Loving Spirit

nodded. ‘I had some money that Gran had given me. I phoned her and she said I can keep him.’
    ‘ She said?’ Len’s voice rose angrily. ‘She’s the other side of the bloody world! Well, it can’t stay. You’ll have to sell it.’ He marched towards the door.
    Fear gave Ellie courage. She jumped in front of him. ‘No. I won’t.’
    ‘You won’t?’ Len stared at her. ‘You’ll do as I say, lass.’
    ‘No!’ Ellie said desperately, her heart pounding. ‘I’m not taking him back to the sale!’
    Len slammed his fist into the table. ‘You will do what I damn well say!’ he roared.
    Adrenaline coursed through Ellie. ‘I won’t! I’m keeping him! If you won’t let me keep him here,then fine, I’ll keep him somewhere else. But Gran said I could have a horse. She said I could have the money!’
    They glared at each other.
    When Len spoke, his voice was dangerously soft. ‘So, when you had this conversation with your gran, you told her that you’d picked this horse up from a sale, did you? You told her that he was unwarranted and unsound, which he must have been if you could afford him?’
    Ellie didn’t answer.
    ‘He was unwarranted, wasn’t he?’
    Ellie nodded.
    ‘And unsound?’ Len pressed on.
    Ellie had no choice but to nod again.
    ‘And you think when I tell your gran this, it won’t make her change her mind?’
    Ellie knew he had her. If he told her gran that, she knew just what the reaction would be. Spirit would be sold, no arguing. Her shoulders sagged, the fight going out of her. ‘Please,’ she said desperately. ‘Please, Uncle Len, let me keep him. Gran said I can pay for his food and stabling. He won’t cost you and I’ll do anything. I’ll …’ A thought struck her. It would mean backing down, which she hated, but she’d do it for Spirit. ‘I’ll ride the ponies for you,’ she offered quickly. ‘Whenever you want. At shows or here, and I’ll work really hard on the yard.’
    Len’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re suggesting we do a deal?’
    ‘Yes.’ Ellie thought he was going to explode again, but to her surprise his forehead furrowed.
    ‘Well, I do need a rider for the smaller ponies.’ Len considered her for a moment and then gave a curt nod. ‘All right. But on my terms …’
    Ellie caught her breath in relief.
    ‘He’s only here on a temporary basis. I don’t have room on this yard for pets and the time you spend with him will be time you could be with the others, working them. You can keep him for six weeks. Get some condition on him and then sell him on. Maybe make yourself a few bob. You’ve got him now so it makes sense.’
    Ellie hesitated. She had absolutely no intention of ever selling Spirit on and trying to make money out of him, but she could see that telling her uncle this would get her nowhere right now. At least he was agreeing that she could keep the horse. That was enough. She’d deal with the selling part of the deal later. She nodded. ‘Thank you.’
    ‘Let’s see him then,’ her uncle grunted. ‘See what sort of eye for a horse you’ve got. Maybe, just maybe, you’ve got yourself a bargain.’
    He opened the door and Ellie followed him back outside, feeling nervous. What was he going to say when he saw Spirit? Joe was standing by the watertrough, pretending to scrub out a bucket. His eyes flew to Ellie’s face. She nodded quickly, trying to let him know it was OK. She took her uncle to the foaling box where Spirit was.
    ‘This is him, this is Spirit.’
    As Len joined her at the door, Spirit shied back in alarm. He stood at the back of the box, head high, body trembling. Ellie saw him through her uncle’s eyes – his ribs standing out like a toast rack, his dull coat, his scarred legs and shoulder.
    ‘Oh, flamin’ heck.’ Len groaned. He shook his head and Ellie saw the bitter disappointment in his gaze. ‘Well, you won’t be getting your money back on that. Best you can hope for is to get a bit more meat on his bones and sell him to the knackers for a better price.’ He glanced down at her. ‘Still, a deal’s a deal. You ride the ponies, you get to keep him for six weeks.’
    ‘How much shall I pay you?’ Ellie could hardly quite believe it.
    ‘You can have his stabling and feed in exchange for riding for me. Vets and farrier bills, you pay.’ Len turned away. ‘Oh, and by the way,’ he shot over his shoulder, ‘you’re grounded for skipping school.’
    Ellie didn’t care about being grounded. She