Barefoot (15 page)

Toni
dropped the bike and half-ran across the yard, until only a few feet separated them.

‘Hey.’ He was grinning still. ‘This is a surprise.’

She looked away abruptly.

What if he doesn’t understand at all?

He leant across, puzzled by her reaction, and stroked her cheek gently. His arms had weathered to a beautiful brown, reminding her of polished tack, making her skin looked almost white in comparison. ‘I meant a nice surprise,’ he added. ‘What’s up?’

‘My mother is putting Buster up for sale.’

There. She’d said it. She glanced away, not able to bear the look she feared to see on his face.

Did he think she was just a spoilt rich kid, losing one of her toys?

But when she looked back, she saw nothing but sympathy.

‘That sucks.’ He frowned. ‘Can’t you talk her round?’

Toni shook her head. ‘No one talks Arabella De Carteret round.

He nodded. Thoughtful. ‘From what I hear she’s used to getting her own way.’

The noise behind him had reached a crescendo now.

Toni couldn’t bear their cries. ‘They seem hungry.’

‘Dad’s bought them in to fatten up.’

He turned his attention back to the calves and picked up another bag of feed to finish filling their troughs, occasionally stopping to scratch a favourite between the ears. Toni liked how he was with animals. Always gentle, never rushed.

‘Well, if you can’t talk her round, there’s only one thing for it.’ He looked up again when he had finished, his brown eyes sparkling. ‘We’ll just have to kidnap him.’

Toni laughed in spite of herself. She knew he was trying to cheer her up. ‘Oh, yeah. And take him where exactly?’

‘Well…’ He pretended to think about it seriously. ‘There’s the New Forest for starters. He wouldn’t exactly stand out there.’

It was a crazy fantasy, but she decided to play along. ‘OK. How would we get him there?’

He nodded to the horse lorry parked on the other side of the arena. ‘In that.’

When she thought about it later, Toni couldn’t quite decide the exact point it stopped being a fantasy and turned into a plan.

‘We’d need to fill it up with fuel,’ Cal said.

‘I can go into town on the bus and get out some cash.’

‘It’ll take a fair bit of diesel,’ he warned.

‘No problem. I’ve got loads in my savings account.’ She could have kicked herself, remembering his family’s financial problems. But he didn’t seem to notice. ‘I’ll need to get my cash card, though. Arabella keeps that one.’

‘My dad’s cousin has a campsite down in the New Forest with commoning rights. He grazes several ponies of his own on the forest. He’ll help us, I’m sure.’

‘You mean turn Buster out in the forest?’

‘Why not?’

Toni tried to imagine how that would feel.

‘Don’t stress about the details now,’ Cal urged. ‘We’ll sort something once we’re there. Which only leaves one question.’ He pushed back his hair again and grinned.

‘What’s that?’

‘When do we go?’

‘The sooner the better.’ Toni couldn’t believe she was actually talking about it seriously. ‘Once Arabella decides something, nothing stops her. I’m terrified I’ll come home from school one day and just find Buster gone.’

‘OK. How about Wednesday night?’

That gave her two days. Time to go into town and get the money.

‘Wednesday it is.’ She could see a tractor heading up the field track and guessed Matt would probably be driving it. ‘I better be getting back. I don’t want to get you into more trouble with your parents.’ She still felt exhausted and wasn’t looking forward to the ride home.

‘Why don’t I give you a lift? I could fling the bike in the back of the pick-up.’

‘That would be great.’ She hoped he couldn’t see how relieved she felt.

‘It’s probably best if you drop me round the corner,’ Toni said as they approached the yard. ‘I’m not sure how Arabella will react if she sees me with you.’

‘Aren’t I good enough for her daughter then?’

She couldn’t work out if he was teasing and tried to search his profile for a clue, but his eyes were fixed on the road ahead.

‘I just don’t want to make things any worse at the moment. That’s all.’

Cal pulled onto the grass verge and unloaded the bike from the back. When she reached to take it from him, he didn’t let go. He leant across and kissed her instead, his lips brushing hers with the lightest touch, before he pulled away. It was so unexpected, she didn’t know how to react at all.

‘I’m guessing Arabella wouldn’t like that either,’ he smiled, then jumped back into the cab of the pick-up and drove off.

************

The next morning, before school, she waited until her mother was out in the yard before diving into her study. Her heart was pounding and she wondered how to explain herself if she was caught red-handed. Arabella was OCD about the yard and took the same approach to her paperwork. Toni looked round urgently, her eyes scanning the files.

Yard invoices, tax.

Her hand hovered over the file of horse passports. She still had Grace’s up in her room, she realised. Technically she ought to have Buster’s in the lorry if she was going to transport him. She quickly flicked through the pile until she found it, then she scanned the shelves again. Nothing she could see suggested bank accounts.

Think. Where would she keep it?

She looked at the desk drawers. Her heart was pounding now and she listened for any sign Arabella was back inside. If her mother found her going through her desk – well, it was unthinkable. But so was selling Buster.

She’s left me no choice.

Toni opened the top drawer and began to work through them methodically, striking lucky on the third one. Old cheque-books, a calculator, and there they were, bank cards. She grabbed hers and slipped it deep into her pocket then raced down to the end of the long drive and just managed to catch the school bus.

‘You so nearly missed it.’ Lauren pulled out one of her headphones, laughing. ‘Did you oversleep?’

Toni sank into the seat next to her and took a few moments to catch her breath. ‘Something like that.’

‘So how did it go with Cal?’

Toni tried to sound cool. ‘Good.’

Lauren squealed. ‘He kissed you, didn’t he!’

Toni blushed. She was hiding so much from her friend already. There was no need to hide that, too.  ‘Yes he did.’

Lauren screamed again, beside herself with excitement.

‘I want all the details.’

Several people looked round to see what was going on.

‘Shhh. Later,’ Toni begged. The last thing she wanted was word to get back to her mother and father she was seeing somebody.

‘After school then?’

Toni shook her head. ‘I’ve got stuff to do.’

‘What stuff?’

‘Just stuff, OK.’

‘I get the message. Butt out.’ Lauren withdrew and put her headphones back in, hurt, Toni could tell.

But she couldn’t risk telling her the plan. Too much was at stake. She would explain everything later, when it was all over. Lauren would understand.

When school finished, Toni caught the bus down into town and headed straight for the bank. Her fingers shook as she tapped in her PIN number. How much should she get out? Was a hundred and fifty pounds enough? She agonised. It seemed a lot, but she had no idea what she might need.

A woman waiting behind sighed impatiently. In the end she decided to get two hundred and fifty, the maximum she was allowed. She counted the notes carefully, then put them in a roll at the very bottom of her bag.

‘Toni. Darling!’ She spun round in horror to see her aunt bearing down on her, conspicuous in a purple jacket and wearing large sunglasses. ‘I’ve caught you red-handed.’

Toni was horrified. She improvised quickly. ‘I’m going on a shopping spree.’

‘Retail therapy,’ B nodded. ‘I completely understand.’ She took her sunglasses off and reached across and took one of Toni’s hands.  ‘Your father called me and told me about Buster going.’

Toni pulled her hand away. If her aunt was expecting her to spill her guts in the street, it wasn’t about to happen. ‘He’s not gone yet.’

‘So there’s still time.’ B put her sunglasses back on decisively. ‘Arabella might change her mind yet. I should try talking to her.’

Toni shook her head in alarm. ‘Don’t, please. It will only make things worse.’

B sighed. ‘It’s such a shame I have a hairdresser’s appointment. We could have gone to a café together. Had a proper catch-up.’

Toni was overcome with relief. ‘Next time.’ She waited until her aunt was out of sight, then crossed the road to catch the bus home.

It was one of the evenings when her father was there. She knew as soon as she opened the front door. The smell of garlic and the sound of jazz wafted down the hall from the kitchen, giving it away.

‘Hiya.’ He opened his arms and enveloped her in a hug. ‘How’s life?’

‘Oh, you know.’ For a wild moment she felt like confessing and telling him what she and Cal had planned. Letting him take control and come up with a solution.

He seemed to sense her hesitation. ‘What have you been up to?’

No. I mustn’t.

‘Not much.’ She pulled away and walked over to the fridge to get herself a drink. ‘What are you making?’

‘Lasagne.’

Toni felt another wave of guilt. Her favourite. It was almost as if he knew. She took her glass of juice to the kitchen table and sat and sipped it slowly, feeling her father’s eyes on her.

‘You OK?’ he asked lightly.

‘Mmm. Tired, I guess.’

‘How are the ribs?’

‘Better. Hardly painful.’

‘And the wrist?’

‘Good.’ She wriggled her fingers. ‘I should be able to have this off next week.’

Tell him!

What would his response be? Hurt. Furious.

No. I can’t risk it.

Her father had always struggled to understand how sentimental people could be about animals. For him it was people every time. And at the end of the day the yard was her mother’s territory, however much they might have argued about her selling Buster. At that moment, as if by magic, the stable door flung open and Arabella blew in.

Toni saw his back stiffen.

‘Food will be about an hour,’ he said, without turning to look at her.

‘Not for me. I’m on my way over to Stokely to look at a youngster,’ Arabella replied. ‘I’ll grab a sandwich on the way.’

Toni felt her stomach relax. The last thing she needed was an extended meal, with time for Arabella to get suspicious.