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 the stable complex and she’s getting it ready for your arrival and Aidan will be here to pick you both up first thing on Wednesday morning with the truck. It’s a long drive. It will probably take you most of the day to get there.”
“Really? So Blaze can come with me? And we’re actually going?” Issie said.
Mrs Brown looked at her daughter’s uncertain expression. “Issie? I thought that would make you happy. You can take Blaze with you—there’s lots of land to ride there—that farm is positively huge—you could ride all day without leaving the property.”
“I know…I mean, yes, it’s great, Mum. Honestly. And I want to go and help out Aunty Hess and everything…” Issie sighed. “It’s just that Stella and Kate and me had the whole summer planned out and now I’m not going to be here. And what about Tom? He was expecting me to ride the dressage series and—”
“I’m sure Stella and Kate will understand. I know you three are pretty hard to separate but maybe it will be nice to have some time on your own for once,” Mrs Brown said. “As for Tom, you leave him to me. I’m sure he’ll agree with me that a few weeks out of your training schedule isn’t going to ruin your chances of riding at Badminton!”
“Mum! As if!” Issie laughed.
“Aha! I knew I could get you smiling again.” Mrs Brown grinned back at her daughter. “Now, I’ll dig out your suitcase and let’s make sure you actually have some clean clothes to pack, shall we? Hand me that pile of washing over there and we’ll get started!”
The news that Issie was going to Blackthorn Farm left Stella speechless—for a moment anyway. “Stella?” Issie said. There was silence at the other end of the phone and then a torrent of words came pouring out.
“I can’t believe your mum is doing this! We had plans, Issie! Big plans! What about the dressage series? What about the summer holidays? It’s not fair! How long will you be gone for?”
“I don’t know. I suppose I’ll stay there until Aunt Hester’s leg is better and she can manage on her own again.” Issie sighed. “You know, I am her favourite niece and everything.”
“Very funny, Issie! Your mum’s ruined our whole summer! Have you told Kate yet?”
“No,” Issie said, “I thought I’d tell you first because I knew you’d take it so well!”
Stella gave a giggle at this. “You’re right, I am overreacting, aren’t I? You might only be gone for a couple of weeks. I suppose we can always email each other while you’re away.”
“Actually I don’t even know if Aunty Hess has email. Blackthorn Farm is in the middle of nowhere. Aidan is coming to pick me up first thing on Wednesday morning and it will take us pretty much all day to drive there.”
“Who’s Aidan?” Stella said.
“He works for Aunty Hess. He runs her stables and he’s driving the horse truck down from the farm to pick up me and Blaze.”
“Oooh! How old is Aidan? What does he look like?”
“What? Oh, Stella! I think he’s, like, maybe seventeen. I have no idea what he looks like. I’ve never been to the farm so I’ve never met him, OK?” Issie snapped. Stella had gone a bit boy-mad lately, which Issie found very annoying. She hadn’t even thought about what Aidan might be like—but now she realised he would be here tomorrow and they would have to spend the whole day together driving to the farm.
“I’d better tell Dan. I’m sure that will make him jealous,” Stella laughed.
“Stella! Don’t!” Issie said.
Dan had asked Issie out once—at least she thought he’d asked her out—but things got all confused because it turned out he’d asked Natasha too and maybe it had never been a date. Anyway it was all a big mess and nothing had ever happened after that.
Issie sighed. “Oh, go on then. Tell Dan and Ben that I’ve gone away and tell Natasha too while you’re at it; I’m sure she’ll be thrilled that I won’t be competing against her in the dressage.”
Stella groaned. “Ohmygod! Natasha. I’d forgotten about that. She’s going to be unbearable if she wins. Issie! How can you leave me? Don’t go!”
“I’m hanging up now, Stella,” Issie said. “I have to go pack and then I have to clean Blaze’s tack and get her floating boots out and make sure that all her gear is ready to go…”
“OK, OK.” Stella sighed. “But you’d better email me. And if they have no email then send a carrier pigeon or whatever they’ve got up there.”
“Knowing Aunty Hess, I wouldn’t be surprised if she hasn’t trained up a pigeon or two,” Issie giggled. “It’s a deal—I’ll send you a letter by pigeon post.”
Aidan was due to arrive at seven a.m. on Wednesday morning to pick Issie up. But when Issie opened her curtains at six a.m. to check the weather, she saw the horse truck was already parked outside.
“Mum?” she called out as she padded downstairs, still in her pyjamas. “The horse truck is here already.”
“I know,” her mother replied from the kitchen. “Come in and meet Aidan!”
Issie walked through to find her mother making coffee for a young boy in a plaid shirt and jeans who was sitting at the table. The boy, who looked not that much older than Issie, had black hair that fell over his face in a long, floppy fringe almost covering his eyes. He stood up as Issie sat down next to him and stuck out his hand for her to shake.
“Hi,” he said, “I’m Aidan.”
“Hello Issie! I mean…hello, I’m Issie!” Issie said, flustered. She shook Aidan’s hand. “Sorry, I’m not ready to go yet obviously,” she said, looking down at her pyjamas, which she now realised were the ones with pink kittens all over them. “I didn’t expect you to get here so early.”
“I got here late