Read Amy and Amber for Free Online Page A

pleased when Sarah chose her to be her relay partner – obviously she thought Cracker would be really nippy – and she was right, because they won!
    I cheered for Kayla during the relay and apple bobbing. And I gave her an especially massive cheer when they won the cones race – Cracker’s so quick at turning, he whizzed round the cones much faster than the others!

    When it was our turn to do some races, I was so nervous and excited that my heart was hammering and my stomach was flipping over and over. It was really fun and guess what?! Me and Amber won a race too – the ball and bucket, where you had to pull up right by the bucket and throw the ball in (so all that practice we did in lessons of halting exactly at the markers really paid off!). Amber went from canter to halt in about two steps and our ball dropped straight in – unlike Jasmine’s! (Sugar got a bit over-enthusiastic and went cantering straight past the bucket – twice!)

    When we got our rosettes, all the parents and Sunnyside staff gave us a big cheer. As we walked our ponies back into the barn, Kayla said, “Thanks for encouraging me to stay in Group B, Amy. That walk to canter we learned really swung it for us in the relay.”

    “No problem,” I said, grinning. Then we had a big hug.
    When we’d sorted out our ponies (all taking as long as possible!) we went into the games room for tea and juice and biccies, and Jody told all the parents about the video for the website and got them to sign consent forms to say we could be in it. Of course, as soon as everyone’s parents heard about it, they all wanted to see it, even though I told them it wasn’t edited yet!
    So we put the TV on in the games room andplugged the camera in, and soon everyone was glued to the screen. When it got to the bit where Kayla falls in the poo they all laughed and clapped and called her a good sport. “Don’t worry, I’ll take that out in the edit,” I promised her. “No, don’t,” she said, “it’s really funny!”

    It was so nice when everyone gave me a clap at the end and said how well I’d done, making the film – although I insisted it was pure fun and not hard work at all!
    After that it was definitely, absolutely time to go home – we all thanked Jody and Sally and Lydia and gave them big hugs (and Sarah and Genevieve even hugged James while giggling a lot!). Then came the hard part – going down to the barn one last time to say goodbye to the ponies. I gave Amber the biggest hug of all andtold her what a star she is. I know I’ll miss her so much, but at least I’ve got loads of film of her and I can watch it every day.
    As Kayla and I linked arms and walked across the lane to the car, we agreed that we’ve had the best holiday ever and that our ups and downs have only made our friendship stronger. And we’re definitely coming back next summer! Right, Dad’s going to help me edit the video now so I can get it over to Jody – I can’t wait to see it up on the website!

Copyright
    STRIPES PUBLISHING
An imprint of Little Tiger Press
1 The Coda Centre, 189 Munster Road,
London SW6 6AW
    Text copyright © Kelly McKain, 2011
Inside illustrations copyright © Mandy Stanley, 2011
Cover photograph copyright © Zoe Cannon, 2011
    First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2012.
    eISBN: 978–1–84715–347–0
    The right of Kelly McKain and Mandy Stanley to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
    All rights reserved.
    Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any forms, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
    A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British