding tonight, Issie. See you tomorrow on the set for breakfast, OK?”

“See you then,” Issie beamed.

As Aidan set off back down the hill, leading his horse, Issie’s best friends, Stella and Kate, rushed forward to help the black riders, each of them taking the reins of a pair of horses. With the lights on it was easy to see that these black horses weren’t evil or strange at all, but perfectly normal horses dressed up in costume. The girls held the horses still and waited patiently as make-up artists clustered around to wipe the fake froth from the horses’ mouths and remove the red glitter from around their eyes.

“That was so exciting!” Stella called out to Issie. “You did the best rear. Stardust wasn’t naughty at all!”

Issie looked at the palomino mare standing next to her. “She was good, wasn’t she?” Issie grinned.

“Good? She was brilliant!” Kate said, reaching forward to pat Stardust on her velvety nose. “I think you’re finally getting through to her, Issie.”

“I hope you’re right, Kate, I really do,” Issie said.

Stardust, the beautiful palomino mare, was the star of this movie and it was Issie’s job as her stunt rider to make her perform for the cameras. But the mare seemed determined to misbehave and her naughty stunts had the whole film crew upset. Aunt Hester had been driven to despair by her dangerous tricks. It was Hester, of course, who was responsible for involving Issie and her friends in the whole movie business in the first place…

Issie hadn’t heard from her aunt in months, since her last visit to Blackthorn Farm, so the phone call came as a bit of a surprise.

“Isadora! My favourite niece!” Hester had trilled down the phone. Her greeting made Issie laugh straightaway–Hester always called Issie her “favourite niece,” when in fact she was her only niece so she didn’t have much competition!

“Hi, Aunty Hess. How are things at the farm?”

Blackthorn Farm was a grand old country manor with hundreds of hectares of land, high in the hills outside Gisborne on the East Coast. It was there that Aunt Hester trained her mad menagerie of movie animals, including a team of stunt horses.

“Busy, busy, busy!” Hester told her. “We’ve got a big movie coming up–The Palomino Princess—have you heard of it?”

“Ohmygod!” Issie squealed. “Aunty Hess! I love that book! Are they making a film of it? How cool! And your horses are going to be in it?”

“Absolutely,” Hester said. “Well, at least a few of them are–Paris and Nicole and Destiny and Diablo to be exact. They need quite a few stunt horses for the film, but as you’ll know if you’ve already read the books, the Horses of Darkness all need to be pitch black–plus we need five palominos for Galatea and her princesses. Paris and Nicole are perfect for princess horses and Diablo is having his piebald patches dyed so that he can play one of the black horses.”

“That’s so exciting!” Issie said.

“I’m glad you think so, dear,” Hester said, “because I was hoping you might want to come and work with me on the movie.”

“What? Me?”

“Well, yes. And your friends too. They’re looking for riders and wranglers right now and you’ve got some school holidays coming up. I thought the timing was perfect,” Hester said.

“I couldn’t…” Issie began to protest, but Hester interrupted.

“I know Blaze is expecting her foal and you won’t want to leave her alone,” Hester said, “but the movie set isn’t far away from Chevalier Point. You could still go home at weekends to check on her. How long is it now until she’s due?”

“The vet says she has maybe a month to go,” Issie said.

“Well, that’s perfect then! They’re doing most of the filming with the actors back at the studio on blue screen—lots of special effects. That means the outdoor shooting at Chevalier Point is only scheduled to take a few weeks. Filming should be wrapped by the time your foal arrives.”

“But I…” Issie began.

“The best part is that this will give you a chance to ride in your holidays. I mean, you can’t possibly ride Blaze, can you? She must be so fat now, you won’t be able to fit a girth around that tummy of hers!” Hester insisted. “Listen, my favourite niece, I could really do with your help. There are nearly two dozen horses in this film and Aidan and I are responsible for all of them. Which is fine except it’s tricky to find riders who are the right size to play the palomino princesses. We need four girls who fit the costumes to double for the stars of the film, and they must be good riders. There’s no problem finding stunt doubles for the black horsemen–we’ve got seven stunt riders who are all over six feet tall. But it’s been a nightmare finding our four girls. They can’t be too grown-up; Princess Galatea and her riders are all, well, actually they’re about your size…” Hester paused. “We’ll pay you all of course–film rates for stunt riders are really very good.”

“It all sounds great, Aunty Hess!” Issie said. “And I’m sure Stella and Kate will be keen and we can find a fourth girl to ride with us…”

“Excellent!” Hester said. “So what’s the best way to organise this? Do you want to put your mother on the phone? I think she’s more likely to say yes if I ask her, don’t you?”

“Actually, Aunty Hess, I wouldn’t bet on it. She’s still mad at you after last time,” Issie said.

“Oh, I was hoping she would have forgotten about that by now.”

The last time Issie had stayed with her aunt she had caught and ridden Destiny, a wild stallion that led a herd of wild ponies at Blackthorn Farm. Issie had returned home from her adventures with her arm in a sling–a fact that her mother was none too happy about.

“Your mum is such a fusspot,” Hester sighed. “It was only a little sprain. Put her on the phone. I’m sure she’ll say yes once I talk her round.”

“Muuum!” Issie called with her hand over the receiver. “It’s for you!”

As Mrs Brown took the phone out of her daughter’s hands with a quizzical look, Issie held her breath and hoped Aunt Hester would be able to make her mother say yes.

Issie’s mum and Aunt Hester were sisters, but the two women were the complete opposite of each other in every way. Hester was, as her mum put it, a “bit too bohemian for her own good”. She had been an actress before she gave up the movies herself and started training animals to act instead. She had curly blonde hair that tumbled over her shoulders and always wore lots of jewellery and scarves, even when she was riding. Hester had been married three times–“All of them wonderful weddings!” as she told Issie–but she had no children of her own.

Issie’s mum had only been married once–to Issie’s dad–although they split up years ago and Issie hardly ever saw him. And Mrs Brown looked nothing like Hester–she looked just like Issie, with long, straight dark hair and tanned olive skin.

The most important difference between the two sisters though, as far as Issie was concerned, was horses.

Aunt Hester was horsy through and through. Right now she had twelve horses in her stables at Blackthorn Farm. Issie’s mum, on the other hand, didn’t like horses one bit. Issie had to beg and plead for years before her mum finally caved in and bought Mystic for her.

Issie could hear her mum on the phone now with Aunty Hess and it sounded like Hester was getting a telling-off. She could only catch snippets of the conversation but it clearly wasn’t going well.

“You must be joking!” she heard her mum say. “…Yes, Hester, I know she’s an excellent rider but she’s also my daughter and after last time…”

Issie slunk away to the kitchen and waited for her mum to finish yelling at Hester and get off the phone. Finally, she heard the receiver being hung up and Mrs Brown appeared in the kitchen doorway, her arms crossed and her brow furrowed in a deep frown.

“I have a feeling that you already know what that phone call was about,” she said.

“Uh-huh,” Issie said.

“So you really want to help Hess with this movie?”

“Uh-huh.”

Mrs Brown sighed. “I’ve told Hester that if I see so much as a sticky plaster on you when you come home this time I will hold her responsible. She insists that it’s perfectly safe. There’s a bit of riding apparently, but you’ll mostly just be grooming the horses and mucking out the stalls.”

“Wait a minute!” Issie said. “Does that mean you’re going to let me go?”

Mrs Brown nodded. “Your Aunty Hess is very convincing. You start work as a stunt rider on The Palomino Princess next Monday.”

Issie whooped with delight. “Thanks, Mum! I’ll be fine, honestly. Wow! This is so cool! I’m going straight over to see Stella. I’m sure her mum will say she can do it too! And Kate! Oh, this is going to be great!”

“Hey, hey wait!” said Mrs Brown as Issie tore off towards the front door. “Kate and Stella make three. Hester told me she needs four girl riders. She’s relying on you to find her a fourth girl.” Mrs Brown gave Issie a cheeky grin. “You know, I can think of one girl who would love to work on a film like this.”

“Oh, very funny, Mum! I know exactly who you mean and don’t you dare say her name. Don’t even think it!” Issie groaned. “I’m sure we can find someone else. I’m not that desperate.”

Her mum might think it was funny to lumber Issie with Natasha Tucker for the holidays but Issie couldn’t think of anyone, or anything, worse. Mrs Brown didn’t understand why Issie didn’t like Natasha. After all, the girls were the same age–thirteen–and they were both members of the Chevalier Point Pony Club. But Natasha had it in for Issie and she was such a snob. No, there had to be someone else that Issie could ask. There was no way she was asking awful Stuck-up Tucker. It was never going to happen. No matter what. Not in a million years.

Chapter 2

Stella’s cheeks were as red as her hair. She looked like she was about to explode.

“You’ve done what?” she spluttered in disbelief.

“I’ve asked Natasha Tucker,” Issie groaned.

“But why, Issie? It was going to be such fun–you, me and Kate. Why would you ask Natasha?”

“Because Aunty Hess really needed a fourth rider and it had to be a girl because we’ll be stunt-doubling for the actresses in the film. Natasha is a good rider and she was the only other person I could think of.”

“What about Morgan?” Kate offered. “Couldn’t you have asked her instead?”

“She’s away on the showjumping circuit right now with her mum,” Issie said.

“This is a nightmare!” Stella fumed.

“I can’t believe Natasha wants to come with us,” Kate said. “She usually ignores us at pony club.”

Issie shrugged. “I know.” She had dreaded turning up at the River Paddock this morning to break the news to Kate and Stella. She knew they would take it badly.

“What a nightmare!” Stella groaned again.

“Oh, Stella, get over it. Don’t be such a drama queen,” Kate snapped.

“Natasha will have to behave herself,” Issie pointed out. “Aunty Hess will be there running things and so will Aidan…”

“Aidan?” Stella said. “Ohmygod, Issie! You didn’t tell me Aidan was going to be there. You haven’t seen him since last summer.”

“Yes, Stella, I know. I don’t need reminding,” Issie replied, trying to shut Stella up.

Aidan was Aunt Hester’s stable manager. The last time Issie saw him was the morning they left Blackthorn Farm. She still remembered Aidan’s kiss, the way his long dark fringe had brushed against her face and she had felt her heart race. She had been so shocked that she hadn’t known what to say. Then Aidan had got all embarrassed and run off and they hadn’t spoken since. Only Stella and Kate knew about this–she had told them once they got home. Although Issie was beginning to wish she hadn’t said anything about it to Stella at all. Stella was her best friend but she was also boy-mad and could be a bit of a twit sometimes–she was bound to blab to Aidan and embarrass her!

“Don’t say anything to him about it, OK, Stella?” Issie begged her.

Stella grinned back. “About what?”

Issie blushed. “Anyway,” she said, changing the subject back to Natasha, “I’ve already asked Natasha. Her mum says it’s OK and she’s coming and that’s final. You need to be at my house tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. We’re all trucking out to the film set together.

“How far is it?” Kate asked.

“It’s only about an hour away, up past the lake,” Issie said. “You know where the ruins of Chevalier Castle are, on that big hill? Well, that’s why they’re filming here. They’re using the castle as part of their film set and they’ve built all these other sets and everything there. There are sleeping quarters for the stunt riders and wranglers too. We’ll be working long hours and we need to take care of the horses so we’ll stay there during the week, but we can come home at weekends.”

“What about Blaze?” Kate asked. “You can’t leave her here alone all week with the foal coming.”

“I’ve already moved her to Winterflood Farm,” Issie said. “Avery says he’ll keep an eye on her. Besides, the vet says she’s still not due for another month…”

“It’s so exciting!” Stella blurted out. “I can’t believe Blaze is actually going to have a foal!”

Issie still couldn’t believe it herself. When the vet at Blackthorn Farm had told her the news she had been in shock. At first, Issie had assumed that the father must be the jet black wild stallion Destiny. Destiny had amazing bloodlines. He had been sired by Aunt Hester’s own beloved Swedish Warmblood stallion, Avignon, so Issie had been very excited at the prospect of Blaze carrying the black stallion’s foal.

Then, when Issie got home and her own vet examined Blaze, he dropped a bombshell. Blaze wasn’t just a little bit pregnant. It seemed she was very pregnant indeed. The mare was more than three months gone already! That meant that Destiny couldn’t possibly be the sire. Issie had been stunned. If Destiny wasn’t the father of this foal, then who was? Finally, she figured it out. Marius! The great, grey Lipizzaner stallion was the star of the El Caballo Danza Magnifico —the famed Spanish dancing horses. Blaze had once belonged to the troupe too, one of the El Caballo’s seven Anglo-Arab mares, renowned for their beauty and balletic performances in the arena.

When Issie thought about it the timing made perfect sense. Blaze had been returned briefly to Francoise D’arth, the head trainer at the El Caballo Danza Magnifico. Issie remembered going to visit Blaze at the El Caballo stables. She had arrived to find Francoise busily ticking off the stable boys for allowing Marius to jump out of his paddock in with the mares. It took almost all day before the stable boys realised the stallion was in the wrong paddock.

Issie had immediately sent a letter to Francoise, telling her the exciting news, but she hadn’t had a reply. Then Issie saw a big story in PONY Magazine about the El Caballo Danza Magnifico which said the troupe was still on its world tour. Perhaps Francoise hadn’t been home and had never received Issie’s letter. The French trainer would surely have got in touch if she knew that Blaze was going to have a foal.

There was still a month to go, but every day that Issie checked on Blaze she seemed to be more and more enormous. Her belly was now so huge that Issie couldn’t fit a girth around her and the pony was eating twice as much hard feed as usual, as well as the lush spring grass in her paddock at Winterflood Farm.

Avery, meanwhile, was like an expectant father, fussing over the mare. He had set up the barn ready for the birth and organised the foaling monitor that would alert them the minute Blaze went into labour.

“The foaling monitor means we can leave her outdoors to graze naturally until she actually goes into labour. After that, things tend to happen very quickly,” Avery warned Issie. “When my great showjumping mare Starlight was foaling, I popped off to grab a cup of tea and by the time I came back from the kitchen she’d had him and the little tyke was already trying to stand up!”

Everything was prepared and the vet had pronounced Blaze perfectly healthy. Still, Issie was nervous about going away with Aunt Hester and leaving her pony.

“She’ll be fine,” Avery reassured Issie. “You go and have fun. I’ll keep an eye on her, don’t you worry. You’re only an hour away–I’ll let you know the minute anything happens, I promise.”

“Just don’t make any cups of tea while I’m gone. I don’t want Blaze to have her foal without me!” Issie had joked.

Even with Avery’s reassurances, Issie didn’t want to say goodbye to Blaze. On the night before the truck was due to pick them up and take them to the film set, she stopped by Winterflood Farm and stood in the paddock for ages, giving the mare snuggles and feeding her at least six carrots.

“After all,” she giggled as Blaze snuffled and munched a carrot from the palm of her hand, “you are eating for two, aren’t you, girl?”

She ran her hands one last time through Blaze’s long flaxen-blonde mane. The mare was so pretty with her dished Arabian face and her perfect white blaze. Issie loved Blaze so deeply now it seemed strange when she thought back to the day they first met.

It was Tom Avery who had brought Blaze to her. The chestnut Anglo-Arab had been so awfully mistreated, she was in a terrible state. Avery and the International League for the Protection of Horses had rescued her. Issie couldn’t believe it when Avery told her he wanted Issie to be her guardian and take care of the mare.

It was a lot for him to ask. Until Blaze turned up, Issie had sworn off horses for good. She didn’t want anything more to do with them after what had happened to Mystic.

Mystic had been Issie’s first ever horse. A fourteen-hand, swaybacked grey gelding with faded dapples and a shaggy mane. Issie had loved Mystic deeply from the first day they met. When Mystic had been killed in a road accident at the pony club, Issie thought she would never get over it. She was sure she would never have another horse. But Avery knew better. He brought Blaze to her and together the broken-hearted girl and the broken-spirited pony healed each other and became a real team.

And Mystic? His death was just the beginning of a whole new adventure. Issie’s bond with Mystic was more powerful than even she suspected. In fact Mystic wasn’t truly gone at all. Whenever things got really bad, whenever Issie needed him most, he would be there at her side–not like a ghost or anything like that, but a real horse, flesh and blood.

Mystic was her guardian angel. He had saved her and Blaze countless times now. She hadn’t seen the grey gelding in a long time, but she felt his presence more strongly than ever now that Blaze was close to foaling. Just knowing that the grey gelding was watching over Blaze and protecting her made Issie feel better about leaving the mare behind.

“I have to go, but Mystic will keep an eye on you, OK, girl?” Issie murmured as the mare nuzzled against her. Then she gave Blaze one more carrot for the road and left the mare in the paddock, heading home to pack her bags.

But when she got home, Issie was surprised to find her bags already packed and her sleeping bag rolled and ready at the front door.

“Mum?” Issie called out. Mrs Brown emerged from the kitchen.

“There you are!” she said breezily. “I figured you’d be running late so I went ahead and packed for you. I’ve washed and folded all that stuff you had in your laundry basket and put that in, and you’ve got three pairs of jodhpurs, your new hoodie and your PONY Magazines…”

“But Mum, I thought you didn’t really want me to go,” Issie said.

“Well, I was hoping you’d get a nice, safe, ordinary part-time job on the supermarket check-out for the holidays.” Mrs Brown put her arms round Issie and gave her a hug. “But then I realised you wouldn’t be my Issie if you did that, would you?”

Mrs Brown’s hug got tighter. “I’ve told Hester to take good care of you this time, and I’ll be there to pick you up and bring you home at the weekend.” She let go of Issie and smiled. “Your dinner is ready–go and sit at the table. After that, you better get straight up to bed. You have an early start in the morning.”

Issie did go straight to bed after dinner and she was so exhausted she had no trouble falling asleep. The last thing she remembered was setting her alarm clock for six. Then she was dreaming. In her dream she could hear Avery calling to her. He was telling her to hurry up because Blaze was having the foal. Issie could hear the foaling monitor going parp! parp! parp! telling her that she must go to her mare, but it was like her limbs were made of lead, it was so hard to move. Then, as she drowsily woke up out of her sleep, she realised the noise wasn’t a foaling alarm at all. It was the sound of her alarm clock and there was her mother, sitting beside her on the bed and shaking her gently by the shoulder.

“Issie! It’s time to get going. I came in and woke you up already, but you must have gone straight back to sleep,” Mrs Brown said. “Come on. Everyone is here waiting for you.”

“What time is it now?” Issie mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

“Seven o’clock.”

“Ohmygod!”

Issie leapt out of bed. She pulled on her dressing gown and ran to the window on the other side of the hallway, the one that looked out to the main street. Aidan’s horse truck was already parked outside. Issie could see Stella, Kate and Natasha waving madly through the truck windows at her. Stella was mouthing something at her but Issie couldn’t hear her. “What?” she called back. Stella looked exasperated and wound down her window. “I said hurry up, sleepyhead!” she laughed. “We’ve been waiting for ages!”

“Yeah, come on!” Kate grinned at her.

Natasha glared at her balefully. “Typical,” she said. “Making the rest of us wait for you.”

“Sorry! I’m coming. Give me five minutes!” Issie called back.

There was barely time for a shower and no time for breakfast. Mrs Brown managed to thrust a piece of Marmite toast in Issie’s hand and give her daughter a kiss goodbye as she raced out of the door.

Outside the horse truck was waiting. A boy stood by the door of the truck cab. He was wearing black jeans and a flannel shirt and his long dark hair fell in a floppy fringe over his face. “I’ve put your bags in the truck. The others are all sitting in the back, but I thought you might like to ride up in the cab with me,” Aidan said.

Aidan! Issie could feel her heart beating fast in her chest and her mouth was so dry there was no way she could choke down the last bite of the Marmite toast. “Uh-huh,” she managed.

Aidan looked pleased and gave her a shy smile, pushing his fringe back so that Issie could see his startling blue eyes. “Let’s go then!”

The first five minutes of the drive were excruciatingly painful. Issie didn’t know what to say so the pair of them sat there in silence looking out the window.

Finally Aidan spoke. “Do you know much about this movie?”

“I’ve read the book, like, a hundred times,” Issie said. “There’s this princess–her name is Galatea, but everyone calls her Gala. She’s the ruler of a kingdom where the women are all princesses and brave warriors–but she’s the strongest of them all and she has superpowers and stuff. Anyway, in Galatea’s realm the horses are all palominos and they have magical powers too. Then there are all these really creepy guys called the Elerians. The Elerians have these black horses, and the really horrible part is that their horses were all once palominos too. They used to belong to Galatea’s stables, but one by one the Elerians have captured them and turned them into the Horses of Darkness. The Elerians are actually vampires–except they bite horses, not people. They use their vampire fangs to suck all the life out of the palominos and turn them into these awful black horses, drained of all their pure strength and overcome by evil…”

Issie suddenly turned to look at Aidan. Why was he smiling at her? “What?” she said defensively. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing’s funny!” Aidan said, still smiling. “It’s just that I’d forgotten how excited you get about stuff–especially horses. I really like that about you.”

Issie fumbled around in her bag. “Here,” she said, handing Aidan a dog-eared paperback. “I brought my copy with me. You can borrow it if you like.”

Aidan smiled. “I’ve already read it. It’s one of my favourite books too.”

After that, Issie and Aidan talked non-stop and the hour-long drive seemed to take no time at all. The horse truck thundered along the road past the pine forests north of Chevalier Point, through rolling green fields dotted with grazing cows. Finally they pulled off the main road down a gravel driveway and Issie was surprised when they were stopped by a burly security guard at the farm gate.

“There have been loads of paparazzi–tabloid newspaper photographers–trying to get on the set,” Aidan explained to Issie as they drove on again through the paddocks. “Apparently the girl they’ve got playing Princess Galatea is really famous. There’s been loads of rumours. They’re trying to keep everything hush-hush. Even the crew haven’t been told who it is…”

But Issie wasn’t really listening to him. She was too busy looking out the front window of the truck.

“Ohmygod!” she breathed. “Aidan! This is incredible!”

As they came over the hill, there in front of them was a grand golden gate that led to a vast white cobbled courtyard and in the centre was a gold fountain, with life-size statues of rearing horses spouting brilliant turquoise water from their golden mouths. Surrounding the white courtyard were rows of white loose boxes with golden doors.

“The stables of Princess Galatea,” Aidan grinned. He turned the horse truck past the golden gates. “And over there is the black castle of Eleria.”

Issie looked to her left and saw the familiar sight of Chevalier Castle. Only the castle didn’t look like it usually did. The ruins, which sat on top of a hill that looked out over farmland and forest, had been sprayed with black paint. The broad, cobblestone terraces that wound round and round like a corkscrew to the summit had also been painted black. The castle, with spikes on its turrets and a huge iron portcullis, would have been a terrifying vision if it weren’t for the crew members and builders running about the place. Everywhere you looked there were set dressers lugging enormous black-varnished styrofoam boulders towards the castle or painting fake green slime on the drawbridge.

“Production has been under way for weeks now. These are just the finishing touches. They’re nearly ready to start filming,” Aidan said.

He turned the truck around and parked it near the golden gates of the stables, giving a cheery wave to one of the set dressers who was busily pouring more turquoise dye into the golden fountain.

“We brought all the horses here a month ago–Hester has done loads of desensitising work with them. They’ve filmed some of the vampire riders’ scenes already–but the main stunts need palomino riders too and that’s where you come in.” He jumped out of the truck cab, followed by Issie.

“I’ll give you a proper tour later, but first let’s get you all settled in. Your rooms are over there behind the stable block. We’ll grab your bags. It’s easier if we walk through from here.”

As Aidan said this, the door swung open on the side of the truck and Stella, Kate and Natasha emerged.

“Whoa!” Stella said, looking at the golden stables. “Is this where we’ll be staying?” The others laughed.

“The golden stables!” Kate squealed. “They’re just like I always imagined they’d look!”

“I know,” Issie beamed. “Isn’t it cool?”

Natasha was the last to climb out of the truck. She cast a disdainful glance at Aidan.

“Well? Where are our rooms?” she demanded, gesturing at the luggage lying on the ground. “Come on! Bring my bags, will you?”

Stella rounded on Natasha immediately. “Aidan’s not your servant, you know. We all carry our own bags around here.”

“Oh, really?” Natasha glared at her. “Mummy always told me that ladies never carry luggage. I’m not sure what your mother taught you…”

Before Stella could snap back, they were interrupted by the sight of the most enormous car they’d ever seen cruising towards them down the driveway.

“What is that?” Kate said as the chrome-yellow Hummer with black tinted windows pulled up next to them.

“You mean who is that, don’t you?” Aidan said. “I have a feeling we’re finally going to discover who’s got the starring role in The Palomino Princess.”

As the rest of the crew ran over to the Hummer and gathered round, the front doors of the vehicle swung open and two men in black suits wearing earpiece microphones jumped out.

“Who are they? I don’t recognise them. Are they famous?” Issie whispered to Aidan.

“I think they’re just the bodyguards,” Aidan whispered back.

The bodyguards spoke into their earpieces and nodded to each other. Then one of the men stood guard while the other opened the back door of the Hummer. From behind the tinted glass a girl emerged, helped down by a third bodyguard.

“Ohmygod! I don’t believe it! It’s the Teen Drama Queen!” Stella squealed.

“Stella!” Issie hissed at her. “Don’t! You’ll embarrass her!”

The girl, who had clearly heard Stella’s comment, pushed her dark glasses back to reveal her violet eyes. “Don’t worry,” she said in a soft mid-west American accent. “People always call me that. I get it, like, all the time.” She smiled, revealing her perfect white teeth. “Are y’all working on the movie?” she asked.

“Ummm, yes. We’re stunt riders,” Issie said. “My name is Isadora and this is Stella and Kate, Natasha and Aidan.”

“Nice to meet y’all.” The girl smiled again. “I’m Angelique Adams.”

Chapter 3

Issie couldn’t believe it. Angelique Adams! The girl that Sixteen Magazine called “the most famous teenager in the world” was standing right in front of her.

Angelique looked just like she did on all those magazine covers. Her long honey-blonde hair was ironed straight and she had a deep golden tan. Dressed in designer jeans, a leather vest and enormous sunglasses, she looked much smaller than she did in her movies. Issie was actually ever so slightly taller than the pint-sized celebrity.

Angelique clicked her fingers and two more people leapt out of the back of the Hummer–a dark-haired woman and a blond man.

“Her entourage,” whispered Aidan under his breath to Issie. Angelique gestured to the woman who scurried forward and handed her a coffee. Angelique took a quick sip and then thrust the cup back at her assistant as the blond man darted in and began to fuss around, fixing her hair, pulling make-up brushes out of his belt to add some blusher and a fresh coat of lip gloss.

“That’s enough, Tony!” Angelique snapped, pushing the make-up man out of the way just in time as the gang of paparazzi photographers, who had been tailing the Hummer, all leapt out of their cars. They jostled each other to get close to Angelique and began to take her picture, their motor drives whirring, cameras flashing.

“Angelique!” the paparazzi shouted to her. “Over here! Look this way. Give us a smile, Angelique!”

Suddenly there was a noise at the back of the paparazzi pack. “Lemme through!” A little man in a khaki army jacket was leaping up and down like Rumpelstiltskin, elbowing his way past the photographers. “One side, comin’ through!” he snapped as he barged his way forward. When the little man reached the front and found himself blocked by Angelique’s bodyguards he began to shout even louder. “Hey! You big apes! Yes, you! Lemme through I tell ya!”

The little man was lugging an enormous video camera on his shoulder. He was accompanied by a pale thin man carrying what looked a bit like a fluffy grey cat pinned to the end of a long stick.

“I’m with Angelique!” the man insisted to the bodyguards. “I have an access-all-areas pass. She’ll tell you, won’t you, Angelique, baby? Tell them!” he pleaded.

Angelique looked over and gave a nod to the bodyguards to let the man and his skinny sidekick through. The other paparazzi began to complain loudly at this and the little man gave them a smirk. “A-list access!” he beamed. Then he turned to the teen starlet and smiled his oiliest grin.

“Angelique! Honey!” His voice took on a crawly tone. “Great entrance, baby! Right on! But…uhhh, the thing is, we’ve had a slight technical hitch and we’re going to have to reshoot all of that.”

Angelique’s smile disappeared. The little man looked nervous. “It’s all because of Bob here,” he stammered. “He didn’t get the sound recorded right. Isn’t that right, Bob?” He shot a withering glare at his sidekick, who looked suitably guilty and didn’t say anything.

“So…we need you to do it again from the top,” the little man said. “Can you get back in the car and then drive up and do the whole arriving-on-set thing again? And make it really, you know, real.”

Angelique rolled her eyes. “All right. But this better not take all day, Eugene!” she snapped at him. “I’ve got, like, a masseuse and three beauticians waiting for me back at my trailer.”

She glared at Bob, who cowered a little, then she clicked her fingers at her assistants and climbed back into the Hummer. Her bodyguards quickly piled in after them, slamming the car into reverse as the paparazzi scrambled to get out of their way.

“Hey, you kids!” the man in the khaki jacket turned his attention to Issie and her friends.

“Who us?” Stella said.

“What? Yes, you! Of course you!” the man said. “You kids were great!” he enthused. “We’ll go once more, just like last time. Are you ready?”

Stella looked at him blankly. “Ready for what?”

“The second take of course!” the little man said. There were more blank looks from Stella and Issie. The man sighed. He didn’t have time for this.

“We’re making a documentary here, kids! The name is Eugene–Eugene Sneadly–Hollywood’s most hardworking documentary film-maker.” Eugene gestured over his shoulder at the skinny man with the cat on a stick. “This here is Bob, my sound man. That stick of his is what we call a sound boom. Hey watch it with that thing, Bob!”

Eugene cast a surly look at Bob and then continued, “Bob and I are here with Angelique Adams. She’s given us A-list priority on the film set so that we can do this behind-the-scenes documentary about her. Drama Queen–Behind the Scenes. That’s what we’re calling it. Sounds exciting, right? And it is! It’s gonna be big, big, big, baby, because everyone loves Angelique and, well, the girl just can’t help herself. Like they say, she’s a regular, real-life drama queen.”

“You just got lucky, kids,” Eugene went on, barely pausing for breath. “This is gonna be your big moment. You can all be in my documentary. So get ready to go wild because…Angelique Adams is about to arrive!”

“But she’s already arrived,” Stella protested. “We just met her.”

The little man sighed. Then he raised his hands to the sky and began talking to himself. “Oh, Eugene, Eugene! Why are you working with amateurs here?” He looked back at Stella.

“I know she’s already arrived, sweetheart,” he said through gritted teeth. “What I’m saying is, let’s pretend and do it again, shall we?”

The girls and Aidan all nodded at this. They weren’t sure what Eugene was up to, but it seemed easiest to agree and go along with it.

“And…action!” Eugene shouted, waving his hand frantically at the Hummer in the distance.

The chrome-yellow car drove down the road and pulled up in front of the stables for a second time. The doors opened and Angelique appeared, looking every bit as fresh-faced and eager to meet everyone as she had the first time round.

“Hi!” she smiled sweetly. “Nice to meet y’all. I’m Angelique Adams!”

The girls and Aidan were dumbstruck as the paparazzi bounded after her and started snapping wildly once more and Angelique grinned and waved.

“Perfect! Perfect!” Eugene yelled out. “Got it! Great work, Angelique.”

As soon as the cameras stopped rolling Angelique abruptly stopped smiling. “That’s it, Eugene! I’m outta here.”

“But, baby, Rupert ain’t even here yet. He wants to meet you. They start shooting tomorrow,” Eugene said.

“Y’all can wait for him if you want, Eugene. I’ll be in my trailer gettin’ a spray tan!” Angelique snapped. She hopped back in the Hummer, obediently followed by her assistants and bodyguards who slammed the door and promptly floored it.

“Angelique, cupcake! Wait! We’re coming too!” Eugene cried. He and the paparazzi made a dash for their cars. Clouds of dust and gravel flew up from the road as the Hummer sped off with a line of cars following closely behind.

“I thought the security guard at the gate was supposed to keep the photographers out,” Issie said to Aidan.

Aidan shrugged. “I guess Angelique let them in. Maybe she likes the paparazzi following her everywhere. You know, taking her picture for all those magazines.”

“I still don’t believe we just met Angelique Adams!” Stella said. “She is soooo famous!”

Natasha sighed. “Yeah, she seemed real thrilled to meet you too, Stella. She couldn’t wait to get away! Didn’t you notice how fast she got out of here?”

Natasha glanced around. “Not that I blame her for wanting to get away from this place,” she muttered under her breath, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Aidan ignored Natasha and picked up her bags. It was clear that he was going to have to carry her luggage since the snooty blonde still refused to do it herself.

“Grab your bags,” he instructed the others. “I’ll show you to the barracks.”

“What do you mean ‘barracks’?” Natasha said as she followed along behind him through the white courtyard of the stables. “Surely we all have our own private trailers? Aidan? Aidan!”

They walked straight through the golden stables and on the other side they found themselves standing in front of a row of makeshift wooden huts.

“These really were army barracks once,” Aidan explained. “Rupert, the director, bought them cheap and had them moved on to the site to use as accommodation for the crew.”

Aidan pointed to the left. “That building over there is where the props department and the set builders live. And over there are the sleeping quarters for the Elerian horsemen–that’s where I’m staying.” He pointed to the right. “Those two silver trailers are the costume department and make-up and that white building next to the trailers is the main dining hall where we all meet for meals.”

“This is your barrack.” Aidan gestured to the building directly in front of them. “Palomino wranglers’ quarters!” he grinned. “Come on inside.”

The wooden barracks turned out to be much plusher inside than they looked. The lounge was really cosy with lots of colourful beanbags, plump sofas and a wide-screen TV. Beyond the main lounge was a hallway with three doors leading off. Each doorway opened on to a bunk room.

“The room at the end is Hester’s,” Aidan explained. “That leaves two rooms for you guys to share.”

Stella stuck her head round the corner of the first bunk room. It had three single beds. “I bagsy this bed!” she cried, flinging herself on the best bunk underneath the window.

“I’ll go here then!” Kate said, heaving her bags up on to the bed closest to the door.

That left one more bunk in the room. Issie looked at it. Then she looked over at Natasha. The snooty blonde was milling about out in the hallway, pretending she wasn’t even slightly interested in the sleeping arrangements.

If Issie took the third bunk, she realised, she would be sharing a room with Stella and Kate, which was great. But that also meant Natasha would be left out, all by herself in the other room. Issie picked up her bag. “Hey, Natasha?” she said. “Do you want to come with me and check out our room?”

Natasha looked at Issie with grateful eyes. “OK,” she said cheerfully. She grabbed her bags and began to walk ahead of Issie down the hall. Then she turned back and added, “But don’t get any ideas because I’m having the bunk by the window.”

As Issie unpacked her bags and filled the chest of drawers next to her bunk, Natasha opened the windows for some fresh air and fussed about the state of the bed linen, which was “cheap cotton, not proper Egyptian like at home” and the bunks, which were “like concrete and totally impossible to sleep on”.

“You didn’t have to come, you know!” Issie snapped, but as soon as she said it, she wished she hadn’t.

Natasha stopped unpacking. She glared at Issie. “Why did you ask me then?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you ask me to come? Was it just because you needed another rider?” Natasha sneered. “You must have been desperate. I know you and Stella and Kate don’t actually like me, so it’s not like you asked me because I’m your friend or anything…”

“Natasha, no, it wasn’t like that…” Issie began, but Natasha cut her off.

“I know what you all think of me, you know. I’m not stupid. You think I’m stuck up just because I go to a private school.”

“Well…” Issie began, uncertain what to say to this.

“I know you say horrible things about me,” Natasha insisted. “Well, not you so much. You aren’t so bad, I suppose, Issie. But Stella is always being mean to me.”

“But, Natasha!” Issie protested, “you always say mean things to her too! You kind of bring it on yourself, you know.”

Natasha shrugged at this. “Anyway, you don’t have to share a room with me. I don’t care. Go ahead if you’d rather be with your friends.”

Issie shook her head. “No. It’s OK, honest. I don’t want to move,” she said. “I like this room. I think it’ll be fun to share together.”

This seemed to cheer Natasha up a bit and she began to unpack her clothes, laying them carefully into the drawers.

“I’m glad your mum let you come,” Issie said.

“Oh, Mummy was desperate for me to come!” Natasha said. “She couldn’t wait to get rid of me.”

“What do you mean?” Issie was confused.

“You mean you don’t know?” Natasha looked shocked. “I thought everyone had heard about it.” She began to pull random things out of her bag, throwing her T-shirts violently into the drawer. “My parents have split up. They’re getting a divorce. They’re so busy arguing with each other, they barely notice that I’m in the room.” Natasha’s face was flushed with embarrassment. “I thought that was why you asked me to come. I thought your mum made you ask me because of the divorce.”

“No,” Issie said. “No, I didn’t know. Mum didn’t make me ask you–I just thought, well, I thought we might have fun.”

Natasha seemed to perk up a little at this. “You know,” she said as she arranged her hairbrush and lip gloss on the dressing table, “it will be fun! It’ll be like a sleepover.” She was smiling. “I’ve got loads of treats like chocolate fudge in my bag for us to share. We can eat lollies and tell ghost stories and…ohmygod! Argghh!”

Natasha leapt up on to her bunk squealing with fear as three enormous dogs suddenly bowled into the room; their claws scratched against the wooden floorboards as they ran about panting, sniffing and slobbering.

“Ewww! Get them away from me!” Natasha howled.

“Strudel! Taxi! Nanook! Lie down!” Issie ordered. The dogs obeyed immediately and dropped down on the floor, lying perfectly still with their heads on their paws.

“Aunty Hess?” Issie called out. “Is that you? I’m in here!” Through the doorway behind the dogs came a glamorous woman with shoulder-length, curly blonde hair, dressed in black jodhpurs and a crisp white blouse.

“Isadora! My favourite niece!” Hester beamed as she grabbed Issie in an enormous hug. Issie found herself squished in her aunt’s arms, drowning in the familiar scent of Chanel perfume.

“Aunty Hess! It’s so good to see you again!” Issie said. She turned to Natasha. “Aunty Hess, I want you to meet my friend Natasha from pony club. She’s a really good rider.”

“Hello, Natasha. How terrific to have you here!” Hester smiled.

Natasha smiled back stiffly. “Thank you,” she replied.

“And these are Hester’s dogs,” Issie said, finishing her introductions. “This is Nanook,” she explained, pointing to the shaggy black Newfoundland, “and Strudel,” she said, patting the golden retriever. “And this one is Taxi,” Issie said, scratching the black and white cattle dog behind the ears.

Natasha looked nervously at the dogs and still didn’t get down off the bunk.

“Good boys! Outside now!” Hester instructed the dogs–and the three of them leapt up immediately, tearing off out the door.

“Are you girls unpacking? There’s time for that later. Right now you’re coming with me,” Hester said firmly. “Go and get the others. It’s time to meet the horses.”

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