What’s wrong? You’ve hardly said anything since I got home,” Issie said.
Mrs Brown pushed her plate aside. She looked serious, but still she didn’t speak.
“Mum?”
“Issie, I am afraid I’ve got some, well, it’s not bad news really. I mean it’s good but it’s not good…” Mrs Brown hesitated. “I’ve been invited away on a conference for work. They’re going to fly me there and pay for accommodation – the whole thing. I’ll be gone for two weeks.”
“That’s great!” Issie said. “When?”
“We leave on Friday,” Mrs Brown said. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you tonight about the holidays. I’ve made plans for you.”
“What do you mean?” Issie said.
“Sweetie, I can’t leave you here by yourself. If I’m away for two weeks then who would look after you? You’re only thirteen. You’re not old enough to be by yourself.”
“Cool. I can go stay with Stella!” Issie said.
Mrs Brown shook her head. “There’s something else, Issie. I got a phone call last night from your Aunt Hester. It turns out she’s had a bad fall off one of her silly horses and broken her leg.”
“Aunty Hess? That’s terrible! Is she OK?”
“She’s fine,” Mrs Brown sighed, “but she can’t possibly look after that farm of hers. She has Aidan to help her but it’s not enough…” Mrs Brown paused “…and so I suggested that you could go and stay with her until she gets better again.”
“Me?” Issie squawked.
“Sweetie – it’s perfect! You can stay with Hester while I’m away, and she needs your help so it suits her,” Mrs Brown explained. “Besides, you’ve never been to the farm before and I know you will just love it. Hester has loads of ponies and all those other animals that she trains. You’ll adore it there.”
“But, Mum! Blaze and I have been working so hard for the dressage competition,” Issie said.
“I know, honey. But I can’t see any other way.” Mrs Brown sighed. “I’ve already asked Aidan if he can drive through to get you. He’s going to be here on Wednesday morning.”
“But it’s Monday now! When were you going to tell me this? What about Stella and Kate? What about my holidays? What about Blaze?”
“I’m sorry, Issie. It’s the only option. Really, you’ll see. You’re going to love it at the farm… Issie? Issie!”
But Issie didn’t hear her. She had already left the kitchen in tears, run up the stairs to her bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her.
How could the school holidays go so wrong so fast? Issie flung herself down on her bed and buried her face deep in the duvet. She couldn’t believe her mum would ruin her summer like this!
“Issie? Come on. Let me in and let’s talk about this,” Mrs Brown’s voice echoed softly outside Issie’s bedroom door.
Issie stood up and walked over to let her mother in, before flopping back down, rather over-dramatically, with her face in the duvet again.
“It’s not fair. Why do I have to go to Aunty Hester’s?” She gave a muffled groan from beneath the blankets.
“Sweetie, I really do think it’s the best idea for everyone – especially Aunty Hess,” Mrs Brown said.
“It would be a huge favour to her if you helped out until her leg is better. Hess has a big movie coming up. They start filming in a couple of months and she has dozens of animals that need to be trained. She has so much work to do she could really use an extra pair of hands…”
“But I had plans!” Issie said. “The dressage series is on and Blaze is going so well. I can’t just leave her and go away to the farm.”
Mrs Brown suddenly perked up. “Hey! I tell you what – how about if you could take Blaze with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You could take Blaze to Aunty Hester’s. I could call Aidan and ask him to bring the horse truck when he comes to pick you up on Wednesday and then you can take Blaze with you. I’m sure Hess won’t mind. One more horse on that enormous farm of hers won’t make the slightest difference.”
Issie sat up. “Do you mean it? Could Blaze really come too?”
“I don’t see why not,” Mrs Brown said. She was clearly very pleased with herself for coming up with the idea. “You know what? I’m going to give Hess a call now and ask her!”
Mrs Brown trotted off down the stairs and a moment later Issie could hear her on the phone chatting and laughing happily with her sister.
If I could take Blaze with me, Issie thought, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
Issie really liked her aunt. For starters, Hester was horsy through and through. Issie always thought it was so unfair that her own mother hated horses while her Aunt Hess adored them. If Aunt Hester had been her mother then she would have got a pony straight away. Instead she had to beg for years before her mum finally gave in and bought Mystic.
Mrs Brown couldn’t understand why Issie loved horses so much. “It must be genetic. Your aunt was exactly the same when she was your age,” Mrs Brown had told Issie on more than one occasion. “Hess was totally horse-mad! And now look at her – she has seven horses, a trained pig, a goat, several sheep, those nuisance blasted dogs and heaven knows what else on that crazy farm of hers!”
Hester worked as an animal trainer for the movies. Three years ago she decided to set up her own business, and so she bought Blackthorn Farm, where she kept and trained her menagerie of four-legged movie stars.
Blackthorn Farm was a rambling old country manor, high up in the hills near Gisborne. The manor and grounds had once been quite grand, apparently, but Hester had got the place for very little because it had become quite rundown.
Blackthorn Manor was huge – it had eleven bedrooms – but Hester lived there alone. She had been married three times – “All of them wonderful weddings!” she told Issie – but she had never had any children of her own. She called Issie her “favourite niece” which was a bit of a joke between the two of them since Issie was in fact her only niece.
Hester ran the farm herself with help from her young stable manager, Aidan. With her leg in plaster and all those animals to look after, she was bound to need some extra help.
Issie listened to her mum hang up the receiver and head back up the stairs. When she entered Issie’s room she had an enormous smile on her face.
“Good news! Hess says she’d love to meet your horse, Issie. It all sounds perfect. There’s a spare stall for Blaze in
